14- 04- 2023
Greetings and welcome to the latest edition of Monash Minds for 2023. As we mark the anniversary of our third year offering this biweekly bulletin, we take pride in our ongoing efforts to bring you up to date on what our John Monash Scholars have been up to with news and highlights from around the world.
In this week's edition, we celebrate the recent awarding of the 2023 John Monash Scholars at Government House in Canberra and release a new podcast with our first Scholar elected to Parliament. We also showcase two Scholars who have come together to lead a panel discussion on coal litigation in Australia.
We hope you enjoy reading about the impressive accomplishments and impact stories of our John Monash Scholars. A gentle reminder, the 2023 Collaborative grants are closing soon – scroll for details.
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The General Sir John Monash Foundation's 2023 Scholar cohort has been awarded their scholarships at Government House in Canberra, following a rigorous selection process that concluded late last year.
Hosted by the Foundation's Patron-In-Chief, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, the ceremony was graced by the presence of several distinguished guests, including Shadow Minister for Education, The Hon. Sarah Henderson, Professor Jennie Shaw, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President of the University of Adelaide, and First Assistant Secretary Higher Education Division, Australian Government Department of Education, Kelly Pearce.
The ceremony represents the start of a remarkable academic journey for the scholars, who will soon be embarking on their studies at some of the world's most renowned institutions, including Oxford, Harvard, University College London, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Columbia University.
PODCAST: From school teacher to state politician with Iwan Walters |
Iwan Walters is a 2012 John Monash Scholar and the Foundation's first elected politician. In 2022, Iwan was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the Labor Member for Greenvale. With his John Monash Scholarship, he completed a MPhil in Economic and Social History at the University of Oxford, and a Master of Public Policy at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government.
In this new episode, we hear about Iwan's career journey since returning to Australia and his ambitions to strengthen Australia's education systems by improving funding structures and the effectiveness of central government support for schools, principals and classroom teachers.
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Dr Matthew Baker, 2005 John Monash Scholar, co-authored a recently published research paper in Microlife, the journal of the European Academy of Microbiology.
The research, titled ‘Ancestral reconstruction of the MotA stator subunit reveals that conserved residues far from the pore are required to drive flagellar motility,’ delves into the engine that drives the rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor, specifically the 'stator'. The study reconstructed ancient MotA subunits and examined whether they would work in conjunction with ancient MotB units previously created, in order to determine which parts of the protein were essential for function. The work highlights the role of ancestral sequence reconstruction in evaluating conserved variable residues in a subunit of a molecular complex.
"This was a rewarding exploration and the third and final paper for Imtiaz Md Imtiazul Islam PhD thesis," remarked Matt. "We are excited to conduct more in-depth phylogenies that will lead to better ancestral reconstructions, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of how this motor operates and how it has evolved."
John Monash Scholar sets sights on prestigious Calibre Prize
Dr Bridget Vincent, 2006 John Monash Scholar, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Calibre Essay Prize by Australian Book Review, for her essay titled 'Child Adjacent.'
Bridget completed her PhD in Literature at Cambridge University, studying writers as agents for social and political change. Her research on poet Geoffrey Hill was highly acclaimed and cited in the Times Literary Supplement. Bridget's projects have focused on the contributions that literary works and literary modes of analysis can make to interdisciplinary discussions of ethical and political issues. Currently, Bridget is in Australia conducting archival research as a Fellow of the National Library of Australia.
The Calibre Essay Prize is a prestigious Australian Book Review essay-writing award, established in 2007, and one of the world's leading prizes for a new non-fiction essay. We congratulate Bridget on her notable accomplishment and wish her continued success in her research endeavours.
Fossil Fuel Litigation: The context, the science, the cases
Dr Fergus Green, 2012 John Monash Scholar, and Dr Rebecca Nelson, 2009 John Monash Scholar, have been invited as distinguished panellists to participate in an engaging and informative discussion. The aim of this event is to provide context and introduce a new initiative for coal litigation in Australia, while also highlighting the associated chances and challenges.
Time and date: 12:00 PM AEST Wednesday 19 April 2023
Location: Manhari Room (level 7) at Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston St.
For those who are unable to attend in-person, virtual registration is available here.
Advancement in the arts sector
It brings us great pleasure to announce that Jessie Hughes, 2020 Lee Liberman John Monash Scholar, has been awarded the esteemed Brisbane City Council's Lord Mayor's Creative Fellowship.
The fellowship will provide Jessie with an incredible opportunity to participate in Pictoplasma's coveted 10-day intensive Character Development Course in Berlin and a two-week TV Screenwriting program at the prestigious National Film and Television School in London. These skill development courses are designed to further enhance her abilities as a creator of animated TV and also to establish international networks. We are thrilled for Jessie and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
2023 Collaborative Grants grant round now open
We are delighted to advise all John Monash Scholars that the next round of applications for the John Monash Alumni Collaborative Grants is now open!
The John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy offers a collaborative grants program for our Scholars, who can apply for grants on an annual basis. Providing this funding for collaborative grants supports our Scholars to connect across disciplines, develop their leadership skills and give back to the community.
Please click here to express your interest. Applications close 1 May 2023.
Applications are only eligible to the John Monash Scholar cohort.
IN THE MEDIA
Katherine Mansted, 2016 Roth/Segal John Monash Harvard Scholar, was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald discussing the Tik Tok ban on government devices.
Dr Mark Schembri, 2009 John Monash Scholar, was featured in Honi Soit, the weekly student newspaper for the University of Sydney, confirming a new private hospital is underway at St John’s College campus, aiming to further career opportunities for students in medicine and allied courses.