eGSA Newsletter

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June 2010

Table of Contents:

• Welcome from the eGSA Director
• Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation and Master of R&D Management News
• Some quick GCRC/MRDM stats
• Where are our students coming from?
• What graduates are saying
• Graduate Profile - Simon McMaster - Graduated 1/2010
• Meet your Moderator - Sally Ferguson, PhD
• Evaluation of our courses
• Did you know....?

Welcome from the eGSA Director

Welcome to the second edition of the eGSA newsletter, published biennially to keep you abreast of our activities. The year is flying by and we’ve been busy bringing online new Masters units, reviewing our non-award Learning Employment Aptitude Program resources and building on relationships with CRCs and universities both domestically and internationally.

In April I travelled with eGSA moderators, Dr Paige Maguire and Mr Michael Doneman, to South Africa to deliver an intense face-to-face supervisor program for lecturers at the Durban University of Technology.  The program was very well received and has led to a request to deliver the program at DUT again in the future.  It has also provided the prospect of further engagement between the South African Technology Network and the ATN universities.

The Durban program was based on the successful course delivered by the e-Grad School to academics from the Royal University of Bhutan in 2009.  Lecturers from that course are now associate supervisors to four new Bhutanese PhD students. 

I hope you enjoy reading our publication and encourage you to send us an email (egsacoordinator@qut.edu.au) if you have any questions or news that may be of interest to our readers.

Rod Wissler

Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation and Master of R&D Management News

New units on offer:

• Principles & Practice of R&D Management (2/2009)
• Capstone R&D Management Project (Summer 2009/10)
• Strategic Issues in R&D Management (Summer 2009/10)
• Managing Research Careers (1/2010)
• Research and Global Sustainability (2/2010)

Some quick GCRC/MRDM stats

• In Semester 1, 2010, unit enrolments increased by approximately 20%
• In 2009, enrolments rose by almost 50% on 2007-08 figures. 

Where are our students coming from?

Our diverse student base continues to widen and includes international postdoctoral researchers, industry professionals and university research staff from a range of universities, institutes and professional bodies including University of Western Australia,  University of Ballarat, Australian National University, Monash University, University of Queensland, James Cook University, University of Canberra, Swinburne University, University of Western Sydney, Edith Cowan University, Lincoln University in NZ, CRC Polymer, Auto CRC, CRC for Oral Health, Smart Services CRC , Heart Foundation, Academic Radiation Oncology at the University of Manchester, Daejin University in Korea, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Bond University Research & Consultancy Services, University of Wollongong’s Research Grants Office.  

What Graduates are saying

• Strategic Issues in R&D Management
  Strategic Issues course is ace! I’m finding it quite challenging but really interesting at the same time. One of the best parts about the subject are the breadth of recorded interviews from various people in the university- it certainly helps situate the ‘theory’ of what we are learning, into many real life contexts.                                    
  Research administrator – National Heart Foundation

  Leadership & Workplace Communication
  Giving an oral presentation of my research on Access Grid was brilliant! This technology was new to me and I can really see its benefits in connecting to other university based researchers. The assessment tasks were great - applying the Gibbs cycle of reflection to the analysis of leaders was very useful. My leadership skills and knowledge were greatly enhanced after doing this course. The moderator was very knowledgeable too. The emotional intelligence forum discussions, tasks and all the readings were excellent.
  University of Queensland student

Graduate Profile – Simon McMaster – Graduated 1/2010

Q: What led you to do the Graduate Certificate?
A: I was studying for my MTech (Textile Technology) at RMIT and I was starting a new business venture at the same time to commercialise my research. I had no experience of commercialisation and this led me to the Graduate Certificate.

Q: What are you doing at the moment (i.e. working? Study - PhD?)
A: At present I am finishing my Masters and preparing to move to Leeds University for my PhD. At the same time we are currently seeking initial funding for our company, Footfalls and Heartbeats, which is going to commercialise my Masters research and also textile sensor research that will be the outcome of the research at Leeds.

Q: What did you expect from the GCRC?
A: I was hoping the GCRC would give me a set of skills to manage my initial research commercialisation and then allow me to manage a team of interdisciplinary scientists in the future.

Q: How was the fit between your expectations of the GCRC and what was delivered?
A: The GCRC course was excellent. I thought that the Knowledge Transfer (KTRC) and Principles and Practice of Research Management units (PPRM) were particularly useful. KTRC showed me the different methods of commercialisation, while PPRM gave me an excellent insight into the regulatory framework and issues that are available to a research manager. The Leadership module also made me think deeply about how I wanted to proceed in the commercial venture I have started and what I saw as the moral and ethical implications of combining research and commercial outcomes. I believe the most valuable part of the modules are the discussion boards, where a wide variety of “world” views makes you think and assess how your research career may impact upon society in general.

Meet your Moderator

Sally Ferguson, PhD
Sally brings a wealth of experience to the Strategic Issues in R&D Management unit offered for the first time in the Masters course  in summer 2009 semester.
A Senior Research Fellow and Assistant Director at the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia, Sally’s research background is in Circadian Rhythms and the way in which they are influenced by the environment, particularly light.  She received her PhD from University of Adelaide in 1998.
At UniSA, Sally’s research has covered a broad range of topics within the field of sleep physiology. Basic research projects supported by the NHMRC and ARC have focussed on the relationship between the temperature system and sleep, and the effects of naps on performance, and the interaction between the sleep and circadian systems to influence human physiology.  She has also conducted a number of government and industry-driven research and consultancy projects. The majority of these have investigated the effects of hours of work (specifically shiftwork patterns) on sleep and performance, and methods for reducing the fatigue-related risk associated with shiftwork.
Sally also teaches in the Human Factors Masters program at UniSA and is doing her own Masters of Arts in Writing.

Evaluation of our courses

Last year we began inviting students to complete a survey that asks them to consider their research career plans and to identify the particular capabilities they associate with their chosen plan.  On completion of the Graduate Certificate, new graduates are approached once again and asked to repeat the process at this junction of their research career development.   

Our hope is that the reflection involved in completing the surveys encourages student and graduate self-assessment and sharpens attention on career choices and the capabilities that underpin them.  From our perspective as Graduate Certificate course providers, outcomes from the ongoing surveys are making it possible to construct a profile of what students and graduates want, and to track whether there is a change over the time spent on the Graduate Certificate.  As this is a longitudinal study in its early stages, results necessarily are preliminary but our timeline has us reporting on the initial profile in the next edition of the Newsletter. 

Did you know.....?

The e-Grad School offers free online resources for ATN researchers covering:

• Skills to enhance employability with modules in Project Management; Entrepreneurship, Research commercialisation; Public Policy; Global Sustainability; and Leadership and Communication
• Issues paramount to early researchers in the areas of Critical and Creative Thinking; Ethics; Critical Writing; Risk Management; Practice Led Research in Creative Arts, Media and Design
• Being job ready on completion of your thesis with the Maximising Your Career module
• Introduction to teaching for postgraduate research students through the Teaching@University module
• Support for Supervisors’ professional development through the Supervisor Solutions resources.

Non-ATN universities are welcome to enquire about subscriptions to these modules. 

In addition, all resources are available to industry, professional and government organisations and research institutes and centres, for customised face-to-face delivery in workshops or extended training programs.  To discuss options please contact the eGSA Manager at egsacoordinator@qut.edu.au

The Commercialisation Training Scheme (CTS) offers scholarships for entry to the Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation, a tailor made course for domestic PhD and Masters students seeking wider impact for their research.  The scholarship covers tuition fees and a living stipend so why not consider applying for it during your candidacy, or if you’ve already lodged your thesis and are waiting for results? 

Further information is available from the eGSA Coordinator at egsacoordinator@qut.edu.au