Research news

Please be advised that the Ethics Office will be closed from close of business on Friday 13 December 2024, reopening on Monday 13 January 2025.

Please refer any unexpected adverse events related to Animal Ethics during this period to the Animal Ethics Chair, Adam Hamlin, at ahamlin@une.edu.au.

For all unexpected adverse events related to Human Ethics during this time, please email ethics.lismore@scu.edu.au

Thank you for your attention to this matter. The Ethics Office, Chairs and committees we wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

The University is calling on staff to support its QS Reputation exercise, a crucial initiative to elevate our standing in the prestigious QS World University Rankings. By nominating key contacts for the QS surveys, you can directly contribute to boosting the University’s global reputation.

Why participate?

While based on a range of metrics, academic reputation and employer reputation comprise nearly half of the University’s overall QS World University Rankings score. These rankings not only enhance the University’s visibility but also attract exceptional students, foster industry partnerships and secure research funding.

Strong rankings also benefit staff, enabling new research collaborations and access to funding opportunities.

What we’re asking from you

We need academic and employer contacts for QS’s 2024 survey. Each nominee you submit will have the chance to provide valuable insights on the University’s research and graduate quality.

To contribute:

1. Nominate academics and employers you’ve worked with internationally or domestically
2. Provide their basic contact details and consent
3. Use the provided nomination forms or bulk upload tools for large submissions

Nominees can include international academic collaborators and employers of any size or location, from global corporations to regional businesses.

Submission details

Deadline

Monday 18 December 2024 (submissions remain open year-round for future rankings)

Tools

Use the academic and employer nomination forms or the bulk upload tools to submit multiple contacts

How to nominate

The nomination forms and bulk upload tool are straightforward, requiring your SCU email address, basic nominee details and information about your collaboration.

While only fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory, we encourage you to strengthen your nomination by providing as much detail as possible. Written consent can also be attached to your form.

If consent isn’t obtained beforehand, the Rankings Team will attempt to contact the nominee via QS’s standard templated email, though this method has a lower success rate.

Resources and support

Visit the University’s https://www.scu.edu.au/secure/staff/qs-reputation-nomination-data-collection/ for guidance, nomination forms, and tools.

For questions or assistance, please contact Wendy Scott at: rankings@scu.edu.au.

Let’s ensure the world’s largest ranking system recognises the outstanding work happening at Southern Cross University.

Submit your nominations today!

When: 4-6 February 2025

Where: Meanjin/Brisbane

Run by: ARDC

Learn hands-on digital research skills, network and inspire new research outcomes for humanities, arts, social science and Indigenous research at the 2025 ARDC Summer School.

Registrations are also open for the Indigenous Data Governance Masterclass on 3 February 2025. Both events are open to HDRs, EMCR researchers and custodians of Indigenous data. Travel bursaries are available.

Register now:  https://bit.ly/hass-summer

If you’d like to optimise your research skills and potential, join the Grants and Contracts Research Circle on the first Wednesday of each month – the next on Wednesday 4 December 2024.

This is an informal outreach session where researchers can meet to discuss topics including:

• who are the Grants and Contracts team, and what do they do?
• what’s ‘research’?
• tips for staying abreast of grant opportunities
• applying for grants
• submitting requests for tender
• negotiating the direct award of funding
• acceptance of grants and the contracting process
• intellectual property, copyright, patents
• project budgeting
• other relevant topics

You can join The Research Circle at 11:00am on the first Wednesday of each month, via Teams:

Microsoft Teams Need help?

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 418 064 040 736

Passcode: emCRxh

OR dial in by phone:

+61 2 7208 4795,,289260104# Australia, Sydney

Find a local number

Phone conference ID: 289 260 104#

For organisers: Meeting options | Reset dial-in PIN

Are you ready to revolutionise your research data management? Join our exclusive pilot program for the new Research Data Storage and Management Tool! This innovative tool is designed to streamline your data management process, offering advanced computing resources, robust data backup, and compliance with ethical and grant standards. The pilot program kicks off in February 2025, and your feedback will be invaluable in shaping the final system across the university. Don't miss out on this opportunity! Sign up here.

For more information, please reach out to digital.research@scu.edu.au.

The Southern Queensland and Northern NSW Innovation Hub (SQNNSW Innovation Hub) would love to see you at Good Soils, Good Food – a local event celebrating World Soil Day where science, soils, food and farming come together!

Highlights of the evening will include:

• SCU research: see the latest work from some of our soils, plant and agronomy researchers
• Soil science: learn more about soil than you thought possible with Southern Cross University’s Dr John Grant
• Conversations with local farmers: learn how they care for their soils to grow a huge variety of delicious food
• Stunning seasonal menu: try the farmers’ produce, expertly prepared by local chef Shane Runciman

When:     Wednesday 4 December 2024 (4:00-7:00pm)

Where:   Norma’s Kitchen, Lismore Showgrounds

Tickets:   https://goodsoilgoodfood.eventbrite.com.au/

If you’d like to get ready early for your 2025 research, SciVal has scheduled two webinars for December. Why not attend one, or both?

Maximising SciVal: Use Cases, Latest Enhancements, and the Road Ahead

This explores practical applications of SciVal that drive research excellence. The webinar will cover latest updates, showcase impactful use cases and provide a glimpse into future developments to help you stay ahead in the research landscape.

Whether you’re new to SciVal or looking to leverage its advanced features, this session will offer valuable insights into how to leverage SciVal to enhance your research strategy.

When:        3 December 2024

Register

 Illuminating the Significance of Bibliometrics in University Rankings

This delves into academic publications' role in global university rankings, offering insights into the methodologies, metrics and key factors that influence research performance. Firstly, we’ll provide a foundational overview of the Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings, focusing on the indicators sourced from Scopus and SciVal. Next we’ll explore the rankings metrics in SciVal and discuss key factors to improve research performance.

When:        10 December 2024

Register

We have two exciting new memberships to the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research (ACSPRI) and Praxis.

Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research (ACSPRI)

SCU staff and students can now access member rates to the myriad of social science research skills training opportunities ACSPRI offers, with dates and times of training accessible via their calendar here. Bookings for 2025 courses are now open.

Staff and students should nominate SCU as their organisation when registering to secure a spot at a Masterclass or Workshop with the membership rate.

Excitingly, in addition to research skills courses, ACSPRI also offers:

• 3 scholarships to PhD students at ACSPRI Member institutions, including the $25,000 ACSPRI Fellowship Program.
• Survey development & management (web, telephone & paper based).
• Access to CANVASS, a low-cost, self-service, online survey tool (like Qualtrics, but hosted here in Australia).
• Hosting support, training and consultation for LimeSurvey as the Authorised partner in Australia.

Watch this space for announcements of upcoming courses and enrolment deadlines.

Praxis

Our membership with Praxis enables staff and students to access discounts to register for research workshops relating to:

• Project management
• Clinical trials training
• Consumer engagement
• Optimising your research budget
• And much more!

See Praxis’ workshops here.

If you have any questions about ACSPRI or Praxis, please feel free to contact researcher.development@scu.edu.au.

Here are the next Ethics Committee meeting and submission cut-off dates – the full 2024 meeting schedule is on the Southern Cross University website.

Please note that all high-risk applications must be reviewed at one of the scheduled meetings by the full HREC. For enquiries, please email: ethics.lismore@scu.edu.au

Tracing the Past, Shaping the Future explores how Indigenous Knowledges and cultural land management can shape a more sustainable future.

This exhibit contrasts the Bundjalung people's Country-centred worldview with today’s Eurocentric approaches, examining changes in our physical environment from pre-colonial times to now.

Through the lens of plant communities, we invite you to reflect on how we can learn from the past to guide our stewardship of the land moving forward.

When:    5 November 2024—6 February 2025

Tuesday-Thursday, 1:00—4:00pm

(closed between 20 December 2024 and Tuesday 14 January 2025)

Where:   Living Lab Northern Rivers shopfront, Lismore

Learn more.

Living Lab Northern Rivers wants to put North Lismore’s community at centre stage!

Photographic artist Cherine Fahd, who believes photography brings people and communities together and creatively addresses moments of significant social change, will be setting up her photobooth at the old general store on Bridge Street in November.

Come along and have your portrait captured by local photographer Elise Derwin — by yourself or with everyone in your family, local club, group or street! On the day you can share your experience of group portraiture with others, bring memorabilia and personal stories, and help us to create some lasting memories of the neighbourhood you are part of.

When:   Thursday 28 November 2024 (4:00-6:00pm)

              OR Saturday 30 November 2024 (8.30-11:00am)

Where:  Meet at Galaxy Underground, 51 Bridge Street, North Lismore

              Photobooth at 43 Bridge Street, North Lismore (old general store building)

Cost:      Free

Learn more.

Last month a room full of North Lismore residents came together to codesign the Living Memory project.

Participants shared that North Lismore has always been, and remains, a vibrant and resilient community defined by its diversity, deep bonds and working-class pride. It’s rich in social and cultural connections, where people feel rooted in nature and close to one another. They described how the area has been shaped by the Sleeping Goanna, unique geography, wetlands and a strong connection to Country, as well as class, religion, culture and the familiarity of generations of families and neighbours close to town.

These themes inspired the team to delve deeper, guided by the stories and insights the community shared, including the unshakable local identity North of Leycester Creek: ‘Once a Northie, always a Northie!’ they told us.

The range and depth of stories shared encouraged the team to expand the project which, in addition to longer oral history interviews will now include shorter stories in written or audio form. Inspired by memories of live gigs, cafes and local haunts Posters, menus and other memorabilia from the area are also being collected.

Thanks to community leads, valuable resources such as Anne Thacker’s Branches of the Cedar Tree, which captures the Lebanese history in North Lismore, have been brought to light. As many community members have asked for more on the early history of North Lismore, the team is uncovering a wealth of information to enrich the collection.

Learn more.

Circular Timber project researchers Berto Pandolfo and Angelique Milojevic, assisted by Kris Gardner from Bigscrub Salvage, recently inspected two partially deconstructed houses on Tweed Street, North Lismore. Here they identified premium hardwood timbers including Ironbark, Bloodwood, Rosewood, Teak, Tallowwood, Blackbutt and others that were unknown.

The next stage of the Circular Timber project will see local makers designing and creating small, medium and large objects for public exhibition in early 2025.

This work will also inform development of a timber system map and timber recovery guide to outline methods to recovery and options for recycling and reuse of timbers from homes identified for demolition.

Read more.

An outstanding commendation of the impact of the Centre for Children and Young People’s (CCYP) work on policy and practice recently came following the NSW Department of Communities and Justice’s review of the Out-of-Home Care system.

The Department specifically extended thanks to CCYP colleagues Lynne McPherson, Antonia Canosa, Kathomi Gatwiri, Kylie Day and Anne Graham, together with their research partners Tim Moore (ACU); Donnah Anderson (Charles Sturt University); Robbie Gilligan (Trinity College, IRL); and Janise Mitchell (Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care) for their contribution to the review.

The findings from the Strengthening Relationships and Connections for Young People in Therapeutic Residential Care ARC research project and the voices of young people are informing how current practice and policy can be improved, so that young people living in therapeutic residential care have placement stability and can form strong and healthy relationships.

Well done to all of the team on this great achievement!

Dr Liam Bolitho recently secured a grant through the Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor’s Seed Scheme to further his research into threatened frog species. Liam’s project will develop a user-friendly AI-based audio classifier to automatically detect Pouched Frog calls from long-duration audio recordings, thereby reducing the time and costs incurred by traditional methods employed by expert consultants. This innovative, low-cost tool will streamline monitoring efforts and support ecological health assessments of rainforest restoration projects in ‘Big Scrub’ restoration sites northern NSW.

Less than one per cent of the ‘Big Scrub’ – once Australia's largest lowland subtropical rainforest – remains intact today, with the remaining fragmented patches under threat from invasive species and wildfires, and classified as an endangered ecological community. Restoration initiatives have been steadily increasing, with many projects focused on re-establishing native vegetation, controlling invasive species, and enhancing habitat connectivity across the fragmented landscape.

And as the Pouched Frog (Assa darlingtoni) – a threatened species found in rainforests in south-east Queensland, northern NSW, and specific ‘Big Scrub’ restoration sites – relies on unique microhabitats only present in healthy subtropical rainforest ecosystems, its presence is a reliable indicator of good ecosystem health.

Accurate early assessment of Pouched Frog populations within ‘Big Scrub’ sites will allow land managers to fine-tune their project approaches and methods in the future.

The Faculty of Education’s Dr Simone Blom was recently invited to judge the 4^th Ki Hajar Dewantara Awards held as part of the Future-Ready Classrooms: Strategies for Digital Science Teaching’ Conference in Bandung, Indonesia.

The awards recognise teacher dedication and excellence in science education across South East Asia.

Simone was also invited to deliver a keynote address on her research to the conference, which was attended by 150 educators and education leaders from across Indonesia and South East Asian countries including Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Malaysia and Brunei.

Simone’s address was very well received by the audience, who were keen to explore the importance of environmental and sustainability education as a digital disruption when considering Future-Ready Classrooms.

Lack of housing and shelter was one of the biggest issues facing the Northern Rivers region in the aftermath of the devastating 2022 floods – and Southern Cross University’s Professor Andrew Rose is working with researchers from the University of Queensland, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and industry partners to address this.

The collaborative project will develop a sustainable, prefabricated temporary housing system using waste cardboard and under-utilised timber materials to create bio-based housing that could be implemented soon after disasters such as flooding events.

In a radically new approach to resource-efficient building design, this project presents a new class of structural composite product – timber-cardboard sandwich panels, which bond cardboard ‘studs’ to panellised wood products such as plywood, particleboard and MDF. Small-diameter logs from the timber industry are used for external framing and covered outdoor spaces, and cladding is made from forestry residues.

A full-scale prototype has now been completed, thanks to seed funding from the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub's Land and Primary Industries Network.

The full scale prototype will be at Southern Cross University's Lismore campus from 3-5 December.

DROP-IN SESSIONS

When:

Tuesday 3 December – 2:00-5:00pm

Wednesday 4 December – 3:00-6:00pm

Thursday 5 December – 9:00am-12:00pm

WHERE: Near the former UniBar, Southern Cross University, Lismore campus, Military Road, East Lismore

CONTACTS:

Professor Andrew Rose andrew.rose@scu.edu.au Associate Professor Joe Gattas j.gattas@uq.edu.au

In the meantime, you can watch a video about the project here.