Research in the Faculties, 1997
The Faculty of Arts continued to develop its research activities during 1997, ending the year with the development of a new Research Management Plan for the years 1998-9. The Faculty also completed the review of its centres, deciding to fund the Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights (Director: Dr Michael Muetzelfeldt) and the Centre for Communication Studies (Acting Director: Professor David Birch).
Seeding grants and mentoring arrangements assisted new researchers, while more experienced researchers attracted nationally competitive grants in the ARC and other schemes. From 34 ARC Large grant applications in the 1997 round, five submissions were funded – those of Professor Joan Beaumont and Dr David Lowe in the School of Australian and International Studies, and Dr Greg Barton (with Dr Abdullah Saeed, University of Melbourne), Dr Russell Grigg, and the team comprising Professor Bryan Turner, Dr Susan Kenny and Dr Kevin Brown in the School of Social Inquiry. Additional external research funding was attracted from the Communications Law Centre (Dr Scott McQuire), Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Dr Liz Eckermann), World Health Organisation (Dr Liz Eckermann, Dr Fiona Stewart), Victorian Department of Justice (Mr Peter Lewis) and the eMERGE Cooperative Multimedia Centre (Mr Simon Wilmot).
Higher degree by research enrolments stood at around 200 in 1997. There were 10 Masters and 7 PhD completions during the year.
Distinguished visiting researchers coming to the Faculty under the Deakin University Travelling Fellowship during 1997 were Professor Hae Un Rii, Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, in the Asian heritage studies field, and Professor David Abrahams, University of Miami in human rights and citizenship. Other visiting researchers included Dr Larbi Sadiki, Australian National University, in Middle Eastern studies, and Professor Norman Gemmell, University of Nottingham in international development studies. Two post-doctoral fellows were also appointed to the Faculty: Dr Fiona Stewart, working in the area of health, identity and sexuality, and Dr Christina Twomey whose field is the history of women prisoners during World War Two.
Other highlights of the year included Professor Joan Beaumont’s election as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the appointment of Professor David Birch as Head of the School of Literary and Communication Studies. Many academics were involved in the organisation of international research-based conferences both at Deakin University and at other universities, and 64 were supported financially by the Faculty to give papers at conferences of national and international standing. Thirteen staff members were granted Outside Studies Program research leave during the year.
Professor Bill Logan, Director of Research
1997 saw strong growth in all aspects of research performance and output within the Faculty of Business and Law. The Faculty was pleased to see a significant growth in the attraction of external competitive research grant funds in 1997. National competitive grants included an Australian Research Council (ARC) Large Grants of $114,000 for Sustaining Best Practice in Australian Manufacturing Organisations awarded to Professor Malcolm Rimmer and Ms Johanna MacNeil, Bowater School of Management and Marketing, in conjunction with Professor Chenhall of Monash University, and $47,000 for an interdisciplinary project between Professors Jeff Waincymer and Philip Clarke, School of Law, and Professor Pasquale Sgro, School of Economics, on the topic Developing a World Competition Code: A Legal and Economic Analysis.
External research funding was obtained by Professor Garry Carnegie from the Australian Society of Chartered Accountants, Mr David Neath from AusAid, Ms Ruth Rentschler from the Australia Council for the Arts, Associate Professor David Shilbury from the Australian Football Foundation, and Professor Waincymer from the Commonwealth Department of Industry Science and Tourism.
Research publications increased in 1997 and major books were published by Professor Garry Carnegie, Professor Philip Clarke, UNDISCLOSED, Ms Samantha Hepburn, Professor Rick Krever and Mr Ian Turley.
Major conferences were organised by a number of Schools which attracted international visitors and gave staff added opportunities for presentations.
The Faculty was delighted at the election of Professor Malcolm Rimmer, Head of the Bowater School of Management and Marketing, as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
The professoriate was augmented with the appointments of Professor Paul Swatman to the second chair in Management Information Systems and Professor Stewart Jones to the third chair in Accounting and Finance. Professor Donald Lamberton was a Faculty Visiting Professor for part of the year as part of a general scheme to bring distinguished scholars to the Faculty.
Professor Jeff Waincymer, Director of Research
The 1997 research performance for the Faculty of Education reflects a sustained effort by the active researchers in the Faculty and increased contributions from developing researchers.
The higher degree by research numbers have gradually increased over the past few years. The Faculty of Education sustains a relatively high level of higher degree by research supervision per staff member in comparison with other Faculties and Schools of Education nationally and in comparison with other Faculties in the University.
In 1997 the Faculty reviewed its two research centres: the Deakin Centre for Educational Change, and the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Environmental Education. It also reviewed research management within the Faculty with a view to enhancing its procedures for the future. Some additions and changes to research groupings as a result of the 1997 reviews are expected to increase performance further.
Professor Terry Evans, Director of Research
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
Throughout 1997 the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences has continued to strengthen strategic research alliances and promote research and research training.
The School of Nutrition and Public Health welcomed the return of Professor Kerin O’Dea who joined with Professor Madeleine Ball to increase the capacity for research in human nutrition. The appointment of Professor Sandy Gifford as Professor of Public Health was a further impetus to research, particularly in public health and health promotion. Major grants include Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders ($219,000) and Diet, body fat distribution, obesity and cardiovascular risk factors (National Heart Foundation).
Associate Professor Greg Collier has capitalised on the availability of the Israeli sand rat colony at Deakin University for his research into treatment and prevention of obesity and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus with a grant of $300,000 for the project Discovery of new obesity genes (Autogen).
VicHealth awarded a grant of $475,000 to the School of Nutrition and Public Health to explore use of the Health Promoting School Framework in Victorian schools to improve health capacities in children and adolescents. A further $850,000 was granted for the National Mental Health in Schools Program (a joint program with the Youth Research Centre, the University of Sydney and the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation).
The School of Human Movement gives high priority to research into sport performance and enhancement, whilst health remains its major focus. There are strong links and integrating themes between health related physical activity and the coaching and sport performance areas. Dr Finch was a valued addition to the School with her research interest in sports injury epidemiology.
Research in physical activity, fitness and health underpinned strategic alliances with the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, National Heart Foundation (NHF) and the community. Major grants were received for Randomised trials of brief interventions to promote physical activity in adults (NHF) and "Expert systems intervention for smoking cessation" (National Health and Medical Research Council). The Exercise Physiology and Metabolism Research Group were awarded $140,549 for the project Exercise and skeletal muscle GLUT4 (NHMRC). The Movement Analysis and Performance Research Group obtained a significant grant for Strength, Balance and self-efficacy changes in older women; some effects of exercise training.
The School of Psychology consolidated partnerships with the Defence, Science and Technology Organisation; Maroondah Hospital; Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria; Monash IVF Program; Multiple Sclerosis Society and WESTADD Inc. during 1997. These affiliations provided industry links for higher degree by research candidates and staff to undertake research in an applied industry environment.
Professor Bob Cummins was awarded a personal chair in 1997, the first in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences since the formation of the new Deakin University. His research focuses on intervention programs for children with disabilities and more recently quality of life.
Projects which attracted major research funding during 1997 include Investigation of perceptual grouping in normal and spatially-degraded visual systems (ARC); Illness representations and older women’s use of cancer screening tests (The Kathleen Cunningham Foundation) and Gay men’s stereotypes about HIV-infected men and estimates of HIV transmission risk (NHMRC).
The School of Nursing continued to strengthen its research alliances and successfully tendered for a grant from the Nurses Board of Victoria to evaluate clinical education programs in Australian Bachelor of Nursing courses.
Professor Lawry St Leger, Faculty Dean
Faculty of Science and Technology
In 1997 the Faculty of Science and Technology consolidated its research strengths by continuing to focus on research priority areas. Research themes were identified and refined in each of the five Schools and research co-ordinators were appointed.
Senior appointments in Biotechnology, Mechatronics, Textile Technology and Sustainability were made. The Faculty was very successful in a number of ARC Large Grants, ARC Small Grants and ARC SPIRT Grants. Several staff who came close to winning ARC Large Grants were awarded substantial Deakin University Bridging Grants.
The Faculty was successful in obtaining funding from the University for the establishment of a new $1.5 million Cell Biology facility at the Burwood Campus.
The consolidation of STAMP (Stamping Technologies for Automobile Manufacturing processes) at Geelong continued. This high profile partnership between Ford, BHP, Castrol, IMAG, Deakin and the ANU continued to attract excellent post-graduate students and research funding.
The establishment of a new partnership with Ajax Fasteners has enabled this large company to relocate its R&D facility to the Toorak Campus of Deakin. This collaborative arrangement with the Faculty has attracted research students from three other universities in Australia as well as Deakin to this research facility.
The final decision to begin construction of the $60 million International Fibres Centre on the Waurn Ponds campus will have significant implications for the role of Deakin University in research and development in the textile industry.
Professor David Stokes, Faculty Dean