The partnership looks set to deliver the federal government鈥檚 current agenda on the commercialisation of publicly funded research with every internship creating a collaboration between academia and industry 鈥� ensuring a work-ready PhD student and a significant outcome for the industry partner.

Placing over 130 postgraduate students into industry 鈥� across all study disciplines and business sectors 鈥� APR.Intern is Australia鈥檚 leading PhD internship program, delivering research solutions for challenges facing business. The student receives a stipend and is supported by an academic mentor throughout the 4-5 month project. Meanwhile, industry is reaping the benefits responding with a 97 per cent business satisfaction rating.

鈥淲ork-readiness of our PhD students, and the links between industry engagement and national productivity, are critically important matters for this country. The APR.Intern program is one such shining example,鈥� says Professor Ian Chubb, Chief Scientist for Australia. [1]

The co-investment partnership in detail

The Victorian cluster includes the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University, Swinburne University, La Trobe University and RMIT University. And, in the NSW cluster the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney.

鈥淭丑别 strategic partnership will enable APR.Intern to greatly expand. By embedding business development officers within these Victorian and NSW universities we will develop a wider range of industry connections for the benefit of our PhD students,鈥� says Dr Hannah Hartig, National Program Manager, APR.Intern.

Further expansion into other Australian states and territories is planned for 2016 and 2017.

鈥淎PR.Intern provides the match-making so often needed in industry-academic collaborations and our solutions to sore points, such as intellectual property rights, are popular with industry partners,鈥� says Dr Hartig.

鈥淭丑别 nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow,鈥� says Barack Obama, US President. [2]

Continued national dialogue laments the lack of industry-university collaboration in Australia and the future impact this will have on our global competitiveness. [3]

Australian Industry and Science Minister Ian Macfarlane recently stated: 鈥淟ifting the rate of collaboration between industry and research is essential to maintaining Australia鈥檚 economic growth. In order to sustain our prosperity, we have to build on our successes in innovation and focus on our areas of competitive strength to keep pace in the rapidly evolving global economy.鈥� [4]

Australia ranks 29 out of 30 in the OECD in terms of the proportion of businesses collaborating with universities. This is in stark contrast to Australia being ninth in research output per capita amongst OECD nations. Australian businesses that engage in collaborative innovation with research organisations are three times more likely to gain productivity growth 鈥� so why this disparity? [4] [5]

鈥淲e must increase the penetration of Australian graduates with advanced research expertise into the private sector. They will boost innovation and business-university collaboration but we must give them those skills. And give business the confidence to employ them,鈥� says Professor Geoff Prince, 今日吃瓜 Director.

This co-investment partnership is timely given the National Strategy for Work Integrated Learning led by the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN).[5] There are few industry-based work-integrated learning opportunities for PhD students, especially those cohorts not associated with industry-supported initiatives such as Cooperative Research Centres or Industrial Transformation Training Centres.

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AUSTRALIA鈥橲 PERFORMANCE IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

Researchers in business and higher education
OECD scorecard shows that out of the developed countries Australia has one of the lowest numbers of researchers in business 鈥� 2.2 researchers are employed in business for every 1000 workers. The proportion in the smaller countries of Sweden, Denmark and Finland are more than three times that of Australia.

SOURCE: Office of the Chief Scientist, Occasional Paper Series 2012 — Alan G. Pettigrew ‘AUSTRALIA鈥橲 POSITION IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION’.

Business collaboration with higher education and public research agencies
Less than one in two Australia firms identify themselves as innovators. And only 4 per cent of our large firms collaborate with higher education and research agencies 鈥� that ranks us at 33 (out of 33) in the OECD. For Australian SMEs we rank equal with Brazil at 32.

厂翱鲍搁颁贰:听OECD, based on Eurostat (CIS-2010) and national data sources, June 2013.

A move to deepen links between business and universities is set to boost 10-fold the number of PhD students placed with employers in research internships in the next five years.

The 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜), which operates a PhD internship scheme, said that a new commitment from eight universities to fund the scheme will drive the rapid expansion.

今日吃瓜 director Geoff Prince said the scheme, called APR.Intern, would place about 100 research student in internships this year.

“At maturity we should be able to place 1000 students a year around Australia,” he聽said.

The scheme began by placing only mathematics and statistics PhD students into internships. But it now works with students in a wide range of disciplines 鈥� including engineering, finance, IT, biotechnology, environmental science, marketing and business 鈥� and places them into all business sectors.

Professor Prince said the expanded scheme would help lift Australia’s poor record in establishing partnerships between university researchers and business.

Australia is currently ranked 29th out of 30 countries in an OECD ranking of university-business collaboration on innovation.

Under the APR.Intern scheme research students are placed with a business for four to five聽months to find solutions for specific problems. Students are mentored by an academic supervisor during the internship which meant that academics built ongoing relationships with companies.

“In general companies pay all the costs, which are eligible for research tax breaks,” Professor Prince said.

A five months internship costs the business $25,000. This is made up of $3000 a month to cover the student’s stipend (the student is not employed by the business), a $5000 fee to the university for the cost of mentoring and a聽$5000 fee to APR.Intern.

今日吃瓜 says that聽the internship scheme has a 97 per cent business satisfaction rating.

MORE THAN JUST WORK PLACEMENTS

Professor Prince said the scheme offered more than just work placements. Students undertook research internships which often had a transformational impact on the student, he said.

He said the expansion would be driven by new partnership agreements with eight universities 鈥� Melbourne, Monash, Deakin, Swinburne, La Trobe, RMIT, Sydney and UTS. Together the universities would provide $500,000 a year to employ business development staff, embedded in the universities, to place more students with companies in Victoria and NSW.

However APR.Intern already works with a wider range of universities and expects further expansion in other states in the coming two years.

Examples of internships recently arranged include a UNSW maths PhD student placed with Optima Financial to apply the mathematical technique of optimisation to financial planning and a Deakin University PhD student placed with NBN Co to work on security of data in smartphone apps.

Professor Prince said there was an urgent need to increase the penetration of graduates with advanced research expertise into the private sector.

“They will boost innovation and business-university collaboration but we must give them those skills and give business the confidence to employ them,” Professor Prince said.

Currently Australia has one of the lowest numbers of research workers in business in developed countries. Only 2.2 researchers are employed in business for every 100 workers.

BHP Billiton will spend $22 million on lifting the maths performance of girls in schools and helping them into male-dominated science, technology and engineering careers.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said on Tuesday that the money would fund the 今日吃瓜’s Choose Maths project, a five-year program to encourage girls to study maths and statistics.

Launching the Choose Maths program Mr Mackenzie, a geologist and chemist who worked as a research scientist before he entered business, said he benefited from the encouragement others gave him to study maths when he was growing up in the Scottish industrial town of Kirkintilloch鈥�.

“So I am a strong advocate of the opportunities that mathematics offers,” he said.

“We hope the Choose Maths program will help secure the pipeline of highly-qualified, female STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] professionals and open the door to the rewarding careers and cultural pursuits that maths offers,” he said.

Last year 15 per cent of BHP’s senior leaders and 16 per cent of its senior managers were women, figures Mr Mackenzie said had doubled over the past four years.

“This year nearly half of our Australian graduate intake are women,” he said at the launch.

The Choose Maths program will give teachers professional development in maths education, help girls at school become more aware of careers which use maths, offer role-models and networking to young women, and establish the BHP Billiton awards to recognise teachers for their excellence in maths education.

Choose Maths program director Janine McIntosh said teacher professional development would be offered in 120 schools across Australia, concentrated on the ones where teachers lacked maths teaching skills. Ms McIntosh said that many primary school teachers were not confident in maths and 40 per cent of teachers teaching year 7-10 maths classes were not qualified to teach the subject.

“They are great teachers and they are fabulous at what they do but they just don’t have the content knowledge or expertise,” she said.

Australia’s maths education lags other developed countries with the percentage of male maths graduates from university at half the OECD average and, for female graduates, at one-third the OECD average. While 13 per cent of boys take advanced maths in their final year of high school, only seven per cent of girls do so.

“The low participation of girls and women in the study of the mathematical sciences and in the quantitative professions is a significant national social and economic challenge,” 今日吃瓜 director Geoff Prince.

The funding for the Choose Maths program will come from the BHP Billiton Foundation which was set up in 2013 to help the company meet its target of investing 1 per cent of pre-tax profits (over a three year rolling average) in community programs.

Working from the ground up, Choose Maths begins with a focus on mathematics education in primary and secondary schools. The BHP Billiton Foundation has contributed $22 million toward the partnership, which will enable 今日吃瓜 Schools to expand its outreach capacity across Australia over the next five years.

The program will contribute to the health of the mathematics pipeline in Australia from school through university and out to industry and the workplace by:
— providing mathematics-ready teacher professional development in 120 schools across Australia and resources for every school in the country;
— developing a national mathematical sciences careers awareness campaign;
— establishing an “inspiring women in mathematics network”; and
— holding annual BHP Billiton awards for excellence in the teaching and learning of mathematics.

Research-based strategies for encouraging girls and young women into mathematics and STEM-related courses will be core to the program. The large-scale careers awareness campaign will be driven by research into community perceptions about mathematics.

STEM skills are critical for Australia鈥檚 productivity and global competitiveness

Innovation-active businesses are around twice as likely to use engineering and science skills, and three times more likely to use information and communications technology skills than innovation-inactive businesses [1]. It is estimated that 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations require competency in the STEM disciplines [2]. It is no surprise, therefore, that in a 2013 survey, conducted by the Australian Industry Group, the majority of businesses indicated they had difficulty recruiting employees with these skills [3]. If no action is taken, demand for tertiary graduates with STEM skills, particularly mathematics, will continue to outstrip supply.

Women 鈥� an untapped resource to maximise talent

The percentage of male mathematical sciences graduates in Australia sits at half the OECD average; for women this drops to one-third [4]. Between now and 2020 we need new PhD graduates to grow the expert mathematical and statistical workforce by 17 per cent 鈥� a currently unattainable figure [5].

If Australia increases the participation of girls and young women in STEM we can contribute to addressing the gender wage gap and fill graduate places needed to secure a productive and innovative future. Eliminating the gender wage gap could be worth around $93 billion 鈥� that鈥檚 8.5 per cent of GDP [6].

“The low participation of girls and women in the study of the mathematical sciences and in the quantitative professions is a significant national social and economic challenge.

“This landmark five year project, undertaken by the 今日吃瓜 and funded by the BHP Billiton Foundation, aims to build self-sustaining education communities where girls and young women share equally in the rewarding careers and rich life experiences that mathematics offers,” says 今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Geoff Prince.

— ends —

Media planning to attend the launch are asked to contact Stephanie Pradier at 今日吃瓜 on 0424 568 314 or stephanie@amsi.org.au, to facilitate arrangements and interviews with:

Andrew Mackenzie, CEO BHP Billiton
(Please note: in order to secure an interview please contact Stephanie before 2pm Thursday 23 April.)

Professor Geoff Prince, 今日吃瓜 Director

Janine McIntosh, Choose Maths Program Director
M: 0402 408 507 E: janine@amsi.org.au

The numbers on Australia鈥檚 decline in mathematics:
— In 2010 the Australian Industry Group said more than 75 per cent of employers responding to a survey reported that low levels of literacy and numeracy affected their businesses.
— Forty per cent of Year 7-10 maths classes nationally are taught by teachers who are teaching “out-of-field鈥�. These teachers are qualified teachers, but their undergraduate course was not in mathematics or did not contain sufficient mathematics for them to undertake a method subject in their diploma of education. This figure is roughly three times the international average and twice the estimated rate for Year 7-10 science classes.
— 54 per cent of adult Australians have only basic numeracy skills.
— Research found that almost three quarters (74 per cent) of students who studied two science subjects in their final year of secondary school continued to study science-related areas at university.
— The figure below shows the number of girls and boys participating in advanced mathematics subjects at Year 12 between 2006 and 2013.

Further Resources:

Footnotes:
[1] Australian Government (2012) Australian Innovation System Report 鈥� 2012 DIISRTE, Canberra, p36
[2] Becker K & Park K (2011) Effects of integrative approaches among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects on students鈥� learning. A preliminary meta-analysis. Journal of STEM Education, 12(5/6), p23.
[3] Australian Industry Group, Lifting our Science, technology, Engineering and Maths Skills, Australian Industry Group, Sydney p.p.3-7.
[4] Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators, Table A4.2b (Web only) Distribution of tertiary new entrants, by field of education and gender (2009)
[5] Edwards, D., Radloff, A., and Coates, H. (2009). Supply, Demand and Characteristics of the Higher Degree by Research Population in Australia. Canberra: Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Commonwealth of Australia.
[6] The Impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the Australian Economy, Report to the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs. Prepared by NATSEM University of Canberra, R. Cassells, Y. Vidyattaman, R. Miranti and J.McNamara. November 2009 p vi

From 1 鈥� 5 December, leading Australian and international experts will converge at Monash University鈥檚 Caulfield campus for the annual聽BioInfoSummer聽symposium to share their expertise and most recent discoveries using bioinformatics; a study that combines techniques from mathematics, information technologies, physical sciences and engineering and applies them to solve significant problems in biological and medical sciences.

Software programs are dissecting “big data” sets.

Our current ability to collect “big data” sets from biological systems or in medical research greatly exceeds our ability to interpret it or to recognise its significance in something as complex as a human being. Ever-evolving sophisticated computer software programs, such as PhyML, MrBayes and BEAST, can now pinpoint underlying trends and patterns from vast seas of digital information leading to possible solutions to some of the most significant health problems facing the global community.

Monash University Professor Kate Smith-Miles, Director of MAXIMA (Monash Academy for Cross and Interdisciplinary Mathematical Applications), knows first-hand the importance of collaboration. 鈥淢athematics provides a universal language,鈥� she says. 鈥淔rom modelling biological systems to developing statistical methods for analysing the spread of infectious diseases like Ebola, mathematicians are indispensable in the development and application of tools able to tackle complex issues.鈥�

By modelling the spread of Ebola, bioinformaticians are assisting international governments and the World Health Organisation in the assessment of risks associated with its further spread. These risks propagate through the whole of society and may influence human mortality and trigger economic and political crises. Dr Barbara Holland from the University of Tasmania will present how these software programs are being used to uncover the origins of the latest Ebola outbreak.

Bioinformatics tackling cancer and聽osteoporosis.

But it isn鈥檛 simply epidemics that bioinformatics aids. Research into the mutation of cancer causing cells as well as modelling the effects of drugs and exercise on bone health are some of the other examples that will be discussed. Over the next decade fractures resulting from osteoporosis are expected to cost the Australian economy $22.7 billion; using computational models we can devise optimal therapeutic interventions based on each patients specific circumstances. Associate Professor Peter Pivonka from the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science at the University of Melbourne will be presenting his latest research findings on osteoporosis.

The significance and potential significance of bioinformatics research has already reached the highest levels of government.

鈥淭丑别 challenge is to turn these huge collections of data into information that can inform us and advance the world around us,鈥� says Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, who will be opening聽BioInfoSummer聽2014 at Monash University鈥檚 Caulfield campus.

鈥淚 congratulate the 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) on running聽BioInfoSummer聽to assist researchers across a range of disciplines to develop key statistical and mathematical skills that will enable them to pursue innovation.鈥�

This year鈥檚聽BioInfoSummer聽will bring together over 200 students and researchers. With an emphasis on the role bioinformaticians play in analysing聽“big data” attendees will gain hands-on training and experience in the cutting-edge tools of rapidly evolving field.

### ends ###

FOR MEDIA
Interview:
Professor Kate Smith-Miles
Associate Professor Peter Pivonka
Other speakers may be available upon request

CONTACT
Stephanie Pradier, 今日吃瓜, 0424568314
stephanie@amsi.org.au

Journalists are welcome to attend throughout the week
Building K, Monash University, Caulfield Campus, 900 Dandenong Road (Princes Hwy), Caulfield East

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES
Opening Ceremony 鈥� Monday 1, 10:45am
Poster session 鈥� Tuesday 2, 3:30pm
Careers panel 鈥� Tuesday 2, 6:30pm
Poster session & BBQ 鈥� Thursday 4, 5:45pm

The Australian Government provided $2 million over four years for the 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) Vacation Schools and Scholarships Project, and BioInfoSummer is an initiative supported under the project. The project aims to provide Australian students with access to advanced programs in the fields of mathematical and scientific research. It is part of the Government鈥檚 broader $54 million package to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in Australia.

Understanding firewall rules is time consuming, complicated and hard. The majority of people know how to turn their firewalls off, but do these people know exactly what it is they are doing or even why?

Probably not, nor could they be expected to.

Viral Maniar, APR.Intern and RMIT Masters student, spends his days deciphering the complexity of firewall rules. He undertook an internship at Biarri Networks 鈥� an innovative commercial mathematics company 鈥� to investigate new methods of visually representing firewalls.

Firewalls are built with a set of do or do not allow rules, usually concerning where a computer is connecting from and what it is trying to do. Two or three rules are easy to follow and understand, however sometimes a firewall might have to follow a thousand (sometimes even a million!) rules.

Finding patterns or irregularities becomes harder the more rules there are.

Visualisation tools help people to “see” the data. By clustering common connections and using聽colouring schemes in the visualisation, patterns that may be indicative of intrusions 鈥� such as the use of restricted communication protocols 鈥� can be clearly identified.

鈥淗umans are much better at seeing some types of irregularities than computers,鈥� Viral says. 鈥淏uilding a visualisation tool makes finding irregularities more interactive and aids in detecting security loopholes in some firewall rules.鈥�

During his internship Viral developed a web application able to load different sets of firewall rules visually. Someone using this application is able to modify and filter how the rules appear (using colour schemes etc.) to discover if any loopholes or irregularities exist.

鈥淰iral, Biarri and NBN Co used the tool to review a set of firewalls in use at NBN Co,鈥� says Paul Kennedy, CEO Biarri Networks. 鈥淣BN Co are using the results to inform firewall management procedures.鈥�

Viral has recently gained employment as a security analyst for a major consultancy and says having the internship experience under his belt made all the difference, 鈥淚 learnt a lot about firewall security and firewall management and gained invaluable industry skills.鈥�

Intern:聽Viral Maniar, RMIT University聽
Industry Partner:聽Paul Kennedy, CEO Biarri Networks聽
Academic Mentor:聽聽Assoc. Prof. Serdar Boztas, RMIT University

Supported by the Office of the Lead Scientist, the partnership will connect female honours and masters students 鈥� fostering high-end quantitative and analytical research expertise 鈥� with Victorian industry and government agencies to address a research problem currently facing their organisation.

The inspiring women industry internships are part of a new initiative to support, advance and inform Victorian women through partnerships with government, industry and academia.
The program will also provide eligible Victorian SMEs, government agencies and large businesses across all industry sectors with access to one of ten funding grants supported by the Victorian Government.

veski chief executive officer, Ms Julia L Page says: “The veski inspiring women program is action-focused and delivers a suite of integrated initiatives including fellowships, industry internships and a dedicated web portal as well as professional development and networking activities.”

鈥淭丑别 inspiring women internships allow female students to transfer their skills from theory to real-world application, while companies gain a competitive advantage by accessing high-quality research expertise.鈥�

As part of the program, veski will also deliver professional development and networking events to support women involved in the industry internships and ensure they are 鈥榡ob ready鈥�.

Research projects will be four months duration with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and聽mathematics), and all IP will remain with the organisation.

Cate Ballard, National Program Manager, APR.Intern says: “Victorian industry and government will also gain access to, and benefit from, the specialist knowledge of the students鈥� academic mentor.”

Victorian Government Lead Scientist, Ms Leonie Walsh says: 鈥淭丑别se internships will not only provide career choice for female scientists, they will promote links between academia and industry and help meet the current and future skills needs of the state.鈥�

About veski
Since 2004, veski has delivered a dynamic program of fellowships, awards and international networks to inspire innovation across Australia and support outstanding scientists and leading researchers and their families. The program includes five of Victoria鈥檚 most prestigious science and innovation awards: the veski innovation fellowships; the Premier鈥檚 Award for Health & Medical Research; the Victoria Prize for Science & Innovation and the Victoria Fellowships; and the Victorian Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. veski is supported by and collaborates with government, industry, academia and philanthropic organisations and also delivers an inspiring students (& teachers) program.

About APR.Intern
APR.Intern is an innovative university and industry collaboration that connects business and other organisations to the vast research expertise in Australia鈥檚 universities. APR.Intern is a national program that links postgraduate students and their university supervisors across all disciplines with industry partners through short-term (four to five month) tightly focused partner research internships. The postgraduate student is supported by an academic mentor from the host university throughout the internship placement period.

veski contact:
Jack Walden
PR & Media Consultant
0428 300 090
jack@thecword.com.au

APR.Intern Media contact:
Mari Ericksen
Marketing and Communications Manager
0434 252 695
mari@amsi.org.au

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