Issue 18. 17 November 2008 - UWA Staff - The University of Western ...

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Science Futures Foundation: Financing a future “ If we are to attract the best and the brightest, we must allow them to explore new directions and challenge accepted wisdoms “ It’s all about numbers. The biggest campaign ever launched at UWA aims to raise $53million for science research which would, in turn, be likely to increase our world ranking for this field which is already in the top 50. But the ranking is just a side benefit of the Science Futures Foundation, which is designed to boost research to enrich the lives of Australians through health and wellbeing, economic prosperity and minerals, energy and agricultural development. The Foundation will set up endowed academic chairs, postdoctoral fellowships, scholarships and awards for excellence, and a rising star fund for early-career researchers. “If we are to attract the best and the brightest, we must provide them with cutting-edge facilities and allow them to explore new directions and challenge accepted wisdoms,” said the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson. The Foundation was introduced to senior staff earlier this month at an information session and cocktail party. The launch will take place next year when campaign manager Judy Giddings hopes at least half of the total will be committed. “We are not raising money for buildings or infrastructure; we are investing in people,” she said. “This initiative will add to the health and wealth in Australia and globally.” The Foundation is planning to develop new partnerships to attract investment at a time when the University’s ability to fund future research projects is being affected by external factors including the volatile investment market. This, combined with the local resources boom, has put pressure on academic staff recruitment and retention and impacted on attracting students to pure science, particularly in postgraduate research. The Science Futures Foundation has been established to meet those challenges. The first Professorial Chair funded through the Foundation is in the area of Tropical Microbiology. It has been established in perpetuity through the generosity of Marjorie Le Souef in honour of her late husband, Dr Leslie Le Souef. Many of the world’s most debilitating diseases are caused by tropical microbes. It is an under-researched area in which UWA can now play a crucial role in developing a better understanding of how to diagnose, treat and prevent tropical diseases. The Rising Star fund will help researchers in their first couple of years. “They may need to go on a research trip, employ a technician for six months, buy a piece of equipment or just to get on with their work while waiting for a research grant to be approved,” Ms Giddings said. She said anybody could donate to the Rising Star fund. “We will accept donations from $1 to a million dollars!” If you would like to donate to the fund or the Foundation, please contact the Office of Development at judith.giddings@uwa.edu.au 6 UWA NEWS 17 November 2008 The University of Western Australia
Hot and cold running movies Moments captured from I’ve Loved You So Long, Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame and Young @Heart This year’s Lotterywest Film Festival is truly a festival for all seasons. The 20 weeks of fi lms in the open-air Somerville Auditorium will take us from the chilly evenings of early summer, through the hottest nights of the year, back to jumpers and rugs for the fi nal weeks in April. It will be the longest fi lm festival the Somerville has hosted. In what has now become a popular tradition, the season opens on December 1 with a comedy, Young@Heart, which is described by Festival fi lm program manager Sherry Hopkins as “an irresistibly funny and uplifting story of a US chorus of seventy-, eighty- and ninety-something year-olds who belt out anything from David Bowie and The Clash to Sonic Youth and the Rolling Stones and, in the process, break the stereotypes of ageing and become a testament to friendship and creativity.” French director Francis Veber, who brought us The Dinner Game, The Closet, The Valet and Tais-Tois! has become a favourite with Somerville patrons. This year his A Pain in the Ass is about an unlikely friendship between a professional hitman and a suicidal husband. This fi lm has its Australasian premier at the Somerville in early March. And once again, French fi lms feature heavily in the program. The delightful Kristin Scott Thomas shows off her superb command of French again in I’ve Loved You So Long, a tale of family struggles and redemption. Other French offerings include a thriller, Crossed Tracks, a romantic comedy-of-manners, Shall we Kiss? And The Grocer’s Son, about a young man discovering life and love in the quiet countryside of Provence. Scandinavian movies are also well represented. From Sweden, the Australasian premier of a period drama, Everlasting Moments; a family drama Suddenly, featuring Mikael Nyqvist, who starred in the unforgettable As It Is In Heaven, the beautiful fi lm about the church choir that was a gem of the 2006-07 Somerville season; and the funny poetic You, The Living. From Finland comes a suspense, Black Ice and from Denmark, Just Another Love Story. Three Screenwest shorts, written and directed by local fi lmmakers, will be shown before the feature fi lms from February 23 to March 15. These have become another much-anticipated highlight of the Somerville season. A fourth locally-made fi lm Karla, a dreamtime story of how fi re came to the Noongars of the Pinjarra region, will be screened as part of the Perth International Arts Festival Welcome to Country on February 13. Programs for the fi lm festival are available from BOCS at the Octagon (and other venues), where you can also buy tickets in advance, to beat the queues at the Somerville. Images and preview clips are available at www.perthfestival.com.au The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 17 November 2008 7
Page 1 and 2: Tea study gets green light UWA NEWS
Page 3 and 4: First year’s the hardest First ye
Page 5: New breed of nurses from UWA One of
Page 9 and 10: London and beyond Having won gold i
Page 11 and 12: Escape to France through words by S
Page 13 and 14: STAFF ADS Classified advertising is
Page 15 and 16: NEW STAFF Helena Halton, Associate

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