UOW showcases groundbreaking research at student conference

Sep 30, 2005

Research projects including the molecular identification of blowflies, caffeine’s effect on brain activity, sonification in sound art and music and an environmental perspective on the ‘hobbit’ discovery were just some of the exciting presentations on display yesterday (Thursday 29 September) at the University of Wollongong’s Higher Degree Research (HDR) Student Conference.

The Conference was attended by students, industry partners and academic and general staff and showcased the diverse range of projects being undertaken by UOW research students based on five themes – promoting and maintaining good health, frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries, scientific discovery, capturing our creativity and understanding our society. Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Margaret Sheil, officially opened the conference.

“I was very impressed with the excellent quality of the abstracts submitted,” she said. “The conference was an outstanding opportunity to showcase our world-class research and give potential students and industry partners the chance to see the range of opportunities available in postgraduate research at UOW.”

Prizes included a $500 cheque and certificate for the best presentation in each theme and a $200 cheque and certificate for the best poster. Winners included:

'Promoting & Maintaining Good Health' : PhD candidate from the Graduate School of Public Health, Judy Mullan

'Understanding Our Society' : PhD canditate in the Faculty of Education, Matthew Atencio

'Scientific Discovery' : PhD candidate in the School of Chemistry, Joseph Ambrus

'Frontier Technologies for Building & Transforming Australian Industries' : PhD candidate in the School of Civil, Mining & Environmental Engineering, Behzad Fatahi

'Capturing our Creativity' : PhD candidate in the Faculty of Arts, Chirstopher Moore

The Best Poster award was received by PhD candidate in the School of Civil, Mining & Environmental Engineering, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn.

UOW graduate and Manager of Biodiversity Conservation at the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Dr Jack Baker, was the keynote speaker at the conference.

In 1998 Dr Baker graduated from UOW with a PhD in Biology and has since become a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Biological Science. An ornithologist and conservationist at heart, he is a Councillor of the peak non-government group Birds Australia. He is active in researching the adaptive management of fire in avian habitats, threatened bird populations and species and techniques for restoring avian populations.

The conference also saw the official launch of Volume 1 of ‘Rhizome’, a cross-disciplinary postgraduate journal initiated by the Wollongong University Postgraduate Association (WUPA) and the first of its kind at Wollongong.

The journal will not only provide an opportunity for postgraduates to discuss their research but also their purpose during the period of postgraduate study. WUPA is especially encouraging international researchers on campus to contribute.

Dr Damien Cahill from UOW's School of History & Politics received the award for best article in Volume 1 of Rhizome.