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Science and Research - News

► Science and a sustainable world: Views from Australia's Chief Scientist - Brussels, 16 January 2009

Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Penny Sackett, has called on scientists to engage with the public and governments on the scientific, social and political aspects of climate change.

Professor Sackett was in Brussels on Wednesday, 14 January, on her first visit to Europe since her appointment in November 2008.

During a lecture hosted by the Club of Rome on Science, scientists, a sustainable world: Views from Down Under, Professor Sackett focused on the role of scientists in addressing key global challenges like climate change and the importance of international scientific cooperation in this context.

Professor Sackett said inter-disciplinary research and research across the natural and social sciences was vital in dealing with complex problems like climate change.

The Chief Scientist also stressed the importance of science education and scientists as role models in influencing young people to choose science careers.
Professor Sackett said the Australian Government has defined climate change as a key priority because of Australia's particular vulnerability to its effects. Among the Rudd Government's first acts after being elected in November 2007 was to sign the Kyoto Protocol. More recently, it announced concrete plans to reduce carbon emissions by 2020 and beyond. By establishing a Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, the Australian Government has taken the lead in one of the technologies that is used to reduce the effects of CO2 emissions.

Professor Sackett met European Commissioner for Environment, Stavros Dimas, to discuss climate change and areas where Australia and the European Union could collaborate, like water resources and forest fires. She also met representatives of the Directorate General for Research at the European Commission, and members of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures.

The Chief Scientist for Australia provides independent advice to Government on a wide range of scientific and technological issues and her engagement with the science, research and industry communities, learned societies and other governments. For more information on the Chief Scientist for Australia: www.chiefscientist.gov.au.


► Prime Minister's Science Prize - Media release, 16 October 2008

It gives me great pleasure to award the 2008 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science to Professor Ian Frazer.

The award and $300,000 (179,000 Euros) grant recognises Professor Frazer's ground-breaking work in the creation of vaccines which protect against the virus that causes cervical cancer. Two of these, Gardasil and Cervarix, are now available commercially.

Every year, approximately 230,000 women worldwide die from cervical cancer – Professor Frazer's work provides invaluable protection against cervical cancer and makes an enormous contribution to the health of women around the world.

In collaboration with the late Jian Zhou, Professor Frazer created virus-like particles using proteins from the shell of the human papilloma virus. This breakthrough led to the development of the vaccines which prevent infection from the virus responsible for most cervical cancers.

Professor Frazer is also developing two further two vaccines, now in clinical trials, which are designed to treat women who have already been infected with the virus.

To extend the reach and benefits of the vaccines, Professor Frazer and his team are working to make them available in developing countries. He and his colleagues are currently working in Vanuatu and Nepal to understand how best to establish and run much-needed vaccination programs.

 

► Address by Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd, to Prime Minister's Prizes for Science, Canberra, 16 OCTOBER 2008

I am delighted to join you this evening as we recognise and promote scientific excellence:
excellence in scientific research, and
excellence in teaching science and inspiring the next generation of Australian scientists.

Science and innovation underpin the continued improvements in living standards that we in the modern world take for granted.

Scientific discovery and application is the reason why we now live longer and healthier lives, why we can communicate globally at almost zero cost and retrieve information from any part of the world through the internet.

Our lives continue to be transformed by the new frontiers in science.

As our world continues to change rapidly, and the global economy is transformed by the rise of China and India, science is going to become more critically important to our future.

As an economy, Australia can’t compete against the large emerging economies on price alone.

We will never have the scale or the low labour costs that will make us cheaper than those nations.

But we can compete through education, innovation and excellence.

That is why science plays such an important role in the Government’s vision for Australia’s future – for a stronger economy, and for competing successfully in the global economy of the 21st century.

Science is also critical to tackling the challenges of the future:
- putting Australia in front in clean green energy and other climate change technologies;
- creating the fulfilling, high skill jobs of the future;
- achieving breakthroughs in medical research that can help the management and cure of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and dementia;
- ensuring a strong future for our rural industries and communities, as they face water shortages yet growing world food demand.

Australia needs a strong base of science teaching and scientific research – in our schools, universities, government agencies, and our research organisations.

That means in particular that more must be done to retain our best and brightest scientists and researchers within Australia – or giving them good reasons to come home.

Australia has a strong record of scientific achievement. But we can still do better.

Consider the facts:
A decade ago Australia was ranked 16th out of 28 countries for the strength of our research collaboration between industry and universities. The most recent evaluation in 2004 saw Australia’s position collapse to being the bottom of the table.

Australia has only 8 PhDs per thousand people in the workforce, compared to 11 per thousand in the United States, 20 per thousand in Germany, and 28 per thousand in Switzerland.

I believe we can turn this around.
Not overnight.
Not in one Budget.
Not even in the life of one Parliament.

But with a long term vision for science policy, we can capture the creativity and ingenuity of our people and build a more prosperous future for the country.

Even now, we produce 3 per cent of the world’s research papers with just 0.3 per cent of the world’s population.

In a world where most scientific discovery and application will occur offshore, it makes sense that a major part of our science strategy is to build stronger ties to the international science community.

That has been a priority for the Government in our first year in office.

Australia has established the Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology.

Australia has become the first associate member of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, a multinational facility dedicated to basic research.

And in August, the New Zealand government agreed to support and campaign for Australia’s bid to host the $2 billion square-kilometre array radio telescope.

This iconic project won’t just revolutionise our understanding of the universe – it would also have a transforming impact on scientific endeavour here in Australia.

Winning this project, which is being jointly developed by researchers in 19 nations, would have an enormously beneficial impact on Australian science.

The Australian Government has committed over $100 million to this initiative.

If Australia is successful, we stand to benefit from a potential multi-billion dollar investment.

This Government believes science has an important role to play in informing the policy making process.

I strongly believe in evidence-based policy.

That includes greater use of scientific evidence in the process of making and evaluating policy.

The Chief Scientist has an important role in providing a scientific input into the policy process, and that is one reason why the Government has upgraded the position of Australia’s Chief Scientist to a full-time role.

I am delighted that Professor Penny Sackett, an outstanding astronomer, will shortly commence her five year appointment to this role as the leader of the nation’s scientific community.

Professor Sackett is a strong advocate for the scientific community and she will play a key role in promoting science across the country – from classrooms to boardrooms, and across the entire nation. Professor Sackett’s valued advice is complemented by the other members of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, which meets twice per year.

The Council gives me the opportunity to hear from scientists directly, on matters as diverse as the regional impacts of climate change, water supplies in our cities, Indigenous healthcare, and new technologies.

When we met last week, we focused on the future of the National Innovation System.

The Review of the National Innovation System, conducted by Professor Terry Cutler, provides policy recommendations for the Government across science, research and innovation.

The Government is reviewing those recommendations and will be responding to the report with a White Paper on innovation policy in the near future.

The Government has already moved to address the urgent priorities facing the science sector.

The first is in teaching.
Australia needs more people studying maths and science.
We need more of those graduates to go back into our school classrooms and teach the next generation of scientists.
That is why our Government is investing $626 million in financial incentives to do just that.
From 1 January next year, new maths and science students will see their HECS fees slashed from over $7,400 to less than $4,200.
The message that sends to students is simple: “We want you to study maths and science, and we’ll back you for making that choice.”
We’re also cutting HECS for maths and science graduates who go into related occupations like teaching these subjects in secondary school or becoming primary school teachers.
Because teaching the next generation is a wonderful use of scientific talent.

The Government is also committed to strengthening scientific research.
We are investing $209 million to double the number of postgraduate scholarships to higher degree research students.
We are investing $326 million to create 1,000 mid-career Future Fellowships.
And we are investing $239 million for our new Laureate Fellowships program.

Together, these three initiatives provide a boost across the research spectrum – higher degree, mid-career and peak of career researchers.

Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of those who have dedicated their lives to scientific endeavour.

The achievements of each of tonight’s winners are truly world-class.

There are fewer greater contributions a person can make to our society than dedicating themselves to breakthroughs in human knowledge and to passing scientific understanding on to the next generation.

So tonight, I join you in applauding these achievers for their dedication and excellence.

And I look forward to our nation producing many more such examples of excellence in coming years.

► $5.2 million for new international research projects: strong focus on cooperation with Europe, August 2007

Australia is set to benefit from increased international science collaboration with funding of $AU 5.2 million for 19 new research projects announced today by the Australian Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP.
Fourteen of the successful projects involve collaboration with European partners.

The projects are in a range of emerging high-priority areas such as research in microphotonics and exploring plant productivity through researching leaf growth in plants.

“World-class science is currently being undertaken in Australia and these projects allow these leading researchers to participate further in the international science community, enriching our partnership with other countries.” said Minister Bishop.

The 19 successful projects are being awarded under Round 12 of the International Science Linkages (ISL) Competitive Grants scheme.

Out of the 19 projects, 7 involve cooperation under the EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and 9 involve cooperation with European partners.

Cooperation projects relating to Europe cover a wide-range of research areas including:

• Researching a gene-therapy treatment as part of efforts to find a cure for diabetes;
• Examining wheat and barley genomes with a view to developing plant types able to deal with climate changes;
• Developing inexpensive, robust and lightweight flexible colour computer displays; and
• Identifiying novel microbial technologies for improved treatment of industrial wastewater.

The ISL Competitive Grants scheme is part of the Australian Government’s ten-year, $AU 8.3 billion Backing Australia’s Ability initiative, with the next funding round open in February 2008. 

For further information about International Science Linkages, and for information on the projects, please check: http://www.dest.gov.au/science/isl


► New Funding for Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder - 10 May 2007

The Australian Government has announced on 8 May that it will provide new funding of AUD 56.7 million (€34 million) over four years until 2011 to develop and build the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope. This funding will also cover other activities aimed at positioning Australia as the preferred site of the proposed international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

The funding package includes:
• AUD 51.7 million (€31 million) for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to develop and build the ASKAP radio telescope; and
• AUD 5 million (€3 million) for other activities related to the development of the proposed international SKA radio telescope, including participating in a proposed European Union Framework Programme 7 SKA preparatory study.

The new funding is in addition to AUD 49.2 million (€ 29.5 million) already committed by the Australian Government to the ASKAP project, bringing the total Australian Government contribution to AUD 105.9 million (€63.6 million).

The European Union attaches importance to the development of the SKA and has included it among 35 other priority projects in the Future Infrastructures Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).

The ASKAP will be an important test bed for SKA technology and one of the world’s foremost radio telescopes in its own right. The ASKAP is expected to attract further international scientific collaboration and research partnerships.

The SKA radio telescope is currently under development by scientists from 17 countries. Among the countries participating in SKA research and development are seven EU Member States: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

If it proceeds, the SKA will be a next generation radio telescope developed and built by the international community. It is expected to be 50-100 times more sensitive than any telescope currently available, able to probe key questions in cosmology and physics, including the early origins of the universe.


► Australian science 2006

Science and Technology has always been an essential part of Australia. The Aborigines developed a sophisticated collection of tools and practices which enabled them to live in every region of Australia from deserts, tropical rainforests, coastal and highland regions.

European settlers used science and technology to underpin the development of agriculture, mining and public health, all elements which continue to make Australia the developed and advanced country it is today.

In 2006 Australian science achievements ranged from major biomedical discoveries – a vaccine to fight cervical cancer, a genetic underpinning for reading, to remarkable information about our unique plants and animals, and new insights into the our galaxy and the universe.

The Australian Government’s goal is for Australia to build a world-class innovation system. This depends on effective partnerships between governments at all levels, researchers and business, to share the substantial financial investment necessary and to ensure that ideas move smoothly from generation to end use. The total Government investment in science and innovation programmes is around A$52 billion. The investment aims to help people enhance their capacity to generate new ideas and turn those ideas into new products and services, creating jobs, wealth and other benefits for Australia and internationally.

Discoveries in 2006 included:

World’s fastest wireless link
Researchers working for Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) demonstrated in December the world’s fastest and most efficient wireless link.They achieved over six gigabits per second over a point to point wireless connection with the highest efficiency (2.4bits/s/Hz) ever achieved for such a system.  At the demonstration, the team transmitted 16 simultaneous streams of DVD quality video over a 250 metre link with no loss of quality or delays. This impressive demonstration nevertheless only utilises one quarter of the capacity of the link.

Aussie team makes landmark insulin discovery
A team of CSIRO scientists has determined the molecular structure of the insulin receptor, the protein on the surface of cells that mediates the effects of insulin.
The discovery reported in Nature is sure to lead to further important developments in the ongoing quest to understand the complexities of insulin’s actions.

Reading genes
Being able to recognise words visually when learning to read is affected by different genes to those used to sound out words, according to University of Melbourne research. The results are a breakthrough in understanding how reading is learned, and will bring further insight to the phonics debate.

Brain scan breakthrough helps predict schizophrenia
University of Melbourne researchers have shown that brain scans can be used to predict how well young people will recover from early psychotic episodes that occur in mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Hay fever relief
Relief may be close for the millions of people around the world who suffer from seasonal allergies to the pollen of perennial ryegrass.
In an innovative use of biotechnology, researchers in Melbourne have developed a new ryegrass with significantly reduced levels of pollen allergens that cause the sneezing and itchy eyes of hay fever.

Fossil fish supports Aussie crawl theory
The discovery of a perfectly preserved fish fossil by Australian researchers has added further weight to the theory that ancient four-legged animals (tetrapods) may have first moved onto the land in Australia, rather than in the Northern Hemisphere as previously assumed.

Pick up your crying baby
Parents should listen to their instincts and pick up their newborn babies when they cry, according to researchers from the Queensland University of Technology.
Many parents are unsure if they should pick up their baby when their baby cries. "Our study says, pick them up. Babies in the first 12 weeks of their life need highly responsive parents. They want and need a parent that is responsive to their cries,” said Professor Thorpe from Queensland University of Technology.

Help babies breathe easier
Studies of the lung function of newborn rabbits by researchers, in Melbourne’s Monash University, have revealed it can take more than two hours for the lungs to fully fill with air. This finding could lead to better ways to treat premature babies who may have to be artificially ventilated because their lungs are not fully developed.

Bionic nerves
A woven plastic tube infused with chemicals that encourage new nerve growth may allow patients with severed nerves in their arms and legs to regain the full use of their limbs. The tube is being developed by researchers at Bionic Technologies Australia, a spin out from the Bionic Ear Institute – the team responsible for the Bionic Ear.

Scientists copy the brilliance of a leaf
A University of Sydney research team has created synthetic copies of the light-harvesting molecules found in plants.  The best leaves can harvest up to 40 per cent of the light falling on them. The Sydney researchers have constructed synthetic porphyrins made from carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms.

Making coal cleaner
University of Queensland researchers has developed unique hollow fibre technology that can separate oxygen from air, making the process of capturing carbon dioxide in coal-fired power stations much easier. The process happens at the start, before the coal is even burnt, which reduces the cost of removing oxygen as well as making the capture of CO2 easier.

Marathon jellyfish
Research conducted in waters off tropical Queensland has taken scientists a step closer to understanding the secret lives of deadly box jellyfish. During the last stinger season (2005 to 2006) researchers radio tagged and tracked box jellyfish. The research confirmed that some were capable long- distance swimmers." One individual covered more than seven kilometres over a 17-hour period of constant movement."

Mystery solved by kangaroo and platypus
Australian scientists have unravelled a mystery of the origins of two debilitating human genetic diseases by studying the kangaroo and platypus genome.
Researchers, from the Australian National University in Canberra, studied the genes which contribute to Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) and Angelman Syndrome (AS).

Royal jelly – bee brain food from bacterial genes
The sticky, nutritious bee secretion given to future queen bees, royal jelly, is related to ancient bacteria genes which developed a new role in the honey bee, scientists from The Australian National University have discovered.

Ancient marine reptiles
A team led by University of Adelaide palaeontologist Dr Benjamin Kear has identified two new species of ancient marine reptiles that swam the shallow waters of an inland sea in Australia 115 million years ago. Umoonasaurus and Opallionectes belonged to a group of animals called plesiosaurs.

Stars 'heartbeats'
A United States-Australian research team found that a “magnetar” – a kind of star with the strongest magnetic fields known in the Universe – is giving off extraordinary radio pulses, which links this rare type of star with the much more common “radio pulsars”.

Surfing in Alice Springs
Two billion years ago, Australia existed only in pieces. Northern, western and central Australia all belonged to different continents. Kate Selway, a PhD student at the University of Adelaide has found evidence for a collision between northern and central Australia which happened 1.64 billion years ago. "If you looked south from Alice Springs before that time, you would have seen an ocean," Selway says.

Cervical cancer vaccine
University of Queensland Professor Ian Frazer and Dr Jian Zhou (now deceased) created a vaccine to tackle prevent cervical cancer, which kills approximately 270,000 women each year, worldwide. The vaccine, commercialised by Merck as Gardisil, is now available in Australia and the US.

Find out more
In April 2007 science journalists from across the world will congregate in Melbourne for the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists. The conference website contains more information and contact details for all the discoveries outlined here.

 

► A recipe for Europe?
Demand-Side Innovation Policy – Lessons from Historical and International Experience - November 2006


The use of policies and programs to influence and support industry and economic performance through demand has a long history in many countries. The newly industrialised countries in Asia, specifically Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Korea, and more recently China, have adopted demand-side policies to target and support key industry development.

In Europe, demand-side innovation policy has recently become the focus for discussion. Demand-side innovation policy is one of the priorities of the Finnish Presidency of the European Council; it features prominently in the Aho Report on “Creating an Innovative Europe” and is a key element for a European innovation strategy which was outlined in a recent European Commission Communication on "An Innovation-friendly modern Europe".

Professor Ron Johnston, Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Innovation (ACIIC) at the University of Sydney presented his analysis of demand-side innovation policies, to members of the European Commission and representatives from governments and research institutions at a seminar held at the Australian Embassy in Brussels on 27 October. He examined the experiences in the use of demand-side policies and programs to support industrial research and development, and innovation by a number of countries, and highlighted possible implications for Europe. He identified several challenges in the use of demand-side innovation policies for Europe and offered his advice on how to address some of these challenges.

Professor Ron Johnston is currently a visiting scientist at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. He has worked for more than twenty five years in pioneering better understanding and application of the ways that science and technology contribute to economic and social development, of the possibilities for managing research and technology more effectively, and of insights into the processes and culture of innovation in Australia, Asia and Europe.

To find out more about the Australian Centre for Innovation at the University of Sydney: http://www.aciic.org.au 

 

► Insulin discovery and liver regeneration are two recent major breakthroughs thanks to the contribution of Australian researchers.

     Landmark insulin discovery:

A team from Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has determined the molecular structure of the insulin receptor, the protein on the surface of cells that mediates the effects of insulin. This advance builds on many years of international research to understand how insulin functions in the body. The challenge of solving this structure has thwarted many laboratories worldwide over the last two decades.

The discovery will facilitate future research that might lead to investigations into new therapies for diabetes or cancer. Dr Colin Ward from CSIRO says: ‘This is a landmark achievement that follows on from the discovery of insulin in 1922, the determination of its amino acid sequence in the early 1950s and the determination of the 3D structure of insulin in 1969, each of which involved Nobel Prize winners.’

Contact: Warrick Glynne Warrick.Glynn@csiro.au

Full release is available on the CSIRO website: http://www.csiro.au/csiro/content/standard/ps29k,,.html


     Regenerating hope for liver disease:

A team of scientists from Australia's University of Queensland and Spain's University of Barcelona, has identified a protein essential in the process of liver regeneration, caveolin-1. The discovery could lead to treatments for serious liver diseases such as hepatitis.

Professor Robert Parton, one of the team leaders, said that: ‘Identifying that caveolin-1 is an essential ingredient in the process of liver regeneration brings us a step closer to finding treatments for people whose livers are not able to heal themselves.’ The team members made their discovery by comparing normal mice with mice that were unable to produce caveolin-1. The team's findings have been published in the current edition of the journal Science.

Contact: communications@uq.edu.au

Full release is available on the University of Queensland’s website: http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=10474

 

► Linking Australian science to the world - May 2006

Researchers from the University of Tasmania will receive funding from the Australian Government to participate in a European Union Framework Programme project to develop cost-effective control and prevention strategies for emerging and future food-borne bacteria.

This collaboration is one of nine projects targeting the Australian National Research Priorities which will receive $ (AUD) 2.9 million in funding in this round of the International Science Linkages (ISL) Competitive Grants, part of the Backing Australia’s Ability initiative.

Two other projects that include EU member states are:

The Australian Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP affirmed the Australian Government’s continued commitment to the country’s participation in leading-edge international scientific collaboration.

“This funding will assist Australian researchers to access the latest international scientific knowledge and further demonstrate Australia ’s world-class research effort,” Minister Bishop said.

Details of the successful projects and further information about International Science Linkages and Backing Australia ’s Ability are available at: http://www.dest.gov.au/science/isl

► Australian excellence in research recognised in Europe - May 2006

The achievements of leading Australian scientists in conducting ground-breaking basic research and developing innovative solutions for existing technologies have recently been recognised in connection with two major European prizes.

 

► Australians nominated for European Inventor of the Year Award

An international jury chaired by former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok has nominated inventors from eleven nations for the title of "European Inventor of the Year". The nominees represent nine different countries in Europe , plus Australia and the USA . This new prize for innovation, the joint brainchild of the European Commission and the European Patent Office (EPO), is to be awarded on 3 May at a ceremony in the Autoworld Museum in Brussels. The winners will be honoured by Commission Vice-President and Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen and EPO President Alain Pompidou.

Among the nominees are two Australian scientists, Martin Andrew Green and Stuart Ross Wenham (University of New South Wales, Sydney) who succeeded in converting solar energy directly into electrical power. Based on silicon technology, their solar cells are particularly efficient and also far more cost-effective than their predecessors. They powered the Olympic Village at the Sydney 2000 Games, and in Europe photovoltaic cells based on the Green principle are now the most frequently produced type. Professor Martin Green has already been awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in Stockholm.

Further information on the candidates and the awards ceremony in the Autoworld Museum and notes on accreditation for media representatives wishing to attend the event can be found at: http://www.european-inventor.org.

 

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