On Campus blog: Daily news updates from the tertiary education sector

The federal government has had a year to implement copyright reforms: meanwhile, academics and students are hampered by obsolete laws.

University students and academics need freer access to scholarly works to build their careers. Illustration by Jock Alexander

On Campus daily blog: Higher Education news as it happens

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Friday 13 August

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Call to reform copyright

Universities Australia has urged the federal government to implement the reforms to the Copyright Act 1968 that it announced a year ago. Modernising the system was crucial UA chief executive Catriona Jackson said.

“Australian university students and academics are disadvantaged by outdated and obsolete copyright regulations, and reform is now long overdue,” Ms Jackson said.

The reforms would allow universities to make works available in their collections even if the copyright owner is unable to be identified. “The proposed reforms would allow academics to use short quotes in strictly non-commercial works.”

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de Zwart moves to Flinders

The University of Adelaide’s dean of law, Melissa de Zwart, is moving to Flinders University’s College of Business Government and Law where she will be professor of digital technology, security and governance.

Professor Melissa de Zwart. Supplied.

Professor de Zwart, who is an expert in internet law and the regulation of access to and uses of outer space will also contribute to its Jeff Bleich Centre for the US Alliance in Digital Technology, Security and Governance.

Among other roles, she is the Council of Australian Law Deans chair, the Space Industry Association of Australia deputy chair and a lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy reserve.

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Thursday 12 August

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Stress test to help out fish

A new blood test for fish and other aquatic species will detect levels of stress and help scientists to work out how to provide the most congenial environment for them.

“By detecting metabolic stress, we can develop an early warning system to assist the industry in managing their stock for optimal productivity and sustainability, while ensuring animal health and welfare,” University of Western Australia school of molecular sciences research associate Catherine Wingate said.

Dr Wingate is working with Western Australia’s department of primary industries and regional development.

Her test detects measures proteins as a way of identifying metabolic stress that could be caused by factors such as disease, inadequate nutrition or environmental factors such as temperature stress and pollution.

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Wednesday 11 August

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Future fellows receive $93m

Research into agriculture, robust quantum technologies, and disability services are among 100 projects awarded $93 million under the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowships scheme.

The four-year fellowships are directed to researchers who have already demonstrated success and are focused on areas of national priority.

“Importantly, these research projects will keep some of the world’s finest minds right here in

Australia so that we directly reap the benefits of their research,” Education Minister Alan Tudge said.

Successful applicants include the University of Western Australia which will receive $1.1m to advance 3D computer vision for 3D mapping, surveying, robotics and autonomous vehicles and the University of Queensland which will receive $995,000 to investigate new ways to support people with a disability into work.

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UNSW shores up defence with new expertise

Systems engineer and head of the Centre for Systems and Technology Management at the UK’s Cranfield University, Emma Sparks, has been appointed dean and director of UNSW Canberra.

Professor Emma Sparks

“Having worked with the military, defence contractors and government agencies, Emma brings deep insights into the impact university teaching and research can have for the benefit of these important stakeholders,” UNSW Sydney vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs said.

He said she would lead the delivery of the university’s renewed agreement with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Canberra campus in partnership with the ACT government.

Professor Sparks, who is also deputy director of education and director of program portfolio delivery at Cranfield, said given that UNSW had provided education services for the ADF in Canberra for more than 50 years she was excited to lead the “team educating defence leaders of the future”.

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Tuesday 10 August

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A new leader for $5m robotic hub

Robot control systems and robust machine learning expert Ian Manchester will lead the $5 million ARC Research Hub in Intelligent Robotic Systems for Real-Time Asset Management as part of his appointment as the new director of the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

Robotics for medicine, space and disaster response are on the research agenda for the hub,

where Sydney will collaborate with the Queensland University of Technology, the Australian

National University and 11 technology companies.

The plan is to develop new capabilities for intelligent robotic systems for inspection, monitoring, and maintenance of critical assets and infrastructure.

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Humanities’ plan to save the world

The Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH) is among a global collection of similar bodies to sign a Joint Statement addressing the worlds problems ahead of the G20 World Leaders’ Summit, in Rome in October.

In issuing the first such statement by the G20 Humanities and Social Science Academies, Crises: economy, society, law and culture. Towards a less vulnerable humankind, the academies join the G20 Science Academies, which have issued joint G20 statements at past summits.

AAH President Professor Lesley Head said the statement was “a potential game-changer in international collaboration and the sharing of ideas and expertise to help solve many of the world’s biggest challenges”.

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Monday 9 August

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The vice chancellor and the serial killer

Queensland University of Technology vice-chancellor Margaret Sheil and her principal policy adviser John Byron are doing a double act tonight at an online event hosted by Brisbane’s Avid Reader bookshop.

QUT vice-chancellor Margaret Sheil

But it’s nothing about higher education policy. They are discussing Byron’s debut novel, The Tribute, a thriller which is promoted as being “in the tradition of genre-defying classics such as Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho”. Featuring a serial killer obsessed with a 16th century anatomy book it’s a “subversive take on modern masculinity and misogyny told through an irresistible crime narrative”.

To hear Professor Sheil’s take on the book, drop in on their conversation at 6.30pm on Monday August 9. Register at https://avidreader.com.au/events/john-byron-the-tribute.

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AI and the art of birdsong

Tracking and identifying bird movements in natural settings will become simpler and faster following research led by CQUniversity doctoral student Francisco Bravo Sanchez.

Mr Bravo Sanchez has devised code that uses a convoluted neural network to process the sounds twice as quickly and with results of similar accuracy to traditional methods.

CQUniversity's Francisco Bravo Sanchez

“We will be trying to improve our results in the future, but we are sharing our code so that others can experiment with their datasets in the hope that we all can come up with better solutions that would help wildlife conservation or the search for rare species,” Mr Bravo Sanchez said.

The research, co-authored with Steven Moore, Rahat Hossain and Nathan English has been published in the journal Nature.

The team hopes their work can be adapted for medical and industrial settings that also use acoustic monitoring.

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Events coming up

Melbourne EdTech Summit 2021 (17-20 August, online, free)

Australia’s premier education technology summit, presented by EduGrowth. Four days of bold ideas which connect to the wider education technology and innovation ecosystem, featuring keynote speakers, panel discussions and fireside chats.

Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia Annual Conference (9-10 September) online

Due to Covid the KCA conference is going virtual. The theme is Global Partnerships and Commercialisation themes. It also features the annual KCA awards that celebrate the achievements of members, and highlight “top tier work” in Australasian tech transfer.

Quantum Australia 2021 (8-10 September) Doltone House, Sydney and online

Sydney Quantum Academy’s conference and careers fair for the rapidly growing quantum technology industry. It’s for researchers, businesses, government decision makers, start-ups and big tech.

National Symposium on the Student Experience in Higher Education (17 September) Uni of Melbourne and online

The symposium, presented by the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, will look to the future of Australian higher education and the key changes needed to improve the student experience.

Australian International Education Conference (5-8 October) Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and online

AIEC 2021 will explore new horizons for international education with five key subthemes: global challenges, digital innovation, life and learning, policy and politics, and strategic insights.

Collaborate Innovate 2021 (New date of 18-20 October, instead of 9-11 August). Hotel QT, Canberra

The Cooperative Research Centre Association conference will feature an early career researchers competition, the annual Ralph Slatyer address, and the 30th anniversary of the CRC Innovation Showcase at Parliament House.

5th Annual TEQSA Conference (New date of 25 November instead of 24-26 November) Virtual

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency conference, Hard Lessons, Valuable Learnings, Heightened Expectations will examine how the higher education sector is charting a new course, seeking to adapt and rethink higher education in a reshaped world. Organisers have taken the event entirely online in view of the resurgence of Covid-19 and lockdowns.