News Alerts

R&D expenditure cap lifted

The Tax Laws Amendment Bill (2009 Measures no 4), an amendment to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, has been passed through both houses of Parliament, introducing an interim measure in the lead up to the creation of the new R&D Tax Credit that will replace the existing R&D Tax Concession.

Under the new measure, the R&D expenditure cap for the R&D Tax Offset will be lifted from $1 million to $2 million for the 2009-2010 financial year.

The Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr, said the change would boost investment and assist small companies to take advantage of opportunities as the economy recovers.

He said the government would be seeking feedback in the development of the fine details of the new R&D Tax Credit scheme over coming months.

Further information on the R&D Tax Offset, the new R&D Tax Credit and the consultation process is available at www.ausindustry.gov.au

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New NHMRC Council appointed

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) will be chaired for a second term from 2009-2012 by Professor Michael Good, Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

The new Council comprises 18 other members, including the nine Chief Medical or Health Officers of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.

The remaining Council members comprise the five Chairs of NHMRC's Principal Committees and another four people with expertise in the areas of Indigenous health, nursing, business and consumer issues.

Members of the Council are:

• Professor James Best, Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Melbourne who will chair the NHMRC Research
  Committee.
• Dr Sandra Hacker, chair the board of Northern Health, Melbourne, who will chair NHMRC's Australian Health Ethics Committee.
• Professor Ron Trent, Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Sydney and Director of the Department of Molecular and Clinical Genetics at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. 
• Professor John Horvath, Principal Medical Consultant for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, formerly  Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer (CMO) from 2003-2009.
• Professor Kerin O'Dea, Director of the Sansom Institute for Health Research at the University of South Australia. She will chair NHMRC's new Prevention and Community Health Committee. 
• Professor Cindy Shannon, Director of Shannon Consulting, and Professor of Indigenous Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Queensland and senior policy advisor for the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council.
• Ms Anne Cahill Lambert, a member of the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority's Advisory Council (ministerial appointee) and the Consumer Health Forum.
• Dr Andrew Cuthbertson, R&D Director and Chief Scientific Officer of CSL Limited. 
• Ms Rosemary Bryant, Commonwealth Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer. 
• Professor James Bishop, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the Australian Government. 
• Dr Kerry Chant, public health physician, Chief Health Officer for  NSW and Deputy Director-General, Population Health, NSW Health.
• Dr John Carnie, Chief Health Officer for Victoria. 
• Dr Barbara Paterson, Chief Health Officer for the Northern Territory and Executive Director, Health Protection Division of the Territory's Department of Health and Families. 

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Defence Industry Innovation Centre launched

A new $21.2 million national Enterprise Connect Defence Industry Innovation Centre has been launched in Dandenong, Victoria to assist and encourage the Australian defence sector to improve their innovation and business operation in the international market.

The Centre was developed by the Department of Defence in collaboration with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. It will offer a range of services including free business reviews and supporting grants to help boost productivity and support the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The Centre will be headed by Tony Quick, with Chris Jenkins, current Managing Director of Thales, as Interim Advisory Board Chair.

The Centre is part of the Enterprise Connect network being set up to help Australian SMEs boost their productivity, innovation and competitiveness. More information is atwww.enterpriseconnect.gov.au

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New centres to boost SKA bid

An International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research has been launched as part of the joint Australia-New Zealand bid to host the $2.5 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio-telescope.

Gary Gray, Parliamentary Secretary for Western and Northern Australia, said the centre will have a strong focus on developing partnerships with both science and industry and building critical mass in key areas that could support the SKA. 

The SKA involves19 nations collaborating in a large-scale, new-generation radio-telescope. If successful, the SKA in Australia and New Zealand would comprise up to four thousand antennas spread over five thousand kilometres to form a single radio telescope with the capacity to see back to the formation of the first stars.

The new centre will complement the leading-edge Australian SKA Pathfinder radio-telescope being built in WA as a precursor to the SKA project, and will analyse data gathered by the SKA Pathfinder and the SKA if it is hosted in Australia.

The centre is a collaboration between the University of WA and Curtin University, with support from the WA Government.

Another project central to the SKA bid, the $80 million Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for SKA Science, was also recently launched. The centre,named after Dr Joseph Lade Pawsey (1908-1962), the father of radio-astronomy in Australia, will be built next to the Australian Resources Research Centre in Perth on land owned by CSIRO. It will be funded from the $160.5 million space and astronomy component of the Government's Super Science Initiative which was announced in the 2009-10 Budget.

The Pawsey Centre will be operated by iVEC, an organisation dedicated to building supercomputing capacity in WA. iVEC is a joint venture between CSIRO and WA’s four public universities, with support from the State Government. 

More information on the SKA is at www.ska.gov.au.

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Ion Probe Facility launched in WA

A world-first facility that can detect signs of weapons-grade uranium, new ore deposits and evidence of early life on earth has opened at The University of Western Australia.

Launching the$6 million Ion Probe Facility, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr said the new microprobe is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and one of just 15 in the world.

It is teamed with a complementary microprobe, making the university’s Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis the only place in the world to house two such devices.

The new microprobe works by aiming high energy ion beams at samples and has the ability to detect very fine chemical differences between different substances. It can be used to track the migration of ancient extinct animals in the search for the causes of their demise.

Other uses include studying the growth of corals to better understand coral bleaching and climate change and identifying the sources of dangerous pollution. The microprobe can also study ancient meteorites, helping us to understand how the Solar System was formed.

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Victorian pilots scheme to support biotech firms

The Victorian Government has launched a $500,000 pilot program, the Biotechnology International Partnering Program (BIPP), which will provide grant assistance for eligible Victorian companies to attend recognised overseas biotechnology conferences and trade events.

Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said the running and success of the BIPP would be evaluated after 12 months with companies involved surveyed as part of the evaluation.

He said the BIPP would provide funding that can be used to pay for expenses, airfares and accommodation, conference entry, non-confidential pitching documents, exhibition stands and other promotional costs involved with the conference.

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Funding for plastic solar cell project

The Queensland Government has awarded a $1.9 million grant to University of Queensland (UQ) researchers who are leading an international three-year project to develop a cheap solar cell made out of plastic.

The team – involving researchers from Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Canberra, Melbourne and the United States – is working on a special type of plastic that is capable of capturing the sun’s energy, and could be used to create extremely thin layers that act as flexible plastic solar cells.

Currently, solar cell technology relies on the use of crystalline silicon which is expensive and results in cells that are heavy and rigid.

The Organic Solar Cell Alliance project involves University of Queensland partnering with James Cook University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the USA, CSIRO, the Australian Research Council’s Centre for Antimatter-Matter Studies in Canberra and Cairns company SolarSells.

Professor Paul Burn and Associate Professor Paul Meredith of UQ lead the project, which will focus on developing active materials with strong absorption and efficient electricity generation and on streamlining of manufacturing processes.

The funding is provided through the Queensland Government’s National and International Research Alliances Program, part of the Smart Futures Fund,

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Announcements

10th Anniversary of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science

The Prime Minister's Prizes for Science is are Australia's most prestigious science and science teaching awards:

• The Prime Minister's Prize for Science ($300,000 + gold medallion)
• The Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year ($50,000 + silver medallion)
• The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year ($50,000 + silver medallion)
• The Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools ($50,000 + silver medallion)
• The Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools ($50,000 + silver medallion)

This year marks its ten years rewarding achievements in science and excellence in science teaching.

Official announcement of 2009 award recipients will be made at a black-tie dinner on Wednesday 28th of October in the Great Hall at Parliament House.

More information about the Prizes, follow the link at http://www.innovation.gov.au/scienceprizes.

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Conferences & Events

The 4th Annual IP Management, Commercialisation & Protection conference

The 4th Annual IP Management, Commercialisation & Protection conference and workshops - being held from 26-28 October 2009, at The Grace Hotel Sydney, is an intensive and timely cross industry forum for IP Managers, Commercialisation and Licensing Managers, Directors of R&D, and In-house counsel.

Attend this comprehensive conference and workshops to hear from 12 case study organisations and leading experts who will address:

• Best practice global IP strategy
• Achieving completive advantage
• Creating strong IP culture and aligning business units
• Valuing intellectual property
• Gaining successful commercial negotiation outcomes
• IP licensing in collaborative ventures
• Technology transfer
• Strategic brand & IP protection
• IP rights in different jurisdictions - including China
• Trade Mark, Copyright and Patent law updates
• R&D reforms
• Practical case law

Key case study presentations include:

• UniQuest Pty Ltd
• CSIRO
• ANSTO
• James Hardie
• CRC Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology
• DuPont
• CSL Limited
• Rosemount Estates
• University of Tasmania
• Weir Group PLC
• ResMed Ltd
• Asatori

Download Programme

Contact Tonkin Corporation at registrations@TonkinCorporation.com or telephone 02 9224 6000 to save up to $550 per booking.

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Innovation

Tax concession helps build an innovative company

Aerospace, precision components, bulk handling, erosion control, in-house design and build of specialised machinery, and computer programming – with this list of innovations, Andromeda Industries sounds like a major multinational.

But the company is achieving all these milestones with a staff of just 17 – and just four engineers.

Moreover, Andromeda Industries is achieving these results with employees pulled mainly from its home town in NSW – Moonbi – population 500.

Business Manager Christine Kennedy said research and development was a key to Andromeda Industries’ success.

“We’re always looking at and designing machines,” Christine said.

“We registered for AusIndustry’s R&D Tax Concession about four years ago."

“We’ve found that it gives us money back to use on more R&D work,” Christine said.

“It allows us to keep the number of staff that we have, and it reduces our tax.

“We’re only a small company – and the concession really helped us build our new $2 million R&D section.”

Christine said one thing the company was most proud of was the environment-focussed products coming out of its Reusables Division.

Andromeda Industries has found ways to reuse old rubber conveyor belts from the mining sector.

The belts, which are up to 1800 mm wide, are used to stabilise sand dunes, waterways and paths, for example in national parks. They’re also being used in horse and stock yards, as barriers to contain bamboo roots – and more.

Making these products has meant inventing, designing and contructing a range of machinery in house, such as hydraulic crimping tools, slicers and conveyor belts.

The company recently commissioned a $500,000 Enviro 40 Belt machine, so the belts can now be punched with a wide variety of hole sizes and patterns.

It was designed and built in-house.

"Local councils and national parks and wildlife committees have been asking for a greater variety of belts. Our testing has shown that our new generation of belts are stronger and more durable.

"They've also been designed to ensure that more water will soak into the ground and let more plants grow through the holes," Christine said.

The company’s advanced engineering division is concentrating its manufacturing on the aerospace and defence sectors – with high tech computer programming and precision work at the micron level.

Andromeda’s oldest division, Plaited & Woven, concentrates on machine plaiting “super flex cable” steel which bends as readily as phone or computer cable. It uses the steel to make products such as slings for lifting, and recovery strops for pulling out bogged mining equipment.

The company has been updating its machines to be state of the art computerised systems with user-friendly touch screens.

Christine said several staff have had to learn computer program logic, and the company has an ongoing need for computer-aided manufacturing operators and computer-aided design experts.

Andromeda Industries is working with the NSW Department of Education and Training and the tertiary sector to develop an online training course – to meet this increasing need.

The company has also built up an enviable track record with its apprentices.

One apprentice won a silver medal at the 2008 WorldSkills Olympics, another two have been named regional apprentice of the year, and yet another apprentice has decided to combine his work with external study in mechanical engineering.

For further information please see HERE.

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Positions Vacant

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Chinese Medicinal Products in Diabetes)

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Chinese Medicinal Products in Diabetes)
Faculty of Pharmacy
Reference No. 436/0809

The University of Sydney is Australia's premier University with an outstanding global reputation for academic and research excellence, and employs over 6,800 permanent staff supporting over 46,000 students.

The Faculty of Pharmacy has an established tradition of advanced herbal medicines research in Australia. The Herbal Medicines Research and Education Centre within the Faculty covers a broad spectrum of pharmacological and cell biological sciences and undertakes collaborative research projects in diabetes with groups within the University, other national and international universities and research institutes, the herbal medicines industry and the profession.

The Faculty of Pharmacy is undertaking specialised research in the role of Chinese herbal medicines in diabetes. It is seeking to appoint an outstanding postdoctoral researcher in studies on the pharmacological, cell biological and molecular mechanisms of selected Chinese medicine herbs to identify new drug targets and potential multi-component mechanisms in type 2 diabetes. The position is funded through the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) Collaborative Centre in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The successful applicant will be working collaboratively on a NICM funded project involving (1) the selection of suitable herbs (2) pharmacological in vitro cell studies and (3) whole animal molecular mechanism of action experiments. It is intended that the successful applicants will work with established highly-skilled, multidisciplinary teams of the Collaborative Centre and will also contribute to innovative research programs.

The successful applicant must hold a PhD in an area of biology or pharmacology or a related discipline, with interest in developing a career within the natural products sector. The applicant will also have excellent doctoral research experience including expertise in tissue culture, in vitro techniques such as Western blotting, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence microscopy and recombinant DNA technology, while experience in whole animal studies is considered valuable. An early career record of peer-reviewed publications would be highly desirable.

Information about the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Herbal Medicines Research and Education Centre may be obtained from the Faculty and University website: www.pharm.usyd.edu.au

The position is initially full-time fixed term for 12 months, with possible extension up to a further 12 months subject to availability of funding and satisfactory completion of a probation period for new appointees. Membership of a University approved superannuation scheme is a condition of employment for new appointees.

Remuneration package: Up to $79 854 – $85 717 (which includes a base salary Research Level A $67,478-72,432 p.a., leave loading and up to 17% employer’s contribution to superannuation).

All applications must be submitted online. For more information and to apply, visit the following web link: HERE and search by reference No. 436/0809.

Closing Date: 30th September 2009

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Position Vacant - Manager Research Commercialisation

About ECU
Edith Cowan University provides much more than just a workplace. It’s a place where you can be inspired to achieve great things. A place where you can collaborate and work with other enthusiastic and committed people. We pride ourselves on being supportive, flexible and relevant to the real world.

Join a truly progressive organisation. One where you can reach your potential.

MANAGER RESEARCH COMMERCIALISATION
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Office of Research and Innovation
Joondalup Campus

Overview
The Office of Research and Innovation provides strategic and operational support to the University’s research program, and has a crucial role in facilitating the University’s research outcomes. The Office is involved in developing the University’s research profile; research administration; grants and funding; developing and implementing research policies and procedures; and commercialisation of research outcomes.

As the Manager Research Commercialisation you will be responsible for improving Research Commercialisation outcomes for the University by effectively identifying new commercialisation opportunities, adding value to existing projects and delivering commercial outcomes via IP protection, licensing, and spinout companies as appropriate.

Benefits & Remuneration
This ongoing, full-time position attracts remuneration of $98,499 to $103,135 pa 100 % including 17% University superannuation contribution, with a salary component of $84,187 to $88,150 pa. ECU offers salary packaging options and generous annual leave. In support of a work / life balance, benefits such as flexible working arrangements may also be negotiated to meet your personal circumstances. For further information on the benefits of working at ECU, please visit our StaffPLUS website.

Contact Interested applicants are encouraged to call Dr Marcia Taylor on (08) 6304 5401.

Obtain information on ‘How to Apply’ from: www.ecu.edu.au/jobs

Applications Close: Friday 25 September 2009.

Please forward the Personal Details form, your CV and a statement against Capabilities, quoting Reference Number 5448 to: e-mail k.brayshaw@ecu.edu.au or by post to: Staff Recruitment, Edith Cowan University, Building 1, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027.

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