1. science

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F A C U LT Y U P D A T E
FA C U LT Y O F S C I E N C E
Passion for
discovery
leads to
Oxford
RHODES SCHOLAR
ALEXANDER EASTWOOD
BSc(Hons), DipLang 2014
F
n
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were held between ruins of the
Reformation and the world’s first golf
course,” he says.
Last year he did honours in Autism
research at the Florey Institute of
Neuroscience and Mental Health as
a Frances Elizabeth Thomson Trust
Scholar under the supervision of
Dr Emma Burrows and Professor
Anthony Hannan. He was inspired to
study the neurosciences not by what is
known, but what is not known. In his
final year he took an elective subject,
‘Principles of Neuroscience’, and he says
this unit demonstrated the plethora of
unexplored phenomena around the brain.
“I was hooked – like a determined
explorer in a time when the world was less
known... this is the final frontier,” he says.
Like many students, Alexander wasn’t
exactly sure what he wanted to do when
he finished high school, and was glad for
the flexibility of the BSc.
“I took core and elective subjects from
the life, health and chemical sciences,
changing my intended major twice along
the way,” he says.
The Rhodes Scholarship for
postgraduate study at the University
of Oxford is the oldest international
scholarship program in the world. It was
established in the will of businessman
and imperialist Cecil Rhodes, and
past scholars include Prime Ministers
Tony Abbott and Bob Hawke, Former
Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen
and Nobel Prize winners Sir John Eccles
and Lord (Howard) Florey.
In Oxford, Alexander hopes to further
contribute to the understanding of
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
“There remains no unifying
understanding of the aetiology and
symptoms of the condition that would
inform better practices for managing its
difficult aspects for those with Autism
and their families and carers.
“I cannot fully know for what I need
be prepared at Oxford, and I wonder
how much all of the meandering and
ambiguity of undergraduate life will
make more sense looking backwards
than it does looking forward. In any case,
I am grateful for it all.”
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rom Bendigo to Oxford via
Melbourne, 2015 Victorian
Rhodes Scholar Alexander
Eastwood’s journey has been defined
by a passion for scientific discovery.
“I can still recall those moments in
class when certain theories and concepts
would click and that flame of interest
would intensify,” Alexander says.
“Among them: the beauty of Darwin’s
theory of Evolution by Natural Selection;
the brilliance of Watson and Crick’s
discovery of the nature of DNA; the logic
of Le Châtelier’s formula for chemical
equilibrium.”
Alexander’s Melbourne adventure
started in year 10, when he was selected
as a Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholar.
From there, he completed a Bachelor of
Science, majoring in Neuroscience, and
a Diploma in Languages (Spanish).
He spent a semester on exchange to
the University of St Andrews in Scotland,
which he describes as a “wildly different
experience” to Melbourne.
“It was the University’s 600th
anniversary at the time, and tutorials
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2
FAC U LT Y OF S C I E NC E
WELCOME
FROM THE DEAN
NEWS UPDATE Visit Science Matters for the latest science happenings at
P R O F E S S O R K A R E N D AY
2015, the
International
Year of Light
and the
International
Year of Soils, is
already proving
to be a very
exciting year
for the Faculty
of Science.
We welcome more DECRA, NHMRC
and Future Fellows to the Faculty than in
any previous year.
Several schools and departments
have been realigned across the
University. The integration of two
departments from the Melbourne
School of Land and Environment into the
Faculty of Science, to create the Schools
of Geography and of Ecosystem & Forest
Sciences, will strengthen our research,
teaching and learning capabilities and
bring together researchers with similar
goals, presenting the opportunity for
closer interdisciplinary collaboration.
In January 2015, the former School
of Botany and Departments of Genetics
and Zoology were merged to create
a new School of BioSciences. This
consolidates the University’s strengths
in biological sciences research and
teaching, and plans to proceed with a
new BioSciences building are underway.
As an indication of the esteem in
which our scientists are held, in the
previous year Professor Barbara Howlett
was elected to Australian Academy
of Science, Professor Andrew Holmes
has become the Academy President,
and Professor Frances Separovic was
elected as Secretary of the United States
Biophysical Society.
We are very excited to be in the
development phase of establishing a
Science Gallery International node at
the University of Melbourne. Those of
you who have visited Science Gallery in
Dublin, London or online will know what
a groundbreaking and inspiring addition
such a centre would be to the public
science/arts landscape in Melbourne.
There are many opportunities for
our alumni to stay connected with
the Faculty, including supporting our
internship programs, collaborating
on research projects and supervising
research students. I look forward to
sharing more news of the exciting
developments in our Faculty, remaining
connected with our alumni and
celebrating your achievements.
Broadcast_Science_2015.indd 2
NEW COLOMBO PLAN
SCHOLARSHIPS
ALUMNA IN
PA R L I A M E N T
BSc students Indah Cox-Livingstone and
Scott Gigante have been awarded New
Colombo Plan scholarships. This program
provides opportunities for Australian
undergraduates to undertake semesterbased study and internships or mentorships
in participating regional locations. Indah
will study at the National University of
Singapore, and Scott, who has been named
the NCP Fellow for China, will study at
Fudan University.
Ellen Sandell (BSc 2008) won the seat of
Melbourne in the November state election,
becoming the first Greens candidate to
be elected to the Victorian Lower House.
Since graduating from the University,
Ellen has served as CEO of national climate
change non-profit organisation Australian
Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), and
has received numerous awards for her
environmental activism.
MASTER OF ENTERPRISE
(SCIENCE) LAUNCHED
The Melbourne Business School is offering
a new postgraduate course for science and
technology professionals. Core subjects
are taught as one or two week intensives,
and include project management,
communication, commercialisation and
leadership modules, while longer capstone
subjects focus on entrepreneurship and
governance. For more information,
visit bit.ly/UoMMoE
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S
TO OUR
CLASS OF 2014
Around 1500 new scientists had their BSc
conferred during graduation ceremonies at
the Royal Exhibition Building in December.
The guest speakers were Olympic Gold
Medallist Ralph Doubell (BSc 1967) and
CSIRO Chairman Simon McKeon (BCom
1976, LLB 1978).
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FAC U LT Y OF S C I E NC E
enings at the University of Melbourne, in Australia and around the world. sciencematters.unimelb.edu.au
RESEARCH UPDATES
BEER, BREAD AND BACTERIA
F O R B E T T E R H E A LT H
N E X T- G E N S O L A R C E L L S
A STEP CLOSER
Researchers from the School of Chemistry
and the Bio21 Institute are part of an
international team which found bacteria
that feed on the yeast contained in
fermented foods like beer and bread
improve gut health, and could be helpful
in the treatment of autoimmune diseases
such as Crohn’s disease.
Cheap, flexible, and environmentally
friendly printable organic solar cells are
a step closer to commercial reality after
the discovery of a new high performance
liquid crystal material by researchers
in the School of Chemistry and the
Bio21 Institute and their international
collaborators.
N AT I O N A L E N V I R O N M E N TA L
SCIENCE PROGRAMME HUBS
THUNDERSTORM
IN A LAPTOP
The University will lead a new $9 million
Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub,
directed by Professor Peter Rayner from
the School of Earth Sciences, and will play
key roles in the $24 million Earth Systems
Hub and the $30 million Threatened
Species Recover Hub. The hubs are
funded by the Federal Department of
the Environment and aim to bring bestpractice, science-based decision making
to environmental policies.
It used to be that computer models of
weather events such as thunderstorms
could only be run using supercomputers.
But now these sophisticated models can
be run on the humble laptop. Dr Chris
Chambers and Professor Kevin Walsh from
the School of Earth Sciences discussed the
democratisation of weather modelling on
a recent episode of Visions.
Visit bit.ly/UoMthunder
IN MEMORIAM:
Dr Rex H. Williamson (1923–2014)
(BSc 1945, MSc 1947) made a generous
donation to the University to establish and
support the Dr Rex Williamson and Family
Scholarship in perpetuity. This scholarship
recognises our most promising Master of
Science, Organic Chemistry students.
STAY IN TOUCH WITH
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
WEBSITE
science.unimelb.edu.au
FACEBOOK
facebook.com/science.melbourne
G O O D N E W S O N T H E O Z O N E L AY E R
TWITTER
twitter.com/SciMelb
The ozone layer has begun to recover thanks to a successful international effort to halt
the use of ozone damaging chemicals. Professor David Karoly and Dr Robyn Schofield
from the School of Earth Sciences discuss the background to this good news story and the
lessons for climate change policy in Up Close – the research talk show from the University
of Melbourne. Visit bit.ly/UoMozone
SCIENCE MATTERS NEWS BLOG
sciencematters.unimelb.edu.au
Broadcast_Science_2015.indd 3
Fo r n e w s f ro m a l l o u r f a c u l t i e s v i s i t u n i m e l b .e d u . a u / 3 0 1 0
Professor Francis Hird (1920–2014) was
Professor of Biochemistry (1964–1985)
and Dean of the Faculty of Science (1972).
He retired in 1985 and was appointed
Professor Emeritus in 2006.
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FAC U LT Y OF S C I E NC E
PhD to
Patent
Attorney
ALUMNA PROFILE
S A R A H H E N N E B R Y B A , B S c ( H o n s ) 2 0 0 3 , P h D 2 0 07, M I P L A W 2 0 1 3
A
n
fter majoring in Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology for
her Bachelor of Science, Sarah
Hennebry planned a career in research,
beginning with a PhD at the Bio21
Institute. At that time, she never imagined
she’d end up as a patent attorney.
Sarah’s PhD involved studying a group
of proteins that have evolved to take an
important role in hormone transport.
She went on to work as a postdoctoral
researcher at the Baker IDI Heart and
Diabetes Institute, where she studied
proteins that regulate blood pressure.
After a couple of years as a postdoc,
Sarah decided that a career in research was
not for her after all.
“I still really wanted to stay in science,”
she explains, “so I started looking for
careers that enabled me to use that really
strong technical background, and kept me
at the cutting edge of science, but without
being in a lab environment.”
Sarah had also long harboured an
interest in the law, and so after undertaking
Broadcast_Science_2015.indd 4
a couple of subjects as part of a Master of
Intellectual Property Law at the Melbourne
Law School, she applied for a position as a
trainee patent attorney at Freehills Patent
Attorneys. The job required no formal legal
qualification, although Sarah subsequently
completed her Masters and met other
requirements to become a registered patent
attorney.
While it may seem that the leap from
laboratory researcher to patent attorney is
unusual, Sarah says the pathway she took
is similar for many new patent attorneys.
“Increasingly, new trainee patent
attorneys are required to have a strong
technical background, given the complexity
of the inventions they will be working on.
Of course, they also need to have excellent
written and verbal communication skills
but there is no specific requirement that
juniors have any legal training when they
commence working as trainees,” she says.
The work, which involves preparation
of legal and scientific arguments as to why
particular inventions should or should not
be patented, is very technical and detailed,
but unlike specialised research, there are a
lot of details about a lot of topics, so Sarah
has to be on top of the latest research across
many fields.
“The inventions that I work on relate
to new treatments for a variety of medical
conditions (including inflammatory disease,
cancers, and cardiovascular disease), but
also genetically modified organisms and
related inventions for use in the agricultural
industry,” she says.
Sarah says she was lucky that during her
PhD she was able to expand her knowledge
by collaborating with a number of different
departments.
“I was in the Department of
Biochemistry, and that was located at
Bio21, but I collaborated extensively with
the Department of Microbiology, and to a
lesser extent the Department of Genetics.
And I think that sort of breadth really
helped build that foundation of interest in a
lot of different aspects of science. And that
has helped me with what I’m doing now.”
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