Labor's Innovation Blueprint released

The Labor Party's Innovation Blueprint was released by the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, released the Labor Party's Innovation Blueprint at the Brisbane Technology Park on July 10.

Elements of the Blueprint include:

• establishment of Enterprise Connect – a network of new innovation centres across the country to connect people in business with ideas people, where business can go to find and adapt new ideas and research, take up new technology and to test new products and processes. Enterprise Connect will offer four key services: advice on boosting productivity, efficiency and export value; access for businesses to research labs and equipment, data processing systems and testing and prototyping facilities that are already up and running in universities, TAFEs and other agencies; labs equipped to provide sophisticated testing facilities for emerging knowledge-based industries with the capacity to test and prototype new products; and critical benchmarking; sizing up local industries to identify their strengths and weaknesses and help to develop innovation and growth strategies.

• new Australian Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, with funding of $10 million per year to support up to 200 knowledge transfer partnerships for projects lasting up to two years. Each Knowledge Transfer Partnership will be a collaboration of at least one business and a university, public research agency or TAFE and will work on specific projects like improving production and management processes or building and testing new prototypes or a new product launch.

• establishment of an ‘Enterprise Investment Scheme’ similar to that adopted in the United Kingdom, which provides tax incentives for investors who subscribe to innovative companies.

• a new Venture Capital Exchange to help foster a risk capital market for emerging companies.

• a dedicated Health and Medical Enterprise Connect which will enable researchers to test drugs and conduct other research in one central location.

• a new National Clinical Trials Network in public hospitals with funding of $6 million per annum to support the development and clinical testing of new products in Australia.

• a re-ordering of the priorities of National Information and Communications Technology Australia to place more emphasis on commercialisation

• reform and expansion of Australia’s R&D incentives - the Chifley Research Centre is commissioning a report on the future of Australia’s incentives for R&D - to review the current tax arrangements and examine alternatives.

• reform of the university sector - a discussion paper will be released soon.

• continued support for CRCs, and closer linkages to industry through Enterprise Connect.

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New higher education protocols enable specialist universities

The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), which met on July 7, has agreed to specialist institutions having access to a university title under revised protocols and guidelines for higher education approval processes signed off at the meeting. As a result specialist institutions might be created such as a Western Australian University of Minerals and Resources or a Sydney University of Performing Arts.

The new Protocols also clarify requirements for overseas higher education institutions seeking to operate in Australia, and reduce research and higher degree teaching requirements for new universities in their first five years of establishment.

The revised Protocols and guidelines are due to be implemented by the end of 2007, pending legislative change in all jurisdictions. They will be reviewed by no later than 2012.

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New NHMRC Research Committee announced

The new membership of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Research Committee, which serve a three-year term from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2009, has been announced.

The Committee will be chaired by Professor James Best, currently Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
Other members include:

• Dr Jon Currie, a neurologist and director of Drug and Alcohol Services for Sydney West Area Health Service.
• Professor Tim Davis, Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia (Fremantle Hospital) with a specialty interest in diabetes and tropical diseases.
• Associate Professor Jacinta of the Indigenous Health Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Molecular Sciences, James Cook University in Queensland.
• Professor Ian Frazer, 2006 Australian of the Year, Director of the Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research at the University of Queensland.
• Associate Professor Matthew Gillespie, Associate Director of the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Victoria..
• Professor Robert (Bob) Graham is the Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of New South Wales.
• Mrs Elizabeth Grant, Director of Commerce Management Services.
• Professor D’Arcy Holman , chair of Public Health at the School of Population Health, University of Western Australia.
• Associate Professor Bronwyn Kingwell, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the Baker Medical Research Institute in Victoria.
• Professor Margaret O’Connor, the inaugural appointee to the Vivian Bullwinkel Chair in Nursing, Palliative Care, at Monash University in Victoria.
• Professor Kerin O’Dea of the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne.
• Professor Sally Redman, chief executive officer of the Sax Institute in New South Wales.
• Dr Nicholas Samaras, corporate advisor in Victoria
• Professor Peter Silburn , Professor at the Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies, School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, Griffith University.
• Professor Ron Trent Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Sydney and director of the Department of Molecular and Clinical Genetics at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

The Research Committee is a Principal Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council under the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 2006.
Its major role is to advise and make recommendations on research grant applications and funding.

The new Chief Executive Officer of the NHMRC, Professor Warwick Anderson, who commenced his position on 7 June.

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New membership of the Australian Health Ethics Committee announced

The new membership of the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC), a Principal Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), has been announced. The appointments are from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2009.

The chairman of the new committee is Professor Colin Thomson, a solicitor and barrister in the Supreme Courts of NSW and the ACT. Professor Thomson has been a member of AHEC in two previous three-year terms, including as deputy chair in the 2000-2003 triennium.

Other members include:

• Dr Rosanna Capolingua, chair of the Australian Medical Association's Ethics and Medico-legal Committee and federal treasurer of the AMA.
• Ms Sharon Caris, executive director of the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia.
• Mr Christopher Coyne, a solicitor practicing in the areas of insurance law, health services, corporate governance and risk management and Adjunct Professor in the School of Law at the University of Queensland
• Associate Professor Terry Dunbar, formerly deputy CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health.
• Father Gerald Gleeson, Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, a Research Associate at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics in Health Care at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, and a member of the National Board of the Sisters of Charity Health Service.
• Professor Paul Griffiths, Professor of Philosophy in the Biohumanities Project at the University of Queensland.
• Mr Barry Maley, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and former Director of the ‘Taking Children Seriously’ research program.
• Professor Margaret O'Connor, the inaugural appointee to the Vivian Bullwinkel Chair in Nursing, Palliative Care, at Monash University.
• Dr Gregory Pike, director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute in Adelaide, chairman of the board of the Australian Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme Inc., a board member of Drugwatch Australia and a member of The Institute on Global Drug Policy.
• Professor Peter Sainsbury, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney in public and community health.
• Dr Marion Scarrabelotti a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist in private practice.
• Dr Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, an independent consultant ethicist and lecturer in bioethics and sex education in the John Paul II Institute for the Study of Marriage and Family in Melbourne.
• Dr Nikolajs Zeps, ethics manager of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth and a researcher with the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research Inc..

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Victorian Education Research Network takes shape

Details of the Victorian Education and Research Network (VERN) which will link up to 200 research and education sites throughout Victoria via an optic fibre network to deliver super-fast ‘broadband’ services, have been released.

VERN is a collaboration of the Victorian universities, CSIRO and the Victorian and Australian governments

The Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Marsha Thomson said the network will enable academics, researchers and students to send and receive data at speeds of up to 40,000 times faster than the average home broadband connection, and will also place researchers in isolated parts of the State on equal footing with their urban counterparts.

Funding for the VERN has come from direct investment by Victoria’s nine universities and the CSIRO, matched by funding and in-kind support from the Victorian and Federal governments.

Mr John Carruthers, CEO of VERNet, the company established to deploy and manage the network, said VERN will tap into up to 200 locations across Victoria through 2,000km of optic fibre. It will link to national networks (such as AREN, the Australian Research and Education Network), and to global education and research communities in the US, Europe, Asia and other regions.

The Victorian Government’s contribution consists of an arrangement with the State rail authority, VicTrack, to provide access to its $21.5 million-517km fibre optic network which is also used to provide signalling for the Regional Fast project.

VERNet is the first organisation of its kind to be provided with access under a commercial arrangement to the entire regional fibre optic network.

VERN will cover much of metropolitan Melbourne and key regional areas in Victoria, particularly East Gippsland, the Latrobe Valley, and, initially, six regional precincts: Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Geelong, Wodonga and Werribee. Other towns will be linked in later stages.

Rollout of the infrastructure program is underway throughout regional Victoria and is due to be completed by early 2009.

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Queensland ICT collaboration agreement with Piemonte

Queensland has signed an agreement with Italy’s Piemonte regional government to collaborate on a range of projects including global navigation satellite systems, e-security and e-health, as well as dual degrees and joint campus activities.

The signing occurred at a seminar in Brisbane organised by the Queensland Information Industries Bureau attended by an Italian delegation including representatives from the Torino Wireless Foundation, an industry cluster in Piemonte dedicated to ICT, which has established an office in Tokyo to develop two enterprise incubators in Sapporo and Gifu, linked to their Turin incubator.

A key project of the Torino Wireless Foundation is a major European Union global satellite system, the $6 billion Galileo Project. The Queensland University of Technology has already provided testing data for the Galileo Project to the European Space Agency.

The Queensland Minister for Small Business, Information Technology Policy and Multicultural Affairs Chris Cummins, said the new agreement would help the Smart State build its ICT credentials, maintain and develop competitive advantages in the world marketplace and make significant advances in wireless technology.

“The Torino Foundation has successfully brought together all the regional players in ICT, from financiers and enterprises to research institutions and all levels of government to develop a host of sectors making a major impact on the region’s economy – sectors such as wireless, software, multimedia and wire-line technologies as well as micro-electronic and optical devices. This is a great model for industry development and similar to what Queensland is embracing under the Smart State Agenda," Mr Cummins said.

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Queensland Microtechnology Facility opened

The new Queensland Microtechnology Facility (QMF) has been opened at Griffith University, with support of $3 million from the Queensland Government through the Smart State Research Facilities Fund (SSRFF).

The facility, which is expected to be fully operational later this year, is dedicated to producing the next generation of memory chips for computers, mobile phones and digital cameras.

Headed by Professor Barry Harrison, QMF is housed in a new building at the Nathan campus of Griffith University and includes specialist wafer fabrication equipment, physical and electrical test laboratories and secure areas for researchers and commercial partners. The facility is dedicated to research and commercialisation of silicon carbide technology, an area in which Professor Harrison and his team have particular expertise. Like silicon, silicon carbide is a semiconductor which can produce a dielectric oxide that is capable of producing a silicon divice, but it has a far higher band gap than silicon and has different properties which can enhance the capability of chips, such as operating at higher temperature, more efficient, less power dissipation, and it can be used in a special capacitor that does not lose its charge.

The venture capital firm, Starfish Ventures is funding research into commercialization of the technology through a company called QS Semiconductors.

More information is at http://www.griffith.edu.au/text/centre/qmf/

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Australian Cancer Research Foundation Research Grants

• The Australian Cancer Research Foundation grants are directed at creating the infrastructure to enable critical research at Australia’s most promising research institutions.

• With average grants exceeding $1 million – a sum not available from other private sources in Australia - the ACRF continues to significantly contribute to major breakthroughs in the fight against cancer with $16.4 million awarded in 2005 and 2006, shared between six of Australia’s leading cancer research institutes in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

• In 2006, the Foundation is offering a one-off $5 million grant to an individual proposal for a major project with expectations of a significant breakthrough in cancer treatment, prevention, diagnosis or cure. The award-winning project will be announced in June 2006.

• The Foundation’s grants funding has led to a clearer understanding of the characteristics that cause tumors. In turn, this means new ways to detect and treat various types of cancers which have in turn helped to improve cancer survival rates.

• Frequently the ACRF provides ‘seed’ funding to establish major specialist laboratories, like the University of Queensland’s Centre of Immunology, headed by Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, AC who has discovered a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer – a breakthrough of global proportions.

• All Australian Cancer Research Foundation grants are put through a rigorous approval process overseen by our honorary Medical Research Advisory Committee, on which sit many of Australia’s best, brightest and most respected cancer research scientists in the country. The Committee is chaired by Professor Mathew Vadas.

For further information about the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and the gants please see here

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Call for Submissions: The science and application of geosequestration technology

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Innovation is to inquire into and report on the science and application of geosequestration technology in Australia, with particular reference to:
• The science underpinning geosequestration technology;
• The potential environmental and economic benefits and risks of such technology;
• The skill base in Australia to advance the science of geosequestration technology;
• Regulatory and approval issues governing geosequestration technology and trials; and
• How to best position Australian industry to capture possible market applications.

Interested persons and organisations are invited to make written submissions to the inquiry by Friday 18 August 2006, after which the Committee will hold public hearings.

Further details, including the terms of reference, membership of the Committee and advice on making submissions can be obtained on the Committee’s website at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/scin/index.htm or by contacting the committee secretariat on (02) 6277 4150 or emailing here

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Announcing the GlaxoSmithKline Australia Post Graduate Support Grant

Our global quest is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. To achieve our quest, GlaxoSmithKline invests up to $35 million each year in Australian research and development - ranking us in Australia’s top 10 R&D companies(1).

Support grants for postgraduate research students

GSK Australia is pleased to offer six grant awards of up to $15,000 per annum for two years to PhD or Post Doctorate students in the field of human health.

These awards will provide additional financial support to PhD or Post Doctorate research students who are currently in receipt of a research grant from a non-commercial body.

How to apply

For further information and application forms, please visit http://www.gsk.com.au/research

Closing date for applications and supporting documentation is 5.00pm (AEST) 21 July 2006.

(1) Source: Australia’s 2005 R & D and Intellectual Property Scoreboard
GlaxoSmithKline is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline Group of Companies.
GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd. 1061 Mountain Highway Boronia VIC 3155. ABN 47 100 162 481

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Positions Vacant: Minerals Processing Science Careers

Leading Australian Research Organisation

Employment opportunities in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane
Relocation assistance and visa support provided

• Senior Management Roles
• Research Scientists/Engineers
• Project Leaders
• Post Doctoral Fellows

Our client is Australia’s leading scientific and technological research organisation, with world-class facilities and a breadth of multi-disciplinary talent that is second to none. The organisation is seeking enthusiastic, self-motivated staff, ranging from recent PhD graduates through to Research Scientists and Senior Managers, to help address some of the challenging issues facing Australia’s extensive minerals industry. This is your opportunity to:
√ Work in applied research servicing the leading Australian and global minerals industries
√ Broaden your skills in a variety of capability areas

Specific skills in the following areas would be of particular interest:
- Hydrometallurgy
- Extractive Metallurgy
- Pyrometallurgy
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry - Mineralogy
- Physics
- Applied Mathematics

Our client’s research activities focus on the twin challenges of sustainability and profitability, across a wide spectrum of minerals industries including alumina, base metals, coal, diamonds, gold, mineral sands and iron ore.

Your prompt expression of interest is important, and if you are in South Africa there is an opportunity to meet senior executives from this group in Johannesburg between 15th and 17th July inclusive, and possibly in Cape Town after that. Such individual meetings would be informal and in strict confidence, enabling both parties to arrive at a decision about progressing to a formal stage.

To register your interest, please send a resume asap via e-mail here, fax on +61 8 9481 7040 or mail to exec.search pty ltd., PO Box 787, West Perth, Western Australia 6872. Telephone queries can be directed to Richard Hazlewood on +61 8 9481 7033.

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Australian Industrial Research Group Mid-Year Meeting 2006: “Globally Competitive R&D - Succeeding through Industry-Government Partnership”

10th August, 2006.

The Australian Industrial Research Group (AIRG) aims to provide a link between Australian R&D management and policy makers in Canberra to facilitate open discussion of major issues influencing business investment in R&D in Australia and hence the competitiveness of Australian companies.


Once again the AIRG will be holding a mid-year meeting in the Senate Alcove at New Parliament House in Canberra on 10th August, 2006. The theme of the meeting this year will be “Globally Competitive R&D - Succeeding through Industry-Government Partnership”.

We are fortunate to have a number of eminent speakers from Industry, the Public sector and Academia, including the Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Peacock, to build on the themes and output from the 2005 Canberra meeting (Value from Industry-Public Research Linkages) and the 2006 Annual Conference (Australian R&D in the Global Business Environment) with the aim of providing feedback to the Government and positive proposals for the way forward.

Once again, Minister Ian MacFarlane has agreed to address the meeting and receive feedback as well as entering into discussions with delegates at the meeting. In addition, Mr. Howard Saunders from the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology will provide a trans-Tasman perspective.

In addition, as in previous years, we are planning to hold a dinner meeting at the Crowne Plaza Canberra on the evening of 9th August, 2006 to which we shall invite a number of Opposition members associated with R&D and industry policy and with whom we can discuss the issues facing Australian Industry.

We invite those people interested in the role that Australian R&D can play in providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage to attend this important conference.

For further information please contact Dr. Errol McGarry, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Industrial Research Group ( Ph. 61 3 9439 0075 or e-mail)

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Maximising shareholder Value

21-22 September, Rydges Hotel, Sydney.

An annual forum for executives responsible for delivering value to shareholders. Leading practitioners will present on the drivers of shareholder value including the latest developments of capital management, capitals markets communications, corporate risk management and corporate governance aspects of executive remuneration.

Key speakers include:
David Pitman, The Boston Consulting Group,
Christine Hollyoak, Macquarie Bank,
Bob Officer, Founding Director, Acorn Capital,
Russell Brennan, GE Commercial Finance,
Geof Stapledon, ISS Australia.

Points of focus include optimal balance sheet structure, efficient working capital management, accessing offshore markets, best practice governance of IT & EHS.

For further information and on-line registration visit http://www.capconnect.com.au or call +3 8534-5011

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Risk and Decision Analysis

ARE YOU MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS?

The School of Enterprise, University of Melbourne are pleased to announce the upcoming 1 day short course on Risk and Decision Analysis.

Who is this course for?
This course is for Managers involved in making all forms of decisions, such as strategy and board decisions, operational management, marketing, finance, managing people, legal decisions and project portfolio decisions. The concepts and procedures that will be learned during this seminar can be applied to all decisions in all industries.

What will I get out of this course?
The decisions facing executives in all sectors of the economy are becoming increasingly complex. Risk factors and multiple conflicting objectives are key aspects of this complexity, making it difficult to get by on ‘gut feel’ or intuition. This 1 day seminar will equip participants with the knowledge, thinking algorithms and practical skills in:
• How to think clearly and make sound decisions using a systematic procedure that supports your judgement
• Decision trees for making decisions under uncertainty
• Being able to decompose complex decision problems into elements and make well informed, rational decisions
• Considering and properly measuring and understanding risk as well as return in business plans, proposals and business cases
• How to evaluate decisions when multiple objectives involve tradeoffs between the choices in a decision
• How to correctly account for the organisational approach to risk in decision making

Numbers are limited, so be quick!

Cost: $850 + GST
When: Wednesday, 2nd August, 2006
Where: RACV City Club
501 Bourke Street, Melbourne

NEED TO KNOW MORE?
Click here for more information.

Express your interest in this course or related courses by contacting;
Elise Strande on (03) 9810 3136 or email commercialisation@soe.unimelb.edu.au

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Specialist Certificate in Physiotherapy (Exercise for Women)

The School of Enterprise in partnership with the School of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne are pleased to announce the Specialist Certificate in Physiotherapy (Exercise for Women).

Who is this course for?

In addition to qualified physiotherapists, components of the Exercise for Women subject are also suitable for allied health professionals, exercise physiologists, physical education teachers and accredited fitness instructors. Attendance is possible on a short course basis, in topics relating to specific areas of interest.

Components of the Applied Physiology subject are also suitable for allied health professionals on a short course basis.

What will I get out of this course?

The course provides the opportunity to develop specific skills in the planning and delivery of exercise programs for specific women’s groups, understand the impact of exercise on the altered physiology, pathophysiology and psychology of the female population and to become familiar with the legal and safety issues associated with leading exercise classes for women with specific physical needs.

Numbers are limited, so be quick!

VENUE
The University of Melbourne Hawthorn Campus,
442 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3122.

COST
The costs to attend this program are as follows:

Award Course Students
• $5,200 for both subjects leading to the Specialist Certificate in Physiotherapy (Exercise for Women).

Short Course Students
• Applied Physiology - $2,600 +GST for all three parts or $950 +GST for each two day part.
• Exercise for Women - $2,600 +GST for all 5 days or $570 + GST for each day.

The costs include delivery by fully qualified presenters, course materials and morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea for each day of the course attended.

NEED TO KNOW MORE?
Click here for more information.

Express your interest in this course by contacting Elise Strande on (03) 9810 3136 or email e.strande@soe.unimelb.edu.au

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ISI Web of Knowledge(SM): Getting the right answers, quicker

ISI Web of Knowledge is a single, integrated research environment that helps you easily search a broad variety of evaluated, high quality content in the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. In one search – through one interface -- you can access data from journals, conference proceedings, patents, books, and Web sites. And tools such as CrossSearch(SM), cited reference searching, and the Analyze Tool help you search, sort, and analyze the data the way that works best for you.

If you research –You’ll be able to easily explore multidisciplinary information and follow links to additional data; gaining speed with no compromise in the quality or accuracy of results.

If you publish – You’ll easily find high impact articles upon which to base your articles – increasing the quality and credibility of your published work, resulting in more publication in more prestigious sources.

If you teach – Your students will be assured of using the highest quality resources – finding valuable information in sources they may not have the knowledge and experience to seek on their own. They can begin with basic methods of searching, and move on to more precise methods as their experience grows.

For more information see website here, or contact Thomson Scientific directly via email or +61 2 8587 7948 or 1 800 007 214 (from Australia)

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Spruson&Ferguson: patent and trade mark attorneys

With over 115 years experience, Spruson&Ferguson is a leading intellectual property firm in Australia which provides a fully integrated service for the protection, commercialisation and enforcement of your intellectual property.

Spruson&Ferguson is one of the largest intellectual property firms in Australia, with a team of over 220. Our 60 plus patent and trade mark attorneys and lawyers work in specialised practice areas; Chemical/Life Sciences, Mechanical, Electrical/Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) and Trade Marks, together with Spruson&Ferguson Lawyers which provides intellectual property commercialisation, enforcement and dispute resolution services.

Spruson&Ferguson’s patent and trade mark attorneys and lawyers have extensive intellectual property and industry experience in science and engineering including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, electronics, phototonics, transport, telecommunications, mining, publishing, consumer products, ceramics, chemistry and mechanical/medical technologies.

The depth of our industry experience is an attribute that many of our clients hold in high regard. Spruson&Ferguson is a recognised as a market leader with multinationals and many of Australia’s foremost research institutions entrusting to us to protect and assisting with the maximisation of returns on their intellectual property assets.

Our comprehensive range of services includes patents, trademarks, designs, domain names, IP audits, due diligence, dispute resolution and litigation and intellectual property commercialisation services including licensing, joint ventures and research and development collaborations.

For more information about our comprehensive range of intellectual property services, please contact one of the following relationship principals:

Chemical: Dr John McCann BSc (Hons) PhD FIPTA
Life Sciences: Dr Andrew Blattman BScAgr (Hons) PhD GDipIP FIPTA
Electrical: Robert Miller BE BLegS FIPTA
ICT: Scott Berggren BSEE MSEE LLB FIPTA
Mechanical: Greg Turner BE FIPTA
Trade Marks: Annette Freeman BA LLB (ANU) LLM (UTS)
IP Commercialisation: Rob McInnes BSc (Hons) LLB (Syd)
IP Litigation & Dispute Resolution: Simon Williams BA LLB (Syd) LLM (Lond)
Managing Principal: David Griffith BE (Hons) FIPTA

Telephone: (02) 9207 0777
Fax: (02) 9261 5486
Email mail@sprusons.com.au

www.sprusons.com.au

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Looking to advertise a new R&D position, scholarship or call?

ResearchJobs is an email and website based service that lists advertisements for vacant research related positions, scholarships, fellowships, and calls for proposals within the research and development, scientific and acedemic industries.

See here

It is distributed straight to the desk top of over 11,000 researchers and management professionals within universities, CSIRO, research agencies and institutes, government departments and the private sector.

ResearchJobs:

• weekly electronic advertising medium for R&D and scientific positions vacant and scholarships
• email document that is sent to over 11,000 subscribers
• website that has been averaging over 1000 visits per day for April 2006
• ad length 200 words, $1 plus GST extra for ads over 200 words
• cost for both website and email document is $180 plus GST per ad for one week, $300 plus GST for two weeks, $400 plus GST for three weeks.

For further information see here, email scott@halledit.com.au or call Scott McKinnon on 03 8534 5000

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Baby's cot a rocking success

Early one morning in 2004 Gold Coast-based Christopher Mitchell was trying to get his baby daughter to sleep rocking her on his lap while watching car racing on TV and pretending to be a car, he noticed the uneven rocking motion was sending her to sleep.

That morning was the catalyst for what is now one of Australia’s most innovative and unique products, the Lullabub Cot Rocker, a product designed to assist parents in the daily routine of settling a baby to sleep—day and night.

At the Australian Design Awards in May 2006, Babyhugs Pty Ltd won the Consumer award category for the Lullabub Cot Rocker.

The rocking device is designed to fit under each leg of a cot inducing sleep through its gentle rocking motion.

It is quiet, easy to use and powered similar to a mobile phone. The certified plug pack converts home power to only six volts to operate the unit, and the night light and the remote control is powered by two AA batteries.

Its unique design supports the cot on an independent suspension system which keeps it rigid—and it can also be gently rocked with one finger.

The Lullabub has four motion settings and the time limit is preset to 30 minutes, and if after this time, the baby wakes up, it is a simple matter to re-activate the motion with the remote control and the baby is soothed to sleep.

Babyhugs was able to commercialise the Lullabub Cot Rocker with the support of a $104,750 Australian Government Commercial Ready grant through AusIndustry.

For further ifnormation about the Commeral Ready Grant and AusIndustry see website here.

To view the AusIndustry eBulletin see here

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