Fortnightly newsletter for University staff | Volume 38 | Issue 15 | 15 August 2008 Family maintains Key events professorial tradition Hive mind Chris Knox, well-known connoisseur of weird movies, will present a free late-night programme of apocalyptic cinema tracking the dubious legacy of Irwin Allen’s film The Swarm. This will take place at the Gus Fisher Gallery at 6pm on Saturday 16 August, the last day of an exhibition curated by Andrew Clifford, entitled “The swarm: a peek into the hive mind”. The movie, depicting a mutant strain of African bees that threaten to take over the United States, was the point of departure for the show, which explores the complexities of collective intelligence, networked manoeuvres and crowd control. Research challenges The six lectures in the Winter Lecture Series for 2008 are designed to provide thought- provoking reflections on some of the key challenges in modern research. On 19 August from 1-2pm in the Maidment Theatre, PhD students An Hertogen and Bridget Kool, in a session chaired by Professor Jenny Dixon (Planning), will discuss issues facing graduate Adrienne Stone (left) and Jonathan Stone. researchers in the current tertiary education environment. They will explore barriers and An illustrious family and academic link extending for comparativism”. It was the second in the Law enablers for completion, including funding, across three generations was celebrated recently School’s “Heritage lectures” marking 125 years of supervision, and possible future support at the Law School. law teaching at Auckland. mechanisms. The grand-daughter and son of Professor Julius Her research interests are similar to her Stone, who held a chair in Law at Auckland from grandfather’s: constitutional law and constitutional Tragedy in time 1939-41, presented a copy of his portrait while theory with a focus on freedom of expression and Was Shakespeare a lone genius or a product visiting from Australia. bills of rights. She co-edited Hate Speech and of his time? Are his tragedies timeless or Like Julius, both have attained professorial Freedom of Speech in Australia published in 2007. time-bound? Can they be interpreted in a way chairs: Adrienne Stone in Law at the University She was thrilled finally to visit the Law School that speaks to the social realities of our own of Melbourne, and Jonathan Stone in Retinal and and to speak in the Stone Lecture Theatre, named time? Such questions will be explored in the Cerebral Neurobiology at the University of Sydney. after her grandfather. Being accompanied by her Hood Fellow/Alice Griffin Shakespeare lecture After leaving Auckland, Julius Stone, a father Jonathan, who was born in Auckland, made to be delivered by Professor Jean Howard on 21 pre-eminent legal theorist specialising in human it even more special. August at 6pm in the Old Government House rights and social justice, became a professor at “I have long known of the Law School’s high Lecture Theatre. Jean Howard is the George Sydney. He held the Challis Chair in Jurisprudence academic reputation and the warm welcome it Delacorte Professor in the Humanities at and International Law from 1942-72. gives to visitors. It was nice to experience both of Columbia University, New York City. Jonathan’s brother, Michael Stone, is Professor these personally. And I enjoyed the extremely lively In this free public lecture, entitled of Armenian and Religious Studies at the Hebrew discussion that my lecture seemed to provoke.” “Shakespeare and the tragedy of his time and University of Jerusalem. The striking portrait of Julius Stone, a set of three ours” she will discuss how our modern concepts Adrienne, on her first trip to Auckland, delivered images, was painted in crayon by Naomi Berns. The of Shakespearean tragedy were formed, and a public lecture on “Interpreting rights in a original hangs at the Julius Stone Institute of why Shakespeare has continued to be so central globalised world: Some cautious words of praise Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney. to contemporary conceptions of what tragedy is. UNIVERSITY NEWS IS PUBLISHED BY Communications and Marketing, Fisher Building In this issue 18 Waterloo Quadrant, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142 email [email protected] www.auckland.ac.nz/universitynews 2 Celebrating research awards EDITOR Judy Wilford 4 Making a mark in Malaysia PHOTOGRAPHY Godfrey Boehnke DESIGNER Vanda Tong 5 Arresting the Secretary of State From the Vice-Chancellor Celebrating research and In June, the University responded to critically low levels in electricity supply lakes by researchers initiating an “energy savings drive”. The drive included an email asking all staff to assist in reducing the University’s energy consumption, a dedicated page on our staff intranet, and weekly updates sent to deans, faculty registrars and directors of large service divisions. The updates included data from our electricity monitors and provided feedback on how the University, as well as specific groups of buildings, were doing compared to the same dates in 2007. While the location and availability of monitors, differences in the timing of University breaks and public holidays, and year to year variation in the weather make interpreting such data difficult, the results suggest an overwhelmingly positive response from staff and students. Just prior to the start of the savings drive, electricity consumption was 5.1 percent higher Early Career Research Excellence Award winners. From left to right are Debbie Hay, Gavin Brown, than at the same time in 2007. After the start Elizabeth Broadbent, Maartje Abbenhuis-Ash and Siah Hwee Ang. of the drive the gap started to narrow. By the Staff packed the main lounge at Old Government Mark Bolland and Branislav Jovic were able to be end of Semester One, consumption had House on 30 July to help celebrate the present to accept their awards. The remaining dropped to only 1.8 percent higher than 2007 levels. In the first week of Semester Two, it had University’s excellent performance in research, three were all overseas. reduced by 9.2 percent compared with the and to pay tribute to some of the people who rate of consumption prior to the savings drive. have contributed to this over the last 12 months. Early Career Research Excellence This is an excellent result, particularly Though the formal presentations were to the considering that the national average reported winners of the University’s Early Career Research Award winners towards the end of July was 4.6 percent. Excellence Awards and Best Doctoral Thesis Awards, Dr Maartje Abbenhuis-Ash I congratulate staff and students whose Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon spoke History: Faculty of Arts contributions have ranged from switching off also of the whole year of “outstanding research For: A history of European neutrality, 1815-1945 lights and heaters to programming computers performance” – with results from the Performance to shut down after hours. Dr Siah Hwee Ang Based Research Funding showing “that of 600 If such savings were continued across Management and International Business: Faculty a whole year, our electricity use would be A-rated researchers in the entire country, fully one of Business and Economics reduced by over 5 million kWh per annum (the third are located at this University”. For: The impact of competitive intensity on alliance equivalent of about 10,000 ordinary 60W light Stuart spoke of the new Faculty Research and acquisition strategies bulbs burning continuously for a whole year). Development Funds, established during 2007 with Our carbon emissions would be reduced by a total value of $10 million to support staff in Dr Gavin Brown over 1,140 tonnes CO2 each year. In addition enhancing their research performance; the PReSS Faculty of Education to improving our environmental performance, accounts, also newly established, to provide For: Teachers’ thinking about education: Reflections this level of saving would reduce our annual funding support for PhD research; and the on OECD future schooling scenarios energy costs by over half a million dollars. programme for Major Items of Research Electricity use and carbon emissions remain Dr Elizabeth Broadbent Equipment – “aptly named ‘MIRE’”. an important part of the University’s Psychological Medicine: Faculty of Medical and environmental footprint and of our cost He summarised the University’s excellent Health Sciences structure. I therefore encourage all staff and performance in terms of contracts and research For: Increasing public acceptance of healthcare students to strive to maintain the existing level funding, and paid tribute to the many staff who robots of savings and continue to find other had received national and international awards. opportunities for reducing electricity use. For Winners of the Early Career Research Excellence Dr Debbie Hay further information and advice, please see the Awards each received a certificate and a research School of Biological Sciences: Faculty of Science energy savings section of our environmental grant of $30,000. Professor Jane Harding, Deputy For: Characterising the pharmacology of rodent web pages www.auckland.ac.nz/environment Vice-Chancellor (Research), said in presenting these amylin receptors or contact Denis Agate, our Energy Manager awards that many established and very successful on [email protected] or Lesley Stone, researchers on staff had spoken about how receipt of our Environmental Coordinator on Best Doctoral Thesis winners one of these awards had provided a critical platform [email protected] Mark Bolland to launch their independent research careers. Medicine: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences She expressed her hope that the awards being For: Studies of the pathogenesis and treatment of presented would “help do likewise for this evening’s secondary osteoporosis winners”. Main supervisor: Associate Professor Andrew Grey; Professor Gregor Coster, Dean of Graduate Co-supervisor: Professor Ian Reid Studies, in presenting the Best Doctoral Thesis Awards and in congratulating the five winners, Tzenka Dianova gave recognition also to their supervisors, and School of Music: National Institute of Creative Arts to all those nominated.