ISSN 1320-8977May/JuNe 2010

Linking Australian Science, Technology and Business

insiden Lead story 1, 24-25n national news roundup 2-5n science and technology 6-9n Opinion 9-11n University news 12n innovation watch 13-16n state roundup 17-18n People 19n Rural and resources 20-21n iCT 22n spotlight 23n Budget special 26-57

Bringing Oz up to speed...

in April 2009, the Australian Government announced the roll-out of a National Broadband Network (NBN) with the plan to provide 90% of Australian households with access to fibre-to-premise broadband services with speeds of at least 100 megabits (Mbps) per second. For

all other premises in Australia, the Government proposed to deliver broadband services with speeds of at leaset12Mbps.

NBN Co Ltd was established to implement the project and then to operate a wholesale-only, open access broadband network. In the 2009-10 Budget, the Government allocated $54 million for the development of an NBN Implementation Plan, of which $25 million were awarded to a consortium of professional services firm KMPG and management consultancy McKinsey to prepare an NBN Implementation Study, which was to examine the Government’s coverage, commerciality and competition objectives as well as the detailed operating arrangements of NBN Co, its ownership and structure, and ways to attract private sector investment and longer term privatisation.

The study was released in May detailing 84 recommendations. Understood as a supplement to the activities of NBN Co, it explicitly was

not to evaluate the Government’s policy objectives or the decision to implement the NBN, nor to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the macro-economic and social benefits from implementing the NBN.

While the major findings were widely reported, this article attempts a broader synopsis of the study including expert reaction to it.

NBN Implementation study - the findingsThe study concludes that the Government’s objectives for the NBN can be met within the original $43 billion estimate of capital expenditure. It recommends to increase the percentage of premises to which optical fibre is deployed from 90% to 93% , supplemented by a mix of wireless and satellite technologies to cover all other premises. The study emphasises that the roll-out should only ‘cover’ rather than ‘connect’ premises, with retailers accessing the fibre network then providing ‘activated’ services.

While this could be done unilaterally, any agreement with Telstra for shared infrastructure would significantly reduce the costs of fibre deployment. For example, Telstra has an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 km of underground ducts potentially suitable for the deployment of fibre, and shared use could be a win-win situation for both NBN Co and Telstra.

The fibre network is likely to become a mass-market essential service as bandwidth hungry applications and content become more prevalent. As these emerge, households will also be less inclined to abandon the

...continued page 24

Key findings and recommendations include:The $43 billion total capital cost of the NBN is a conservative estimate with opportunities to significantly reduce the build cost;Government investment is estimated to peak at $26 billion by the end of year 7, with $18.3 billion required over the next four years;Government should retain full ownership of the NBN until the roll out is complete to ensure that its policy objectives are met ;The fibre component should be extended from 90% to 93% and cover the 1.3 million new premises expected to be built by 2017-18;Entry level wholesale prices on the fibre should be set at around $30-35 per month for basic broadband 20Mbps plus voice service;Fibre to the premise is the optimal future proof technology, and wireless broadband complementary; Next generation wireless and satellite services will deliver peak speeds of at least 12 Mbps (and much higher for many wireless users). NBN Co can build a strong and financially viable business case and is likely to be earnings positive by year six; andThe Government can expect a return on its equity investment sufficient to fully cover its cost of funds.

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The NBN rollout will involve thousands of kilometres of optical fibres across Australia. Blue areas indicate results from a geospatial economic analysis undertaken by the Implementation study. source: optical fibre, courtesy Australian science Media Centre; Map sourced from national Broadband network (nBn) implementation study.

2 nATiOnAL ROUndUPCommercialising activitiesIn operation since January this year, Commercialisation Australia (CA) provided in April its first grants for 21 Australian companies. The assistance with Skills and Knowledge (up to $50,000), Proof of Concept activities ($50,000 to 250,000) and Early Stage Commercialisation ($250,000 to $2 million) is worth at total of $9.6 million and will support new innovations including treatments for disease, advanced materials, cutting-edge electronics, new online services, and a host of other innovations in agriculture, the media, manufacturing and beyond.

Major supported innovations includeOfidium Pty Ltd, VIC ($1.5 million) – the company develops 100 Gbit/s optical transceiver modules for sale to telecommunications equipment manufacturers.Immune System Therapeutics Ltd, NSW ($1.8 million) – the company is undertaking a Phase 2 clinical trial of its monoclonal antibody therapy in patients with multiple myeloma.NeuClone Pty Ltd, NSW ($0.7 million) – the company is establishing a platform technology for the commercial production of protein therapeutics.EnGeneIC Limited, NSW ($1.5 million) – EnGeneIC is developing the cGMP-compliant manufacturing of EDV-based anti-cancer therapeutics for commercial licensing.Shortly after this first major activity, Innovation Minister Senator

Kim Carr appointed the inaugural chief executive of CA, Mr Doron Ben-Meir, who will lead the program’s efforts in building Australia’s innovation capacity. “Having founded and supported start-up companies, he has an intimate understanding of practical challenges they face and how to overcome them,” says Senator Carr.

More information: www.commercialisationaustralia.gov.au/Pages/Home.aspx

Final curtainThe last Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) grants have been announced, totalling $3.4 million and supporting 48 projects, with $70,400 each. The scheme has closed with the start of the $196 million Commercialisation Australia initiative in January this year.

The recipients of the final round include: BiVacor (QLD) – commercialising the BiVacor artificial

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May/June 2010

heart designed for patients with severe heart failure, who cannot find an appropriate donor for a transplant.Extron Design Services (VIC) – developing the ‘Smartbrake’, which activates a vehicle’s park brake following the exit of the driver. Delta Development (QLD) – marketing the world’s first diesel engine helicopter; the lightweight, two-seater utility helicopter Delta D2 is specifically designed for remote conditions.Aerofloat, Australia (NSW) – developing a product to treat grey water by dissolved air floatation (DAF). The product will automatically separate fats, oils, food scraps, household chemicals, soaps, detergents, bacteria and viruses and allow the discharge or re-use of high-quality water.

More information: www.ausindustry.gov.au

Reduced access barriersThe World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on 26 April 2010 recognising the contribution the intellectual property (IP) system has made to innovation.

However, a new discussion paper released by IP Australia on an amended protocol of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), highlights that current arrangements of global IP protection can also be in conflict with the need particularly in developing countries to access certain critical pharmaceutical products.

Under the current TRIPS agreement, the Federal Court can in certain cases of public interest order a patent owner to grant another party a compulsory license to an invention under the condition that products resulting from this license are not exported. This restriction, however, prevents developing countries in cases such as an epidemic, from obtaining pharmaceuticals produced under a compulsory license in a WTO country.

The amended protocol, which Australia has accepted, seeks to overcome this important limitation as it allows WTO members to issue compulsory licences to pharmaceutical products for export to least-developed and developing countries. The discussion paper outlines the proposed implementation of the system in Australia.

More information: www.ipaustralia.gov.au

Coordinated observationsThe new $91 million Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) has been launched. The network, which is based at the University of Queensland, was established in July last year to provide researchers with better access to environmental data from observational sites across Australia. This is hoped to overcome problems

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3nATiOnAL ROUndUPin environmental management associated with the current lack of standardisation in data monitoring and collection.

The network is a collaboration of 12 Australian universities, the CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia, and funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, the $1.1 billion Super Science Initiative ($55 million), the Queensland Government ($4 million) and cash and in-kind contributions from other TERN partners ($32 million).

There are currently more than 60 research collaborators from universities and government directly involved in the network. One recent initiative is Bush Blitz, a three-year multimillion dollar partnership to document the plants and animals in properties across Australia’s National Reserve System. The initiative was launched in February as a collaborative project jointly funded by the Government and BHP Billiton, and involving not-for-profit organiation Earthwatch and the National Scientific Reference Site Network, a $3 million TERN facility at the University of Adelaide.

More information: www.tern.org.au/index.html?page=129551

Some love a fightThe Australian Government seeks to introduce a 40% resource super profits tax (RSPT) from 1 July 2012. Here some of the details of the controversial tax:

Under the RSPT the Government will provide a refundable credit to resource entities for state royalties and will guarantee to contribute 40% of the investment cost of a resource project. In effect, the Government says, the Australian community will share in the costs of, and returns from, realising the value of resource deposits.

A significant proportion of funds raised from the RSPT will be returned to the resources industry through a new resource exploration rebate (RER), which is designed as a refundable tax offset for exploration expenditure as part of the company income tax system.

The scheme is estimated to cost $1.1 billion in the two years commencing 2012-13, and will also be applicable for geothermal energy explorers. Particularly small exploration companies could benefit, the Government says, as currently these do not receive a tax benefit from their deductible exploration expenses until they become profitable.

The Government will further establish a new ongoing infrastructure fund with annual contributions starting at $700 million from 2012-13. Further benefits for the resources sector will arise from a lower company tax rate, the Government says.

However, the Government announced that the details of the new arrangement are subject to negotiations over the course of the year.

More information: http://minister.ret.gov.au

No pulp fictionThe Pulp and Paper Industry Strategy Group’s (PPISG) final

report was released by Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr. Chaired by Stephen Payne from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the group focussed primarily on pulp and paper manufacturing but it was also concerned with some of the up and downstream processes that are part of an integral supply chain in the industry. “This is an ‘industry’ review in the truest sense of the word—it is a review of the industry by the industry”, the report says, concluding that the sector, which is particularly relevant for regional areas, is “at a tipping point”. In the absence of action, it says, existing competitive advantages will be lost with disinvestment, declining profitability and further loss of employment being the inevitable result. This picture emerges as investment in forestry has declined over the past decade, energy prices are predicted to rise, alongside existing disadvantages in transport and labour costs and a relatively old and small asset base.

The group outlines 18 recommendations, which include:attracting investment into the industry;streamlining regulation;increasing the industry’s use of renewable energy;improving transport efficiency;addressing trade distorting factors; andincreasing skills training for employees.In addition, the group recommended a new Pulp and Paper

Industry Innovation Council, the establishment of which was anounced with the release of the report. Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr says that the timely move was to ensure the industry remains closely engaged with the Government while it considers its final response to the report.

One of the tasks of the council, which will also be chaired by Mr Payne, is to develop terms of reference for a Biorefinery Research Institute concerned with fibre-based biofuels.

More information: www.innovation.gov.au

Pharma certaintyMedicines Australia (MA) and the Australian Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that documents the key innovations and reforms to be introduced to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme over the next four years.

According to MA, the agreement will save taxpayers $1.9 billion over five years with a Government commitment that pharmaceutical companies will not be asked to bear any further price-related savings measures before 30 June 2014. The agreement also includes regulatory reforms to improve patient access to new medicines.

MA chief executive officer Dr Brendan Shaw says that for the first time in the history of the PBS an agreement was reached to provide fiscal certainty. He says that while the measures will impose a significant burden on Australian pharmaceutical companies, longer-term business certainty for the industry is paramount.

More information: www.medicinesaustralia.com.au/pages/page261.asp

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image: img.diytrade.com

4 nATiOnAL ROUndUPBrain research largesseThe Australian Government will invest $39.8 million to support the establishment of Australia’s largest Brain Research Centre, which will include two new facilities located at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg and the University of Melbourne in Parkville, and the fit out of the Centre for Translational Neuroscience. The facilities will accommodate the Florey Neuroscience Institutes as well as the Mental Health Research Institute and researchers from the University of Melbourne.

More information: www.health.gov.au

Working with IndiaThe $65 million Australia-India Strategic Research Fund will provide $2.4 million for eight collaborative projects between Australian and Indian scientists, who will address issues such as bioenergy, biofuels, vaccines and medical diagnostics. Successful projects include:

establishing an Australian-Indian collaboration on sustaining crop productivity under stress conditions caused by chemical or physical influences such as temperature and water;a project to improve management of diabetic ulcers by identifying diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers;engineering novel disease resistance in wheat and rice; and assessing the role of cyanobacteria in solar bio-fuel and carbon sequestration.Other projects

supported by the fund are in nutraceuticals, functional foods, and bioremediation.

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, Australia’s largest bilateral research fund, is a joint initiative of the Australian and Indian Governments.

More information: www.innovation.gov.au

Linked up The ARC has announced the outcome of its Linkage learned Academies Special Projects scheme for projects commencing in 2010.

The program supports projects by the Learned Academies which are to support the development of Australian research. This year $1.4 million over three years will support five projects which include:

The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia ($290,000) – Children of the recession: the social consequences of an economic downturn; The Australian Academy of the Humanities ($225,000) – Humanities connections: new activities to support professional development, closer collaboration, improved research application

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outcomes, and policy research in the humanities;The Australian Academy Science (215,000) – Australia 2050: achieving an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable way of living;Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (284,000) – Making interdisciplinary research work, achieving a sustainable Australia;Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (215,000) – Green growth in Australia: examining the linkages within – and potential of – sustainable resources management to enable environmentally responsible economic growth.

More information: www.arc.gov.au/pdf/LASP10_allorg.pdf

Debated legislationThe Australian Government has introduced into Parliament two important measures related to R&D.

The Higher Education Support Amendment (Indexation) Bill 2010 will, if legislated, apply to all grants under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) from 2012. It will change current indexation arrangements and is expected to deliver more than $2.6 billion to universities in addition to the funding received under current arrangements.

The measures include conditional funding of around $94 million a year from 2011 for universities signing on to the Government’s new performance indicators.

Under the new legislation, the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services labour price index will replace the Safety Net Adjustment, which makes up 75% of the new index. The remaining 25% of the index will continue to be the Consumer Price Index.

One of the objectives of the new arrangements is to support the Government’s target of 40% Australians aged 25-34 having bachelor level qualifications by 2025.

The second introduced legislation is the new R&D tax incentive (discussed in detail by Kris Gale from Michael Johnson Associates in the ARDR Arpil edition). The new scheme will replace the current R&D Tax Concession from July 2010. The scheme will be worth $1.5 billion for the industry.

The R&D Tax incentive is contained in two bills, the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Research and Development ) Bill 2010.

More information: www.aph.gov.au/house/index.htm

Industry specs...The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released data obtained from 18 selected Australian industry divisions, which show that between 2007-08 and 2008-09 the industries had aggregated increases in income (4.9%), expenses (5.9%) and industry value added (6.7%).

During this period, operating profit before tax (OPBT) decreased by 4.9% to $272 billion, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9.8% to 339.7 billion. Mining recorded the largest increase of the covered industries, both in income (34.7% and $47.2 billion, respectively) and in EBITDA ($25.2 billion). By comparison, the total increase in EBITDA across the industries was just $30.0 billion.

While OPBT across the industries decreased, the mining industry recorded a strong increase of $17.7 billion (38.6%). Mining also overtook

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image: Arthur Toga, Laboratory of neuro imaging, department of neurology, UCLA school of Medicine

Cyanobacteria, a potential sink for carbon sequestrationimage: nAsA

5nATiOnAL ROUndUPManufacturing as the largest contributor to industry value added (IVA) with $107 billion (12.7%) and $105 billion (12.5%) respectively. The strength of the mining industries was also highlighted across other indicators. In 2008-09, Mining had the highest capital expenditure ($45.8 billion), wages and salaries per employee ($114,900), sales and service income per person employed ($1.27 million), and highest profit margin (37.1%) of all the covered industries.

Manufacturing, however, was the largest contributor of all the selected industries to total income (16.7%) and sales and service income (17.4%).

More information: www.abs.gov.au

...and university bitsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released new statistics on research and development (R&D) undertaken at higher education institutions in the year ended 31 December 2008. For the first time the compiled data are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008.

During the 2008 calendar year, higher education expenditure on R&D (HERD) increased by 24% in current price terms over 2006 (18% in chain volume terms), which compares with average increases of 21% (14%) since 1998. In total HERD was $6.717 million in 2008.

As a percentage of GDP, HERD increased from 0.50% in 2006 to 0.53% in 2008. Within the OECD, Australia compares well to most countries such as the US (0.36%), France (0.40%) and the United Kingdom (0.47%), but significantly trails countries such as Sweden (0.80%), Denmark (0.71%) and Canada (0.64%).

As in 2006, the main sources of funds for HERD were general university funds (52% of HERD) and Australian competitive research grants (18% of HERD).

Between 2006 and 2008, New South Wales recorded the largest growth in HERD of all states and territories, in both absolute and percentage terms, rising $450 million or 29%. However, South Australia had the highest increase as a proportion of gross state product (GSP), with its HERD to GSP ratio of 0.64% now only second to the ACT (2.02%).

Most expenditure was devoted to medical and health sciences (31% of HERD), almost triple the value of the next highest field of research, biological sciences. 84% of research in higher education institutions was performed by academic staff (31%) and postgraduate students (56%).

More information: www.abs.gov.au

High strungThe Australian Government will use $37 million from its Education Investment Fund to support the establishment of an Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre (AFFRIC) based at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds Campus in Geelong, Victoria.

The $102 million facility is a joint project of CSIRO, the Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing (VCAMM) and Deakin University. It will be the largest carbon fibre research centre in Australia, with over 300 researchers and students aiming to improve the competitiveness of the textile and materials manufacturing sector, and the advanced composites and bio-medical industries. The centre’s research will include the development of new advanced materials, such as advanced composites capable of producing high-temperature, high-strength materials; new materials for medical applications like tissue engineering scaffolds; environmental applications such as toxic chemical and heavy metal removal technologies; and, advanced body-armour materials designed to protect Australian soldiers.

There are currently 950 firms manufacturing carbon fibre composites in Australia. The value of domestic production is estimated to be $3 billion per year. The centre, which is expected to be completed by September 2012, will involve four research platforms: Carbon Fibre Manufacture and Materials Technology; Nano-Fibre Discovery - Characterisation and Application; Green Natural Fibres; and Smart and Functional Fibrous Materials.

More information: www.pm.gov.au/node/6770; www.csiro.au

Fair go for localsThe Australian Government announced changes to guidelines for its Enhanced Project By-law Scheme (EPBS), which provides tariff concessions on capital goods for major investment projects. The revised guidelines are part of a $19.1 million Australian industry participation package, which will provide domestic industries better access to Government and private sector contracts.

“The changes tighten the definition of what goods will be considered for duty free entry. It will be made clear that it is not possible to receive concessions for whole projects or complex plants,” says Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr. “In 2007-08, the value of investment in projects applying for an EPBS duty concession totalled $38 billion. In the following two years, it jumped to $42 billion and $56 billion.”

The concessions are tied to certain conditions which include that an Australian Industry Participation (AIP) plan is implemented, and that companies demonstrate eligible goods from Australian producers are not available. “Having an approved AIP plan in place before major procurement begins is a significant requirement of the guidelines. It offers all Australian businesses the opportunity to be involved in major domestic and international projects, and global supply chains,” Senator Carr says.

More information: http://minister.innovation.gov.au

May/June 2010

image: adapted from ABs

graphs: adapted from graphs published by the Australian Bureau of statistics

Electron microscope image of a knitted textile structure overlaid with ultra-fine electrospun fibres, which CSIRO developed for use as a textile scaffold for tissue culture.image: CMse Geelong Microscopy Unit

sCienCe & TeChnOLOGy6

The researchers, who now plan a human trial, say the patches could address problems such as potential vaccine shortages and, particularly important for treating children, the patient’s fear of needle injections. As no refrigeration or trained practitioners are needed, the comparably cheap to produce patches could also be used in developing countries.

In a pandemic such as swine flu, it would be feasible to just collect the patches from a chemist or sent them in the mail, says UQ’s Professor Mark Kendall, who led the study.

More information: www.uq.edu.au; *Fernando et al (2010) Plos One 5(4): e10266

Ancient breathThe report of mammoth haemoglobin resurrected from a 25,000 to 43,000 years old Siberian mammoth specimen was a major story in May.

An international team of researchers, including the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) at Adelaide University, described in Nature Genetics* how they sequenced the DNA and then produced the complex protein in the E. coli bacteria. Physiological tests with the manufactured protein revealed evolutionary adaptations – three highly unusual changes in the protein sequence – that may have been important for the mammoth survival in harsh Arctic cold conditions.

Hemoglobin binds and carries oxygen to tissue cells, but its ability to off-load the oxygen to cells decreases at lower temperatures. However, the amino acid substitutions in the mammoth hemoglobin enabled the animal’s blood to deliver oxygen to cells even at very low temperatures. This may have been vital for the mammoth as it could preserve heat by cooling its extremities.

“Our approach opens the way to studying the biomolecular and physiological characteristics of extinct species, even for features that leave no trace in the fossil record,” says team leader Professor Kevin Campbell from the Canadian University of Manitoba. It will also pave the way to study other extinct species, such as Australian marsupials.

More information: www.adelaide.edu.au; *Campbell (2010) Nature Genetics doi:10.1038/ng.574

Gated specificityThe Gated Auto-synchronous Luminescence Detector (GALD), developed by Dr Russell Connally from Macquarie University, aims to improve the detection of disease causing microbes by significantly increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of existing imaging systems.

The detection of microorganisms in environmental samples usually relies on the specific labelling of the target with a fluorescent compound. However, unrelated compounds in environmental samples can also (auto) fluoresce after being excited by a light source, obscuring the specific signal. This is often a limiting factor in the detection of infectious agents such as Staphylococcus aureus (Golden Staph), tuberculosis, Cryptosporidium and Giardia in samples of water, blood and other body fluids.

The portable device developed by Dr Connally can be fitted to a standard fluorescence microscope to detect a target organism through a delayed luminescence effect. The method is based on special compounds, such as Lanthanide chelate luminescent probes, which glow persistently after a short exposure to strong light, while unrelated autofluorescence is

Reflective shield lostA positive feedback loop between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming is the major contributing factor to accelerated warming in the Arctic region. This finding published by University of Melbourne researchers Dr James Screen and Professor Ian Simmonds in Nature* questions previous thought that warmer air transported from lower latitudes toward the pole, or changes in cloud cover, are the primary causes of enhanced Arctic warming.

In recent decades, the rise in Arctic near-surface air temperatures has been almost twice as large as the global average but the reason for this ‘Arctic amplification’ remained unclear. Using the latest observational data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, the researchers found a distinctive pattern of highly concentrated warming in the lower levels of the atmosphere. They were then able to link this pattern to the loss of sea ice.

Most of the incoming sunlight is reflected by the sea ice. As it melts the water absorbs the heat instead and then warms the cooler atmosphere above it.

Strong positive ice–temperature feedbacks may have emerged in the Arctic, increasing the chances of further rapid warming and sea ice loss. The authors predict that this will affect polar ecosystems, ice-sheet mass balance and human activities in the Arctic.

More information: http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-288; *Screen (2010) Nature 464, 1334–1337

Under the skin A new development by researchers at the University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN) and the University of Melbourne promises a marked improvement over current needle and syringe based vaccine delivery into the muscle. Described in an article in Plos One,* the Nanopatch contains an array of tiny projections onto which the vaccine is dry coated and then applied to the skin for several minutes. This delivers the agent painlessly just beneath the skin surface, where many so called antigen presenting cells (APC) reside and facilitate a protective immune response.

Using this approach with a seasonal influenza vaccine in a mouse model, the researchers found that a hundred times less vaccine was needed than with common needle delivery to achieve similar levels of immune protection, but without the need of immune stimulating adjuvants or multiple vaccinations.

May/June 2010

Arctic Sea Ice declineimage: nAsA, graph: national ice and snow data Center

Nanopatches

image: Mauricio Anton

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sCienCe & TeChnOLOGy 7

Described in Nature Geoscience*, the study used current-metre moorings anchored to the sea floor at a depth of up to 4500 metres and reaching up to a depth of 1000 metres for their analysis. At three kilometres below the ocean surface the current was found to carry dense, oxygen-rich water that sinks near Antarctica to the deep ocean basins further north. Measured near the Kerguelen plateau, 4,200 kilometres west of Perth, the current makes a large contribution to a global ‘overturning circulation’ system that stores and transports heat and CO2, which determines the uptake of carbon by the ocean. At Kerguelen the current carries more than 12 million cubic metres per second of Antarctic water at temperatures colder than 0 °C, only kept in a fluid state by the high salt content.

With an average speed of more than 20 centimetres per second it is the strongest current so far measured at depths three kilometres below the surface, says co-author Dr Steve Rintoul from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC and CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship.

Antarctic waters carried northward by the deep currents eventually fill the deep layers of eastern Indian and Pacific Oceans.

More information: www.csiro.au; * Nature Geoscience (2010) 3, 327 - 331

Catching less of all is betterEco-system based fisheries management (EBFM) is a relatively new fishery management direction that takes into account how fisheries impact on all components of the broader marine environment. Reversing traditional management priorities, EBFM first considers the impact on the ecosystem rather than the target species with the aim of reducing the impact on marine ecosystems while supporting sustainable fisheries.

EBFM generally encourages selective fishing of certain fish over nonselective fishing to avoid adverse impacts such as incidental bycatch.

However, a team of authors, led by Dr Shijie Zhou from the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, calls for a change of this practice as it may actually exacerbate rather than reduce the impact of fishing on both fisheries and marine ecosystems.

In a paper published in PNAS, the authors argue that because selective fishing alters the biodiversity and thus the functioning of an ecosystem, it also affects fisheries production.

The authors propose a ‘balanced exploitation’ approach that combines a reduced fishing effort, less selective fishing strategies, and better use of the catch. This could even increase fisheries production while reducing unsustainably high catches of target species, says Dr Zhou.

The implications of such a change in approach would need to be considered by a wide range of stakeholders including fishermen, fishery managers and conservation agencies, he says.

More information: www.csiro.au; *Zhou, S et al 2010, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912771107

usually short-lived. Bacteria or parasites are labelled with these compounds and detected

through the GALD after a pulse with light. However, for a short period following the pulse the device suppresses (or gates off ) the fluorescence signal, during which undesired autofluorescence fades rapidly. By then opening the gate the longer lived luminescence specifically emitted from the target can be detected.

“The GALD greatly reduces the complexity of image information relayed to the operator; if the disease organism is not present, the image is black and scanning can proceed rapidly,” says Dr Connally who is currently in the process of commercialising the device.

More information: www.mq.edu.au

Massive collapse appreciatedAn international team of researchers has reported in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society* that they have discovered a cloud of cosmic hydrogen gas and dust, three or more light-years across. In the process of collapsing in on itself, the gas cloud BYF73 is likely to form a massive cluster of stars, including stars more than ten times the mass of the Sun.

BYF73 is about 8,000 light years away, in the constellation of Carina (“the keel”) in the Southern sky and was found during one of the largest, most uniform and least biased surveys to date of massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy – the Census of High- and Medium-mass Protostars, or CHaMP.

The formation of such big stars is still not well understood as

significant numbers of such events only occur when massive clouds of gas collapse, and these are very rare and often more than 1000 light-years away.

Using CSIRO’s ‘Mopra’ radio telescope near Coonabarabran, NSW, the research team, which also included scientists from the Anglo-Australian Observatory, found evidence indicating collapse of the gas, at the rate of about 3% of the Sun’s mass every year – one of the highest rates known. The formation of massive stars has already been confirmed, including through follow up infrared observations with the Anglo-Australian Telescope.

More information: www.csiro.au; * Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010) 402, 73-86

Cold water highwayA joint Australian-Japanese project has measured the current speed, temperature and salinity of a new ocean current located in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean. The researchers discovered that the current has a volume equivalent to 40 Amazon Rivers and is part of a global network of ocean currents that also influence climate patterns.

May/June 2010

The Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean where the ocean current has been identified.

Left: The massive star-forming region BYF73 imaged with the Anglo-Australian Telescope in eastern Australia. Right: Mid-infrared image of BYF 73 from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. image: left - AAO, right - nAsA

My cancer is specialThe International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) has released first project data, concurrent with a ‘Perspectives’ article in Nature* which discusses the coordinated large-scale cancer genome project of tumours from 50 different cancer types and/or subtypes.

The internationally coordinated project will apply new genome analysis technologies to produce comprehensive catalogs of the genetic mutations that underlie the world’s major cancer types.

Formed in 2008, the consortium involves the world’s leading cancer and genomics researchers to identify cancer related genetic mutations through the analysis of genomes sequences from thousands of tumours. The data generated will be published on an ICGC web portal freely available to

researchers and the general public. Genomic changes are often specific to a particular type or stage of

cancer. The mapping of changes that occur in each cancer could therefore provide the foundation for research into new therapies, diagnostics and preventive strategies. This could also include the development of personalised treatments for cancer patients as each tumour has different combinations of mutations, yet is treated with general therapies that may not work on an individual basis. Directly targeting the tumour’s genetic machinery will be possible by identifying common genetic features that occur in the genome of a particular cancer. For example, a deletion common to many genomes of a certain cancer could, together with the clinical information of the patients they are taken from, determine the impact of a genomic deletion on a patient’s survival.

Funded by the NHMRC, the Australian effort will focus on tumours of the pancreas, led by Professor Sean Grimmond from the University of Queensland and Professor Andrew Biankin from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

More information: www.icgc.org/; *Nature (2010) 464, 993-998

Blinking diamondsScientists from Macquarie University, the ANU, CSIRO and the University of Queensland describe in Nature Nanotechnology* the discovery of fluorescence from the smallest diamond nanoparticles produced so far. According to the authors, the discovery is a significant step towards the use of diamond luminescence in applications such as bio-imaging and quantum photonics.

Transparent diamonds can stably luminesce through added impurity atoms that form ‘colour centres’. Professor Joerg Wrachtrup, from the University of Stuttgart (Germany), writes in a commentary** accompanying the paper that many researchers thought the smallest

sCienCe & TeChnOLOGy8

nanodiamonds were simply too small to efficiently trap such impurities.

That it is possible has now been demonstrated by the Australian researchers, although the property of emitting light was found to deteriorate at sizes below 7 nanometres, becoming intermittent. The blinking light signal emitted from a single isolated nano-diamond contrasts the steady luminescence emitted by larger diamonds and could pose problems in applications. The researchers then discovered that the diamond’s signal can be steadied when encapsulated in a polymer.

This could pave the way for important applications. For example, attached to a biological molecule, like a protein, a light emitting from a nano-diamond could be used to more accurately track where it travels in the body. Research leader Professor James Rabeau, from Macquarie University, believes that nano-diamonds have the potential to be used effectively in a biological environment by exploiting their fluorescence, low toxicity and small size, which does not interfere with biological processes.

More information: www.mq.edu.au; *Bradac et al (2010) Nature Nanotechnology 5, 345 - 349; ** Wrachtrup (2010) Nature Nanotechnology 5, 314 - 315

Entangled benefitsTraditional amplifiers can multiply an input signal, such as music, without serious degradation. In a quantum system, however, information degradation is a significant problem when amplifying a signal.

Researchers at the University of Queensland and Griffith University have now described a device that can be used to amplify a signal from a quantum system without distortion as long as it does not always work and has an indicator that shows when it has worked properly. This is sufficient to counteract the detrimental effects of losses in applications like quantum cryptography, says Professor Tim Ralph from UQ’s ARC Centre for Quantum Computer Technology. In a paper in Nature Photonics*, the researchers describe a noiseless quantum amplifier that can magnify light beams at the quantum level without degradation. It also seems to increase one of the most mysterious properties of quantum mechanics, called entanglement, a quality that Einstein famously disliked calling it “spukhafte Fernwirkung” (spooky action at a distance).

The phenomenon describes quantum particles that are correlated or linked together and can be described as one entity. If these particles are then separated, any change in one is reflected in the other irrespective of how far they are separated. A quantum particle has, however, no fixed value until it is observed, which in linked parties then determines the value of the other. This can be used in very practical ways such as to encrypt information.

Professor Ralph says that amplifying the light strengthens this correlation and makes it easier to share entanglement used in many quantum technologies, like quantum teleportation. “We expect that practical techniques for improving security of communications will be one thing to emerge from this work.”

More information: www.uq.edu.au; *Xiang et al (2010) 4, 316-319

May/June 2010

The Australian arm of the consortium will focus on pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer death

The ICGC effort raises the prospect of a personlised approach for the treatment of cancer

A collection of single nano-diamond crystals on a surface. Laser beam generates blinking light from one crystal.image: Carlo Bradac

Entangled photons

Anton Zeilinger, institute of experimental Physics, University of Vienna

that originates in the tropical Pacific region and influences ecosystems, agriculture, freshwater supplies, hurricanes and other severe weather events worldwide. At the Greenhouse 2009 climate change conference in Australia, a panel of experts reviewed the current body of evidence on how global warming will impact on the tropical Pacific Ocean and ENSO.

The report concludes that rising global temperatures will bring change to the Pacific region in several ways: tropical easterly trade winds are expected to weaken; surface ocean temperatures are expected to warm fastest near the equator; and, the thin water layer separating the ocean’s upper surface layer from its calm deep water below (the thermocline) is expected to become narrower and less deep.

However, the authors could not determine how this may impact on ENSO. During El Niño events, weakening trade winds slosh warm water to the eastern equatorial Pacific and this reduces the east-west ocean temperature difference across the Pacific Ocean. As this weakens the winds even further, it produces a reinforcing feedback loop. A competing effect is caused by the increased cloud formation as temperatures rise along the equator. Year-to-year ENSO variability is controlled by such amplifying and damping feedbacks, which are difficult to quantify.

Particularly cloud feedbacks remain the largest uncertainty in global climate models, explain co-authors Dr Scott Power from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research and Dr Wenju Cai from CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship.

More information: www.csiro.au/news/Global-warming-El-Nino-influence.html

Earlier onset no problem?Previously, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination has been found associated with the onset of severe seizures followed by intellectual impairment, so called ‘vaccine encephalopathy’.

However, in 2006 researchers from the Epilepsy Research Centre at the University of Melbourne demontrated that many of the children developing these complications had a respective genetic predisposition, mutations in a sodium channel SCN1A. While these children were destined to develop Dravet syndrome, also called severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination was found to trigger its earlier onset.

This severe form of epilepsy rarely appears beyond the age of five but is associated with subsequent impairments in the development of the children, such as intellectual disability.

A follow up study by the group, published in Lancet Neurology*, looked at whether vaccinated children with the mutation differ in the overall outcome but found that while vaccinated children with the SCN1A mutation do experience earlier onset of Dravet syndrome , this does not affect the overall outcome. The researchers therefore say that vaccinations should not be withheld.

More information: www.aussmc.org; *Lancet Neurol. (2010) 9, 592-8

Interpretation nightmareIn May, a large international study examined a possible association between mobile phone use and brain tumours. Following its release some media outlets reported the conclusions of the study inaccurately, prompting the Australian Science Media Centre to hold a media briefing to correct the misinformation.

Concerns about how to interpret the results relate to a significant bias of the data. As Bruce Armstrong, professor of Public Health in the University of Sydney and co-author of the paper in the International Journal of Epidemiology* concedes, the data overall even looked “as if mobile phones were protective against brain tumour.” There was a downwards bias in the relative risk of 15% to 20%. “We thought we could explain somewhere between 5% and 15% of it on the basis of the difference in cases’ and controls’ participation. When there is an apparent bias like that in the data, it’s very hard to get rid of its effects and to be

confident in the results.”The interview-based,

case-control study focused on two

main types of brain tumour,

glioma and meningioma, and included several thousand tumour cases and matched

controls. It was coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and carried out in 13 countries, including Australia.

Interphone represents the largest case-control study to date of mobile phone use and brain tumours; it also included the largest numbers of users with at least 10 years of exposure.

According to the authors, there were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and to a lesser extend meningioma, in the highest decile of cumulative call time, and in participants who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumour and, for glioma, for tumours in the temporal lobe. The authors emphasise, though, that biases and errors limit the strength of the conclusions that can be drawn from these analyses and prevent a causal interpretation.

Professor Armstrong says, “When you put these observations together it looks like there is something going on. But because of the biases that I mentioned, we really can’t say that with confidence”.

More information: www.aussmc.org; *International Journal of Epidemiology (2010);1–20, doi:10.1093/ije/dyq079

Climate puzzlesAn international science review published in Nature Geoscience* by the World Climate Research Program’s Climate Variability and Predictability Pacific Panel found that while climate change will significantly impact on the Pacific region, its influence on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) still remains unclear.

ENSO is a naturally occurring phenomenon causing climate variability

May/June 2010

image: nZ science Media Centre

sCienCe & TeChnOLOGy 9El Niño phenomenon (ENSO); top normal year, bottom El Niño year.image: adapted from UneP Grid Arendal, original source Climate Prediction Center-nCeP; nOAA

May/June 2010

10

can be used to access resources distributed across multiple sites. Hence e-Science has effectively morphed into e-Research.

E-Science is not solely big-science however. At the heart of the problem facing many researchers in many research areas is collaboration and co-ordination. How can researchers find data resources that are not publicly accessible? How can these researchers and/or associated data providers share resources without necessarily giving away their data,

their intellectual property or their research results? How can they run large scale simulations at multiple scales, for example from the cell to the organism, from the atomic to the macroscopic, without themselves having to become HPC experts? How do they manage their data long-term?

Provisioning of e-Infrastructures for such scenarios is a cornerstone of e-Research. Often this is achieved through the definition and support for virtual organisations where

users and resource providers agree on the framework for collaboration and technical solutions that can be used to orchestrate and enforce this. Fundamental to the success of these virtual organisations is capturing the domain knowledge and requirements of all participants and concerns of associated stakeholders.

This is especially so given that virtual organisations can be (and

indeed often are!) inter-organisational and inter-disciplinary. Taking the example of e-Health and on-going virtual organisations

at the National e-Science Centre (NeSC) at the University of Glasgow: a multitude of domain experts including clinicians, biologists, pharmacists, physicists, chemists, social scientists, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, often need to be involved and input their expertise into a given research collaboration and have timely access to the right data at the right time. Such models are typified by the need for rigorous fine-grained security solutions that cross inter-organisational boundaries where all protagonists are aware of their roles and involvement in the

The digital age is truly upon us and this is directly influencing the way we communicate, socialise, shop, travel, educate and indeed undertake research. Whilst offering numerous opportunities, this technical revolution has numerous challenges that must be overcome. The

size of the internet as a communications vehicle is growing beyond all expectations, with zettabytes (1021 bytes) of data expected to be reached in 2010.1

This challenge is exacerbated by the way in which research is undertaken and automated. From high throughput post-genomic experiments generating terabytes of data per experiment as genomes can now be sequenced at hitherto unprecedented speed; through searching for ‘needle in the haystack’ particles by analysing petabytes of data (1015 bytes) coming from experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider in CERN; to projects in the humanities and the social sciences where heterogeneous and voluminous data sets are growing and require storage and long term preservation to both underpin research and societal demands.

There are indeed few research areas where the growth of digital data and the capacity for processing of this data is not a common problem that is now actively hindering research progress. Technologies and solutions do however exist to support many of these data challenges. One only

has to look to internet search engines such as Google to see how rapid searching of data can be supported through building of indexes of publicly accessible web pages. However, whilst useful and powerful, these generic tools often do not meet the needs of the wider research community. Thus when data is kept in targeted databases or in secure settings (e.g. clinical data environments as typified by the Parkville Precinct and centers such as Bio21 and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Research Centre) then use of general purpose solutions like Google rapidly breaks down.

Yet computer capacity and provision of peta-flop (1015 floating point instructions per second) high performance computing (HPC) systems are continuing to withstand Moores Law on the scaling of computing power and performance. The Victoria Life Sciences Computation Initiative is testament to this!

The marriage of research-driven challenges which embody large scale data volumes and the need for access to HPC resources has driven many efforts in the area of e-Science. Often these ‘big science’ models and supporting IT solutions (often realised by Grids), share many desirable features common to many research areas. These include the need for seamless access to heterogeneous, distributed data sets from autonomous providers; the use of computer facilities for simulations/data processing; and support for single sign-on, where a single authentication/authorization

Research in the digital age

Professor Richard O. SinnottTechNIcal DIrecTor NaTIoNal e-ScIeNce ceNTre, uNIverSITy of GlaSGow & INcuMbeNT e-reSearch DIrecTor, uNIverSITy of MelbourNe

OPiniOn

There are indeed few research areas where the growth of digital data and the capacity for processing of this data is not a common problem that is now actively hindering research

progress.

E-Science is not solely big-science however. At the heart of the problem facing many researchers in many research areas

is collaboration and co-ordination.

continued page 23...

11OPiniOn

May/June 2010

Professor Iain GordoncSIro bIoDIverSITy leaDer

The United Nations celebrates 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). This recognises that the diversity of life forms in our terrestrial, marine, and aquatic ecosystems underpins our food supplies, our clean air and water and provides protection against

weeds, pests and diseases.However, the UN has also challenged the world to finally take action

to safeguard these ecological treasures. In October 2010, Japan will host a major meeting of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address major global threats to biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.

At this meeting, Australia, as with all other signatories will be accountable for their efforts toward implementing a Strategic Plan set out in 2002 by the Conference of Parties (CoP), the governing body of the CBD. This plan aimed (by 2010) to achieve ‘a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth’.

Far from having met this aim, we are seeing what researchers call the 6th Extinction Event with rates of species loss not seen for more than 65 million years, a result of factors such as climate change, habitat loss and invasive species.

Many issues will have to be addressed, with the most pressing being the lack of understanding, throughout society, of what biodiversity means and why it is relevant. We need an agreed definition of biodiversity that everyone can understand and that scientists can monitor to determine the health of our planet’s life support system.

We also need to find ways to measure the value of ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control that biodiversity provides for free. This will open up markets for biodiversity and allow planners to make judgements about the value of biodiversity as opposed to the value of development.

Having separated from other continents more than 40 million years ago, Australia has almost 10 per cent of the world’s known species and is the most megadiverse of developed countries. However, we also have 10 per cent of the world’s threatened species and the dubious honour of having the highest mammal extinction record of any country on the planet.

We also don’t know what we have: around 75% of our native species are undiscovered or undescribed by western science, which limits our ability to decide where to focus our attention when protecting species and ecosystems.

This sorry state could improve as new tools such as genomics and phenomics help taxonomists to speed up the traditionally time consuming business of identifying new species. While genomics provides a potential tool for the large scale screening of samples based on genetic differences,

Biodiversity – everyone needs itphenomics looks at the outcome of genetic differences, and will allow scientists to use computer-based image and sound analysis to rapidly categorise species.

Newly generated data on biodiversity data also has to become more accessible to scientists, land managers, policy makers and the general public.

An important project currently addressing this is the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) which will ultimately provide web-based access to all the information held in Australian biological collections databases. The end result will increase the availability of the information necessary to underpin decision making on issues such as biosecurity, conservation and national environmental accounting.

It is essential, yet not enough to just describe biodiversity. It must be protected where it lives; or, given climate change, where it might live in the future.

In Australia, we have established national parks and reserves, but

while these are important in securing the future of biodiversity, they cover only around 7.5% of the continent’s surface and not all of the biomes are represented. This means that areas outside parks such as farmland, forests and even cities must be included in any biodiversity conservation plans.

Consequently, management agreements will have to be formed between land managers to ensure biodiversity stewardship in the landscapes they look after.

Until now, there has been an emphasis on what we have lost, but in considering biodiversity we need to refocus on identifying opportunities that assist and support what we have. Carbon markets, as one example, could in Australia encourage the planting of

Far from having met this aim, we are seeing what researchers call the 6th Extinction Event with rates of species loss not seen for more than 65 million years, a result of factors such as climate change, habitat loss

and invasive species.

...Australia has almost 10 per cent of the world’s known species and is the most megadiverse of developed countries. However, we also have 10 per cent of the world’s threatened species and the dubious

honour of having the highest mammal extinction record of any country on the planet.

continued page 23...

image: Kate Leith, the Canberra Times

UniVeRsiTy news12

May/June 2010

Simplified accuracyThe CSIRO Flagship Coastal Collaboration Cluster, a new $11 million initiative led by Curtin University of Technology, has been launched. It

aims to assist translating research on climate change, population growth and other pressures that affect our coastal regions into practice.

Under the leadership of Curtin’s deputy vice-chancellor, Professor David Wood, the initiative will address the persistent gap between

expectations that science can provide solutions and the ability of decision makers to understand and master the often complex and diverse scientific fields. Participating researchers will consult with a wide range of decision makers to investigate what scientific knowledge would be helpful and develop new methods for simplifying the knowledge needed to make decisions about Australia’s coasts while retaining scientific accuracy.

Further partners in the three-year project are the University of Adelaide, Deakin University, Flinders University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Tasmania, the University of Wollongong and CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans and Climate Adaptation Flagships.

More information: www.csiro.au

Efficient communicationA $10 million Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) has been launched at the University of Melbourne, with the support of Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, Bell Labs, and the Victorian Government. Together with Bell Labs, CEET will research how to increase the energy efficiency of a broad range of telecommunications network infrastructure elements. The research outcome will also support the global industry-wide consortium GreenTouch™, which includes Bell and the University of Melbourne, and which aims for greater energy efficiency by driving a radical redesign of communications networks.

More information: http://newsroom.melbourne.edu

Crime stopper agreementThe University of Ballarat’s Internet Commerce Security Laboratory (ICSL) has signed a three-year agreement with the Australian Federal police to collaborate in the development of methods that are relevant to the investigation, prosecution and prevention of internet crime. This will include work in the areas of computer intrusions, unauthorised modification of data, denial of service attacks, the creation and distribution of malicious software and other fields of cyber crime.

Led by assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan, the Australian Federal Police High Tech Crime Operations will work with the ICSL on projects such as:

Identifying the groups behind the current spate of phishing attacks;Building forensic tools to uncover malicious code hiding on computers;Working to uncover users distributing illegal material through anonymisation services; Further partners of the laboratory at the university’s Centre for

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Informatics and Applied Optimization (CIAO) are Westpac Banking Corporation, IBM and the Victorian Government.

More information: www.ballarat.edu.au

Public policy investmentThe Australian Government will provide up to $111.7 million for the establishment of an Australian National Institute for Public Policy at the Australian National University. The centre will bring together the public policy expertise available through ANU and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

The funding includes: $14 million to enhance capacity in The Crawford School of Economics and Government and establish the H. C. Coombs Policy Forum, which will inform future policy development;$7 million in Sir Roland Wilson Foundation scholarships for public servants to study at ANU;$17.3 million towards the establishment of a National Security College;$19.8 million towards a building that will jointly house the National Security College and ANZSOG;$53.1 million to establish an Australian Centre on China in the World, which includes a foundation grant of $35 million, and an additional $18.1 million towards a new signature building on the university campus; and

Chinese engagementThe objectives of the new Australian Centre on China in the World will be to increase awareness and understanding of China’s global role by strengthening linkages inside and outside Australia, creating learning opportunities for researchers, educators, students, public intellectuals, writers, diplomats, public servants, business, journalists and the wider public.

More information: http://news.anu.edu.au

MASSIVE visualisationAn advanced $8 million image processing facility at Monash University will host high-performance computers and graphic technologies to quickly reconstruct and display data-dense 2D, 3D and 3D-plus images obtained from new-generation instruments in Monash’s Clayton precinct and beyond. According to Monash’s eResearch director Professor Paul Bonnington, the facility will offer researchers from a range of fields, including biomedicine, astronomy, engineering, geoscience and climate studies, unparalleled capacities to construct and view visualisations of the objects of their investigations.

Expected to open in August 2010, the Multi-modal Australian Sciences Imaging and Visualisation Environment (MASSIVE) will be the first facility of its kind in Australia, funded by the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), Victoria’s Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development (DIIRD) and further project partners, including CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron, and the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing.

More information: www.monash.edu.au

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innOVATiOn wATCh 13

Mindful partnershipPharmaceutical company Bayer Schering Pharma will collaborate with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in commercialising novel ANSTO imaging technology for the management of patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

The innovation is based on technology suitable to measure changes in the Peripheral Benzodiazepine Receptor (PBR), which could indicate neuroinflammation, an early characteristic of a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, dementias, and gliomas.

ANSTO researchers have developed ligands for the receptor that are labeled with Iodine-123 or incorporate an F-18 atom used in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography [SPECT] or Positron Emission Tomography [PET], respectively. The effectiveness of a specific SPECT ligand of PBR,123-I-CLINDE, was previously shown in animal models of neurological diseases, and the use of PET with F-18 PBR ligands is about to be tested in a US pilot study in Alzheimer’s patients.

ANSTO’s Dr Ron Weiner says the technology could be a major step towards improving the diagnostic capabilities for a range of important conditions related to neuroinflammation, and be used to monitor disease activity, but also as a tool for researchers seeking to find treatments and cures by monitoring the therapeutic response. This could complement the use of PET compounds that target β-amyloid brain deposits and are currently tested by Bayer Schering Pharma and other companies in advanced clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease.

More information: www.ansto.gov.au

Plant ambitionMicroalgae cultivation specialist Aquacarotene Limited has announced it will merge with molecular farming technology company Farmacule Bioindustries, a Queensland University of Technology spin-off. The deal is subject to shareholder approval.

The merger aims to deliver improved plant based systems for the production of bioethanol from sugar cane and plant derived compounds for medical research, nutraceutical and industrial markets.

The merged company will exploit a number of Farmacule’s patented technologies, including the ‘In-Plant Activation’ (INPACT®) expression system developed by Farmacule’s chief scientific officer Professor James Dale and his team at QUT.

The INPACT® system can be used to express novel proteins, enzymes and molecules of interest in selected plants with increased yield through gene switching and amplification.

Farmacule chairman Mel Bridges, who will also be chairman of the merged company, says the combination of Farmacule and Aquacarotene will accelerate the delivery of high-end valuable products.

The merger builds on Farmacule’s partnership with global company Syngenta in 2007, which was established to set up the Syngenta Centre for Sugarcane Biofuel Development.

More information: www.news.qut.edu.au

Termite nemesisBioProspect Limited is currently collaborating with the CSIRO in a field trial of TERMILONE®, a new timber treatment against termites with low environmental impact and low mammalian toxicity, which the company developed from the native False Sandalwood tree.

TERMILONE® was tested in the Darwin study to evaluate whether the product, , with its active component Eremophilone Oil, can protect timber against the attack of subterranean termite species Coptotermes acinaciformis and Mastotermes darwiniensis.

Chief operating officer Peter May says that results from the above ground trial show TERMILONE® successfully prevents significant damage by Coptotermes acinaciformis, common throughout the mainland, but is less effective against the more frequent and more aggressive M. darwiniensis, which only occurs north of the tropics.

The results of the study compared favorably to the industry’s standard product permethrin, he says. A related product is currently tested by the company’s commercial partner Ensystex Corporation, which evaluates TERMILONE® 80EC as a soil-applied barrier and as a treatment for colony elimination as part of a two-year international testing program.

More information: www.bioprospect.com

Renewable partnersSolar technology company Dyesol and CSIRO are in the process of commencing a two year project funded through CSIRO’s Australian Growth Partnership (AGP) program. The project’s objectives will be the creation of new intellectual property (IP) by bringing together Dyesol’s knowledge of ruthenium based dyes and CSIRO’s modelling and research capability.

Ruthenium based dyes are at the core of dye solar cell (DSC) technology, which produces electricity through a process of artificial photosynthesis that occurs as nano-particulate titania, ruthenium dyes and an electrolyte are sandwiched between suitable electrically conducting substrates and deposited on glass, metal or polymer. Light is electrochemically converted to energy as it is absorbed by the dye and electrons are excited, which then transfer into the titania layer producing an electric current.

The arrangements involve the purchase of a Dyesol laboratory solution by CSIRO, a direct investment into Dyesol via the AGP program and in-kind contributions from both CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship and Dyesol itself.

More information: www.dyesol.com.au

Alchemia newsOpioid research support

The Queensland Government will provide $1 million through the Research-Industry Partnership Program to support an ongoing collaboration between University of Queensland’s Professor Maree Smith and Alchemia. The partnership aims to develop novel opioid mediated therapeutics by separating the desired analgesic activity of opioid pain killers from their potentially severe side effects.

Preliminary research involving Alchemia’s VAST® platform

May/June 2010

image: dyesol

Memory savioursBACE Therapeutics, a new Victorian based company, is the result of a collaboration between Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, the University of Melbourne and the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria.

The company develops new drugs that can block the enzyme beta secretase (BACE1), a major target in Alzheimer’s disease, and this research has attracted a $650,000 investment by the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) – a collaborative venture fund supported by Victorian and NSW Governments.

According to MRCF chief executive officer Dr Chris Nave, the company is an excellent example of the many early stage investment opportunities that arise from Australia’s biomedical collaborations.

The company’s business centres on two compounds that appear to block the BACE1 enzyme, which is believed to be involved in the early onset of Alzheimer’s. The enyme’s increased concentration in the cortex of Alzheimer’s patients was first demonstrated by WEHI researcher and joint chief executive officer Dr Brian Smith, who hopes that BACE1 inhibition may also block progression of the disease.

Dr Julian Clark, a director of BACE Therapeutics, says the MRCF’s investment is an important first step towards bringing the compounds discovered by BACE Therapeutics to clinical trials.

More information: www.wehi.edu.au

Toxicity prevention needed?Prana Biotechnology has released a position statement on the proposed mechanism of PBT2 in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to many other approaches based on the ‘amyloid hypothesis’ and aimed at reducing the amount of A-beta protein in the brain, PBT2 appears also to neutralize its neurotoxicity, and is restoring the balance of metals such as zinc and copper essential for normal neuronal function.

The paper, which Prana has uploaded on its website, explores the approaches of anti-amyloid antibodies and secretase inhibitors posing the question, ‘whether direct intervention in brain A-beta level buildup is the optimal therapeutic strategy within the amyloid hypothesis, compared to prevention of A-beta induced toxicity of itself ?

Prana has also announced that it is finalising plans for an extended Phase IIb trial to consolidate positive results of an earlier Phas II trial, in which patients improved within 12 weeks in their executive function. The new trial would test 2 doses of PBT2 over a 12 months period.

More information: www.pranabio.com

innOVATiOn wATCh14

technologies has already resulted in the identification of molecules that act as potent analgesics without causing constipation, a common side effect of opioids.

Cancer stem cell cullAlchemia also demonstrated progress with its HyACT tumour

targeting technology for the enhanced killing of cancer stem cell populations in breast and colorectal cancer. These cell sub-populations are highly resistant to treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs and have been implicated in treatment failure of cancer patients and disease recurrence.

One of the markers that define these cell populations is CD44, which can be specifically targeted with Alchemia’s HyACT technology by virtue of its high affinity to the polysaccaride hyaluronan (HA).

Alchemia has used its HyACT technology to combine established anti-cancer drugs with the biopolymer HA, with the aim to enhance the efficacy of the drugs as they are specifically delivered to cancer cells with increased expression of CD44.

The company presented two posters at the recent American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) 101st Annual Meeting, which showed that a HyACT formulation of doxorubicin (HA-Doxorubicin) was up to forty times more potent than doxorubicin alone in killing putative breast cancer stem cells. Similarly, in human colorectal cancer cells, HyACT formulations of the drug irinotecan (HA-Irinotecan), showed up to a fifty fold increase in potency against stem cell like populations.

HA-Irinotecan is the company’s most advanced anti-cancer product. A phase III clinical trial of HA-Irinotecan in metastatic colorectal cancer will commence in 2010.

More information: www.alchemia.com.au

Sweet screenVerva Pharmaceuticals, a Victorian based public but unlisted clinical stage pharmaceutical company, is testing a novel insulin sensitizer (VVP808) in Phase 2a clinical trials for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The company announced it will collaborate with Deakin University and Geelong Hospital to evaluate safety and efficacy of VVP808 in people with type 2 diabetes who are currently not receiving diabetes medication.

VVP808 has been used since the 70s to treat eye disease but was discovered as potentially re-sensitising tissues to insulin, thus reversing the underlying cause of adult-onset diabetes. The discovery was made possible by a novel screening test developed at Deakin’s Metabolic Research Unit (MRU). The microarray based Gene Expression Signature (GES) technology can simultaneously measure changes in the level of the expression (activity) of thousands of genes. The test was used to screen a small group of drugs with a history of medical use that had already been tested for safety and side effects. MRU deputy director Dr Ken Walder says that VVP808 was found to restore insulin sensitivity to previously insulin-resistant cells, opening possibilities for the development of new type 2 diabetes drugs. The company is, for example, investigating how to modify VVP808 to improve efficacy and reduce side-effects, a significant problem with existing insulin sensitisers.

More information: www.vervapharma.com

May/June 2010

Hyaluronan, also called hyaluronic acid, is an important component of the extracellular matrix in the skin and the connective tissue.

image: modified from national institute on Aging/national institutes of health

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is cleaved by beta-secretase (BACE1), and gamma-secretase to produce beta-amyloid peptide

Partners for a global causeEarly and cost competitive diagnoses of HIV and AIDS is crucial to effectively control disease and to improve quality of life for infected patients, particularly a challenge in developing countries.

Australia’s Burnet Institute, in collaboration with the US Rush and Duke Unversities, has developed a cheap and rapid diagnostic kit measuring cell-associated CD4 protein, a marker for the immune system, in whole blood samples such as a finger prick, at an estimated cost of less than $2 when commercially available.

To establish a standardised approach that ensures the interpretation of test results is not dependent on the operator, Burnet has entered a partnership with Australian biomedical applications company Axxin Ltd to design an instrument reader suitable for the conditions in developing countries. According to Burnet’s Professor David Anderson, the test and reader should lead to improved access to antiretroviral drugs, especially in developing and resource-constrained countries.

More information: www.burnet.edu.au

Ideal testCellestis Limited has argued in a statement to the market that recently published International Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Cytomegalovirus in solid organ transplantation* reinforce the use of its QuantiFERON®-CMV (QF-CMV) blood test. The test allows doctors to monitor transplant recipient’s CMV specific (T-cell) immune response to guide the prevention and treatment of CMV disease after transplantation.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpes virus, is an opportunistic infection, infecting 50-80% of adults world-wide. Disease symptoms develop mainly in people with weakened immune systems, such as patients after an organ transplant as a result of immunosuppressive therapies to prevent organ rejection.

The new guidelines state that an ideal immune monitoring assay should assess the quantity and function of CD-4+ and CD-8+ T cells in transplant recipients, and they further detail a number of criteria, including the ability to measure interferon-gamma (IFN-y). The company says that “virtually all” of the criteria are met by the QF-CMF test, which measures the release of IFN-y in response to CMV-specific proteins, thus determining a person’s potential to fend off a viral infection.

The blood test is the first commercially-available for CMV disease and was developed by Cellestis in collaboration with scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), supported by an AusIndustry Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) grant.

More information: www.cellestis.com

End of a journeyAvexa Limited has been unable to find a global partner for its lead HIV program Apricitabine (ATC), and finally called it quits.

In October 2009, the company prematurely stopped its ATC Phase III clinical trial, and chief executive officer Dr Julian Chick then expressed confidence that the result evaluation would

still provide mature enough data to attract a global licensing partner. Top line results announced in February, however, were not statistically significant, although, according to chief scientific officer Jonathan Coates, together with positive results from an extended Phase IIb study they did provide “a clear indication of the medical value of ATC”.

The company cites a number of reasons why potential partners did not go ahead with a licensing agreement including:

the time and cost required to secure regulatory approval; a potentially too high dosage of ACT, which therefore could not be combined in a single pill with existing HIV drugs; and the inability to determine the level of activity of ATC in combined application with some new active drugs on the market (which mask the level of activity).Dr Chick has resigned from the board and his position as chief

executive officer. Mr Joe Baini resigned as a non-executive director citing inability to commit the required time as the reason for his decision. Mr Uri Ratner was appointed in the position, who has an academic background in molecular biology, and was a portfolio manager of some of the largest institutional life science funds.

Avexa also announced a strategic review of its remaining programs, with the aim of a suitable merger, acquisition, in-licensing opportunities and other corporate initiatives. And as the woes continued, investment manager Orbis sold its stake in Avexa, 47.7 million shares for $1.5 million, with Calzada Limited then announcing it had taken a 12% stake in the company at a cost of $3 million.

More information: www.avexa.com.au

Trial frenzy to stay calmThe second Phase I clinical trial with Bionomics Limited’s anti-anxiety drug BNC210 is underway to test whether the drug taken together with food affects its levels in the blood. Recent pharmacokinetic data from the first Phase I trial were released in March and indicated that the absorption of BNC210 plateaus at doses between 600mg and 1200mg.

The trial will also measure cortisol levels in the blood to confirm results from the first trial, which had indicated that cortisol levels could potentially be used as a marker for BNC210 efficacy.

Results from this second Phase I trial at the Royal Adelaide Hospital will be important in the lead up to a Phase Ib trial, as orally taken drugs are often ingested with food or following a meal, says chief executive director Dr Deborah Rathjen. Once the effect of food intake on BNC210 blood levels is determined, doses for the expanded clinical evaluation of BNC210 will be selected. The company plans to test the drug in healthy subjects, which will include electro-encephalograph (EEG) measurements after anxiety is induced, and the evaluation of possible side-effects such as sedation or memory impairment. Preclinical data found strong anxiolytic activity of BNC210 without apparent side-effects.

More information: www.bionomics.com.au

Starving successCircadian Technologies Limited’s fully human monoclonal antibody VGX-100, which targets VEGF-C growth factor, has been successfully tested in animal models of several human cancers. The results indicate potential for a new treatment for some types of cancer and, subject to positive results in human toxicology studies, the company intends to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US FDA in the first half of 2011.

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The instrument reader developed by Axxin Ltd, reading data from the inserted CD4 test kit.

The antibody inhibits the development of blood vessels nurturing the tumour. In addition, VGX-100 was found to inhibit metastasis by suppressing the development of lymphatic vessels.

In a mouse model (tumour xenografts) of human prostate cancer, mice were treated with a combination of anti-cancer drug Avastin, an approved anti-angiogenic targeting VEGF-A, and chemotherapy with docetaxel.

Tumour growth inhibition improved from 35.8% to 83.4% when VGX-100 was added. The presence of VGX-100 also increased the chance that animals survived the study (2.7 fold), and significantly more animals were tumour free at study end. Positive results were also obtained in mouse models of glioblastoma, where VGX-100 had an additive effect in combination with Avastin, and in pancreatic cancer, where VGX-100 alone was similarly effective than Avastin.

According to Dr Megan Baldwin, head of Preclinical Research and Development, the data indicate that VGX-100 can act either by itself or in combination with approved drugs, and in several types of cancers.

More information: www.circadian.com.au

Milky progressImmuron has released a series of statements related to its dairy-derived therapeutic antibodies including data presented in a poster at the recent 2010 International HIV Microbicides conference, which show that in vitro its anti-HIV antibodies from bovine colostrum can effectively neutralise many HIV isolates.

The company also provided an update on its CORAL trial, a Phase II trial of its hyperimmune antibodies BioGard™, in development as an adjunct therapy in HIV patients treated long-term with anti-retroviral drugs. All patients have completed their treatments, with 68 of 73 participants finishing the allotted courses of treatment over a six months period. The company interprets this as an early indication that BioGard™ would be acceptable to patients for long term use.

If the results, to be released in June/July 2010, are positive the company will seek to partner with a pharmaceutical company that has an anti-retroviral drugs on the market that could be improved by the adjunct therapy.

Ferrets influenza trialThe CSIRO AAHL Animal Ethics committee has approved pre-

clincial studies of Immuron’s influenza prevention antibodies in ferrets. According to Immuron, the dairy-derived polyclonal antibodies are likely to be effective against changing strains of influenza and could also be produced cheaply and rapidly against new strains. As an over-the-counter product it may serve as an addition to current vaccination programs.

In 2009, Immuron and the University of Melbourne won an ARC Linkage grant partially funding ongoing work in mice. The results from these studies show that a single intranasal application of its dairy-derived influenza antibodies, at a dosage much lower than previously thought, can effectively treat an established influenza infection, and used prophylactically provides 100% protection over four days and 80% over seven days. In the case of a successful demonstration in ferrets, the company would intend to start clinical trials.

Nycomed marketing Travelan®The company has licensed Nycomed Australia Pty Ltd to distribute its oral antibody product Travelan® in Australia and New Zealand.

More information: www.immuron.com

Painless updateQRxPharma released further pivotal data from of its Phase III combination rule study of its lead product, MoxDuo®IR*, a combined formulation of the opioids oxycodone and morphine. As reported previously, in patients with post-operative pain after bunionectomy, MoxDuo®IR had superior analgesic effect, and treated patients were 2-3 times less likely to require supplemental ibuprofen for pain relief then patients that received equivalent doses of its components alone. In addition, although receiving twice the amount of opioid equivalent than the controls, MoxDuo IR treated patients had similar levels of moderate to severe side effects. Chief executive officer Dr John Holaday says these results reflect that each drug component targets different receptors.

The company has also completed a Phase I trial for the controlled-release MoxDuo®CR product for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe chronic pain. The trial aimed to determine a suitable formulation of the dual-opioid for optimal drug levels in the blood.

The study in 14 healthy individuals compared the rate by which key components of the CR formulation were absorbed, distributed, metabolised and eliminated by the body to the pharmacokinetic profile of a sustained release oxycodone (Oxycontin®). The company expects to finalise the MoxDuo CR tablet by the end of this year to initiate Phase 2 trials.

More information: www.qrxpharma.com/

Natural healerThe World Health Organization (WHO) and the US National Institutes of Health clinical trial registers have listed Stirling Products Limited’s double blind, placebo controlled TB, TB/HIV clinical trial of the botanical immunomodulator ImmunoXel. Stirling has welcomed the recognition of the ImmunoXel trial, which also received funding by the US Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF).

The phytoconcentrate, also known as Dzherelo, is already approved in some Asian and African countries as a dietary supplement, and is extensively used in the Ukraine for the management of both TB and HIV infections. It has been used for various indications including chronic bacterial and viral infections, autoimmune diseases and malignancy.

Previous trials have found ImmunoXel safe and effective in TB patients, including patients with multi-drug and extensively drug resistant TB, and patients infected with both TB and HIV.

More information: http://stirlingproducts.net/

Fat prospectResonance Health Limited, which aims to develop a liver fibrosis measurement product using magnetic resonance imaging, has found that the technology, while effective in early stage liver fibrosis, has not sufficient competitive advantage in other stages. However, the technology shows promise in measuring liver fat and the company is now turning its focus on developing a liver fat measurement product instead.

Excess liver fat can lead to inflammation of the liver, liver fibrosis, liver cancer or even liver failure, but to quantify liver fat currently requires to undertake an invasive and painful liver biopsy.

More information: www.resonancehealth.com

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QLD strikes medicinal goldInternational drug manufacturer DSM Biologics will operate Australia’s first major contract manufacturing facility for biologic drugs and therapeutics in Queensland. The facility will be built in partnership with Queensland Government-owned BioPharmaceuticals Australia at the Translational Research Institute, which is located on the Princess Alexandria Hospital campus in Brisbane.

Local companies will be able to make the relatively small quantities of biopharmaceuticals needed for early-stage clinical trials, instead of having them produced offshore, at a cost of around $60 million each year. Premier Anna Bligh welcomed the decision as a turning point in the development of Queensland’s biotechnology industry, which she hopes to be worth $20 billion and employ 16,000 people by 2025.

The Queensland Government and the Commonwealth will invest $7 million and $10 million respectively, with the remaining $45 million being provided by the Translational Research Institute funding pool.

More information: www.cabinet.qld.gov.au

State budget specsVictoriaA major plank of the Victorian budget related to R&D is the $175

million Jobs for the Future Economy Action Plan, which is part of a total package of $215.3 million allocated to adapting Victoria’s economy to climate change. Addressing 18 priority areas the Action Plan aims to create ‘green jobs’ by supporting green investment, such as fast-tracking renewable energy projects, creating solar hubs, and energy efficiency measures. These include measures to improve energy and water efficiency in hospital’s, schools and Government buildings ($60 million); up to 10 solar energy hubs across Victoria by 2013 ($5 million) and support for emissions industries in regional Victoria ($7.4 million in 2009-10).

The plan provides a further $12 million over four years from Victoria’s Science Agenda Investment Fund for new research and industry partnerships in sustainable industries.

Cancer is a major focus of the announced health research initiatives, which includes $426 million in asset funding for the $1 billion Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre already announced in May 2009. Further $426 million is provided by the Australian Government. The project will lead to the largest concentration of cancer clinicians and researchers in the southern hemisphere.

Further major initiatives include $69 million for the next stage of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre (including $40 million in capital funding and $29 million in output funding to support research and development).

Research in agriculture will be supported with a $26.8 million package with initiatives including:

$11.6 million over four years to establish rapid geosequencing technology at at Bundoora and Bendigo;$8.8 million over four years to enhance the Department of Primary Industries’ ability to plan, mobilise and co-ordinate resources when confronted with natural disasters and emergencies;$5.4 million over four years towards protecting primary producers

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from threatening incursions of weeds and pest animals.The budget also includes measures to improve the competitiveness

of Victoria’s businesses through a $16.4 over four years Transition to a Global Future initiative. This includes:

$11.4 million for a new Competitive Business Fund to assist elible businesses to invest in new equipment, infrastructure, technology and product or process innovation.$4 million for measures strategically targeting foreign investment opportunities and build Victoria’s business global profile.In total, the 2010 Budget allocates $203 million over five years

for environmental initiatives, of which $105 million will go toward implementing the delivery of the Securing our natural future – Land and biodiversity in a time of climate change White Paper, which was released in late 2009.

More information: www.budget.vic.gov.au/

Western AustraliaAgriculture: A 10% increase in investment in Agriculture to $176

million includes $30 million over four years for a new export grains innovation centre at Murdoch University. The centre of research excellence will be complemented by a $9 million over four years investment in a new Crops for New Climate Environments project.

Water: In total $1 billion are allocated for water and wastewater projects, including $312 in 2010-11 for the Southern Seawater Desalination Project.

ICT: $3.6 million funding for the Interactive Virtual Environments Centre (iVEC), which contributes to the operations of iVEC’s Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for SKA Science.

More information: www.ourstatebudget.wa.gov.au/

Sight restoring laser...Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings says a trial of a Retina Regeneration Therapy (Ellex 2RT™) for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is producing positive results. AMD is a progressive disease affecting the central area of the retina called the macula. It is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world.

Ellex 2RT™ treatment targets early stages of disease and involves a novel laser device designed and manufactured by Ellex which delivers a controlled nanosecond dose of laser energy into the eye. The treatment has the potential to reverse the onset of blindness by reducing yellow

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Fluorescein angiogram (a) and colour fundus photograph (b) of dry AMD. Drusen are visible in the colour image (circle) but even more so made fluorescent in a. The Ellex 2RT treatment reduces the deposits potentially reversing the onset of blindness

image: nih (www.ncbi.nih.gov.au)

component of the food used in the commercial aquaculture of fish and prawns. Experts at the WA Department of Fisheries have developed the technologically-advanced facility in partnership with Cognis Australia, the world’s biggest producer of the naturally occurring red pigment, beta-carotene, which the company extracts from micro-algae.

Although Artemia can be pests in the production of micro-algae, the researchers devised an Artemia-rearing system works in tandem with Cognis’ large-scale commercial micro-algae plant. Feeding on the highly nutritious algae, the Artemia produced will be of high quality and the reduce the reliance on imported Artemia supplies and other less sustainable fish feed sources. “This new facility has potential to create a new multi-million dollar industry in rural WA and will help lead to more sustainable fish farming practices both domestically and internationally,” says Fisheries Minister Norman Moore.

More information: www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au

Boom hopefulsThe sixth round of the South Australian Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE) provides a total of $1.35 million for 23 exploration projects selected from 63 applications.

PACE was established in 2004 and contributed to projects such as the Carrapateena prospect, the 4 Mile project, the Bramfield, Malache and Oakdale prospects and the Gullivers and Dromedary heavy mineral sands prospects.

More information: www.ministers.sa.gov.au

Brain attractionThe NSW Government has announced the latest round of its Life Science Research Awards, funding four internationally renowned researchers with a total of $800,000, equally matched by their host institution. Recipients include:

Dr Matthias Klugmann, University of NSW, to research the underlying mechanisms in neurological and psychiatric conditions. Dr. Darren Saunders, Garvan Institute, to research functional genomics that will lead to new treatments and improved patient rates for multiple cancerous tumours.Professor David Ryugo, Garvan Institute, to research the mechanics of hearing to develop treatments for tinnitus and help discriminate speech from background noise, both of which are significant problems in age-related hearing loss.Dr Ravinay Bhindi, North Shore Heart Research Group at the Kolling Institute, to research whether a new technique can reduce injury during cardiac surgery for coronary artery bypass vein graft disease to improve patient survival rates.

More information: www.osmr.nsw.gov.au

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sTATe ROUndUPdeposits, known as ‘drusen’, in the retinal tissue of AMD patients.

The trial is carried out in 50 patients at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and Ellex R&D Pty Ltd and partially funded by a $540,000 grant from Victoria’s Science Agenda Investment Fund.

Results after six of the 12 months trial period show improvement in visual function in the majority of patients and a reduction of drusen. This preliminary finding could reflect a slowing or reversal of degenerative processes, says CERA Professor Robyn Guymer.

More information: www.premier.vic.gov.au

...with bionics in sightVictoria’s first bioelectronic laboratory at Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence, NICTA, aims to design and test the advanced electronics Bionic Vision Australia will use in its bionic eye project. The laboratory will feature cutting edge computer software tools and state-of-the-art circuit test and measurement equipment. It will also have access to the most advanced fabrication technology through partnerships with leaders in the global semiconductor industry.

More information: www.premier.vic.gov.au

Basking in the sunThe NSW Government has pledged $120 million to support the bid of NSW solar projects for a share of the Australian Government’s Solar Flagships Program, which invests $1.5 billion over six years in the construction and demonstration of up to four large-scale solar power plants in Australia.

The first round of the program, which will be awarded in the second half of 2010, will support two large-scale grid-connected solar power stations in Australia, one thermal and one photovoltaic, with a combined capacity of up to 400 MW. Of the 52 projects that have applied for funding, 14 are based wholly or partially in NSW.

More information: www.premier.nsw.gov.au

From small things... The Victorian Government has established a $10.5 million Victorian Action Plan for Small Technologies, building on the Victorian Nanotechnology Statement 2008. Initiatives include:

$6.5 million for a Small Technologies Industry Uptake Program, a small technologies roadshow and industry uptake awards;$2 million to investigate skills and education programs; and$2 million towards international investment, export promotion, conferences and events and other projects.

More information: www.premier.vic.gov.au

Well fed fish feedA new commercial brine-shrimp farm, the culmination of seven years’ research, has opened at Port Gregory, near Geraldton.

The shrimps, also known as Artemia or ‘sea monkeys’ are a key

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Artemia salina(Linnaeus, 1758)

image: hans hillewaert (Lycaon); distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-share Alike 3.0 Unported

New RIRDC chairThe Australian Government has appointed Professor Daniela Stehlik from the Charles Darwin University as the new chair of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC). The statutory authority is responsible for a broad range of research and development investments in rural industries. Professor Stehlik is the inaugural director of CDU’s Northern Institute and a leading social scientist in the area of sustainability, human service practice and social cohesion with a focus on families and communities in regional/rural Australia. She was also a member of the Expert Panel on the Social Impacts of Drought for the Federal Minister of Agriculture’s Review of National Drought Policy.

Viva la oreja bionicaOne of the world’s oldest universities, the Zaragoza University in Spain, has awarded an honorary doctorate to cochlear implant research pioneer Distinguished Professor Graeme Clark.In the 1970s, Professor Clark carried out research at the University of Melbourne developing a multi-channel cochlear implant. He is now continuing his research at La Trobe University through his Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence. Over the past 20 years, more than 120,000 of the Australian designed cochlear implants have been performed in 100 countries.

New Academy bossProfessor Suzanne Cory, one of Australia’s most distinguished cancer researchers, is the new president of the Australian Academy of Science. Professor Cory was previously director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute; professor of medical biology at the University of Melbourne from 1996 until 2009; and CSIRO board member and deputy chairman. She has succeeded former president Professor Kurt Lambeck, who was recently elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of America’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

Royal honourCSIRO’s Dr Ezio Rizzardo, a pioneer in the field of polymer science, has been elected as a Fellow of the United Kingdom’s prestigious Royal Society, joining distinguished scientists such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking. One of the technologies pioneered by Dr Rizzardo is the

Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerisation technology, which has led to major improvements in the properties of coatings and paints, electroactives, fuel additives and biomaterials. The technology has been licensed to a wide range of Australian and international companies.

Healthy head and new deputyProfessor Branko Celler is new executive dean of the University of Western Sydney’s (UWS) College of Health and Science. Professor Celler is a biomedical engineer and an expert in telemedicine – a specialist field of remote sensing and monitoring of patients using advanced technology and communications services. Professor Celler was previously head of the University of New South Wales School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications before becoming the chairman and chief executive officer of start-up company, Telemedcare.UWS has also appointed a new deputy vice-chancellor (academic and research), Professor Wayne McKenna, who was previously the executive dean of the university’s College of Arts. His research and teaching interests are in 19th and 20th century English literature and in writing.

Supplier voicesThe Australian Government has appointed three of its recently announced Supplier Advocate positions. Professor Andrew Parratt will be Cleantech Supplier Advocate to assist Australian businesses capitalise on the growing demand for clean technologies. He has extensive knowledge of cleantech industries and experience in senior management and executive director roles in start-up companies, government business enterprises and universities. Trained in genetics, law and finance, he was until recently founding executive director of the Institute for Technology and Innovation at Deakin University. As CEO of two companies he delivered technology from the ‘benchtop’ to commercialisation. Don Easter was appointed as Information Technology Supplier Advocate to champion local small-to-medium enterprises in the government IT procurement market and lead business development initiatives aimed at making the sector more competitive. Mr Easter held previously senior executive positions with Electronic Data Systems Australia and Westpac. As IT Supplier Advocate he will work with the IT Industry Innovation Council and add value to existing industry-led initiatives, such as NICTA’s Australian eGovernment Technology Cluster and AIIA’s CollabIT Program.Mr Bob Herbert will be Australia’s first Water Supplier Advocate, tasked with maximising Australian industry involvement in the water sector

by working closely with stakeholders including waterAUSTRALIA, the Future Manufacturing Industry Innovation Council, the Industry Capability Network (ICN), industry associations and government. Mr Herbert is currently deputy chairman of the ICN and was previously the chief executive of the Australian Industry Group.

Prominent recruitRobert Hill, former Minister for the Environment and Heritage (1998–2001) and Minister for Defence (2001–06) the Howard Government, which he also represented as leader in the Senate, will be next chancellor of the University of Adelaide. A University of Adelaide graduate in arts and law, Mr Hill was also a former permanent representative of Australia to the United Nations. Currently he is the chair of the Australian Carbon Trust Ltd and adjunct professor in sustainability at the University of Sydney.Mr Hill is succeeding the retiring John von Doussa on 25 July 2010.

IMAS leaderThe inaugural executive director of University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) will be Professor Millard (Mike) Coffin, who was until recently director of the National Oceanography Centre in the UK. Professor Coffin has a background in earth science and was previously also inaugural chair of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Science Planning Committee from 2003 to 2005. The institute he will lead was established to integrate the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) and the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI), and collaborate with State Government, industry stakeholders, CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division. Its focus will be on aquaculture, fisheries management, biodiversity, ecosystem management and modelling, plankton research in the Southern Ocean and physical oceanography. One of its main themes will be climate change and its impacts.

Happy chairmanRory McEwen will be new chair of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC), an Australian Government statutory body that invests government and industry levy funds in research and development on behalf of the Australian wine industry. He is a former South Australian Minister for Agriculture and Independent MP in the South Australian Parliament. Mr McEwen was also previously State Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Forests and previously established a horticultural enterprise. Commenting on his appointment he says “The challenges for the wine industry are to create value rather than generate volume”.

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Graeme Clark

Daniela Stehlik

PeOPLe 19

Branko Celler

Suzanne Cory

Wayne McKenna

Rory McEwen

Robert Hill

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Efficient river systems rescueThe Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has released a report on how to best facilitate sustainable levels of water extractions from the Murray-Darling-Basin.

A healthy state of the river system will require a further 30% reduction of water use across the 18 catchments of the basin, whereby individual catchments differ in the amount required. The group identified in each catchment least profitable activities of water use to determine how to reduce water use at lowest economic cost, and analysed the economic impact of required reductions in water use in each catchment. While most catchments would experience less than 3%, reduced profits, it would be 12% and 26% in the case of Murray and Murrumbidgee, the group found. Overall, the economic impact of the required additional 30% reduction in water use in a year of near average diversions would be around $2.7 billion.

The group then analysed several options how to deliver the required volume of water most effectively, including the Government’s Water for the Future program with its separate allocations of $3.1 billion for water

buyback and $5.8 billion for increased water-use efficiency. They conclude that this approach will not deliver required water returns within the funding allocated, and would also support mainly the irrigation industry, with little broader community benefits.

The group proposes a Reasonable Return and Community Development approach, which they say could return the required water volume in a much more cost-effective and socially responsible way, potentially saving $5 billion in public funding. Under this option, current separate funding programs would be combined in a single fund used by working with local communities to acquire water for a price equivalent to a ‘reasonable return’ on lost profits. It would also include funding an economic development program to assist regional communities transition to a future with less water.

More information: www.wentworthgroup.org/

Enhanced legislationThe Australian Government has introduced legislation into the Parliament that aims to enhance the Renewable Energy Target.

The legislation will split the RET into two parts - the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET).

The LRET covers generation-scale renewable energy projects like wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal, and delivers the vast majority of the 2020 target. The SRES includes household-scale technologies such as solar panels and solar hot water systems delivering the remainder of the target. The Government had sought public comments on the legislation in April.

The legislation has been broadly welcomed across sectors and is expected to pass the Senate to become effective in January 2011. Primarily, it intends to provide more certainty to industry and the market for

tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).LRET and the SRES combined are expected to exceed the current

45,000 gigawatt-hour renewable energy target. The LRET target alone would provide 41,000 gigawatt-hour by 2020, a higher portion of the total scheme than in the current scheme, whereby the amount by which the renewable energy target is exceeded will largely depend on the uptake of small-technologies under the SRES. This scheme will provide $40 for each tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) created.

More information: www.climatechange.gov.au

Big biofuel playerAusBiotech has been appointed to manage the Government’s Sustainable Energy – Second Generation Biofuels Research Infrastructure EIF Project, which will be undertaken at two pilot-scale production facilities established under the National Collaborative Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program. The $3 million investment includes:

$1.765 million for the Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant (MRBPP) Facility, Queensland University of Technology to purchase infrastructure it will offer to researchers developing processes that convert cellulosic biomass into renewable transport fuels (bioethanol) and high-value biocommodities.$1.235 million for the NCRIS Photobioreactor Facility, South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) for additional photobioreactors, raceway ponds and a biodiesel plant to undertake larger scale experiments into the production of biodiesel and other high value algae-derived products.

More information: www.AusBiotech.org

Salt exclusion...The farming of durum wheat is limited in Australia by the salinity affecting much of the country’s prime wheat growing areas.Researchers at CSIRO Plant Industry may have found a solution to the problem by developing a salt tolerant durum wheat which yields 25% more grain in saline soils than the parent variety.

Improved farming of durum wheat could be desirable because of its superior pasta making qualities compared to the more salt tolerant bread wheat. CSIRO researchers recently isolated two genes Nax1 and Nax2, which in a close relative of wheat, Triticum monococcum, are responsible for the limited passage of potentially toxic sodium from the roots to the shoots, thus excluding it from the leaves. Through non-GM breeding methods the CSIRO team then introduced the salt exclusion genes into the durum wheat lines, and found a significantly improved salt tolerance in field trials in northern New South Wales.

More information: www.csiro.au

... and flowing waterThe CSIRO has released a report on how water managers can improve the delivery of environmental water to ‘icon sites’, including wetlands of international significance such as the Macquarie Marshes, Gwydir Wetlands and Narran Lakes.

Ecological Outcomes of Flow Regimes in the Murray-Darling Basin is

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image: Carl davies, CsiRO

image: CsiRO

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25% performance increase with a corresponding 15-20% reduction in solar cell costs in $/watt.BT Imaging Pty Ltd, collaborating with Q-Cells, REC Wafer, ANU & CSIRO ($2.25 million) – the $5.43 million applied research project will develop a tool to inspect silicon wafers and cells during their manufacture and a tool for process and quality control, and sorting of multi-crystalline and mono-crystalline silicon blocks.Sapphicon Semiconductor Pty Ltd ($2.25 million)– the $15.65 million applied research project will develop novel, high efficiency, single-crystal silicon solar cells.CSIRO and ANU ($4.0 million) – the $9.0 million core funded research project will develop cost-effective thermal storage systems to generate solar electricity after dark.ANU, collaborating with with Transform Solar ($4.95 million) – the $13.5 million applied research project will increase SLIVER cell efficiency and simplify the cell fabrication process to lower fabrication costs, while also allowing improvements in cell yield.

More information: www.australiansolarinstitute.com.au/news.htm

Letting off steamNew temperature-, seismic- and transmissivity data have boosted the overall potential of Panax Geothermal Ltd’s Penola Geothermal Project – welcome news for Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson as the Government’s $50 million Geothermal Drilling program provides $7 million for the project.

The measured bottom hole temperature of the project’s Salamander-1 well increased by 15.4°C to 171.4°C and confirmed predictions of regional 3D temperature data. The 3D modelled temperature at 4,025 metres for the Salamander-1 well of 172°C was also found to be very close to the measured BHT at 4,000 metres of 171.4°C. Projected temperatures at 4,000 metres increase to the south and south-east, reaching 180°C within 4 kilometres of Salamander-1. Interpretations of new 3D seismic data also spelled good news, predicting that the reservoir rocks drilled in Salamander-1 cover an area of approximately 12.5 km2.

The data, the company states, are likely to upgrade the overall regional potential of the Penola Geothermal Project, with higher temperatures alleviating the pressure on high production rates.

Managing director Bertus de Graaf says that overall the new results not only boosted the geothermal potential of the Penola Trough, but also lift the potential of the other three troughs of Panax’s larger Limestone Coast Project.

A ‘Steam Release Event’ at the Salamaner-1 site as part of clean-up flow tests was hailed by the company as an “historic event for the Australian geothermal sector”, with South Australian Premier Mike Rann commenting that the potential of Panax’s total geothermal exploration licences in the Otway Basin could be more than 1,500 megawatts of electricity with the key advantage of proximity to existing infrastructure.

More information: www.panaxgeothermal.com.au

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based on 577 sets of data on the relationship between watering strategies and the health of vegetation, fish and other biota. A major outcome of the research is the Murray-Darling Basin Floodplain Inundation Model, which for the first time provides a tool to assess and predict changes in floodplain habitat, wetland connectivity and ecosystem health in response to flooding regimes. Using the model the researchers could, for example show, only 25% of the 6 million hectares of the basin’s floodplain has been inundated in the past nine years.

The collated flow data were also used to develop an ecosystem classification for 44 key wetlands in the Basin.

Water managers can use the information to improve the planning and delivery of watering regimes and flow management strategies, ensuring water flows can be tailored to maximise environmental outcomes.

More information: www.csiro.au; report: www.csiro.au/files/files/pw82.pdf

Sunny money...The Australian Government has approved recommendations by the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE) and awarded $92 million in grants to two large-scale solar projects, subject to successful offer negotiations:

CS Energy Pty Ltd ($32 million) will support a project near Chinchilla, Queensland. The State Government owned company aims to demonstrate Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar array technology developed by Ausra Pty Ltd. and globally marketed by Areva Group. The project will provide a 23 megawatt solar boost to coal-fired turbines of the existing Kogan Creek A Power Station. N.P. Power Pty Ltd (Whyalla Solar Oasis Consortium) will receive $60 million for a 40 megawatt concentrated solar thermal demonstration plant at Whyalla, SA, using Australian ‘Big Dish’ technology developed at the Australian National University.In total the projects will generate about $320 million in solar energy

investment.The Government has also selected eight projects from a total of 52

proposals for the second stage of assessment under the $1.5 billion Solar Flagship Program program (see also ‘Basking in the sun’, page 18). The projects will share up to $15 million in feasibility funding to develop robust project proposals for the final assessment process, which will select one solar and one photovoltaic project for funding. Unsuccessful projects will be able to apply again in the second round of the program.

The Government will also review recommendations by the Solar Flagships Council related to the siting of the photovoltaic projects, including whether to allow these to be located on multiple grids, for example, both the National Electricity Market and South West Inter-connected System in Western Australia.

More information: Michael Bradley, 0420 371 744

...keeps on flowingThe Australian Solar Institute (ASI) will support five solar R&D projects with $18.45 million; the total value leveraged by the projects is $67.7 million. The ASI investment aims to accelerate the commercialisation of new Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) technologies that could help reduce the cost of solar energy compared to existing energy sources. The five successful projects include:

University of New South Wales, collaborating with Suntech Power and Silex Solar ($5.0 million) – the $24.16 million project aims for a

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Steam Release Event – during clean up flow, 20 May 2010image: Pana Geothermal Ltd

May/June 2010

Portable storageResearchers at Monash University have developed a novel online data mangement program that allows scientists to securely store research information online and to share via internet complex scientific data. The program is already in use by scientists working at the Australian Synchroton and also exported to institutions overseas.

MyTARDIS/TARDIS was developed by biochemist Associate Professor Ashley Buckle and software engineer Steve Androulakis to record and catalogue experimental data, make it searchable and transfer it back to the home institution. There the researcher can analyse the data and make it publicly available on the TARDIS system alongside publication of the results in a scientific journal.

Developed with the support of Monash’s e-Research Centre, the Victorian e-Research Strategic initiative, the Australian Synchrotron and the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), the system eliminates the problem of having to transport physical storage systems, such as an external hard-drive. It also provides an option to more easily share data such as complex data or images by storing it on a central data storage place rather than having to upload and download over the internet.

More information: www.monash.edu.au

Limited interferenceThe Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released a discussion paper seeking comment on a range of technical and

regulatory issues associated with the development of planning and licensing arrangements for Ultra Wide-band (UWB) technologies in the 3.6-4.8 GHz and 6.0-8.5 GHz bands.

In the Ultra Wide Band use of radiofrequency spectrum transmitted energy is being spread over very large bandwidths, resulting in very low energy density per unit bandwidth. There are a range of new ubiquitous applications using UWB technology, such as wireless universal serial bus (USB) connections between computers and peripherals; cable replacement links between television set top boxes and digital display devices; and precision position indicating radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Because of the very low emissions energy, these UWB devices are usually close to undetectable by conventional radiocommunications services but the very wide bandwidth also means that the emissions of UWB devices can potentially include many bands whose use is licensed by other radiocommunications.

Interested parties can comment until 7 June 2010 on issues relating to the implementation of technical conditions for the operation of UWB applications and their support through licensing and regulatory arrangements.

More information: www.acma.gov.au

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ICT in a global contextThe World Economic Forum has released the The Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010, which measures the extent to which 133 economies from both the developed and developing worlds leverage ICT advances for increased growth and development.

The ICT industry has become increasingly important for the global economy, accounting for approximately 5% of total GDP growth between 2003 and 2008 and representing 5.4% of GDP worldwide in 2008. The report states that the unique function of ICT as a key element of infrastructure for efficient industries and critical productivity enhancer is crucial for sustaining recovery and laying the foundations for economies that are competitive in the long term.

The report findings are largely based on the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) for 2009–10, which covers 133 economies accounting for over 98% of global GDP. In its ranking, the NRI finds Sweden as the most networked economy in the world, with Europe featuring 12 out of the top 20 best performers. In this global comparison, Australia ranks 16th.

The report also addresses the role ICT could play in achieving social sustainability, and emphasises that “the creation of national broadband networks is crucial to sustainable economic development and social progress”. The report also provides detailed profiles of individual countries across a series of categories and against the international context.

More information: www.weforum.org/documents/GITR10/index.html

Lightning fast communicationTerabit-per-second (tbps) internet connectivity is in the making as the result of research postgraduate student Trung Duc Vo and coworkers, who developed a photonic transmitter chip for Ethernet networks achieving unprecedented bandwidth capacity and utilisation: up to 100 times faster than the current networks.

The technology increases the efficiency and capacity of current optical systems by processing communications optically, rather than electrically, avoiding the usual electrical-optical-electrical conversion in fibre networks. “Electrical-optical-electrical conversion is like driving in heavy traffic, then you hit the freeway and you’re zooming along, then you take the exit and you’re stuck in traffic again,” Vo explains the virtues of an ‘optics only’ approach.

The researchers have demonstrated a chip that enables so called optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) transmitting 1.28 tbps, and they expect the technology, at around $100 per chip, could be ready for commercialisation by around 2015.

Vo’s research is part of a project at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), in collaboration with the Australian National University and Danish Technical University.

More information: http://sydney.edu.au; a conference paper presented at the Optical Fibre Communications Conference, San Diego is available at: www.physics.usyd.edu.au/cudos/PDFs/OFC_PD_chip_Tbaud_processing.pdf

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UWB devices: USB hub and dongle

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Zero emission living

Trobe University, Sustainability Victoria, SP AusNet, Telstra and the Victorian Department of Human Services.

Key features of the house include : a 6 kW solar panel array mounted on the roof for on-site electricity generation;an optimised building envelope design specific for the Victorian climate;smart meters and an integrated energy management and monitoring system;a high efficiency reverse cycle heating and cooling system;a high efficiency solar hot water system

More information: www.csiro.au/science/Australian-Zero-Emission-House.html

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Australia has its first zero emission house (AusZEH) designed for Australia’s climate and suitable for a typical middle-income family. Opened at the end of April in Melbourne, the eight-star energy-efficiency rated house was designed by the CSIRO in partnership

with Delfin-Lend Lease and the Henley Property Group.The house produces

electricity from 6kW solar panels to supply all the operating energy needs of an average household. Unique energy management systems were developed by La Trobe University in partnership with CSIRO to track energy use in the house and provide

feedback via customised reports to household members. CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship initiated the AusZEH

project to demonstrate and evaluate how low-carbon housing can be achieved in Australia to reduce GHG emissions.

Director Dr Alex Wonhas says that if all the new housing built in Australia between 2011 and 2020 were zero-emission houses, 63 million tonnes of GHG emissions could be saved, equivalent to closing all Australia’s power stations for up to 100 days.

The project was supported by the AusZEH consortium, which includes CSIRO, Delfin Lend Lease, Henley Property Group, La

collaboration as a whole.These models have been applied in multiple forms in a myriad of

research areas at NeSC – from commercially sensitive and industrially oriented nanoCMOS electronics domain; the social simulation and social data management domain; clinical trials and epidemiological studies in the area of rare diseases, brain trauma, genetic causes of hypertension, adrenal cancers; prediction of Parkinson’s disease; geospatial information systems through to the arts and humanities and the language and literature domain. The scope and potential for e-Research and establishment of multiple new virtual organizations is immense.

From past experience, successful collaboration demands e-Infrastructure developers and providers embed themselves in application domains and actually listen to the demands of the researchers themselves (as opposed to simply pushing technology). The success of NeSC at Glasgow throughout the full course of the £250m+ UK e-Science cross research council core programme is testament to this.

I fully expect to continue with an e-Research engagement and uptake formula that works in, and for, Melbourne and Victoria! 1Digital information will grow to 1.2 zettabytes this year: IDC study, http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D12119 , May 2010.

...continued from page 10 Professor Richard O. Sinnott

...continued from page 11 Professor Iain Gordonnative trees and globally save many forests, and the biodiversity in them, by providing an alternative to logging. However, it is important that any decisions on such issues be underpinned by good science if perverse outcomes are to be avoided.

We also need to restore biodiversity in areas that have been degraded by human activity such as European agricultural systems, deforestation, overfishing and urbanisation. This will require the right data, tools and knowledge to support decision making. The scientific community does not have all the answers to what is needed but it can provide guidance as to what actions may help restore biodiversity. By implementing ‘to the best

of our knowledge’ guidelines within an adaptive management framework we can learn from outcomes of management interventions and use these insights to hone and guide future actions.

The CoP meeting will hopefully have the vision and courage to emphasise the importance of managers and policy makers working with researchers to develop evidence-based decision making that will address the challenges facing biodiversity. Globally, the message has to be spread that biodiversity is for life not just for 2010. Here in Australia, we will need collaboration between our scientific skills, indigenous environmental knowledge and the broader community to save our unique landscapes.

image: CsiRO

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access on a cumbersome managed basis without the option to directly connect to passive or ‘dark’ fibres. Because of the lack of competitive backhaul, around 300 Telstra exchanges are currently capable of DSL but have no competitive DSL equipment installed.

The NBN wholesale-only, open access model could change this by removing existing bottlenecks in infrastructure and providing equivalent service to all access seekers. While the study places significant weight on the merits of NBN Co operating as a wholesale-only service, defining wholesale-only is in practice difficult, and the study recommends a narrow starting definition with some practical flexibility through specific exceptions for classes of customers by the Minister.

To access the fibre network, NBN Co should only offer so called Layer 2 or Data Link Layer services, which activate or ‘light’ the fibre, thus lowering the barrier of access for retailers. The study explicitly warns that concerns that ‘a new Telstra’ could be created are not without foundation as it introduces not only a new passive access network monopoly, the fibre infrastructure, but also includes an active Layer 2 component. To ensure healthy competition in the Australian telecommunications market, the study recommends a time limit of 8-10 years for the Layer 2 services, and in a future privatisation of NBN Co to structurally separate Passive and Active elements.

NBN Co and Telstra are currently negotiating an agreement for migrating traffic and/or deactivating the copper network, a complicated undertaking given the value at stake. According to the study, Telstra will over the long term have to deactivate its copper network as fibre becomes the main infrastructure, and this will place particular challenges on Government planning. For example, payphones may not easily move onto fibre, and capabilities would need to be explored as alternatives to arrangements related to current emergency services, such as the ability to locate a fixed-line caller dialling 000.

NBN Co was established by the Government as a wholly-owned Government Business Enterprise intended to operate commercially and eventually to be funded through private capital. The study investigated a series of business case scenarios and found that the project returns are likely to be sufficient to cover the cost of interest on the Government debt raised to fund the equity. When completed NBN Co is expected to generate substantial free cash flows and margins (EBITDA margin is expected to be close to 75%) and by year 15 it is estimated to have a value of around $40 billion, the size of an ASX top 20 company.

While likely to be attractive to a range of investors, any privatisation will be difficult and complex. To maximise the return to Government investment, the study recommends that private equity in NBN Co is not included until completion of the project, as private investors beforehand would, by demanding more upfront regulatory and policy certainty, restrict Government flexibility needed to adapt to the challenges in the different stages of the project. “The chances of getting all these settings right at the outset would be slim”, the report says.

The peak investment of the Government required could be $26 billion by the end of year 6 of the rollout, when NBN Co is likely to raise investment-grade commercial debt. The Government should be able to pay back up to $20 billion of its debt within 15 years. The study does urge the Government to provide certainty now for the company by reaching formal funding agreements.

More information: www.dbcde.gov.au/broadband/national_broadband_network/national_broadband_network_implementation_study

fixed-line network in favour of mobile broadband. In the long term, the fibre network is set to become Australia’s predominant fixed-line network for at least 40 years, while the current copper network is predicted to deteriorate in quality and economics. Driving uptake should be a main priority for NBN Co and this will depend on the price of access offered to retailers. The study suggests $30 - $40 per month set uniformly across the fibre footprint. This could unlock a new wave of fixed broadband growth as current services in Australia are slower, more expensive and subject to lower download caps than elsewhere. Uniform pricing, however, is complicated as it entails denser areas, where the network is less costly to run, cross subsidising higher-cost areas of lesser density. However, the study finds this is manageable across the 93 percentile.

Optical fibre technology has significant future upgrade potential as single fibres can far exceed (~1,000 times) the 100Mbps targeted by the Government, and the roll-out of the network should not limit this potential.

The study undertook a detailed geospatial modelling which determined that while 90% of the Australian population live in high density areas (around 0.2% of Australia’s land mass), around 3% of the final 10% live in urban fringes that also could be covered with optical fibre at reasonable cost. This would increase the Government’s originally proposed 90% of fibre-to-premise deployment to 93%, taking advantage of the superior qualities of fibre over wireless technologies. It would also take into account that within the 93 percentile most households have already access to DSL, potentially reducing the uptake of wireless and making it economically less viable than fibre.

Of the remaining 7% of the population living in areas for which fibre deployment would be too costly, 4% could be covered through wireless technologies, such as 4th generation (4G), and around 3% through a next-generation Ka-band satellite. This new satellite type offers vastly improved throughputs compared to the currently used Ku-band satellites, although high latency would still impact on real-time interactive services. Both, wireless and satellite would not be restricted to this 7 percentile, though, but cover most (wireless) or all (satellite) populated areas in Australia.

There are considerable risks and challenges, including:: up to 250,000 kilometre of access network and backhaul fibre to be buried or strung overhead; the change and uncertainty of markets and technology; and the significant impact of the NBN on the future structure, conduct and performance of Australia’s telecommunications industry.

To meet these challenges, three overriding principles should govern the rollout: pragmatism; flexibility; and foresight.

Because of the millions of sites to be covered – approximately 12 million premises by 2018 (10.7 million today) – even small decisions could substantially impact on the business case, the study warns. However, the repetitive nature of the rollout could also be a significant benefit of the process, as it becomes more efficient over time.

The current telecommunications market is characterised by an access network, mostly owned by Telstra, which typically links end-users through pairs of copper wires to a local exchange. The costs of access for internet service providers are variable (ISPs), limiting competition in less dense areas, where Telstra remains the dominant service provider. Beyond the exchange, transmission links transfer data to hubs typically located in capital cities. A large portion of this ‘backhaul’ network consists of fibre connections, with links predominately served by Telstra, which provides

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works around a 15-year payback period – again, this applies to many other forms of infrastructure.”

For complete commentary: NBN Implementation study launched – first analysis; www.buddeblog.com.au/implementation-study-launched-first-analysis/

Professorial Fellow Paul Kerin, Melbourne Business School, wrote a highly critical commentary in The Australian, according to which the business case of the NBN does not add up. He said that the McKinsey-KPMG report contains a series of errors, including a “disastrous error” by using a “spurious discount rate” to establish the financial viability of the project. (The discount rate is an important parameter in determining the net present value (NPV), which defines the value now of a stream of either negative or positive future cash flows.)

Both parameters are highly sensitive to the risk inherent in a project. Professor Kerin says that the use of a wrong discount rate by the NBN study “gives the false impression that both project and equity NPVs are positive.“ He adds: “As the NBN is very capital-intensive and demand will vary with the strength of the economy, its net cash flows will be risky. As the project has huge cash outflows in the early years and delayed cash inflows, even a small increase in the discount rate substantially affects NPVs,” he says.

The study’s result hinges on what it calls the “government’s low cost of funds”, he says. “But Infrastructure Australia – which Kevin Rudd set up to prioritise all major infrastructure projects – dispelled that myth capital well before the study even began. It noted that while the government’s debt cost was low because its power to tax reduced default risk, this ‘in no way removes the riskiness of the project’. It added that a ‘project’s cost of capital is not set by the cost of borrowing; it is the cost of bearing the project’s risk’.” The study, he says, takes account of project risk under private ownership, yet ignores it under government ownership. “But risk doesn’t magically disappear just because the government owns something (indeed, quite the reverse). If it did, the government should own everything in the entire economy.”

For complete commentary: Implementation study gets the NBN numbers wrong; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/implementation-study-gets-the-nbn-numbers-wrong/story-e6frg8zx-1225865739208

Professor Henry Ergas, Senior Economic Advisor with Deloitte expressed in Commsday similar criticism saying : “...the study does not show that the project is commercially viable; on the contrary, all it shows is that under the assumptions the study team made, the project’s internal rate of return is slightly higher than the bond rate.” However, the bond rate is far below a commercial rate of return whereby the study itself suggests a range for that required commercial return that goes to 12.4 per cent. Professor Ergas also argues that the bond rate is not even the cost of finance to the public sector as the cost of finance to a project must be grossed up to take account of the systematic risk of the project. He continues that regardless of the precise level of that rate, it is clearly far above the study’s estimate of the project IRR. “It is disappointing that the study does not get this right, as it has a significant bearing on its conclusions and as the correct approach would be obvious to any practitioner in this field.”

Professor Ergas says, however, that the project could still be desirable but would require a comparison of the project’s properly estimated costs to the properly estimated benefits. What can be concluded from the study, hes says, “is that if cost-coverage is the relevant criterion, the project fails, probably by some 10 to 15 billion dollars.”

For complete commentary: ‘How the NBN Implementation Study stacks up’: www.commsday.com/commsday/?p=1014

Select Committee on the National Broadband NetworkThe Select Committee on the National Broadband Network has released its fourth interim report which includes an initial response to the Implementation Study. In addition, the fourth report deals with progress on the NBN on Australia’s mainland and in Tasmania.

In its discussion of the study, the Senate Committee is highly critical of its limited parameters restricting any evaluation of Government policy objectives, the decision to undertake the implementation via NBN Co; and not to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the NBN, and of the macroeconomic or social benefits of a superfast broadband network.

The committee recommends abandoning the NBN project stating that, in line with a number of “respected independent analysts”, there has been no credible case made for the NBN in its current form.

More information: www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/broadband_ctte/interim4-report/index.htm

ReactionsUniversity of Melbourne’s Laureate Professor and former Bell Labs staffer Professor Rod Tucker was quoted in Computerworld saying, “The amount of data on the Internet has been growing at about 40 – 50 per cent per annum for more than ten years and there is no sign of any slowing. Based on this rate of growth, by the year 2020 customers won’t want 100Mbps. Instead, they will be demanding ten times more than 100Mbps – i.e. 1Gbps! The brilliance of the NBN is that in 2020, it will be easy to upgrade it to provide 1Gbps to those customers who want it.”

For complete commentary: (‘NBN Arguments 101: The need for Speed in Computerworld; www.computerworld.com.au/article/347445/nbn_arguments_101_need_speed/?pp=4)

Also in Computerworld, David Kennedy, research director of telecommunications advisory firm Ovum, commented: “They are predicting, based on international experience, a six to 12% per annum take up where fibre is rolled out. But, if you look at their examples it’s places like Japan, Korea and Holland. In those cases we’ve had an incumbent transferring its customers over to fibre. That can happen here, but only if a deal with Telstra is struck. In the event of a competitive scenario with Telstra the benchmark is more like Italy where the newcomer is competing against the incumbent and the take up is just two per cent.”

For complete commentary: ‘Analysts greet NBN Study but ask for business case’; www.computerworld.com.au/article/345775/analysts_greet_nbn_study_ask_business_case/

Paul Budde, managing director of BuddeComm, an independent global telecommunications research and consultancy company, wrote in a commentary blog: “The reason a commercial (private sector) rollout is not economically viable is that many of the national benefits of the NBN fall outside the balance sheets of private companies – these relate to lifestyle improvements, cost saving and quality improvement in healthcare, education, etc. It is therefore essential for the government to take the leadership role in this, and for it also to be prepared to take the risks, as it does in many other infrastructure projects. It will be critical to leave the NBN under government ownership for the duration of the rollout, to ensure a competitive and affordable environment.

It is perfectly acceptable that, as a utilities investment, the government

$16 million over two years ($8.4 million in new funding, $7.6 million from existing resources) will be used in an information campaign to raise awareness of the value of superfast broadband.

Climate Change$652.5 million over five years for a new Renewable Energy Future Fund. The Government will defer the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) to the period after the end of the current period of the Kyoto Protocoll, which will save $2.7 billion over five years from 2009-10. In cash terms this together, with net departmental savings, provides $652,5 million over four years, which will be used to establishe the new fund. The Renewable Energy Future Fund will form part of the $5.1 billion Clean Energy Initiative, and will

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ICTNational Broadband Network (NBN):

$23 million over five years will be allocated to support the implementation of the NBN including $15 million over four years to 2013-14 to fund policy and regulatory support for the roll-out; provide for overseeing the contract with Nextgen Networks to construct the Regional Backbone Blackspots transmission links; and manage the Government’s shareholding in NBN Co Ltd. $24 million over five years will go towards the regulatory oversight by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACCC) of NBN Co. The costs to the measure will be fully recovered through annual carrier licence charges.

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Budget specs

The budget received overall a cautiously positive response from representatives of the science and research sector. Professor Linda Kristjanson, deputy vice-chancellor, (R&D) at Curtin University said the 2010-11 budget contained

no major news for higher education and research, but affirmed the Government’s commitment to initiatives currently underway, such as the Education Investment Fund, Super Science, Excellence in Research Australia and related funding schemes. “The commitment to space science and astronomy is welcomed and will continue to progress our preparation and competitiveness for the Square Kilometre Array project. Investment in the CRC program is also encouraging. Commitments to environmental innovations in the area of green energy and the focus on primary health care are needed and universities such as Curtin, who are working directly in these areas will be able to engage with industry to ensure evidence based innovations are implemented”.

Medicines Australia chief executive officer Dr Brendan Shaw welcomed the 466.7 million investment for e-health announced in the Budget, which he says is a critical step towards delivering a fully integrated healthcare system.

“A national e-health record promises a much more efficient system of health delivery,” he says. “It also has great potential to help reduce the number of avoidable adverse events stemming from inadequate patient health information.“

The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies‘s [FASTS] new executive director Anna Maria Arabia strongly criticised the deferral of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

(CPRS) until after the end of the current period of the Kyoto Protocoll. “Tonight’s Federal Budget is a victory for those people with their

head in the sand on climate change – the Opposition and The Greens who voted against an Emissions Trading Scheme,”

she said calling on the Government to clearly outline its plans for the next three years to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions. She also expressed concerns over the lack of

ongoing funding for the International Science Linkages Program, a concern shared by the new president of the Australian Academy of Sciences (AAS), Professor Suzanne Cory. Professor Cory expressed the hope that later this year, a report by the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s International Research Collaboration will result in renewed funding for this “crucial area, guided by whole of Government strategy.” Currently, valuable programmes with long

term international partners are in jeopardy, as forward planning cannot be undertaken, she says.

While welcoming essential research funding in hospitals, she says “it is a pity that there has been

no rationalisation of funding to cover real research costs for Universities, CSIRO, Medical Research

Institutes and Hospitals.”Professor Garry Jennings, director of the Baker

IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute noted that while having a strong focus on health, the budgets “deafening silence on

health research funding in the budget raises the question of where and how innovation will occur. The new and better funded health system faces the future challenges of an aging community living with chronic disease, emerging global diseases and new technology.”

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May/June 2010

provide additional support in early stage invesments in large and small scale renewable energy projects through a partnership between Government and private sector.$56 million over two years in additional funding will support the International Forest Carbon Initiative, which aims to build capacity of developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Total funding of the program, which is totalling $273 million over six years to 2012-12, is part of the Government’s international climate change financing commitment to 2012 under the Copenhagen Accord.$6 million in 2010-11 for the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator to implement enhancements to the Renewable Energy Target from 1 January 2011, which will be separated into two parts: the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target and the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme.

BiosecurityA total of $346.8 million allocated for biosecurity measures include:

$20 million over four years to support progress in the reform of the Australian biosecurity system; and $61.3 million over two years to help maintain essential front-line biosecurity measures and implement reforms.

ForestryBudget measures will complete the $7 million over three years Forest Industries Development Fund and $6.3 million over three years investment for research into the impact of climate change on our forest systems and industries.

Environment and waterThe Government will develop a National Plan for Environmental Information, funded with $18 million over four years, which will

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establish institutional arrangements and clear responsibilities for the consistent collection and provision of environmental information to support decision making. The plan will include a new environmental Information Reform program ($1.3 million over two years), run by the Bureau of Meteorology and Environmental Data Coordination program ($16.7 million over four years).$330 million in funding allocated for 2011-14 will be brought forward to 2009-10 to accelerate the purchase of water entitlements to return water to the environment.

Health InnovationThe establishment of key components of a personally controlled electronic health record system is a cornerstone of the Government’s eHealth policy, funded with $466.7 million over two years. The system is expected to operate from 2012-13 and builds on the Healthcare Identifiers Service (HIS). Subject to legislation, the current development of an HIS will be supported with $0.5 million per year to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for regulatory support in relation to health care identifiers in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The measure will also require investments by State and Territory Governments in their core health information systems. The Opposition has alread announced it will, if elected, not support the measure.

Science and ResearchContinued use of resources from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research to implement the innovation reform agenda Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century.$30 million over four years will facilitate the return to Australia of reprocessed nuclear waste generated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. A further $9.7 million in 2010-11 will help to decommission obsolete nuclear facilities, the Moata reactor and the HIFAR reactor, at the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre and the National Medical Cyclotron.$19.5 million over two years will go towards the construction of the new $44 million Cairns Institute – Tropical Innovation Hub at James Cook University.The Commonwealth Australian National University Strategic Relationship will be strengthened with 112.9 million over four years plus $2 million per year from 2014-15 towards the Australian National Institute of Public Policy (the Institute). $117 million in 2010-11 towards the National Measurement Institute maintenance of Pymble facility.Due to lower than expected demand, the Green Car Innovation Fund, a part of the Government’s A New Car Plan for a Greener Future, will be reduced by $200 million over three years, with $790.4 milion over nine years remaining to support eligible companies.

Minerals, resources and geoscience$65.3 million over four years will be redirected from the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships Program to provide additional resource for Geoscience Australia.

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Chair, Health Promotion and Director of the Mccaughey Vichealth Centre for the Promotion ... university of Melbourne | vic 11 Jun

Dean of Health Science university of tasmania | tAs 11 Jun

Associate Professor in Sensor Technologies university of western sydney | nsw university of western sydney | nsw 30 Jun

Fellow or Associate Professor Australian national university | Act 03 Jun

Research Director Australian national university | Act 06 Jun

Director Petroleum and Geothermal Portfolio csiro | Australia 03 Jun

Professor in Design and Computation university of sydney | nsw 19 Jul

Professor in Molecular Genetics university of sydney | nsw 22 July

Principal research scientist bureau of Meteorology | vic 02 Jun

ARC Super Science Fellowships ( 3 positions ) university of Adelaide | sA 18 Jul

JobS insTiTUTiOn CLOsinG dATe

Gambling Reform 2010sydney, nsw9-10 Jun 2010

Inter-Continental Advanced Materials for Photonics Summer SchoolInter-Continental Advanced Materials for Photonics Summe...20 Jun – 10 Jul 2010, sydney & brisbane, Australia

Coal Seam Water Seminar 201021 – 23 Jun 2010, brisbane, qLd

2nd Annual Australian Pharmacogenomics Summit21 - 22 Jun 2010, sydney, nsw

Population Health Management21 - 22 Jun 2010, brisbane, qLd

10th Anniversary Hospital in the Home Conference 201021 - 22 Jun 2010, Melbourne, vic

Carbon Capture and Storage World Australia 201022 - 23 Jun 2010, Melbourne, vic

Stormwater Summit22 - 23 Jun 2010, Melbourne, vic

Australia’s health 2010 conference22 Jun 2010, canberra, Act

Healthy Climate, Planet & People; co-benefits for health from action on climate change.23 – 24 Jun 2010, canberra, Act

Mental Health Units Conference25 - 26 Jun 2010, sydney, nsw

Environment Research Event 201027 - 30 Jun 2010, rockhampton, qLd

Organisational Strategy & Marketing to RECRUIT International Students29 – 30 Jun 2010, Melbourne, vic

International Climate Change Adaptation Conference29 Jun – 1 July, gold coast, qLd

CONNECT 20104 - 8 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

Australian Earth Sciences Convention 20104 - 8 Jul 2010, canberra, Act

RACI2010 Chemistry for a Sustainable World4 - 8 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

On The RAdAR & JOBs28

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For details of jobs and conferences: www.sciencealert.com.au

52nd International Field Emission Symposium5- 8 Jul 2010, sydney, nsw

XXth Congress of the International Association for Cross Cultural Psychology7 – 10 Jul, 2010, Melbourne, vic

4th International Conference on Psychology Education8 - 11 Jul 2010, sydney, nsw

Second International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses8 - 10 Jul 2010, brisbane, qLd

Alternative Practices in Design: The Collective - Past, Present & Future9 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

27th International Congress of Applied Psychology11 - 16 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

The Eye Health Policy Forum 201014 - 15 Jul 2010, sydney, nsw

Democratizing Climate Governance15 - 16 Jul 2010, canberra, Act

Mine Site Automation and Communication20 - 21 Jul 2010, perth, wA

Data Centre Management20 - 21 Jul 2010, sydney, nsw

7th International Conference on Herbal Medicine23-25 Jul 2010, coolangatta, Australia

IC’10 and ICCC3925 - 30 Jul 2010, Adelaide, sA

Reducing Hospital Readmissions & Discharge Planning Conference26 Jul 2010 - 27 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

Policy Innovation27 Jul 2010 - 28 Jul 2010, canberra, Act

Dredging Australia27 Jul 2010 - 28 Jul 2010, brisbane, qLd

Cancer Nurses Society of Australia’s 13th Winter Congress29 Jul 2010 - 31 Jul 2010, perth, wA

Heads Up- First International youth Mental Health Conference29- 30 Jul 2010, Melbourne, vic

Grants and programsnote: For help finding research and industry grants try the grant Finder database. For more information: www.business.gov.au/bep2005/grantfinder/grantfinderlist.aspx

The $1.3 billion Green Car Innovation Fund is open for application. Applications can be lodged at any time.More information: patrick pantano, 0417 181 936

Clean Business Australia -Government GrantsMore information:www.ausindustry.gov.au

UNESCO-L’Oreal International Fellowships for young Women in Life Sciences – applications close 30 JulyMore information: www.jason.edu.au

NHMRC:

Postgraduate Scholarships – applications close 31 July 09

Development Grants – applications close 2 Jul 2010

Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) – applications open 9 July 2010 and close 1 Oct 2010 More information: www.nhmrc.gov.au

ConferencesAustralasian Society for Infectious Diseases Inc Annual Scientific Meeting 201026 - 29 May 2010, darwin, nt

Biochar Conference27 - 28 May 2010, sydney, nsw

World Mining Investment Congress 20101 - 3 Jun 2010, nsw, Australia

Coal Tech 20101 - 2 Jun 2010, brisbane, qLd

IEEE Symposium on Technology and Society7 - 9 Jun 2010, wollongong, nsw

Diversity in Health 20107 - 9 Jun 2010, Melbourne, vic

One Water Many Futures8 - 10 Jun 2010, sydney, nsw

19th World Congress of Soil Science1 - 6 Aug 2010, brisbane, qLd

Wind Farm Development, Design & Construction4 - 5 Aug 2010, Melbourne, vic

Australian Economic Forum 20105 - 6 Aug 2010, sydney, nsw

The 5th Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region8 - 12 Aug 2010, sydney, nsw

World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Council15 - 19 Aug 2010, brisbane, qLd

Land Access for Mining and Petroleum16 - 17 Aug 2010, brisbane, qLd

Primary Healthcare Design & Construction17- 18 Aug 2010, brisbane, qLd

Water Infrastructure Project Delivery17 - 18 Aug 2010, sydney, nsw

3rd annual Urban Transport Planning Summit17 - 18 Aug 2010, brisbane, qLd