Up to 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will be able to immerse themselves in science when Griffith University hosts the inaugural Indigenous STEM Experience Day.
To celebrate Dr Chris Matthews recent achievement as national winner of the CSIRO’s Indigenous STEM Professional Award, Griffith Sciences will host the event, themed Future Earth – Water, to encourage more First Australian students to study STEM (science, engineering, maths, technology) at a tertiary level.
Held during National Science Week on August 10, students from years 9 to 12 will attend a variety of workshops in science, environment, IT, and engineering. They will also participate in activities highlighting STEM careers and be introduced to the expansive diversity of pathways for students to gain entry into university.
Dr Matthews is a Noonuccal man and lecturer at Griffith University. As Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance he is passionate about connecting culture and mathematics, having developed a method of teaching
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Double platinum for industry-leading partnership
An Australian-first partnership between Griffith Business School and AMP has been awarded double platinum at the 2017 LearnX Impact Awards.
The platinum status, which is the highest achievable level, was awarded in the Best Talent Partnership category for the AMP/Griffith partnership and the Best Bespoke/Custom for the AMP Adviser Academy collaboration. AMP also won Platinum in a third category, the Best Future of Learning Project, for the AMP University Challenge.
“This is an excellent example of a true partnership based on shared values and expertise to deliver great outcomes for students across a range of platforms,” said Professor Mark Brimble, Head of Finance and Financial Planning at Griffith Business School.
“It shows that quality industry and university relationships can enhance value for all stakeholders – and it’s a partnership approach we’d strongly endorse.”
“We are very proud of this recognition. It’s great to have external acknowledgment for the hard work and effort of so
Does the contraceptive pill alter an athlete’s performance?
Does the contraceptive pill alter a female athlete’s performance? This is the question posed by new research at Griffith University.
“Already it is well known that the combined contraceptive pill changes female physiology by increasing the core body temperature across the whole of the menstrual cycle and altering the ability to regulate heat,” says research co-leader Associate Professor Clare Minahan from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
“The pill also delays the blood flow to the skin, therefore decreasing a woman’s ability to cool down quickly.
“Thermoregulation is therefore extremely important when it comes to elite athletes and their performance, especially when it takes place in hot climates such as that in Queensland.
“This preliminary study is aiming to investigate more about how the contraceptive pill can alter this elite athlete performance and inform the sporting community of the scientific evidence and the potential pros and cons for female athletes.”
40 elite athletes
The study which is
Highly sensitive nanosensors to prevent potential catastrophes
Griffith University researchers are creating tiny high-tech chips that will detect problems in ageing gas and oil pipelines, preventing potential catastrophic events.
A team from Griffith’s Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre is developing the novel, low-cost and highly sensitive compact sensors that will detect and monitor changes in harsh environments, such as strain, pressure, flow rate, magnetic field and temperature.
With safety in the resource sector a globally critical issue, the researchers said an affordable, robust, and real-time monitoring system was imperative – and they have already made recent important discoveries furthering this work within the centre.
Dr Dzung Dao, Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen, Professor Sima Dimitrijev and Alan Iacopi will use a $403,000 Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant for their project ‘Superior Silicon Carbide Nanoscale Sensors (SCANS) for Harsh Environments’.
Conducted in partnership with SPT Microtechnologies, the team will develop silicon-carbide (SiC) nanoscale sensors (SCANS) that will be commercialised to improve the safety and efficiency
Get moving for your mental health
It’s official. Being active and involved with sporting clubs increases the mental health and emotional wellbeing of Australia’s university students.
New research from Griffith University has found students who participate in higher levels of physical activity and engage with sporting clubs are less inclined to suffer from mental health issues.
The study of 2300 students across five major Australian universities found 25% of participants had been diagnosed with a mental health issue by a health professional.
It found females, aged between 17 and 25, who smoke and drink more than 10 standard alcoholic drinks a week, are inactive and come from a lower socio-economic background, are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues.
“Such an ongoing high prevalence of mental health diagnosis among Australia’s university students provides clear evidence for this being an ‘at-risk’ population,’’ said lead researcher Dr Wayne Usher from the School of Education and Professional Studies.
“The data clearly shows those
Research into initial teacher training challenges
Issues faced by Queensland universities involved in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) experience were in the spotlight at a recent focus group hosted by the School of Education and Professional Studies (EPS).
School staff met with representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the focus group, which forms part of a broader, global study into teaching and learning, conducted by the OECD.
EPS Head of School Professor Donna Pendergast says the study seeks to provide policy makers and practitioners with examples of effective and innovative policies to improve initial teacher preparation (ITP) programs.
“The study explores how countries attract and select the most suitable candidates into ITP programs, equip prospective teachers with the right skills, certify, select and support new teachers, and ensure effective program delivery.”
Countries participating in the study include Australia, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Wales.
The group offered insights into a range of
Logan ambitions get a touch of Texas
The technology revolution sweeping the business world has reached Australia’s university students, who are increasingly looking at starting their own businesses as an alternative to traditional career paths.
Student’s from Griffith University’s Logan campus have just completed an intense weekend long workshop with Texas-based startup educators, 3 Day Startup (3DS). Their enthusiasm underlined by the fact the students were only a week away from exams.
The startup is an exciting option for student’s ambitions, because of the low cost of entry and development. Startups are generally internet-based, capitalising on the digital economy and capable of growing quickly or changing focus through the customer experience.
Startups grew out of the United States in the nineties and boomed following the success of businesses like Amazon, Netflixs and more recently Airbnb. When these businesses find success they can sometime disrupt their entire industry, typified by Uber’s disruption the global taxi industry.
When Griffith wanted to expand the
A very short book with very good answers
The Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing’s Director Professor Adrian Wilkinson has just released A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about employment relations, a new book that he co-wrote with colleagues Tony Dundon (University of Manchester) and Niall Cullihane (Queens, Belfast), but it is not like any of his publications before.
“This is meant to be a short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book,” Professor Wilkinson said.
“In my career, I’ve written lots of very long, fairly boring, if the sale figures are anything to go by, and quite expensive books so this is definitely a change.”
The book, as part of the ‘Very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap series’ features informal conversation, accessible yet sophisticated and critical overviews on various academic topics.
In A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about employment relations, Professor Wilkinson explains how central employment relations is to our contemporary experiences of life
What game theory says about dealing with North Korea
By Dr Byung-Seong Min, Senior Lecturer, Department of International Business and Asian Studies
North Korea fired its third missile in three weeks on May 29, once again drawing protests from South Korea and Japan. Tensions have been rising in the region since the start of the year when Kim Jong-Un’s regime started a series of tests, of which this is the ninth.
Senior Lecturer Byung-Seong Min
National leaders attending the recent G7 meeting in Italy agreed that deterring North Korea should be a top priority, according to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but given the reclusive nation’s belligerence, options are scarce.
One way to try to choose the best way forward is by applying game theory to the situation on the Korean peninsula.
Roll of the dice
Game theory applies to conflict and cooperation within competitive situations. It posits that a cooperative outcome is possible when the game is repeated infinitely, the number of players is small
Party Secretary visit from key Chinese Partner
On 22 February 2017, Griffith University welcomed an official visit from Shenyang University of Technology (SUT). The high-level visit saw SUT’s leader, Party Secretary, Mr Liu Zikang, visit for the first time. During discussions, Mr Liu informed Griffith colleagues of his “personal commitment to the relationship”, and, his wish to have “a deeper level of cooperation”. SUT has been a long-term partner for Griffith in China for the past 17 years.
The visit gave both institutions an opportunity to further strengthen the current relationship. It also gave the Party Secretary an opportunity to meet with Griffith’s Vice President (Global), Professor Sarah Todd. Professor Todd was delighted that Mr Liu Zikang chose to come to Griffith on his first trip as Party Secretary at SUT. “The SUT-Griffith relationship is not only a longstanding one, it is also one that both universities are very committed to. This visit has provided the opportunity to