|
|
AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR BIOPHYSICSNewsletter 2002/6 |
Greetings! Another very successful Annual Conference of the Society was held recently in Melbourne. The standard of the oral and poster presentations was excellent and the meeting was very well organised. Congratulations to Paul Gooley and the Organising Committee for a job well done and thanks to everyone who participated, in particular our invited speakers from near and far. The conference reflected very nicely both the diversity of our field and the friendly character of our Society. The number of registrants (around 95, making it one of our larger meetings) was large enough to ensure a lively conference but small enough to maintain the informality which is an enjoyable feature of our annual conferences.
A number of outcomes of the conference deserve special mention:
The conference saw the inauguration of an invited lecture in honour of Sir Rutherford (Bob) Robertson’s contribution to biophysics in Australia, as well as to Australian science generally. The inaugural medallist was Professor Hans Coster, who was presented with a medal and a cheque and presented a lecture at that conference. The medal was inaugurated to recognise outstanding contributions to biophysics and Hans’ entertaining lecture provided a fascinating insight into the contributions he has made to the field of membrane properties and structure, as well as to the development of biophysics in Australia. Congratulations Hans on this well-deserved award.
Congratulations also to the winners of the 2002 ASB Young Biophysicist Award, Louise Brown (UNSW), and Student Presentation Awards, Till Boecking (UNSW) and Phillip Parker (La Trobe). It is very pleasing to see the high quality of work being carried out by all of our student presenters.
The 2002 AGM in Melbourne also sees some new faces on ASB Council. Welcome to David Keizer (Victorian Rep), Jackie Wilce (WA rep) and Geoff Barnes (NZ rep). And many thanks to the retiring members Paul Gooley, Boris Martinac and Simon Brown, respectively, for their contributions to the society over the past few years. Boris was elected as Vice-President (President Elect), Peter Barry takes over as President, and Ray Norton becomes Immediate Past President, co-opted to the Executive.
A few members of the Executive met briefly with students attending ASB 2002 to ask if they had any suggestions as to how the conference could be improved in future years, or more broadly whether there were ways the Society could better serve their needs in future. The consensus was that they were happy with both the conference and the Society, but it was agreed that we’d follow this up with a brief questionnaire to provide another opportunity for input. In the meantime, if students, or indeed supervisors, have any suggestions for improvement please pass them on to anyone on the Executive.
The 2003 Annual Conference will be held in Adelaide. The organising committee will be chaired by our SA rep David Saint (david.saint@adelaide.edu.au). As usual, we’ll take the opportunity to run the Conference adjacent to another conference that some of our members would attend. There is an international toxins conference (International Society for Toxinology World Congress, see Meetings Page for details) in September which might be suitable, in which case our conference dates would be Friday September 19 - Saturday September 20. But if you know of other possibilities, please let David know now, as a final decision will be made in the near future on the time and venue.
If you didn’t get around to contacting Boris Martinac about what you’d like to see for the 2004 conference, here’s a final reminder:
Preparations for the ComBio 2004 in Perth have started, with the formation of the local Organizing Committee. Local members of the ASBMB and ASB discussed the possibilities of the ASB 2004 Meeting becoming a part of the ComBio. It was suggested that the ASB be a part of ComBio, similar to what the ASBMB, ANZSCDBI and ASPP/ASPS did in the past, i.e. have a combined conference (combined sessions and topics), but keep the individual society events separate (e.g. conference dinner, award ceremonies, poster sessions, annual meeting). From a scientific standpoint it would be advantagous to be a part of ComBio as opposed to running as a satellite as was done in the past. Taking into account, however, that the cost could be a significant factor in making a decision of being part of ComBio, a possible downside could be if the registration for ComBio were too much for the ASB members who were not attracted to the rest of ComBio. ASB members are asked to express their opinions and comment on their preference (i.e. being part of ComBio or not) for the ASB Meeting in 2004 in Perth. Boris’ email is bmartinac@receptor.pharm.uwa.edu.au
This question was discussed at the 2002 AGM and Boris undertook to obtain further information and get back to members about options once he returns from sabbatical leave in February. There was concern that ASB might get submerged in a large meeting. Participation in ComBio would be contingent on maintaining the collegiality of ASB conferences we value so highly.
A further plea on this issue: Adelle Coster has been doing a great job in updating the ASB website (www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/ASB/) but we’d like to expand its information content even further. There are already links from the ASB site to a number of members’ individual websites, but we’d like to add more so that visitors to the site get a broad view of what we as biophysicists do. Please send details of your site to Adelle (A.Coster@unsw.edu.au).
Similarly, if you have any images from your work that could be included, please consult Adelle.
The task of putting together this Newsletter has been the responsibility of the President to date, and we intend to maintain that tradition (despite Peter Barry’s generous offer to allow me to keep doing it!).
So this will be the last issue you receive from me. Please contact Peter in future if you have suggestions for how it might be improved. For example, should we move to a pdf format? Are there other items you’d like to see included?
Let me also take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the upcoming holiday period. For those of you in Australian academic institutions: enjoy your few days off before grant writing and teaching preparation start again in January!
Contribution welcome!
January 9 – 11, 2003. Manly Pacific Parkroyal Hotel, Sydney
The scientific program includes the following topics :
The 40 invited speakers are from Australia, NZ, USA, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.
The number of attendees is limited to 100, so we encourage you to register immediately. Registration is $400 and includes attendance at all sessions, breaks, lunches and conference dinner. Accommodation is available at the hotel at $190-$210 per night per room.
For registration, hotel accommodation booking and further information about the conference, please contact Tony Collings (ph: 02 9413 7148, email: anthony.collings@csiro.au) or Christa Critchley (ph: 07 3365 3470, m: 0407 639 394, email: C.Critchley@botany.uq.edu.au)
The Australian Neuroscience Society meeting will be held in the Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, January 28-31, 2003. The Abstract and earlybird registration deadline is October 25, 2002. Abstract submission and registration is available on line. Further details may be found on http://www.ans.org.au/nextmeet.htm.
Melbourne University. January 29-31, 2003. Email: contact.us@synchrotron.vic.gov.au
2-7 February, 2003. La Trobe University, Mt Buller, Australia
Registration is now open. Please use the hyperlink for information on the
scientific programme, registration, accommodation and deadlines. www.zoo.latrobe.edu.au/iccpb
The (US) Biophysical Society meeting will be held in San Antonio, Texas, March 1-5, 2003. Further details on www.biophysics.org.
Toronto Canada, July 20-24, 2003.
Call for Abstracts, Preliminary Program and Registration Bulletin is now
available.
See http://www.iubmb2003.org
Deadline for electronic submission of abstracts is January 17, 2003.
The 14th World Congress on Animal, Plant and Microbial Toxins will be held in Adelaide, September 14-19, 2003. For further information, contact Julian White (toxinaus@wch.sa.gov.au).
Supramolecular Structure and Function. Rovinj (Red Island), Croatia
September 14-26, 2003. See http://www.irb.hr/biophysics2003/.
APHYS-2003 will be held in Badajoz (Spain), October 15-18, 2003. The website is http://www.formatex.org/aphys2003/aphys2003.htm. All branches of Physics will be covered in this event, which will be specially interested in interdisciplinary research (biomedical engineering, nanobiotecnology, adhesion, imaging techniques, environmental physics and chemistry, etc). Another special feature of the Conference will be the promotion of presentation of results of European Projects (financed by some of the Operational Programs of the EU or any other multinational R&D Iniciatives), as well as the promotion of contacts and meetings for creating multinational thematics networks directed to the future presentation of joint projects.
Antonio Mendez Vilas. APHYS-2003 Coordinator
The Academy sends occasional summaries of its activities. For full details may I suggest you visit their website ( http://www.science.org.au). Their most recent summary is included below.
The Academy is in the process of revamping the National Committee structure (see Newsletter 2002/3). We await word on how biophysics will be represented following the demise of the National Committee for Biophysics.
The Academy hosted a workshop for Major National Research Facility (MNRF) directors on 12 December at Ian Potter House. The workshop brought together the directors or senior representatives of all 15 MNRFs, together with members of the steering group of the Academy's research infrastructure project. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate inter-MNRF cooperation in the future and to assist the Academy in developing the case for a one-line item in the Federal budget for MNRF funding. Following an initial discussion of the range of challenges faced by each MNRF, attention shifted to areas of common ground between the MNRFs and to identifying ways in which MNRFs could move forward as a group. Several promising suggestions were made as to how MNRFs could cooperate better in the future and agreement was reached on the next steps to be taken in this process.
The open session and Annual General Meeting of the Australian Foundation for Science were held on Monday 18 November. Mr John Ralph, the Foundation's Chairman, chaired the proceedings. The Emperor of Japan has recently conferred the award of Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure upon John, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to closer economic relations between Australia and Japan.
Two of the Foundation's very successful projects were showcased at the open session - the Nova: Science in the news website and Video Histories of Australian Scientists. Professor John McKenzie gave an overview of the ten Nova technology topics that were funded by the National Innovation Awareness Strategy. I was pleased to introduce the video interviews which showed the winners of this year's Prime Minister's Science Prizes - Professor Frank Fenner, Professor Marcela Bilek and Dr Joel Mackay. It is always a pleasure to acknowledge excellent science and the video interviews are a wonderful resource for raising awareness of Australia's scientific talent and achievement.
I was pleased to accompany Bob May to meetings with the Prime Minister, John Howard, and with the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson. Our conversations revolved around the theme that science is the bedrock of the economy. Science Minister, Peter McGauran, graciously hosted a small dinner for Bob May, officers of the Academy, and senior science policy makers, in Parliament House.
Thirty new CRC grants were announced:
http://www.dest.gov.au/ministers/mcg/dec02/mr_108_101202.htm.
Eight Centres of Excellence, selected by the Australian Research Council
(ARC) to share almost $90 million over the next five years to undertake leading
edge research, were also announced:
http://www.dest.gov.au/ministers/nelson/dec02/n261_121202.htm.
The Craig Medal for research in any branch of chemistry:
Professor Michael Bruce, FAA, University of Adelaide
The Lyle Medal for research in mathematics or physics:
Professor George Dracoulis, FAA, Australian National University
The Haddon King Medal for mineral exploration:
Dr Ken McCracken, FAA
The Jaeger Medal for research into the solid earth or its oceans:
Professor Andrew Gleadow, FAA, University of Melbourne
The Ian Wark Medal for contributions to the prosperity of Australia:
Professor Graeme Jameson FAA, University of Newcastle
The Fenner medal for research in biology (excluding the biomedical sciences):
Dr Andrew Young, CSIRO Plant Industry
The Pawsey Medal for research in physics:
Dr Howard Wiseman, Griffith University
The Gottschalk Medal for research in the medical sciences:
Dr Levon Khachigian, University of New South Wales
The Moran Medal for research in statistical sciences:
Dr Nigel Bean, University of Adelaide
The Dorothy Hill Award for research by female scientists in the earth sciences:
Dr Kathryn Trinajstic, University of Western Australia
The Selby Fellowship sponsors distinguished scientists to visit scientific
cetnres in Australia and to deliver public lectures:
Dr Charles Arntzen, Arizona State University
The Conservation of Endangered Species Award offers support for research
on endangered Australian vertebrate species:
Dr Alistair Glen, University of Sydney;
Dr Andrea Taylor, Monash University;
Professor Ross Crozier, James Cook University;
Dr Mark Eldridge, Macquarie University
The Maxwell Ralph Jacobs Awards promotes research in forestry:
Mr Philip Alcorn, Australian National University;
Ms Natalie Kelly, Forest Science Centre, Victoria.
Those honours that are not awarded on an annual basis (Hannan, Lyle, Jaeger and Moran Medals) will be held over for presentation at the AGM in 2004, in celebration of the Academy's 50th Anniversary Year. The 2004 AGM agenda will be crowded with events that celebrate Australian science, so the Flinders Medal and Lecture will be held over to 2005.
The Academy's North America Exchange Committee will meet on 17 December to select researchers to travel to Canada, the USA and Mexico.
Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China are the original founding countries of this symposium, but countries such as Singapore, Australia and India will also participate. Indeed, there will be a few invited speakers from Australia and we are hoping that this conference will foster closer links between ASB and other biophysics societies in Asia, hopefully leading to some joint meetings in the future.
The International Committee would like to invite you to organize Satellite
Meetings to the next 2004 Biophysical Society in Baltimore, Maryland .
We believe this would be a great opportunity to increase our international
liaisons and foster Biophysics around the world.
Please follow the criteria set by the Biophysical Society, so your proposal
can be advertised as a satellite meeting of the Biophysical Society Annual
Meeting:
You can also send me your proposals by e-mail and I will forward them to the next Program Chair. We look forward to receive your proposals.
With best wishes,
Ligia Toro, Ph.D.
Chair, International Committee of the Biophysical Society
Professor, Division of Molecular Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology,
and
Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, BH-509A CHS. Box 957115
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7115
e-mail: ltoro@ucla.edu
Vice-President of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies, Dr David Denham said, "The national research priorities underline the importance of science in Australian society. For some time FASTS has been calling for a national vision to shape the research directions of this country. The national research priorities are an important first step towards this vision".
"Australia needs a national plan for science to make us internationally competitive, while safe-guarding the heritage of this continent and enhancing the quality of life for our population," he said.
The national priorities for An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, and Safeguarding Australia are consistent with the FASTS national research priorities submission to:
Dr Denham said that "The implementation of the national priorities within budgetary constraints presents a significant challenge for government because all the research priorities identified are important and require commensurate funding."
"We particularly welcome the recognition of breakthrough science as a general priority, because it is well known that fundamental research produces unexpected benefits that often aren't realised until decades after the initial breakthrough. It is therefore important not to limit the horizons for basic research by being too prescriptive."
"However, we would expect that the national priorities will provide more direct guidance for planning by government research agencies which engage in applied and strategic research. FASTS looks forward to contributing to the discussion on implementing these research priorities", he said.
Tuesday 12 Nov. The National Press Club lunch was eloquently addressed by Dr Keith Williams, CEO of Proteome Systems Ltd. His company has rapidly expanded to be one of the world forces in proteomics, and employs about 60 PhD graduates). Lunch was followed by a comprehensive Briefing Session for the scientists. Lord Robert May, President of the Royal Society, Robin Batterham, Chief Government Scientist, John Tierney from the Liberal Party, ALP Science spokesperson Kim Carr, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate all contributed to an informative afternoon. Education Minister Brendan Nelson, and Science Minister Peter McGauran hosted a Cocktail Reception at Parliament House.
Wednesday 13 Nov. After breakfast at Old Parliament House, society representatives commenced the rounds of appointments with MPs which continued through-out the day. There was a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition Simon Crean, a Press Conference given by a panel of young scientists and morning tea hosted by the Science Minister Peter McGauran. A new feature this year was a special dinner in the dignified and atmospheric Members’ Dining Room at Old Parliament House, with guests drawn from participating scientists, from business and industry, and from selected Members of Parliament. The after-dinner speaker was Mr Bob Herbert, CEO of the Australian Industry Group. This dinner was arranged as an optional extra for participants wishing to build dialogue with MPs and industry.
The text above is from the FASTS Newsletter. I attended SmP Day this year on behalf of ASB and found it a very worthwhile experience, not so much for the direct discussions with MPs (although they were very valuable) but for the insights gained into the political process and how it can be influenced. Generally speaking, science enjoys an enviable reputation amongst our parliamentarians as something that it is key to Australia’s future. Many were sympathetic to the need for additional funding and emphasized the need to continue to press the case for this in the face of competing demands from many other sources. While we were there the stem cell debate was in progress, which had the advantage of raising the profile of science but the drawback of competing for the parliamentarians’ attention. Overall, the event is very worthwhile and I would encourage members of ASB to participate in future. I don’t believe we can ever sit back and say we’ve done enough to raise the profile of science in parliament; the message needs to be reinforced continually.
The current President, Professor Chris Fell, is now half way through his two-year term of office. Professor Fell welcomed the election of Professor Barlow. He said the position of President of FASTS was a pivotal one.
"Water, new energy sources, the environment, the development of new industries - these are just some of the matters which occupy the minds of Australia's decision-makers, and all of them revolve around science," he said.
"Science is so important to Government, and FASTS is increasingly being called upon to provide the views of working scientists."
Professor Fell said that Professor Barlow's experience would stand him in good stead. "Snow Barlow is a working scientist in areas such as water use and climate change," he said. "Members of Parliament nominated both these issues as being in the top five in our recent 'Science meets Parliament' Day event."
Professor Barlow is a member of a CRC, and has been on Boards or Committees for the R&D Corporations, the Academy of Science and the ARC. He has represented Australia at international treaty discussions on matters such as Greenhouse and Climate Change.
Professor Barlow regards this as a critical time for science in Australia."There are some big issues out there, including the involvement of industry in research investment," he said. "We have to address the morale and vitality of the higher education and research system, and to position science as a career of choice and acknowledged driver of the national economy." Dr John O'Connor of the University of Newcastle is the other new member of the Executive. He was elected to the position of Secretary.
Professor Fell thanked retiring Executive members Jan Thomas and Peter French.
The full Executive is:
|
President: |
Professor Chris Fell |
Ray Norton
President, Australian Society for Biophysics.
December 19, 2002
If you have any comments or suggestions about the web page please email asb@anatomy.usyd.edu.au