New Strategic Research Centres provide impetus for 2010

Deakin University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Lee Astheimer believes 2010 will be a highly positive one for the university and its increasing research activities.

“In 2009, we had some very significant wins that we can really build on in 2010," Professor Astheimer said.

“An important part of 2010 will be the implementation of strategies built around our new Strategic Research Centres (SRCs). I am already hearing of new initiatives resulting from this change in research funding and I’m certain that the SRC Directors will help lift our sights in 2010.”

These new SRCs will be built around Deakin University’s existing research strengths and will include the Institute for Technology Research Innovation (ITRI) and the Alfred Deakin Research Institute (ADRI), as well as:

• Centre for Memory, Imagination and Invention (CMII)
• Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research
• Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (C-PAN)
• Centre for Research in Educational Futures & Innovation (CREFI)
• Centre for Sustainable & Responsible Organisations (CSaRO)
• Clinical Care, Quality and Risk Management (CCQRM) Group
• Centre for Integrative Ecology
• Molecular and Medical Research Group (MMRG)
• Population Health
• Centre for Biotechnology, Chemistry and Systems Biology

Both ITRI and ADRI continued to grow in staff and stature throughout 2009, attracting new research recruits, HDR students and major recognition inside and outside the University.

“In May, Professor Peter Hodgson, Director of ITRI, was one of just 15 researchers in Australia awarded an inaugural Australian Laureate Fellowship (ALF) by the Australian Research Council,” Professor Astheimer said.

“Equally significantly, Professor Hodgson was the only researcher in Victoria to receive an ALF, putting Deakin and our research in an unique place in our home State.

“In its first year of formal operations, ADRI’s reputation as the University’s innovative policy think tank grew pleasingly. The appointment of Professor David Lowe as Director has led to consolidation of policy-focused research in the Faculty of Arts and Education.”

Tthe addition of Professor Mark McGillivray as Australia’s first Chair in International Development has added exceptional new depth to ADRI’s research strengths.

Importantly both ITRI’s and ADRI’s profiles were raised outside the University via extensive media coverage, particularly on radio and in metropolitan and national newspapers.

“As Robyn Williams from the ABC’s Science Show says, ‘research communication is the key to saving civilisation’,” Professor Astheimer said.

“Modern researchers must not only discover, invent and innovate, but they must also be able to communicate their work in a way that can effectively help policy makers and the community generally.

“The better informed we are, the better our decision making will be on important issues like climate change, obesity and other health issues.”

Another key success in 2009 was attracting high calibre research academic staff, including:

• Professor Paul Carter - creative place research, from the University of Melbourne·
• Professor Ian Chen – nanotechnology, from ANU
• Professor Kevin Hindle – entrepreneurship, from Swinbune University ·
• Professor Gael McDonald – Dean, Faculty of Business and Law, from Unitec, New Zealand
• Professor Marcel Klaassen – Netherlands Ecology Research Institute
• Professor Bill Buttemer – University of Wollongong

“As with Professor Mark McGillivray, these research leaders add enormously to Deakin’s capabilities,” Professor Astheimer said. “We will continue to be on the look out for future recruits at all career levels.

“I am also pleased that we are advertising this month a new round of Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Fellowships. These will commence in mid-2010, so we can expect an influx of talented early career researchers, potentially from all around the world as was the case with the first round advertised in 2007.”

Other achievements in 2009 included:

• The appointment of Professor Boyd Swinburn and David Crawford as Alfred Deakin Professors
• Professors Jo Salmon, Leigh Ackland and Damien Kingsbury being awarded Personal Chairs
• Professor Clare Bradford winning the inaugural Trudeau Fellowship from the University of Winnipeg
• Professor David Walker going to the University of Copenhagen as Distinguished Visiting Chair of Australian Studies
• Dr Daniel Ierodiaconou winning an Australian Institute of Policy and Science Tall Poppy Award. This follows the award to Dr Kylie Ball in 2008.

Another significant achievement for the year was the “perfect five” achieved by Professor Crawford’s Behavioural Epidemiology Group.

The Group applied for five research fellowships through both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the National Heart Foundation of Australia (NHFA) and was successful with each application.

The normal success rate with these applications is between 15-20 per cent, so a 100 per cent success rate is an outstanding outcome.

The five recipients were:

• Dr Verity Cleland – NHMRC Public Health (Postdoctoral) Fellowship
• Dr Kylie Hesketh – NHFA Australian Career Development Award
• Dr Clare Hume – NHFA Postdoctoral Research Fellow
• Dr Sarah McNaughton – NHFA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
• Dr Jenny Veitch – NHFA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

The University also won 13 Discovery and 10 Linkage Round 1 awards from the ARC - the highest number in recent years. This put Deakin 16th in the number of Discovery grants awarded and equal 6th in the number of Linkage grants awarded amongst Australian universities. ITRI and Science and Technology researchers, led by Professor Ian Chen, were also awarded a Deakin-led LIEF grant for a specialised transmission electron microscope. The award of $1million from the ARC is the largest LIEF awarded to a Deakin-led team.

The ‘Proof of Concept' facility that is nearing completion at the Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds will also play an important role in the University’s research programs. Here businesses can work closely with researchers to take a new product from concept to commercialisation. This facility will also give even more impetus to Deakin’s policy of building partnerships with industry, government and the community. This is already successful policy as growing collaborations in India, China, North America and Europe attest.

Deakin also had success in the area of commercial research, including:

• Professor Saeid Nahavandi’s partnership with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) to develop an intelligent robot that can safely defuse a bomb with the operator up to 500 metre away
• Professor Gerry Quinn and Dr Adam Pope'a work on the Index of Estuary Condition under the Victorian Investment Framework for Natural Resource Management
• Dr Daniel Ierodiaconou being awarded the land use planning tender for Warrnambool City Council, Corangamite Shire and Sustainability Victoria
• Professor Qipeng Guo’s Rubber Waste Recycling Project through the Advanced Manufacturing CRC and in partnership with VR TEK Global. The project will investigate VR TEK’s patented rubber tyre recycling technology by establishing a pilot scale operation in the proof of concept building.

In 2009, Deakin also remained at the forefront among Australian universities in developing research partnerships with India. This was highlighted in October with the opening of DIRI, the Deakin India Research Initiative, by Jacinta Allen, Victoria’s Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation.

DIRI joins Deakin University's world-leading expertise in materials sciences, nanotechnology and biotechnology in research partnerships with some of India's leading companies, research institutes and universities.

“The 21st Century has taken the world to a novel place in its history,” Professor Astheimer said. ”Never before have we shared a global vision of the issues that confront humanity’s very existence on Planet Earth.

“It will be researchers, the discoveries of new knowledge and new ways of doing things that will have the crucial job of responding meaningfully to those challenges. There are now more and more compelling reasons to believe that Deakin’s researchers will play a crucial role in many areas vital to our survival.

“At Deakin our research is on the way up – I feel that in 2010 we will really be in a position to embrace these challenges."