December 2015 Newsletter
Note from the Manager
From the entire SIEF Team, best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a very happy and safe New Year. We look forward to your continued interest in SIEF in 2016.
Dr Melissa Straffon
SIEF Manager
Melissa.Straffon@sief.org.au
(03) 9545 7952 or 0408 134 581
2015 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science
Professor Graham Farquhar from ANU has won the 2015 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for his work photosynthesis. His research in the area has led to the creation of more water-efficient crops, and his models of plant biophysics have enhanced the understanding of plant cells.
Professor Farquhar leads the SIEF Research Project Forests for the Future, a collaboration between The Australian National University, University of Western Sydney and CSIRO. This project proposes a novel strategy that rapidly identifies tree species that exhibit a strong, positive growth response to elevated CO2, and the genetic attributes underlying these responses. The outcomes of the work will help provide an alternative to the currently very expensive and labour-intensive procedures that have limited commercial application of the technology.
Congratulations to Professor Farquhar on receiving this top prize.
SIEF Promotion of Science
John Stocker Postdoctoral Fellowships
SIEF will soon be notifying the University Research Offices about the outcomes of the 2016 John Stocker Postdoctoral Fellowships. On behalf of the Trustee, thank you to all applicants for the time and effort put into preparing the applications and your interest in the program. If you have any queries please contact your Research Office in the first instance.
Milestone Reports
Milestone Reports for all Promotion of Science activities (Fellowships & Scholarships) are due by 1 April 2016. The reporting templates are available on the SIEF webpage. Please note that late reports may result in a delay in payment of SIEF funding.
SIEF Communications
Annual Report
Having recently started as the Trustee to SIEF, Dr Larry Marshall has been very impressed with the array of research in which the fund has invested since the fund was rejuvenated by a Gift from CSIRO, as a result of the fast WLAN patent litigation in 2009.
Over the last year, SIEF-funded programs have included research into sustainable resource use, research that fast-tracks solutions to national challenges and scholarships that create and sustain young researchers to solve our country’s greatest challenges. Further information can be read in the SIEF Annual Report.
Towards Impact Fliers
SIEF has developed a series of short (1 page) documents to provide snapshots describing SIEF-funded activities and their progress towards impact. There are seventeen fliers which can be viewed on the SIEF webpage.
Contact SIEF
Email: sief@sief.org.au