Endeavour Bulletin issue 12, Jan 2010, pages 3-4. more

Issue twelve | January 2010 In this Issue Welcome to the twelfth issue of the Endeavour Bulletin, the ENewsletter devoted to our Endeavour Award Holders and Alumni. This newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with the Endeavour Awards and to provide you with information on other activities that may be of interest to you. This issue we invite you to read about the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award Holders, to enjoy stories of our Award Holders and Alumni and the announcement of the second round of the 2010 Endeavour Awards. The Endeavour Awards team hope that you all had a safe and enjoyable holiday season and wish you all a happy new year. Announcement of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards On 25 November, after a rigorous application process, 40 of Australia’s most outstanding university students were named as the inaugural 2010 recipients of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards. The recipients flew from all over Australia and overseas, to attend an intensive 3 day induction program in Canberra. The purpose of the induction program was to announce and celebrate their success, while also preparing them to commence their Awards from early 2010 and gain the most from the experience. It provided an opportunity for the Award Holders to meet each other and their support agencies, as well as network with government, diplomatic, business and university representatives. Picture of Award Holder Katrie Lowe with Colin Walters. The following day the Award Holders met the Prime Minister, The Hon Kevin Rudd MP and Deputy Prime Minister, The Hon Julia Gillard MP at Parliament House for morning tea. The Prime Minister congratulated them on their Awards and highlighted the opportunity and importance for them to build relationships and long term collaborations through the program. The days briefing program included information on the support and professional networks available, On arrival the Award Holders had the opportunity to administration systems of the Awards and presentations informally meet each other and introduce themselves and from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, their study programs. They were also officially presented Austraining International, as well as presentations from with their Award certificate by the Group Manager of Endeavour Awards Alumni. International Group, Colin Walters. www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Issue twelve | January 2010 | Page 2 University of Melbourne Award Holders at Parliament House. allowed me to see that, and begin exposure to influential and energetic actors in the region. Thank you!” “The opportunity for Award Holders to meet one another was invaluable. The dinner was also extremely helpful in terms of networking” One of the key aims of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards is to facilitate high level networking opportunities for Award Holders. The Awards dinner on day two brought diplomatic, business and academic representatives from all over Asia and Australia together, along with representatives from DEEWR and other Australian Government agencies. This event gave the Award Holders their first opportunity to personally meet a wide range of representatives from networks supportive of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards. Picture of Australian Award Holders Equally impressed were representatives who attended the dinner and the associated events. They were delighted with the talent of the Prime Minister’s Award Holders. An example of the talent is Patrick Mayoh; who spoke on behalf of the Award Holders at the dinner. Patrick Mayoh. Awards Holders with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister The final morning’s breakfast function gave them an opportunity to meet Award Holders and Alumni from the broader Endeavour Awards, to relax and share information and experiences before travelling back home to begin preparations for their overseas experience. Patrick will undertake studies in international relations, foreign affairs, domestic and international law and Chinese politics, at Peking University in China. He is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Studies (Chinese) and a Bachelor of Law at the Australian The induction was considered to be extremely valuable to National University (ANU). Patrick has previously completed a bachelor of history and has been awarded the Award Holders; the AL Bacham Prize for First Year History at the ANU “Previously I was unaware of the real gains that could be and the ANU Chinese Language Scholarship in 2008. made for the development and regional engagement He has received the ANU National Achievement through my personal networking. This opportunity has Scholarship for the past three years running. www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Issue twelve | January 2010 | Page 3 In addition, Patrick is President of the ANU chapter of the committees of the university. Seeing the staff and board deliberate on crucial issues was both a learning and very Australia-China Youth Association and a Past satisfying experience. Scholarship Recipient with the Australia-China Council Alumni. Not only did my Endeavour Executive Award allow me to develop a greater knowledge of academic administration, “Not only has the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards attracted hard-working students with but I also gained extensive networks. a shared interest in enhancing Australia’s relationships in On the whole my stint in Sydney was a very heartthe Asia region, the Award is remarkable in it depth and warming and wholesome experience. The weather was diversity. This Award will see 40 young Australians travel wonderful and the interactions I had with students, to kaleidoscopic mix of countries in the Asia region general and academic staff of UNSW, most of who including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, the belonged to a cohort of nationalities, was a great Republic of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The variety of experience. It is an experience of its own to see people study areas is also remarkable, from Sinology to Speech from such varied backgrounds working so harmoniously Therapy, from Urban Development to Nanoscience and to make UNSW a warm and adorable place for a student, from Engineering to Cancer Research” – Patrick Mayoh. an academic and an academic administrator like me. For further information including the list of the 2009 Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award recipients, go to: www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Endeavour Alumni in Focus: Dr Asheesh Kumaar Dr Asheesh Kumaar, Deputy Registrar from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, came to Australia to undertake an Endeavour Executive Award. Dr Kumaar’s Award focus Dr Asheesh Kumar (8th person from the left) with the Vice was academic administration, and his Host Chancellor’s Advisory Committee. Organisation, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), was the perfect place for him to undertake his professional development. He returned home in October, and recently emailed the Endeavour Awards Team, letting us know about his time in Australia. Dr Bortolotti is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, in the United “I have completed the Endeavour Executive Award at Kingdom. She came to Australia to undertake UNSW. The Endeavour Executive Award provided me her Endeavour Research Fellowship from July with just the opportunity I had been longing to have, but never knew that it would come this way. It’s all thanks to to December 2008. As a result of her research, she wrote a monograph entitled “Delusions and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and my Host Supervisor, Professor Other Irrational Beliefs” which was published in November by Oxford University Press, in the Jennie Lang. International Perspectives in Philosophy and The objectives for the Award included insight into the Psychiatry series. Endeavour Alumni in Action: Dr Lisa Bortolotti UNSW’s new and innovative approaches in higher education, development of university programs, expansion in support services, quality insurances and improved policies and other many other educational insights that such a prominent university has to show. These insights were all a result of being given free access into the various academic as well as administrative areas with cheerful promptness. “I was an Endeavour Research Fellow at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science (MACCS) at Macquarie University. Together with the cognitive psychologists in the centre, and in particular, the Delusions and Hypnosis Group, I worked on the phenomenon of delusions, those often bizarre beliefs that people may report when they suffer from schizophrenia, dementia and other psychiatric disorders.   Not only was I given free access, UNSW also allowed me At MACCS I had the opportunity to learn about the most to participate in the various key decision making recent and best established theories about the formation www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Issue twelve | January 2010 | Page 4 At the University of Sydney, I was enthralled by the student culture amidst the backdrop of the beautiful and historic Camperdown campus. The University of Sydney was also right next to the eclectic district of Newton and As a result of my research, I wrote a monograph, which charming Glebe. I was pleased to take courses at the St. was recently published. I argue that delusions are James campus where I was right in the heart of the CBD. continuous with the beliefs we all have. As many ordinary I took innumerable ferry rides just so I could gaze at the beliefs, delusions may fail to be rational and may not be Opera House fro the Sydney Harbour. Sydney is a endorsed with consistency, but they interact with other beautiful city and New South Wales is brimming with beliefs, desires and preferences, and guide action. places to see – beaches, national parks and interesting Without the close collaboration with staff at MACCS, this towns, suburbs and districts. project wouldn’t have been genuinely interdisciplinary. I made unforgettable friends, from different nationalities Now it produced a resource that will be of use to and cultures. Despite how different we seemed to be, we philosophers of the mind, cognitive psychologists and were so alike. With these friends I travelled around psychiatrists alike. Moreover, thanks to the Endeavour Australia visiting all the capital cities. I loved Kangaroo Research Fellowship, I met people who continue to be Island, the Great Ocean Road, Fraser Island and interested in collaborating and are planning further Tasmania. I hope I will have the opportunity to come projects with me, linking cognitive psychology and back and see more of Australia. philosophy”. My stay in Australia was indeed life changing. It gave me Lisa Bortolotti at Shelly Beach, more confidence as a Lawyer, dealing with a globalised NSW field. Back home, I intend to teach law and in the future, focus more in special projects for energy, oils and gas, and infrastructure; all essential for economic development in the Philippines”. of delusions, and heard about many interesting clinical cases, which helped me gain a better understanding of what delusions are. May Rose Tan at Kangaroo Island, SA. Endeavour Alumni in Action: May Rose Tan May Rose Tan completed her Endeavour Postgraduate Award in August. Since returning home to the Philippines, she has been promoted to Manager, Energy and Banking, by her employer, San Miguel Corporation. She emailed the Endeavour Awards team to share her good news, and to tell us about her Endeavour experience. “2008 was the perfect year for me, a corporate lawyer from the Philippines, to come to Australia. Through the Endeavour Postgraduate Award, I was able to achieve my goals of obtaining a Master of Laws degree from a reputable university, to experience living in another country and meet people from all over the world. Endeavour Awards in Focus: Anpalagan Sockalingam Anpalagan is an Endeavour Executive Award Holder from Malaysia. Not only has Anpalagan managed to meet his Award objectives of gaining insight into Nanotechnology applications, but he was instrumental in linking up his host institution with the Consul General of Malaysia. Anpalagan is due to finish his Award shortly and emailed the Endeavour Awards Team to share his Endeavour experience. “It has been a very fulfilling experience being with the Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group (MANRG), at Murdoch University for the past three www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Issue twelve | January 2010 | Page 5 months. It has been truly rewarding to be able to meet my objective to gain knowledge on nanotechnology specifically on its application for environmental purposes. To top it up, being able to contribute to my host institute was equally fulfilling. While I’ve been in Perth, I have had the opportunity to meet the Madam Hamidah Ashari, the Malaysian Consul General, based in Perth. As part of my knowledge sharing and to establish strong links, I invited Madam Hamidah to visit the nanotechnology group and its faculty at Murdoch University. Despite her busy schedule, she accepted the invitation and remarked that she gained valuable insight to some of the leading edge research work being done. She was very thankful to Murdoch University for the opportunity to establish a direct link with Malaysia. The analysis of the variation of swim speed and acceleration with dive characteristics (i.e. dive depth, dive duration, time spent at sea) can provide key information to enhance the study of foraging success of these predators. This information will then be used to further develop foraging models for these species. Susan expects that her six month Endeavour Research Fellowship will lead to the publication of their results in a scientific journal. Another aim of her collaborative project is the submission of a collaborative Post Doctoral research proposal between her home organisation and the Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit (AWRU) from the University of Tasmania, in Hobart, Tasmania. She recently spent more than a month on a remote Antarctic island undertaking fieldwork with the AWRU. During this time Susan deployed several satellite and I believe that in addition to the professional development accelerometers tags on female Southern Elephant Seals during their breeding season on Elephant Island, I have gained, the establishment of such a strong Antarctica. This information is needed given the network is invaluable. On an individual level, I have predictions for ecosystem changes in the Antarctic gained a good understanding of the potential of nanotechnology applications and I intend to continue and systems within the coming decades due to expected strengthen the links established with my Host Supervisor climate change and increase in fisheries and tourism activity. along with the other networks and contacts I’ve established”. The Endeavour Awards team recently received some photos that Susan took during her time in Antarctica. Left to right: Host Supervisor Dr. Eddy Gerrard Jai Poinern, Madam Hamidah Ashari the Consul General of Malaysia and Anpalagan Sockalingam. Endeavour Awards in Action: Susan Gallon Susan Gallon came from the United Kingdom in September 2009 to undertake her Endeavour Research Fellowship at the University of Tasmania. Her Award focus is predator-prey relationships in foraging seals in the Southern Antarctic Ocean. Susan will analyse data obtained from electronic telemetry devices to investigate the swimming behaviour of wild southern elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals at sea. www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Issue twelve | January 2010 | Page 6 Congratulations! Marie dela Rama was an Australian Endeavour Research Fellow from the University of Technology Sydney, who travelled to the Philippines. She completed her Endeavour Research Fellowship in 2007. Marie emailed the Endeavour Awards Team to let us know that she recently had a journal article published in Pensions, which stemmed from her 2007 fieldwork which was funded by her Endeavour Award. The article is called “Pension funds in a highly politicised environment: The case of the Philippines”. Dr Maya Kumari was an Endeavour Research Fellow from the Banaras Hindu University, India. She came to the University of Western Australia in 2008. As a result of the research conducted while undertaking her Endeavour Award, she has recently had her work published. Her work is titled “Albinism in Plants: A Major Bottleneck in Wide Hybridization, Androgenesis and Doubled Haploid Culture” and was published in the Critical Re`views in Plant Science. Abid Hussainy recently completed his Endeavour Executive Award at the University of Melbourne, which saw him travel to Australia from Pakistan. While undertaking his Award, Abid visited a number of water corporations, including Gippsland Water. Gippsland water recently featured an article about him and the work he is doing in “Waterwords”, Gippsland Water’s internal newsletter. The professional development he gained will be beneficial in his role within the Planning and Development Department of the Government of Punjab. If you have had your research published recently, or have been profiled in a publication, send it through to us (endeavour.promotions@deewr.gov.au), so we can let your fellow Endeavour Alumni know! Second round of applications for the 2010 Endeavour Awards Now Open! We are pleased to announce that a second round of applications for 2010 Endeavour Awards is now open and closing on 31 January 2010 for commencement of Awards from July 2010. This second round is for: • • • Endeavour Executive Awards Endeavour Research Fellowships (for outgoing Australians only) Endeavour Research Fellowships for Indigenous Australians We encourage you to share information about these opportunities with your networks. Please visit the Endeavour Awards website for more information www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au Would you like to contribute to the Endeavour Bulletin? We are always looking for interesting stories, testimonials, photographs and information for the Endeavour Bulletin. If you would like to share your Endeavour Awards story with us, we would love to hear it! Have you recently published your research? Commenced a new job? Simply email us with your stories and we will feature you in an upcoming edition. Please keep your stories to a maximum of 500 words so that we can feature a number of your colleagues in each edition. Is there an event or important research taking place in your region which you would like to share with your fellow Endeavour Alumni? Write to us, and we will include it in the event calendar. Even if you would just like to say ‘hello’ to the Endeavour Alumni team, email us – we really appreciate hearing from you all. If your contact details have changed since completion of your Award, please let us know, so we can stay in touch with you as well! endeavour.alumni@deewr.gov.au www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au