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RESEARCH REVIEW 2013

MEETING THE CHALLENGE,MAKING AN IMPACT

Cover image depicts ice crystals and smoke in black refl ective back.

The University of MelbourneResearch Review August 2013.

Published by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

Level 5, 161 Barry StreetThe University of MelbourneVictoria 3010

ISSN 1441–3302

Enquiries for reprinting information contained in this publication should be made through the Editor Research Review. The information in this publication was correct at the time of printing.

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Editor: Silvia DropulichDesign: Darren Rath®

Views expressed by contributors to Research Review are not necessarily endorsed or approved by the University of Melbourne.

© The University of Melbourne

www.unimelb.edu.au/research

our research is visionary, transformative, and beneficial to the community


2 WELCOME by Professor James McCluskey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

4 RESEARCH AT MELBOURNE

6 RESEARCH NEWS

FEATURED RESEARCH

12 Research challenges child language theories

14 Protecting our koalas – and the environment

16 Breakthrough technology improves effi ciency of water distribution around the world

18 Novel vaccines boost poultry production

20 HILDA Survey becomes elite world survey

22 Business sector slow to get the cartel message

24 Music therapy – a lifeline for those suffering mental illness

26 Consumers save over $1 billion annually in dental treatment with Recaldent™ products

28 White roofs make buildings more sustainable

30 Powerful resource develops children’s emotional intelligence

32 Climate change strategies save the Australian wine industry

34 AT A GLANCE: Facts and fi gures about research at the University of Melbourne

CONTENTS

1

MEETING THE CHALLENGE, MAKING AN IMPACT

The best research involves a spirit of vigorous interrogation. Whilst the pursuitof knowledge for its own sake is one of society’s loftiest endeavours, research should also strive to make an impact. The privilege of the pursuit of knowledgebrings with it a duty to communicate ourresearch and to ensure that our research is visionary, transformative, and benefi cial to the community.

In late 2012, the University of Melbournetook part in a national trial – the fi rst of its kind to measure the end-user benefi t of research. The Excellence in Innovation for Australia (EIA) trial was designed to measure the innovation dividend of research generated byAustralian universities.

Twelve Australian universities (30 per cent of the sector) headed by the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) and the Group of Eight (Go8) and including Charles Darwin University andthe Universities of Tasmania and Newcastle submitted 162 research case studiesfor assessment.

The trial focused on impact assessment using case studies of research as opposed to traditional university metrics such as how many times research has been published or cited.

The University of Melbourne submitted d 15 research case studies to the trial for assessment.

Universities were invited to subbmit up to fi ve case studies in the areass oof Society; Economic Development; EnEnvironment; and Defence. Less than 10 peper cent of the 162 submissions received aacross the sector were

related to Defence – with four universities, including Melbourne, not submittingDefence case studies due the sensitive and confidential nature of the area.

An interesting outcome from the trial hasbeen the fact that many case studies not only profi led university researchers, but also identifi ed the role of smart companiesand organisations which have madeeffective use of research.

Our research strategy, Research at Melbourne: Ensuring Excellence and Impact to 2025 is a defi nitive statementt for the next 10-15 years, with the aim oof elevating the excellence and impact t of our world-class research efforts. See ppage 4 for more information.

This edition of Research Reeview, with the theme ‘Meeting the Chaalllenge, Making an Impact’, provides aa snapshot of thecase studies Melbouurne presented to the EIA trial.

Some highligighhts of this edition of Research Review incclulude:w

+ A reevvolutionary irrigation managementsyysstem developed by Melbourne eengineers and Rubicon Water is now being used across Australia, in the USA, China and Europe to improve water productivity.

+ Recaldent™ products are saving consumers more than $1 billion annually in dental treatment. Recaldent™ is regarded as a major global breakthrough in the prevention and treatment of early tooth decay.

+ Melbourne-led research is potentiallysaving the Australian wine industrybillions of dollars by encouraging it

to adopt proactive stratategies against climate change.

+ Vaccines developpeded by Melbourneveterinary sciennce researchers are leading to a mmajor reduction in the use of antibiotics iin poultry.

+ Melbournrne scientists have developed new mamanagement techniques which will protteect the environment – and our koalas.

+ Thhe Household, Income and Labour DDynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, has now joined the ranks of the elite panel surveys in the world.

+ A legal research project has found thatmany businesses are unaware that cartel activity is illegal.

In addition to these articles, there are vignettes intended to highlight research across a broad spectrum of disciplines including education; humanities; the arts (including performing arts); and architecture, building and planning.

The stories ultimately illustrate our vision of being a globally engaged, comprehensive research-intensive university uniquely positioned to respond to major social, economic and environmental challenges.

To understand the University’s performance in terms of rankings andd scale we have also included some statatisticson Melbourne’s research activity tthhat aredrawn from nationally collected d data and international rankings.

I hope you will fi nd sommee inspiration in thisreview as it celebrates ththe breadth of impactour research is havinng on the world.

Professor James McCluskey, FAADeputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

WELCOME to the 2013 edition of Research Review


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Research improves lives and contributes to the greater wellbeing of societies.

Innovative technologies, scientifi c discoveries, cultural development,new approaches to public policy, and changes to the way we educate the nextgeneration can transform the way welive. Research contributes to solving theworld’s most diffi cult problems – from climate change to global health to politicalunrest. An understanding of the human element, or the economic, cultural orsocial implications of these problems, is embedded across all our research.

Under the Research at Melbourne strategy,the University cultivates the fundamental enabling disciplines from astrophysics to philosophy, but in addition to this discipline-focused and investigator-drivenresearch, Melbourne pursues three Grand Challenges:

+ understanding our place and purpose + fostering health and wellbeing + supporting sustainability and resilience

The Grand Challenges provide a narrative and purpose beyond individual scholarship. They offer members of our research community the opportunity to contributesome of their efforts to an institution-levelstrategy – an integral feature of our effort to elevate the quality and impact of our research in the next 10–15 years.

The Place and Purpose Grand Challenge centres on understanding all aspects of our national identity, with a focus on Australia’s ‘place’ in the Asia-Pacifi c region and the world, and on our ‘purpose’ or

mission to improve all dimensions of thehuman condition through our research. Forstories which address this grand challengesee: ‘Research challenges child language theories’, page 12; ‘Hilda Survey becomeselite world survey’, page 21; ‘Business sectorslow to get the cartel message’, page 22;and ‘Powerful resource develops children’semotional intelligence’, page 30.

The University’s longstanding researchand clinical partnerships with some of the country’s outstanding health careproviders and medical research institutessuch as the Walter and Eliza Hall Instituteof Medical Research, the Peter MacCallumCancer Institute, the Murdoch ChildrensResearch Institute, and the Florey Instituteof Neuroscience and Mental Health arehelping deliver its bold agenda to improvehealth and wellbeing.

Melbourne is a partner in a number of Australia’s premier clinical and researchfacilities including the Bio21 Institute, theMelbourne Brain Centre, the Peter DohertyInstitute for Infection and Immunity, theRoyal Children’s Hospital, and the VictorianComprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC).

For research stories which address healthand wellbeing see: ‘Novel vaccines boost poultry production’, page 18; ‘Music therapy– a lifeline for those suffering mental illness’, page 24; and ‘Consumers save over$1 billion annually in dental treatment withRecaldent™ products’, page 26.

One of the greatest challenges of the 21stcentury is the endeavour to secure globalprosperity without placing excessivedemand on the Earth’s natural resources

and without jeopardising the climate system. Climate change, water andfood security, sustainable energy anddesigning resilient cities and regions arecritical issues.

While many of these problems requiretechnical solutions, they also involve changed attitudes and consideration of economic implications, living patternsand behaviours.

Cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoralunderstanding is needed to enable innovation across energy, water, carbon management and relateddomains. For research stories whichaddress sustainability and resilience, see: ‘Protecting our koalas – and theenvironment’, page 14; ‘Breakthrough technology improves effi ciency of water distribution around the world’, page16; ‘White roofs make buildings more sustainable’, page 28; and ‘Climate changestrategies save the Australian wine industry’, page 32.

For more information about the Researchat Melbourne strategy see: http://research-vision.unimelb.edu.au

RESEARCH AT MELBOURNE


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RESEARCH NEWS

New research hubs to transform Australia’s struggling manufacturing sector

The dairy manufacturing industry and the food industry will be the focus of targeted new research hubs aimed at resolving some of the challenges facing industrial economies.

The establishment of the hubs follows the ARC announcement that they will supporttwo Melbourne research hubs with funding of $7 million over the life of the projects.

Led by Dr Sally Gras, of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringand the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne, the Dairy Innovation Hub will combine the expertise of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, and Dairy Innovation Australia to develop breakthrough technical solutions. The Dairy Innovation Hub will receive$5 million over the life of the project.

The second Hub, named ‘Unlocking the Food Value Chain: Australian Food Industry Transformation for ASEANMarkets’, or the Food Research Hubb, will be

led byby Professor Frank Dunshea, who headsthhee Department of Agriculture and Food SSystems at the University of Melbourne’s School of Land and Environment. TheFood Research Hub will receive $2 million for the life of the project, which will combine the expertise of the University of Melbourne and Kraft Australia.

Finding a genetic cause for severe childhood epilepsiesA large scientifi c study has discovered new genes causing severe seizure disorders that begin in babies and early childhood.The fi nding will lead to new tests to diagnose these conditions and promises to lead to improved outcomes.

Epileptic encephalopathies are severeseizure disorders occurring in infants and children. The seizures are accompanied by slow development and intellectual problems.

The clinical leader of the study, paediatric neurologist and researcher Professor Ingrid Scheffer from the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, said:These children have devastating disorders. Finding the cause is the fi rst step in developing targeted treatments.

“Overall, our fi ndings have importantimplications for making a diagnosisin patients, optimising therapy and providing genetic counselling for families,” she said. The study, published in Nature Genetics, revealed two new genes associated with these severe epilepsies.

UNESCO heritage adds digital archive of endangered cultural records

A digital collection of endangered languages, co-managed by the University of Melbourne, has been added to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World collection to protect it for future generations.

The collection PARADISEC (Pacifi c and Regional Archive for Digital Sources inEndangered Cultures) was created todigitise research and cultural records to make sure they don’t get lost, damaged or destroyed.

“The archive contains over 8,900 entriesbased on research and projects on endangered languages and cultures around

the world,” said Dr Nick Thieberger, a Senior Research Fellow in the University’s School of Languages and Linguistics and a PARADISEC Project Manager.

“There are nearly 2,000 languages spoken in Australia, the South Pacifi c Islands and Southeast Asia and most of these have never been recorded, much less studied.

“A large number of these languages are in such decline that only a few hundred will be spoken in the next century.” In 2000, UNESCO established the Australian Memory of the World Program to maintain selective lists of signifi cant documentary heritage.


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Study reveals learning disabilities affect up to 10 per cent of children and co-occur at higher than expected rates

Up to 10 per cent of the population is affected by specifi c learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to two or three pupils in every classroom, a new study has found.

Led by Professor Brian Butterworth, a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s School of PsychologicalSciences and Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at University College London, the study gives insight into the underlying causes of specifi c learning disabilities and how to tailor individual teaching and learning for individuals and education professionallss.

The study found children are freququently affected by more than one learnining disability and that specifi c leaarrning disabilities co-occur more ooftften than expected. For example, in n children with attention-defi cit or hyppeeractivity disorder, 33 to 45 per cent also ssuffer from dyslexiaand 11 per cent fromm dyscalculia, alearning disabilitity in mathematics.

Professor Buuttterworth said the results showed thehere were many neurological developmpment disorders that result in learniinng disabilities, even in children of normrmal or even high intelligence.

Australia leads on healthAustralians live longer, healthier lives than people in almost every other countrtry, but a range of ailments threaten advanancesmade in recent years, a symposium m on groundbreaking data at the Univeversity of Melbourne has revealed.

Professor Alan Lopez, Laurureate Professor at the Melbourne Schoooll of Population and Global Health, said obbeesity in Australia surpassed smokingg aas a risk factor for premature death.

The data fromm the landmark Global Burdenof Disease sstudy show life expectancyhas increaeased for both men and women in Aussttralia. On average, a newborn girl can nnow expect to live 83.8 years, and a neewwborn boy 79.2 years.

By 2010, only men in Iceland, Switzerland and Japan had longer life expectancies. The Australian study data mark a signifi cant improvement since 1990, when women on average lived to 80, and men to less than 74.

The study shows heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability for Australians, with poor diet being the biggest risk factor,and the impacts of drugs, depression and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise.

World-first clinical trial supports use of kava to treat anxiety

A world-fi rst completed clinical study by an Australian team has found that kava, a medicinal South Pacifi c plant, signifi cantly reduced the symptoms of people suffering anxiety.

The study, led by the University of Melbourne and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, revealed kava could be an alternative treatment topharmaceutical products for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Lead researcher, Dr Jerome Sarris from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said GAD is a complex condition that signifi cantly affects people’sday-to-day lives. Existing medications have a modest clinical effect and new effective options were needed for patients with anxiety.

“Based on previous work we have recognised that plant-based medicines may be a viable treatment for patients with chronic anxiety.

In this study we’ve been able to show that kava offers a potential natural alternativefor the treatment of chronic clinical anxiety. Unlike some other options it hasless risk of dependency and less potential for side effects,” he said. The study also found that people’s genetic differences (polymorphisms) of certain neurobiological mechanisms called GABA transporters may modify their response to kava.

7

Chancellor’s Prize rewards PhD thesis excellenceThe recipients of the 2013 Chancellor’sPrize for Excellence in a PhD Thesis have been announced.

The prestigious prize, awarded annually, recognises the University’s high-achieving graduate researchers. It is the only University-wide award for outstandingPhD theses.

The prize was awarded to six PhD graduates from three faculty groupings – Humanities, Creative Arts and Social Sciences; Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences; and Science and Engineering.

This year’s Humanities, Creative Arts and Social Sciences winners were Emily Hudson (Melbourne Law School) for ‘Copyright exceptions: the experiences of cultural institutions in the United States, Canada and Australia’, and JeanetteTamplin (Melbourne Conservatoriumof Music) for ‘The effects of singing on respiratory function, voice, and mood for people with quadriplegia’.

The winners from Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences were Bruce Campbell (Medicine RMH) for ‘Acute stroke imaging: predicting response to therappyy’, and Peng Lei (Pathology) for ‘Ironing g

out the involvement off ttau protein inneurodegenerative didiseases’.

The Science and d EEngineering winners were Marcus Doherrtty (School of Physics) for ‘The theory of thhee nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamondnd’, and Dean Freestone (Electricaland Elecectronic Engineering) for ‘Epileptic seizurure prediction and the dynamics of the elecctrical fi elds of the brain’.

The Chancellor’s Prize awards began in 1995 and inform the University’s research community of the outstandingcontribution the recipients have made totheir research fi eld.

Australian migrant kids “more trusting”

The children of migrants to Australia are more trusting than those whose parents settled in America, University of Melbourne research has found.

The study revealed more than 60% of Australian second generation immigrantsbelieve ‘most people can be trusted’, while only 41% of the US immigrants do.

Researchers Dr Domenico Tabasso and Dr Julie Moschion say there are several reasons for the divide.

“Low levels of crime, high rates of employment, income equality and an absence of cultural segregation account for the high levels of trust found inAustralia,” according to Dr Tabasso.

“On the fl ipside, the perception of racial inequality contributes to lower levels of trust in the United States,” he said.

Previous academic studies have underlined the central role trust plays in a strong economy, as it facilitates cooperation and exchanges among individuals. The researchwas published by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.

Discovery paves the way for ultrafast high resolution imaging in real time

Ultrafast high resolution imaging in real time could be a reality with a new research discovery led by the University of Melbourne.

In work published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Melbourne and the ARCCentre for Excellence in Coherent X-ray Science have demonstrated that ultrashort durations of electron bunches generated from laser-cooled atoms can be both very cold and ultrafast.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Robert Scholten from the School of Physics said the surprising fi nding was an important step towards making ultrafast high resolution electron imaging a reality.

He said the fi nding would enhance the ability of scientists in labs to create high-quality snapshots of rapid changesin biological molecules and specimens.

David Syme Science PrizeDr Lars Kjer-Nielsen,from Microbiology andImmunology, has been awarded the 2012 David Syme Research Prize.

Each year, the prestigious prize is awarded by theFaculty of Science for the best original research work in biology, physics,chemistry or geology

produced in Australiaduring the preceding two years.

Dr Kjer-Nielsen received the award for leading a fi ve-year study looking into how immune cells withinthe gut, known as MAIT cells, could potentially infl uence the development of autoimmune disease.

MAIT cells are greatly infl uenced by gut fl ora, which are bacteria thatlive in the intestine and help support the immunesystem.


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University of Melbourne researchers top the nation in ARC Linkage awardsUniversity of Melbourne reseearchers have been awarded $14.1 millionon to assist with a range of projects in cololllaboration with industry partners. Thehe projects rangefrom next generationon technologies to monitor microorggaanisms in Melbourne’swater catchmenntts, to developing interventions s ffor family violence and improving g ccochlear implants.

The fuunnding is part of a $101 million Linkkaage projects package announced byy the Australian Research Council (A(ARC). The Linkage Projects scheme provides funding to support research and development projects that foster collaboration between higher education researchers and industry.

University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor JamesMcCluskey said the grants recognised the importance of innovative research that links with industries and existingcommunity programs. He welcomed the funding and said the depth of projects funded at the University would help address problems facing the wider community.

“The support from the ARC is based on arigorous competitive process and refl ects the outstanding quality of research at the University of Melbourne and the strength of its industry engagement. It is a refl ection of the quality of our staff thatwe have received more funding than any other institution nationally,” he said.

“Research aims to make a practical impact, recognising the University of Melbourne is at the forefront of producing research that offers social, cultural and economic benefi ts.”

Melbourne researcher takes top prizeDr Aung Ko Win from the University of Melbourne has been awarded theprestigious 2013 Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research for hisgroundbreaking work on colorectal cancer. The Premier’s Award recognises achievement, celebrates creativity and acknowledges excellence across all fi elds of health or medical research.

Dr Win has made considerable breakthroughs towards developing a newgenetically based model for colorectal cancer risk prediction.

“Colorectal cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australliaia. With around one in 20 Australians diagnosed with the disease at somee stage in their life, this cancer accountss ffor the second-highest number of cannccer-related deaths in Australia,” said Dr r WWin.

“Early detection of the cacancer, when it

is at an early and more confifinned stage, radically increases chanceess of survival and decreases treatment coststs. This discoveryof applying a geneticaalllly based prediction model will greatly aasssist practitioners in identifying peoople most at risk of developing the ddisease, as well as help with the discovery y of new risk factors associated with the disisease.”

Dr Winin conducted his PhD research at the MMelbourne School of Population andGlGlobal Health (Centre for Molecular, EEnvironmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology) at the University of Melbourne and has worked closely with the Cancer Council of Victoria.

Dr Win’s collaborators, Professor John Hopper and Associate Professor Mark Jenkins, his principal supervisor, havepraised Dr Win and acknowledged his hard work and determination to make an impact on cancer research.

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University launches biggest campaign in its historyThe University has launched the largest philanthropic campaign in its 160-year history, seeking to raise $500 million by the end of 2017.

At the offi cial launch in May, theUniversity announced $42 million in new gifts; since 2008, it has attracted $249 million in gifts, with more than 12,000donors giving support to Believe – the Campaign for the University of Melbourne.See: http://campaign.unimelb.edu.au

IN BRIEF

Maths Professor elected to US National Academy of Sciences

Professor Peter Hall, from the University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics,has been elected to the US-based National Academy of Sciences (NAS).Scientists are elected to this prestigiouss, non-profi t society of scholars by their r peers for distinguished and continuuing achievements in original researcchh in science and technology. Professssor Hall, an Australian Laureate Fellow, wwas elected as a Foreign Associate in reccoognition of hisworld-leading research iinn probability and mathematical statisticcs.

University of Melbourne named Australian leader in Nature rankings

The University is placed fi rst in Australiain world-leading science journal Nature’s latest rankings. Melbourne also rose in the regional and global rankings to sixth in the Asia-Pacifi c region, up from eighth last year, and 61st in the world, three places higher than in the 2011 rankings. The Nature Publishing Index 2012 charts the number of articles published in Nature.


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University Professor namedFellow of Royal Society

Professor Terry Speed from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for his work in bioinformatics. The Royal Society, the UK’snational academy for promoting excellencein science, selects new fellows based on their scientifi c achievements.

Professor Speed’s research is on statistical aspects of bioinformatics, which uses mathematics and statistics to solvecomplex biological problems. Professor Speed has developed new ways to analysebiological data that have been applied to medical research in a range of fi elds including cancer, infection, immunologyand inherited diseases.

Melbourne sets its sights on big public policy challengesThe University of Melbourne will playan even greater role in the creation of real-world solutions to the big challenges of our time, with the launch of the new Melbourne School of Government.

The School aims to develop innovativeresponses to contemporary public policy and governance questions, foster a culture of public debate, and help train the Asia-Pacifi c’s next crop of political leaders.

The MSoG Director, Professor Helen Sullivan, said it will work with policy makers and the general public.

“We will have an ongoing, genuine and robust dialogue with business leaders, government departments, agencies and NGOs, as well as the world’s best think tanks and academic institutions,” she saidid.

“These relationships are to be criticaall as we seek to enhance the decision-mmaking ability of policy makers, instituttioions and communities.”

The University of Melbouurrne Vice-Chancellor, Professor GlGlyn Davis, said the new School would briring together a wealth of policy and governrnance expertise.

“Students willl bbe not only be taught byleading acaddeemics across Law, Business & Economiccss and Political Science, but will also enggaage with experienced practitionersinsidee and outside the classroom,” he said.

Report sounds the alarm on child povertyAustralian children under the care of justt one parent are three times more likely than other children to live in povertyy,, nnew data from Australia’s most comprehhensive household survey has revealed.

The latest Household, Incomeme and LabourDynamics in Australia (HILILDA) Survey, produced by the Universisitty of Melbourne, found 24.1% of childreenn living with a single parent are living in ppoverty, compared with just 7.6% of chchildren in two-parent homes. Amongg ppeople living in lone-parent households (inincluding both lone parents

and their children), the proportion living in poverty rose from 19.6% in 2000–01 to 23.2% in 2009–10.

The report’s editor and co-author, Associate Professor Roger Wilkins from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research, said the results were concerning.

The fi gures show that in spite of continuingefforts to reduce child poverty, big challengesremain. For further information about the HILDA Survey see the report on page 21.

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Late NewsFor the latest news from the University of Melbourne see: www.newsroom.melbourne.edu.au

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RESEARCH CHALLENGES

CHILD LANGUAGE THEORIES

FEATURED RESEARCH

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Imagine you were born just a few days’ walk from Mount Everest.

Like other Sherpa children, you were named after the day of the week you were born, and wrapped ina yak-wool blanket to protect from the freezing cold. You grow up in the Nepal Himalayas, four kilometresabove sea level, working alongside your parents in a rocky potato fi eld.

You learn to practise the most ancient form of Tibetan Buddhism and to speak your native Sherpa language.Interwoven with that language are the Sherpa cultural traditions that enfold you just as snugly as that yak-wool blanket.

PhD candidate Sara Ciesielski (pictured left) has livedwith the Sherpas four times in recent years as part of her research project entitled Language Development and Socialisation in Sherpa. The research, conductedunder the supervision of child language specialistDr Barbara Kelly, will broaden our understanding of how children acquire their fi rst language.

Sara has received numerous awards and scholarships,often providing the much-needed fi nancial supportto make her work possible. She was the fi rst PhDcandidate in an Arts discipline to win Melbourne’s three-minute-thesis (3MT®) Competition and she is also an ambassador for ‘Believe’, the Campaign for theUniversity of Melbourne.

“I am investigating how children are spoken to, and how that shapes the way they learn to become competent members of their society,” says Sara.

“I’m particularly interested in the intersection between language and culture, and my research allows me to explore how this nexus develops right from the moment of birth.”

Although many people think of Sherpas as mountaineers, the Sherpas are actually an ethnic group, famous for their toughness andmountaineering skills.

“Most early child language research focuses on European languages, particularly English, and thishad led to limited conclusions,” she says.

“Conducting fresh research in little-studiedcommunities helps us cast off these limitations and make our theories truly universal.”

As part of her research Sara trekked to a Sherpavillage and fi lmed six children between two and fouryears of age going about their daily routine.

“I found something very unusual,” says Sara.

“What these children hear is command after command after command, in a quick-fi re string.Come here! Wash this! Sit still! Unlike us, Sherpa!parents give direct orders, and often these come so fastthat the children have no chance of obeying – even if they wanted to.

“These commands actually hold cultural information:the older you are, the more right you have to tell others what to do. So it’s very funny to watch a four-year-oldplaying with a two-year-old, because the older childgives just as many commands to the younger one asher own parents give to her.” This four-year-old haslearnt cultural information about status and is able to reproduce it perfectly.

“This research could pose problems for some of our established child language theories,” says Sara.“But more practically, the assumptions I’m tryingto overturn are the exact same assumptions thatunderpin our education systems,” she says.

Children from different backgrounds who do notunderstand these hidden cultural codes risk falling behind everyone else.

“That disadvantage is extremely hard to recoup,”says Sara. “My work can help us realise that differentcultural and linguistic backgrounds may infl uencechildren’s development in very subtle ways. This in turn can make us more sensitive to all children’seducational needs.”

“This research could pose problems for some of our established child language theories.”

— Place And Purpose —

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PROTECTING OUR KOALAS – AND THE ENVIRONMENT

“This approach will prevent habitat destruction and improve koala access to a sustainable food source.”

— Sustainability And Resilience —


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It is a catch 22 situation: koalas are prolifi c breeders but relocating them to new habitats eventually leads to habitat saturation. So how do you treat the koalas kindly and protect the environment at the same time?

The solution is in a University of Melbourne research project entitled Development of Contraceptives for Management of Overabundant Koalas, conducted by Professor Marilyn Renfree, Dr Kath Handasyde and Professor Geoff Shaw, all from the Faculty of Science.

Koalas breed from the age of two years, and produce one young per year during a summer breeding season, Professor Renfree explains.

Most young survive to independence and mortality of adults is low, with a reproductive lifespan of at least10 years.

“As a consequence, populations have the potential to grow rapidly,” says Professor Renfree.

“New management techniques are crucial to address habitat destruction resulting from over-browsing by koalas.”

In Victoria, the translocation program has been running since the 1920s and as a result, the koala has been re-established throughout much of its original range in this state.

Planting of trees, to provideadditional koala habitat, has also been conducted, however most of this has been on limited areas of public land such as national parks.

Many koala populations occur in isolated patches of habitat surrounded by private land, mainly cleared farmland, where extensive revegetation is not possible.

“Because of the success of thetranslocation program, the suitable koala habitat became saturated and new management techniqueswere required to address habitat destruction caused by over-browsingby koalas,” says Dr Handasyde.

“Our innovation was to ‘reverse-engineer’ human female contraceptives to the koalas to reduce their population increase whileleaving viable healthy animals.

“We treated koalas with long-acting subcutaneous hormone (gestagen)implants.”

Professor Renfree’s research team treated koalas at French IslandNational Park with long-acting levonorgestrel contraceptiveimplants, and found that a singlelevonorgestrel implant provided at least nine years of contraception.

The entire project was conductedwith the support of Parks Victoriaand the then Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, now the Department of Environment and Primary Industries.

“This technique has now been ‘translated’ into ongoing management programs and is currently being used by these Government agencies for Victorian koalas,” says Dr Handasyde.

“There is a signifi cant positive impact on the success of revegetation projects both in national parks and on private and community land inhabited bykoala populations,” she says.

“To date, efforts to restore habitathave either failed or only beenpartially successful because the highnumbers of koalas have resulted in signifi cant browsing pressure on these young plantations.

“This approach will prevent habitat destruction and improve koala accessto a sustainable food source.”

There is an ongoing application of koala fertility control across Victoria by Parks Victoria managers –resulting in reduced koala populationgrowth, which will then allow private landholders and councils to conduct successful revegetation programs.

This management tool will allow koala populations to be maintainedsustainably and prevent habitat destruction by over-browsing.

In addition, South Australianwildlife management authoritiesare now also interested in theapplication of the contraceptivetechnique because they are also managing overabundant populationsin some areas.

The levonorgestrel implants werefound to be effective – none of thekoalas treated with the implant produced young.

Professor Shaw says the advantage of the technique is that management of animals is in situ via fertility control.u

“Not only is this approach morehumane, it is also reversible(by removing the implant) and substantially reduces managementcosts and the need to translocateanimals into increasingly scarce remaining koala habitat in South-eastern Australia,” Professor Shaw says.

EIACase Study

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A revolutionary irrigation managementsystem developed by engineers at theUniversity of Melbourne and Rubicon Water is now being used across Australia,and in the USA (Imperial Valley Irrigation),China and Europe (Northern Italy).

According to research leader and Deanof Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Professor Iven Mareels, thewater-saving technology, known as Total Channel Control® (TCC), will save in ruralVictoria annually a volume of fresh water equal to what is available to Melbourne.

Produced in partnership with Rubicon Water, TCC consists of hardware and software that modernises irrigation infrastructure, measuring, modelling and managing water fl ow.

About 70% of all water the world uses istransported through open channels, with a typical transport effi ciency of less than 50% (that is, more than twice the water deliveredat the fi nal destination has to be extractedfrom the environment).

In the Australian context, TCC runs open channel distribution systems at near90% water effi ciency, i.e. that is, 90% of the water is delivered for the purposeit is extracted. TCC forms the backbone of the $2 billion Victoria Northern Irrigation Renewal Project. It has also been implemented across the Coleamballyirrigation district and is being progressively implemented in Murray Irrigation,Southern Rural Water, Trangie Nevertire,Narromine and Murrumbidgee Irrigation.

TCC employs solar-powered fl ume gatesto control and monitor the fl ow and depthof water distributed through irrigation channels in agricultural regions such asthe Goulburn Valley district. The system has already delivered signifi cant water effi ciency gains.

“With fresh water management recognised as a critical global issue, central to foodsecurity, this IT-based system is now tapping into a vast international market, while improving Australia’s water productivity,” says Professor Mareels.

“TCC can assist to create true watermarkets, improve water productivity and support the sustainable exploitation of Australia’s limited water resources,” says Professor Mareels.

“And that can be done worldwide.”

“Australia represents just one per cent of the irrigation market in the world. Ourirrigation systems are minuscule comparedto China, Pakistan and India, wherethis technology can deliver even greatereconomic and environmental benefi ts.”

Engineers have investigated the problemof water losses in irrigation for decades,with varying degrees of success. Much of the research work undertaken by Professor Mareels’ team focuses on accurate waterfl ow measurement, precision fl ow management and enabling system-wide water balances.

The research teams designed a radio network integrated sensor system that provides irrigation managers with detailedinformation about the behaviour of the distribution system. This in turn enables water trading to operate effi ciently. Thesystem is automated to manage water movement across the entire irrigation network. Unlike manually operated systems, TCC can quickly identify and respond to problems such as leaks,equipment failure and water storms.

Professor Mareels says researchers hopeto explore the integration of all aspects of water distribution across an entire river basin, and tackle the issue of water supply-and-demand management over longer time scales, such as seasons and years.

“Our ongoing work will focus on leveraging the sensor technology for the integration of water management across the vast time and spatial scales inherently associated with water supply and demand in a basin.”

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES EFFICIENCY OF WATER DISTRIBUTION AROUND THE WORLD



16

“Engineers have investigated the problem of water losses in irrigation for decades, with varying degrees of success.”

Ph

oto

by:

Mic

hael

Kai

EIACase Study

17

NOVEL VACCINES BOOST POULTRY PRODUCTION

Vaccines developed by University of Melbourne veterinary science researchersin the Asia-Pacifi c Centre for Animal Health have led to a major reduction in the use of antibiotics in poultry.

Poultry are now the most popular sourceof meat in Australia, and are farmed inhuge numbers. Worldwide, the poultryproduction industry is moving away fromcontrolling diseases affecting their fl ockswith antibiotics and chemical agents, with their use already prohibited in some countries.

“Instead, there is a move toward theuse of biologicals, specifi cally live vaccines, to prevent the spread of disease,” says Professor Glenn Browning, from the University’s Faculty of Veterinary Science.

“Vaxsafe® MG and Vaxsafe® MS are liveattenuated vaccines providing protection against the two different species of theMycoplasma bacteria that cause chronic respiratory disease and other syndromes in poultry,” he says.

“The diseases caused by these pathogens result in signifi cant production losses and are a signifi cant animal welfare concern.”

The impact of the vaccines on animaland public health has been to greatly enhance control of respiratory diseases in poultry, leading to signifi cantly reducedreliance on antibiotics for control of thesediseases and, as a result, a reductionin the use of macrolide antibiotics in poultry of over 90%.

The vaccines also provide much moreeffective and economically viable control of these diseases than hadpreviously been possible, according toProfessor Browning.

Previously, only limited control of thesediseases was possible using much less effective vaccines in combination withantibiotic treatment.

The development and commercialisation of these two vaccines has broughtsignifi cant benefi ts to poultry productionin Australia and overseas throughelimination of the impact of two of the most signifi cant bacterial diseases of commercial chickens.

The vaccines have also been extremely important to the Australianbiotechnology industry, with the vaccinesforming the foundation products fora new Australian owned and operated biotechnology company Bioproperties Pty Ltd., which exports these products throughout the world. They were thefi rst live veterinary vaccines developedoutside Japan to be granted registrationby Japanese veterinary authorities, andVaxsafe® MS has recently been registeredin Europe.

Their benefi t has also extended tohuman health through the eliminationof the use macrolide antimicrobial drugsin poultry production and thus reducedselection for antimicrobial resistance inbacterial pathogens in poultry.

Vaxsafe® MG and Vaxsafe® MS have been developed over a 20-year period in a collaborative effort between the University of Melbourne and Bioproperties Pty Ltd. These twovaccines against mycoplasmosis in poultry (the ts-11 strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum and the MS-H strain of mMycoplasma synoviae) were created anddeveloped by Professor Kevin Whithear and colleagues at the University of Melbourne.

The research underpinning the impact of these two vaccines has been conducted continuously over the last 20 years and published in leading international veterinary science journals. This research includes the initial creation of the attenuated strains of these two pathogenic species of bacteria, the assessment of the safety of these strains (that is, their inability to cause disease in chickens after infection) and, the effi cacy of these strains as vaccines, and development of better ways to detect vaccination and infection.

Ongoing research at the University, conducted in conjunction with Bioproperties Pty Ltd and the Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, is aimed at developing an improved version of Vaxsafe® MG that is effective in turkeys, further expanding the benefi ts that can be delivered to the international poultry industry.

— Health And Wellbeing —


18

“The development and commercialisation of these two vaccines has brought signifi cant benefi ts to poultry production in Australia and overseas.”

EIACase Study

19


20

Research conducted by the Melbourne Institute has been instrumental inensuring that the Household, Income, andLabour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey is now numbered among the elite panel (or longitudinal) surveys in the world.

“Innovative survey design and extraordinary sample retention haveled to the HILDA data underpinning a broad range of economic and social research projects, both nationally and internationally,” says Professor Mark Wooden, Director of the HILDASurvey Project.

The HILDA Survey is a nationally representative panel survey thatcommenced in 2001 with a sample of around 8,000 Australian households. Members of these households, as well as any individuals who subsequently join, have been followed over time on an annual basis.In 2011 a new cohort of just over 2,100responding households was added.

The survey is funded by the AustralianGovernment Department of Families,Housing, Community Services andIndigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), butresponsibility for the design andadministration of the survey and for theproduction and dissemination of data rests with the Melbourne Institute of AppliedEconomic and Social Research.

The HILDA Survey was commissioned,in 2000, with the explicit objective of supporting policy-relevant research fallingwithin three broad, inter-related areas:income dynamics, labour market dynamics, and family dynamics.

“The Melbourne Institute team that won the tender then set about designing and implementing a household panel surveythat would become Australia’s gold standard research tool for understanding and analysing economic and social changeand its consequences for Australianshouseholds,” Professor Wooden says.

“The study has been a spectacular success,refl ected in annual re-interview rates in excess of 96 per cent, an ever-growinguser community that now numbersin excess of 1,800, and a large body of published research numbering well over400 academic publications, and countlessreports and conference papers,” he says.

Perhaps most important has been the impact this research effort has had onAustralian policy development, infl uencingdecision making within FaHCSIA,the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Productivity Commission and the Australian Treasury, to name but a few.

As Glenn Stevens, Governor of the RBA,has observed in the media: “Obtaining data

from one year to the next from the same set of households provides invaluable insightsinto household behaviour on a wide range of critical questions”, questions that cannot be easily answered without such data.

Specifi c examples of impact include: + HILDA Survey data was a key input into the Australian Government’s PensionReview, which ultimately saw the rate of the single-person pension increased.

+ Use of HILDA data has figuredprominently in submissions to successiveAnnual Wage Reviews.

+ The RBA has used HILDA data to examine the level of debt that householdshave entered into and their ability to repaythat debt, which has figured in the Bank’sFinancial Stability Review statements.

+ The RBA used HILDA data to estimatethe effect of the superannuation guarantee on household saving, workwhich was later referenced in the HenryTax Review.

+ The Productivity Commission found,using HILDA data, that mothers whoreturn to work because they are notentitled to paid maternity leave are struggling financially. The findingsinf luenced the Australian Government’sdecision to introduce the comprehensive Paid Parental Leave Scheme.

HILDA SURVEY BECOMES ELITE WORLD SURVEY

“The study has been a spectacular success… most important has been the impact this research effort has had on Australian policy development.”

— Place And Purpose — EIACase Study

21

Groundbreaking legal research at the University of Melbourne has found that much more needsto be done to raise the awareness of the business community about cartel conduct and the tough newsanctions applicable to it.

Australia’s introduction of cartel offences and criminal sanctions in 2009 is consistent withan international trend, explains Professor CaronBeaton-Wells, from the Melbourne Law School.

The Cartel Project at the University of Melbourne, led by Professor Beaton-Wells, exposed weaknessesin the key justifi cations given by the competition enforcement agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and the AustralianGovernment for cartel criminalisation.

“The project revealed problems with the assumptions that the authorities had made about the likely effectsof criminalisation on business behaviour both as a deterrence mechanism and as a moral inducement to compliance,” says Professor Beaton-Wells.

“The policy rationale supporting criminalisation assumes that the deterrence message of jail will penetrate the whole business community with ease,” she says.

“But our fi ndings suggest that there is signifi cantvariation among the business population as to whether the deterrence message intended through criminalisation has been received. Some business people simply have not got the message.

“Our research shows that for substantial parts of the business community, faced with harsh marketrealities, the logic of deterrence breaks down, andtheir own moral evaluation of appropriate behaviour may not coincide with what is allowed by the law.”

Professor Beaton-Wells said the fi ndings made it clear that the ACCC had signifi cant work to do in raisingthe awareness and understanding of the business sector, particularly small-to-medium-size enterprise,of cartel conduct, its harms and the law and sanctions applicable to it.

“Such awareness and understanding will be crucial to the effectiveness of the regulatory regime in securingdeterrence and compliance,” she says.

The research found that knowledge that cartel conductis against the law and a criminal offence varies greatly.Only 42% of the business people surveyed knewthat agreeing prices with competitors was a criminaloffence. Less than one half knew that a fi ne wasavailable as a penalty for this type of behaviour, and less than a quarter knew that jail for individuals is available as a sanction.

The extent of knowledge of criminal sanctions was found to be correlated with the extent to whichrespondents agreed that cartel conduct should attract such sanctions. Amongst the general surveypopulation, representative of the Australian public at large, a substantial majority agreed cartel conduct should be illegal; however, less than half thought it should be a criminal offence and less than a quarter regarded it as suffi ciently serious to attract a jail term. Signifi cantly, the research showed a tendency forpeople to view cartel conduct in moral rather thaneconomic terms.

The fi ndings of the Cartel Project has led to arenewed focus by the ACCC on raising awareness andeducating Australian business people and the widerpublic about cartel conduct.

However, Professor Beaton-Wells believes much more can be done.

“This is a long-term project and it will involve persuading business people, particularly in small-to-medium-size businesses, that cartel conductis morally wrong, not just that it attracts heavy sanctions.”



22

BUSINESS SECTOR

SLOW TO GET THE CARTEL

MESSAGE

“Knowledge that cartel conduct is against the law and a criminal offence varies greatly.”

EIACase Study

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“Music therapy should be considered as a component of holistic care for people with severe mental illness.”


24

People with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia can face an isolatedand uncertain future. They are often separated from family support networks and unable to fi nd employment.

Social networks play an integral rolein maintaining good mental health,however a recent study of the quality of life of 1,825 adult Australians living with serious mental illness found that49.5% reported attempting suicide intheir lifetime and 63.2% were rated as impaired in their ability to socialise. Educational achievement was low and only 21.5% were currently employed.

“Music therapy is a non-medical intervention which is shown to beeffective in helping people whohave serious mental illness,” says Professor Denise Grocke, one of thechief investigators of the study, whois from the Faculty of the VictorianCollege of the Arts and MelbourneConservatorium of Music.

“Music making provides an outlet for self-expression and creativity that goesbeyond words, it is uplifting to the spiritand can be a source of inspiration andhope,” she says.

“One of the most important functions of music is to enhance socialisation – music therapy brings people togetherin a shared experience that encourages verbal and musical interaction, which assists in building relationships.”

According to Professor Grocke, fewcontrolled studies have been undertaken on the effect of music therapy on thepsychosocial needs of people living withchronic psychiatric illness.

The aim of the study was to determinewhether group music therapy positivelyimpacted on quality of life, social enrichment, self-esteem, spirituality, and psychiatric symptoms of participants with severe mental illness.

The study is multidisciplinary, drawingon the experience of three chief investigators: Professor Denise Grocke,from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Music Therapy); Professor Sidney Bloch, a psychiatrist from the University’s Department of Psychiatry;and Professor David Castle, Chair of Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Hospital.

“Much of the music therapy research has focused on hospitalised patients; this study breaks new ground in that it is the fi rst large-scale study of group music therapy for people withserious mental illness who live in the community,” Professor Grocke says.

Ninety-nine adults participated in the study, which involved taking part in a13-week intervention comprising singing familiar songs, and composing originalsongs recorded in a professional studio.Qualitative data was generated from focus group interviews and analysis of song lyrics.

The study was a randomised controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: eithermusic therapy fi rst, then the controlcondition, or the control condition fi rst followed by music therapy.

The results indicated signifi cantimprovement in quality of life andspirituality over time. Focus group analyses showed that songwriting wasenjoyable, and participants took pride inthe song they created and felt they hadaccomplished something important.

“The study confi rms that music therapy should be considered as a component of holistic care for people with severe mental illness,” says Professor Grocke.

The study contributes to an increasing literature on the benefi ts of musictherapy for those with severe mentalillness, according to Professor Grocke.“And it confi rms that group singing andsongwriting are positive creative optionsfor people with severe mental illness,” she says.

Professor Grocke is co-author of Receptive Methods in Music Therapy, andco-editor of Guided Imagery and Music:The Bonny Method and Beyond. She haswritten numerous book chapters and articles in refereed journals on music therapy and she was a co-founder of theAustralian Music Therapy Association and the Music and Imagery Association of Australia.

MU SIC THERAPY – A LIFELINE FOR THOSE SUFFERING MENTAL ILLNESS


25

Oral diseases such as dental caries, commonly known as tooth decay, are a major public health problem in Australia. One in four adults have untreated dental decay and just under one in three have a moderate or severe case of the gum disease periodontitis.

These problems carry a huge economicburden. It is estimated that oral disease costs consumers $6.7 billion per year and results in the loss of more than one million workdays annually.

According to Melbourne Laureate Professor Eric Reynolds AO, who is the Head of the Melbourne Dental School and CEO of the Oral Health CRC at the University of Melbourne, oral diseases are mostly preventable.

“Oral diseases are largely avertible through healthy lifestyles that promote effective oral hygiene practices and sensible diets,” Professor Reynolds says.

A leading fi gure in oral health sciencewith more than 30 years experience in dental research, management, andcommercialisation of innovations, ProfessorReynolds (pictured right with research assistant Ms Deanne Catmull) was one of the fi rst to identify the molecular processesenabling the repair of early tooth decaywithout the need for invasive treatment.

This was followed by the discovery of a milkcompound called Recaldent™ that repairsthe effect of acid on teeth and reduces the risk of disease.

Hailed as a major global breakthrough in the prevention and treatment of early tooth decay, Recaldent™ enhances theuptake and incorporation of fl uoride intotooth enamel and the repair of early stagesof disease.

“Regular use of Recaldent™ productshas the potential to signifi cantly repairearly stages of tooth decay,” ProfessorReynolds says.

“Recaldent™ is now used in sugar-free chewing gum, tooth crèmes, pastes, varnishes and restorative products aroundthe world, while other products are underdevelopment – both for consumer and professional use – for possible launch in the near future” he says.

A number of international companies have been granted licenses to Recaldent™, whilea Victorian company, Recaldent Pty Ltd(acquired by Kraft Foods), has worldwidemanufacturing and marketing rights.

This has led to the establishment of amanufacturing plant in Scoresby, Victoria,where Recaldent™ is produced fromAustralian dairy farmers’ milk.

Recaldent™ is now in products thathave generated over $2 billion in sales since 2003, while its use is estimated tosave consumers over $1 billion in dentaltreatment costs per year.

“Recaldent™ products have become a great commercial and public health success – recommended by dentists to patients in more than 50 countries,” Professor Reynolds says.

Professor Reynolds’ research has demonstrated that Recaldent™ can repair early stages of tooth decay without the need for removing tooth tissue and placement of a restoration. He was responsible for its discovery, licensing, technology transfer (including establishment of the manufacturing plant), and product development, and for the process of gainingregulatory approval for its health claims.

The discovery has revolutionised dental practice in the clinical management of hypomineralised enamel and early carious lesions.

Further evidence of the signifi cance of the work is the $83 million that Professor Reynolds has attracted for his research from government agencies and industry since 1996.

The research has also resulted in a number of international and national awards for Professor Reynolds, whose publications are amongst the most cited in the dental literature.

CONSUMERS SAVE OVER $1 BILLION ANNUALLY IN DENTAL TREATMENT WITH RECALDENT™ PRODUCTS



26

“The discovery has revolutionised dental practice in the clinical management of hypomineralised enamel and early carious lesions.”

Ph

oto

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Chr

is O

wen

EIACase Study

27

WHITE ROOFS MAKE BUILDINGS MORE SUSTAINABLE

“When painted white, roofs are able to refl ect heat away from the building rather than absorbing it.”



28

New research launched by the University of Melbourne and the City of Melbourne will givebuilding owners across Melbourne access to information that can help their buildings absorb less heat and stay cooler during hot days.

The research assesses the benefi ts of white roofs and aims to help residential, commercial and industrial building owners determine if white roofs are suitable for their buildings and guide them through the best materials to use.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Council had already put the research into practice by triallinga white roof on its ArtPlay building.

“There has been a lot of talk about the energy consumption benefi ts of white roofs and we commissioned the University of Melbourne to undertake this research so we could get a local perspective on how white roofs can work in our city,” the Lord Mayor said.

Councillor Cathy Oke, Chair of the Future Melbourne (Eco-City) Committee said commercial buildings in the City of Melbourne would benefi t most from this tool.

“White roofs can cool commercial buildings by three per cent on hot days, which helps reduce the urban heat island effect and improve the health of city users,” Cr Oke said.

Dr Dominique Hes, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, and lead author of the research, explained that when painted white, roofs are able to refl ect heat away from the building rather than absorbing it.

“Refl ective white paint on commercial building roofs reduces the energy used to cool the building. Melbourne’s CBD has over 3,500,000 m2 of lettable commercial space. If theroofs of these buildings were painted white, the city could potentially reduce its CO

2 emissions by

4.5 million MJ per year, or 1.5 million kg of CO2,”

Dr Hes said.

“White roofs are a low-cost solution in making buildings more sustainable, particularly for our older buildings. And if our air conditioners are not working as hard, there are fi nancial benefi ts for building owners as well.”

The research monitored the temperatures of fi ve test buildings at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley Campus for their performance with and without white coatings. The buildings with white roofs experienced signifi cantly cooler temperatures, both on the exterior and interior.

Dr Hes and research assistant Chris Jensen (now an academic at Melbourne) said the signifi cance of the research is that it has been shown that for Melbourne there is a benefi t to having white heat-refl ecting roofs. Dark-coloured roofs and standard metal roofs add to the cooling load of houses, commercial buildings and industrial buildings. The research has also shown that there does not have to be a negative effect of the white roofs in winter when trying to keep the buildings warm.

To access information about white roof benefi ts and available products, visit www.1200buildings.com.au or talk to your local paint provider. The research, commissioned by the City of Melbourne, was undertaken as part of the University of Melbourne’s ‘Reduction in thermal load on buildings from retrofi tted roof surfaces’ study.

The study includes the work of: + Dr Lu Aye (Melbourne School of Engineering) + Dr Nicholas Williams (Melbourne School of Land and Environment)

+ Dr Stephen Livesley (Melbourne School of Land and Environment).

29

POWERFUL RESOURCE DEVELOPS CHILDREN’S

EMOTIONALINTELLIGENCE

“Social emotional competence is a prerequisite for effective learning and success.”


30

Children should be taught coping skills the same way they are taught to hold a pen or ride a bike, according to expertsfrom the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Director of the University’s Early Learning Centre Janice Deans and educational psychologist Professor Erica Frydenberg have released a ‘how to’ guide to teaching coping skills to young children.

Developing Everyday Coping Skillsin the Early Years draws on over 20 years of research in coping by Professor Frydenberg and colleagues, to offer practical hints and tips for parents of young children and early childhood teachers.

According to Associate Professor Frydenberg, it is increasingly important children are taught how to cope with everyday stresses like saying goodbye to a parent, being scared of the dark, or feeling left out of a group of friends.

“Learning coping skills at a young age means children can be equipped for optimal growth and development,” she said. “This is increasingly important in Western communities, where depression and other mental health issues are being experienced in epidemic proportions.”

Ms Deans says the guide has proved very powerful and is having a great impact on children, parents and teachers.

“This is of major importance, as social emotional competence is a prerequisite for effective learning and success throughout the schooling years and indeed life,” says Ms Deans.

“The research on coping has taught us that quite often young children revert to non-productive coping strategies to solve their problems, behaviours such as crying, hitting, hiding and throwing tantrums.

“To manage such regularly occurring situations, teachers and parents need to have the tools to help children achieve positive social and emotional outcomes.”

Developing Everyday Coping Skills in the Early Years focuses on thinking and feeling skills and responds to the National Early Years Learning Framework, in which children’s health and wellbeing is identifi ed as one of the fi ve learning outcomes.

Teaching coping and resilience develops in young children an awareness of self and others and gives them the resources to become happy, well adjusted members of the community, according to Ms Deans.

The authors’ suggestions for helping children learn coping skills include:

+ Asking children to draw a difficult situation, like being left out of agroup of friends, and then discuss their feelings either individually or in groups.

+ Using dance and music for children to interpret their feelings and ideas, by matching body movements to coping images. For example, being scared of the dark can bematched with shivering, shakingand quivering, and coping can be matched with skipping, swinging, sliding and leaping.

Children can act out their thoughts andfeelings and be helped to dramatisehow they would like to deal successfullywith a situation that is challengingto them.

Associate Professor Frydenberg said children are spending longer than everin organised care, so early childhoodteachers have a particularly importantrole to play in teaching young childrencoping skills.

Research conducted by the authors also found that a substantial proportionof young children do not deal withseparation anxiety, and teacher andpeer issues, in a productive manner.

“Developing a positive orientation,where the child is able to focus oncoping rather than on distress, canhelp children develop skills they cantake with them throughout their lives,”Associate Professor Frydenberg said.

31

CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES SAVE THE AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRY

“…the wine industry must be the in vanguard of climate change adaptation research and implementation.”

— Sustainability And Resilience —EIACase Study


32

Research led by the University of Melbourne has led to a major change in the wine industry’s perception of climate change, potentially saving the sector billions of dollars.

Major wine companies are buying vineyards in Tasmania, canopy management is changing in response to extreme events, irrigation systems are being upgraded, and climate change is being incorporated in the wine industry’s planning.

The research project entitled Adaptationof the Australian Wine Industry to Climate Change – Opportunities, Vulnerabilities and Strategies was led by Professor Snow Barlow from the Melbourne School of Land and Environment. Dr Leanne Webb was a key researcher on the project and CSIRO researcher Dr Penny Whetton was a close collaborator. The research was funded by the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.

The Australian wine industry has annual value of approximately $6 billion, of which half is earned from export sales, Professor Barlow explains. Its indirect value to the nation and the regional communities it operates in, both for production and tourism, is estimated to be $15 billion per annum. Of all agricultural crops, wine grapes show greater temperature sensitivity than any other.

“The global nature of climate change means that all wine regions in the world will experience varying degrees of warming in the fi rst half of this century,” Professor Barlow says.

“Whilst those of the southern hemisphere will be less impacted, parts of Australia, New Zealand and Chile will be among the regions strongly affected by projected temperature increases.

“Undoubtedly the most resilient national wine industries will be those that adapt the most quickly by identifying opportunities and minimising disruption.”

Professor Barlow believes the wine industry must be in the vanguard of climate change adaptation research and implementation, if it is to remain globally competitive.

“Early and intelligent adaptation actions based on sound research evidence has the potential to favourably position the Australian wine industry in relation to its international competitors who will also be affected by climate change,” he says.

As a result of the research the Australian wine industry is now recognised internationally as being engaged inclimate change, thereby enhancing its environmental image.

Other positive impacts on the wine industryas a result the research include:

+ awareness of the potential impactsof climate change on the quality of grape production within individualgeographical areas

+ development of climate change adaptation strategies based on climate projections and the potential impacts to ensure the industry’s viability in future climates

+ incorporation of climate change adaptation as a major research priority within the Grape and Wine Research andDevelopment Corporation strategic plan

+ taking adaptive actions both withincurrent vineyards and by acquiring vineyards in cooler climates that are less susceptible to climate change, for examplein Tasmania.

According to Professor Barlow, these adaptations will help the industryconfront the numerous potential impacts for the wine industry, including addedpressure on increasingly scarce water supplies, additional changes in grapevine phenological timing, further disruptionor alteration of balanced compositionin grapes and wine, regionally specifi c needs to change the types of varieties grown, necessary shifts in regional wine styles, and spatial changes in viable grape-growing regions.

Climate’s infl uence on agribusiness ismost evident with viticulture and wineproduction, where it is arguably the most critical aspect in ripening fruit to itsoptimum to produce a desired wine styleand quality.

“While wine grapes as a crop are not crucialto human survival, they are an integral partof our culture, and the vine’s extraordinarysensitivity to climate makes the industry astrong early warning system for problemsthat all food crops will likely confront asclimates continue to change,” ProfessorBarlow says.

33

AT A GLANCEFacts and figures about research at the University of Melbourne

VISION

To be a globally engaged, comprehensive research-intensive university uniquely positioned to respond to major social, economicand environmental challenges.

HISTORY

The University of Melbourne has been a centre of learning since 1855. The main Parkvillecampus on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD is a focus of the city’s ‘Knowledge Precinct’ and the prestigious medical research ‘Parkville Precinct’.

Melbourne is a leading research university, widely renowned for its teaching, research achievements, and social and economic contributions. National and international ratings confi rm the University as a leader across a broad range of fi elds.

RANKINGS

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)

The University of Melbourne claimed the top spot in Australia and moved up threeplaces from last year, to equal 54th in the world and third in the Asia-Pacifi c in the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities, collated by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The latest result continues the trend of improvements in Melbourne’srankings over the past few years. Since they began in 2003, Melbourne has movedup 38 spots – from 92 to 54 – in the rankings, which refl ect a range of indicators of research quality.

The ARWU compares 1,000 higher education institutions worldwide on a range of criteria including staff and alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers and articles published in Science and Nature and science citation indices, as well as academic performance in relation to the university’s size.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013–14

See: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/

World rank 34 Region rank 1

34


QS World University Rankings

The QS rankings emphasise reputational parameters with a particular focus on teaching and learning strengths. The University has climbed fi ve places in the QS 2013 world university rankings to 31st in the world, from 36th last year.

Some highlights for the University of Melbourne include:

+ 1st in Australia and 3rd in the world in Education + 1st in Australia and 5th in the world in Law + 1st in Australia and 7th in the world in Accounting & Finance + 1st in Australia and 7th in the world in Psychology + 1st in Australia and 9th in the world in Medicine + 1st in Australia and 13th in the world in Computer Science & Information Systems + 1st in Australia and 14th in the world in Biological Sciences + 1st in Australia and 17th in the world in Statistics & Operational Research + 1st in Australia and 23rd in the world in Chemistry + 1st in Australia and 24th in the world in Physics & Astronomy

For the complete top 200 QS World University Rankings by Subject,see: www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings

LOCATIONS

Main campus: Parkville.

Other campuses: Austin and Northern Hospital, Western Hospital and the Eastern Hill precinct including St Vincent’s campus and The Royal Eye and Ear Hospital, VCA and Music campus at Southbank, Burnley, Creswick, Dookie,Hawthorn, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Ballarat,Werribee.

AFFILIATIONS

+ Austin Health* + Australia and New Zealand School of Government Limited

+ Australian Antarctic Division + Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health

+ Australian Institute of Family Studies + Bionics Institute + Brain Research Institute + Bureau of Meteorology + Burnet Institute + Cancer Council Victoria + Centre for Eye Research Australia + CSIRO* + Epworth Health Care + Florey Neuroscience Institutes* + Goulburn Valley Health + Grattan Institute + Howard Florey Institute + Institute of Postcolonial Studies Limited + Leo Cussen Institute + Melbourne Business School Limited + Melbourne Health + Murdoch Childrens Research Institute + Museums Board of Victoria + National Ageing Research Institute Incorporated

+ National Stroke Research Institute* + Northern Health + O’Brien Institute + Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute + Royal Botanic Gardens Board + Royal Children’s Hospital* + Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital + Skin and Cancer Foundation Incorporated + St Vincent’s Health* + St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research + The Australian College of Optometry + The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria Incorporated

+ The Royal Women’s Hospital* + The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

+ Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine + Zoological Parks and Gardens Board

* Formal agreement pendingThe list excludes affi liated Colleges

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RESEARCH CENTRES

The University of Melbourne has 11 discipline-specifi c faculties, and is affi liated with many independent medical research institutes, teaching hospitals and other institutions like the Melbourne Business School. The University is also a leader in cultural, environmental, medical, scientifi c, legal and social research. Among the many specialist centres are:

Cooperative Research Centres (CRC)

The Australian Government’s CRC program delivers social, economic and environmental benefi ts by encouraging collaboration between research institutions and industry, with a strong commercialisation focus. The University of Melbourneis involved with 15 CRCs. For further information see: www.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-institutes-centres.html

Australian Research Council (ARC) Centres

The ARC’s Centres of Excellence program maintains and develops Australia’sinternational standing in the Australian Government’s designated priority areas of research. The University of Melbourne is involved with two additional centres: the ARC Special Research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, and theARC Special Research Centre for Particulate Fluids Processing.

The University of Melbourne is the lead participant in four centres of excellence: ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology; ARCCentre of Excellence in Coherent X-ray Science; ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems; and ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Terascale.

Melbourne is also a key collaborator and partner in a further 11 centres: ARCCentre of Excellence in Design in Light Metals; ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits; ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research; ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology; ARC Centre of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics; ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development;ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Wall Biology; ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology; ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science; ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics; ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions; ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions; and ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.

National Health and Medical Research Council Centres and Programs

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia’s peak body for supporting health and medical research.NHMRC Program Grants provide security of funding to teams of researchers over a fi ve-year period. The University of Melbourne is currently involved with: the NHMRC Centreof Research Excellence in Medical Workforce Dynamics; the NHMRC Centre of ResearchExcellence in Clinical Science in Diabetes; the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence for Translational Neuroscience: A Modular Platform for Translating Discovery into Health Outcomes;the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence for Translational Pathology Research and Training;and the National Health and Medical ResearchCouncil Centre of Research Excellence for Reducing the Burden of Colorectal Cancer by Optimising Screening: Evidence to Clinical Practice.

1000

800

600

400

200

02008 2009* 2010 2011* 2012

Research Expenditure ($ million)

*Note: As formal analysis is undertaken biennially for the Australian Bureau of Statistics data collection, results for odd years are estimates.

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Facts and Figures

CATEGORY 2011 2012Median ATAR 93.1 93.85 Student enrolments##

Total load 50,214# 51,957 Research higher degree 5,029 4,947 Postgraduate coursework 16,006 19,575 Undergraduate 29,179 27,435 % Female enrolment 55.80% 55.60% International load 12,326 13,177 % International 24.50% 25.40% DIICCSRTE Funded (incl RTS) 29,719 30,279 Award completions Research higher degree (excl Higher Doct) 777 740 Graduate coursework 6,155 7,450 Undergraduate 8,566 8,441 Total 15,497 16,631 Staff (FTE) (at 31 March, including casuals and excluding TAFE) Academic (all) 3,417 3,586 Professional (all) 4,210 4,507 Total 7,627 8,093 Student: staff ratio T&R faculty staff 18.7 18.2 All academic faculty staff 11 10.7 Research expenditure ($ million) (ABS data collection) 844.0 (est) 1 billion Research performance indicators Research income ($ million) 376.5 376.4 Research publications 4,533 4,500 Research completions (eligible)* 777 740

* ‘Eligible completions’ means those included in RTS formula; excludes Higher Doctorates by publication.# Includes part-time students .##Student enrolment fi gures denote the number of enrolled students rather than equivalent full-time load.

Melbourne’s Performance Against Key National Research Indicators

RESEARCH INCOME RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

DOCTORATES & RESEARCH MASTERS COMPLETIONS (ELIGIBLE)*

$ million National Rank HERDC Weighted Score Number National Rank

2012 376.4 n/a 5,101 740 n/a 2011 376.5 1 4,533 777 2 2010 357.0 1 4,271 727 2 2009 337.0 1 4,456 775 1 2008 382.5 1 4,317 720 1

* ‘Eligible completions’ means those included in the RTS formula; excludes Higher Doctorates by publication.

Melbourne Research Institutes

These are University-constituted institutes that draw together the breadth of our research activity across faculty and disciplineboundaries to tackle complex global issues and respond to major social, economic andenvironmental challenges.

Our current institutes are: + Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society + Melbourne Energy Institute + Melbourne Materials Research Institute + Melbourne Neuroscience Institute + Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute + Melbourne Social Equity Institute

See: www.ri.unimelb.edu.au

GRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING

As members of one of Australia’s largest research institutions, graduate research candidates at the University of Melbourne work on projects spanning emerging fi elds aswell as the full range of traditional academic disciplines. The researchers who supervise and mentor our graduate research candidates are among the world’s fi nest and work at the forefront of international scholarship.

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INNOVATION CAN BRING ABOUT A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD.Universities can contribute massively to building a more sustainable world. They are uniquely suited to be

incubators of innovation as they bring together in-depth expertise from the arts, the law, economics, sociology,

engineering, medicine and the basic and applied sciences, in unexpected ways that help to identify real

continue and gain in power. For more information please visit campaign.unimelb.edu.au

Laureate Professor Peter Doherty ACNobel Laureate

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