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Amongst the other exciting tools pitched at ResBazConf ‘17, many of our attendees were able to experience a brief introduction to the beauty of LaTeX.
Like most other pitches, the LaTeX sessions were split about half between a brief introduction and a fun challenge. The introduction covered some historical context, explained the benefits of LaTeX and how LaTeX compares to other document creation software, and showed how to create simple LaTeX documents as required by the challenge.
For the challenge, credit for the idea goes to Kerry Halupka. We thought it would create a lot of amusement if attendees had to first create the most terrifying equation they could think of, and then pass it to the next group, who had to write a poem about it.
Although there are many ways to use LaTeX, it was essential for groups to be able to easily share their work with each other, so we took advantage of ShareLaTeX. University of Melbourne is currently trialling a ShareLaTeX institutional licence, and as a platform for teaching LaTeX we find it offers a very smooth experience.
Demonstrating simple LaTeX usage, and executing the challenge, would have been impossible without the assistance of volunteers. Many thanks to Josh Hodge, Daljeet Walia, Alexis Lucattini, and Errol Lloyd.
If you would like to know more about LaTeX and how LaTeX fits into a research workflow, you might wish to have a look at these past blog posts:
We will also be running our first full LaTeX workshop for 2017 on 20 March! If you would like to come along, please register here.
Research Bazaar invites applications for five new Research Community Coordinators to build the R/RStudio, Matlab, Python, graphing/mapping and survey tools communities. The successful applicants will grow their respective communities through regular workshops.
You would also be expected and supported in organising events for your communities, as well as team specific and Research Platforms-wide events such as Data Storytelling for Researchers and the famous Research Bazaar conference at the beginning of next year.
Check out our post of this year’s conference here.
Please submit your:
to nikkir@student.unimelb.edu.au for R, Matlab and Python submissions and to kcdoy1@gmail.com for graphing and survey tools submissions. Applications close Friday March 31. You will find the position description for each of the roles, as well as the selection criteria in the documents below:
Mapping and Graphing position description
By Nikki Rubinstein and Brendan Ansell
Over the first two days of ResBaz, researchers attended short 30 minute interactive pitches on the various digital tools supported by Research Platforms. We had a great time in the R tent, both with some terrible pirate jokes and through learning about the power of reproducible graphics.
Really loving the caliber of geeky humour at #resbaz pic.twitter.com/Wahtg5w1Es
— Millicent Weber (@Millicent_Weber)
February 21, 2017
After a short introduction to the R programming language, attendees were introduced to the titanic dataset. This dataset describes the characteristics of the passengers on board the titanic, including whether they survived. We learnt that it really was women and children first, with females having a much higher survival rate than males across all passenger classes.
Female wins!
In the R titanic dataset tutorial with @nikkirubinstein
Team Sri, Fumi and Bingos entry: pic.twitter.com/1Ju46Xj28x— Dr Astrid Zeman (@astrid_zeman)
February 21, 2017
Attendees were then challenged to explore the R language by creating the ugliest possible barplot of survival rates. As you can see in the below slide show, they more than rose to the challenge!
This would not have been possible without our amazing helpers: Molly, Luke, Caitlin, Sepideh, Tom, Caroline, Anwar, Harry, Sadia, Fateme and Meghana. Tom went so far as to create a Shiny app of the ugly plot challenge! If you’re interested in helping out or being involved with our future workshops and events, we would love to have you!
Meet @MFredle, one of our amazing R helpers at #ResBaz and a prolific tweeter 😍 pic.twitter.com/WUZM6uc0m0
— Nikki Rubinstein (@nikkirubinstein)
February 22, 2017
This was just a taste of the amazing power of the R programming language. If you’re interested in learning about R, we are running a 2-day introductory R workshop on March 24 and 27. Click here to register.
By Louise van der Werff
Todays keystory was presented by Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea, a scientist and the inaugural Executive Director of the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
Key speaker for today is @MVEG001 👍😄 #ResBaz pic.twitter.com/NswamOZnnj
— William Pettersson (@WillPettersson)
February 22, 2017
Maggie shared her res-story with us, her journey into research and growing into the role of a scientist. I’ve summed up the essence of hey inspiring keynote speech with these tweeted quotes below.
The wonderful Maggie Galea @MVEG001 speaks of making it through her science degree as an introvert! It is possible! #ResBaz
— Isabel Zbukvic (@IsabelZbukvic)
February 22, 2017
“As a PhD student i felt as dense as a lump of coal… but they were right to call me a gem ” @MVEG001 #resbaz
— Melissa Formica (@LissFormica)
February 22, 2017
‘I started science because I wanted to help people - and I still do.’ - the inspiring Maggie Galea @MVEG001 #ResBaz
— Isabel Zbukvic (@IsabelZbukvic)
February 22, 2017
Research career like extreme mountaineering: high risk, high reward, but many casualties along the way @MVEG001 #resbaz
— Caitlin Pfeiffer (@RHDandme)
February 22, 2017
'Once science is in your head and in your heart, it’s there for good.’ - our inspiring keystory Maggie Galea @MVEG001 #ResBaz
— Research Platforms (@ResPlat)
February 22, 2017
'Feeling like a real scientist’ seems to happen late in many careers - if you are attempting science, you are a real scientist now #resbaz
— Caitlin Pfeiffer (@RHDandme)
February 22, 2017
By Louise van der Werff
After another day packed full of mini-workshops a.k.a ResPitches, it was time for some relaxation and fun.
A mindfulness session and complementary massages allowed us all to wind down and reflect.
Relax at #ResBaz this afternoon with a massage! pic.twitter.com/fC9xs2crAy
— Research Platforms (@ResPlat)
February 22, 2017
Creative juices were flowing at the Makerspace, with origami, knitting, robotics with Robogals, and even the creation of a stop motion video! I can’t wait to see the final result!
#crochet at our #MakerSpace @ResBaz! Come along #now! #resbaz #resbazmelb pic.twitter.com/UJ6khyATfe
— Emilie Walsh (@emilouwalsh)
February 22, 2017
The best part of the afternoon? A icecream truck came to visit after a very warm day!
#resbaz ice cream!!!! pic.twitter.com/MonB7RoyxP
— Dr Astrid Zeman (@astrid_zeman)
February 22, 2017
A Trivia night rounded off the evening with a bit of general trivia fun.
#ResBaz trivia: first prize goes to team Make Resbaz great again @thevinniek @maegul @bobbyli22 pic.twitter.com/UX1bj7L2Hu
— Yamni Mohan (@YamniMohan)
February 22, 2017
#ResBaz trivia: 2nd prize goes to the quacks of all trade @ResPlat @maegul @iniandra @lucyleeow pic.twitter.com/CTjGoCkLEj
— Yamni Mohan (@YamniMohan)
February 22, 2017
#ResBaz trivia: And the third and arguably the best prize goes to the rexits.@nikkirubinstein @ResPlat@astrid_zeman pic.twitter.com/eDHRUXivQI
— Yamni Mohan (@YamniMohan)
February 22, 2017
Louise van der Werff
Good morning! And welcome to the second day of ResBaz!
All set up for the second day of #ResBaz. It’s going to be a beautiful day 🎪🌞 pic.twitter.com/A8JhUrwtU4
— Nikki Rubinstein (@nikkirubinstein)
February 21, 2017
Lilly Ryan presented the keystory for this morning. Lilly is both a software engineer and medieval historian.
5 years ago Lilly was a history and theology student, she was fascinated by witchcraft in the middle ages and societies surveillance and persecution of suspected witches at the time. Lilly spent several years studying witches, Latin, state-sanctioned persecution and torture, which culminated in an Honours thesis focussing on the heretic-hunting texts produced by the Catholic Inquisition in the 14th century.
In 2013 after finishing her honours thesis, she envisioned a life in academia, to work as a historian and get her doctorate, but also wanted to take a break and experience working in the ‘real world’.
Lilly Ryan, historian and software engineer
In her own time Lilly also learnt to code, dabbled in Python and soldering, volunteered in hackathons and other tech events, and eventually landed a job in a data centre, where she got to see what the internet looked like ‘under the hood’. She now builds identity and access management systems, runs privacy and security workshops and teaches about privacy, technology and surveillance systems to lay people and other engineers. Lilly now works as a senior software engineer for a multinational consultancy.
After working in IT for a number of years, Lilly felt like she had forgotten her identity as a historian. One day though she had an epiphany, after watching the filmclip for the Aerosmith Remake ‘Walk This Way’ With Run-D.M.Cwhere two competing bands come together and combine their sound into a new style of music.
Lilly realised that she could combine her knowledge of surveillance states in the middle ages with modern surveillance systems. This is a unique skill in the IT industry, as Lilly jokes that most IT experts believe history started in the 70s, along with the development of the modern internet. She now runs workshops and gives talks on digital security and privacy in a hyperconnected world. She enjoys using her knowledge of technology to help others retain their human rights while using it.
By Louise van der Werff
After a busy day attending ResPitches, participants were treated to an evening of talks, food and fun.
Reaching the end of the first day of #resbaz with an outdoor setting for #nerdnite - see you tomorrow for day 2! pic.twitter.com/LrHVhBdNHm
— Dr Astrid Zeman (@astrid_zeman)
February 21, 2017
Lightening talks, Guru Talks, and Tech Talks were held under the bedouine tent before dinner. This gave researchers the opportunity to share their research experiences with each other, swap stories and generally wind down after a busy day in Wilson Hall.
The every popular NerdNite was then held after dinner.
The 3 speakers for NerdNite were Cordelia Fine, Isabel Zbukvic and Dr Jason Chuen.
Cordelia Fine, Professor of History & Philosophy of Science at the School of Hostorical and Philosophical Studies, spoke about gender assumptions, misconceptions and her new book Testosterone Rex.
Cordelia Fine @nerdnitemelb. She assumes we’re all nerds. I’m gonna take that as a compliment 😊 #resbaz pic.twitter.com/VXeicA7XyY
— Kim Doyle (@kim_doyle1)
February 21, 2017
Isabel Zbukvic discussed her PhD in behavioural neuroscience and her PhD journey. Her research addresses what makes adolescents vulnerable to mental illness, focussing on drug addiction and anxiety disorders.
@IsabelZbukvic #motivation to complete #PhD @ResBaz! Sleep, eat, connect, have reasonable expectations! #resbaz @unimelb @nerdnitemelb pic.twitter.com/z5CPI58X82
— Emilie Walsh (@emilouwalsh)
February 21, 2017
Dr Jason Chuen, Clinical Senior Fellow in MDHS and based at the Austin Hospital Department of Surgery, is a Specialist Vascular Surgeon and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He spoke about technological progress in medicine and how it transforms the delivery of modern healthcare.
@ozvascdoc on TIMTAMS Technology, Innovation & Medicine, Traps & Minefields #ResBaz @nerdnitemelb @unimelb pic.twitter.com/zASj58vcOB
— CarlosAndres Agudelo (@agudeloandres)
February 21, 2017
NerdNite at ResBaz was also the last for our wonderful team member and NerNite organiser Dejan Jotanovic @HeyDejan. Sad but Sweet!
Thank you @heyDejan for being an awesome Nerd Nite boss. #weloveyou #goodluck #thankyou https://t.co/KXbqlw9XZT
— Nerd Nite Melbourne (@nerdnitemelb)
February 21, 2017
A wide selection of full workshops have been organised to run in the upcoming weeks post-ResBaz. Expand the knowledge you have gained by attending the short ResPitches at ResBaz by attending a more comprehensive workshop.
Click on the links below to be redirected to an Eventbrite form where you can sign up.
MATLAB for Beginners
Textual analysis with the Natural Language Toolkit
Introduction to Research Cloud Computing
Introduction to Computer-Aided Design with Autodesk Inventor
Introduction to Twitter Scraping with TAGS
Introductory LaTeX for Articles and Reports
3D Slicer for Beginners
Introduction to R
Data Visualisation on the Web with Plotly/D3
An Introduction to 3D Modelling with Fusion 360
We’d love to see you at one of our workshops :)
If you have any questions about the workshops, please email nicole.unimelb@gmail.com
By Louise van der Werff
The ResPitches have been running this morning with great success. The feeling under the 10 small tents within Wilson Hall is is one of intimacy and collaboration. There is a background murmur of conversation permeating each tent, but participants are cosy enough in the tent with their instructor and helpers that they are able to follow along with the lessons well.
Participants are introduced to the tools before being thrust into hands on challenges, helped along by ResBaz Helpers who have very kindly volunteered their time to make the ResPitches as comprehensive an experience and possible. This opportunity for hands on experience with the tools really helps to lay a good foundation for understanding, and will hopefully encourage registrations to our full workshops happening in the coming weeks.
T - 30 mins til my ResPitch for #ResBaz - you can still come & signup at the front! We are at Wilson hall @unimelb 😁 pic.twitter.com/HDa95eeCHK
— Sila Genc (@silascribbles)
February 21, 2017
The best way to learn R is by doing - today we’re doing ugly plots! Any ideas for how to make this WORSE? #resbaz #resbazmelb #Rstudio pic.twitter.com/1T9o8dMrYA
— Caitlin Pfeiffer (@RHDandme)
February 20, 2017
Time to flex your #datascience muscles with our #ResBaz challenges this morning! So much brainpower in one little tent. pic.twitter.com/5vouaAXPMw
— Research Platforms (@ResPlat)
February 20, 2017
By Louise van der Werff
Upon registration all participants were asked to submit a poster, outlining their research background, digital toolbox (which tools they have skills in and use in their research), their favourite tool (and why), and their research SOS. The research SOS is a short description of a problem you’ve encountered or project you’d like to do if you had the technical knowhow. Maybe somebody else at ResBaz can help.
Participants looking at posters after the welcoming remarks.
Jennie Rosenbaum, (Masters of Contemporary Arts), has developed an Augmented Reality app on IOS and Android which overlays changing imagery onto the static images of her poster (see below).
More on posters to come.
By Louise van der Werff
The tea and coffee stations are a welocome sight before ResBaz17 kicks off in full swing. Check out that lens flare!
The bedouine tent is filling up with participants and organisers alike waiting for the welcoming remarks and keystories to begin. I can hear friendly chatter all around me, people meeting each other for the first time and swapping their research experiences, discussing their projects, and getting excited for the day to begin. The relaxed atmosphere has people happy to discuss both their passions and challenges.
Waiting for the opening remarks.
Dejan Jotanovic is giving the welcoming remarks. “ResBaz is a campaign, a community and a conference.” It allows researchers to do their research better, faster stronger. ResBaz is an event that is now running across multiple sites all over the world.
ResBaz thrives for Diversity, Community and Open Access.
“In a world of alternative facts, research knowledge is important.”
The keystory speakers are our very own Kim Doyle and Nikki Rubinstein.
Kim is a PhD student in Media and Communications and team lead of our Data Mining and Visualisation team. Kim is speaking about Research Platforms, where our services reside. Our philosophy is that research should be open, multicultural, and filled with colourful people. It shouldn’t be isolating, it should bring people in from all corners of the university to form a supportive community for all. Our major focuses are upskilling, community support, and social events. We run training workshops and special events throughout the year.
Kim started out in her journey with Research Platforms as a Helper, has worked her way up team lead within the group, and has nurtured coding skills within herself that she’d never thought she would learn by teaching Natural Language Toolkit.
Nikki is a final year PhD student in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, managing the Research Commuity Coordinators for R, MatLab and Python. Before joining research platforms Nikki had a research questions: Can she improve current clinical algorithms for vision field tests?
Nikki attended ResBaz2015, with the expectation if learning some new skill in R, but was blown away by the much wider community feel of the conference. She then signed up as a Helper at ResBaz2016, and very much enjoyed sharing her growing knowledge with coding newbies. Soon after she joined the group as a Research Community Coordinator.
The primary focus of this role is community. You can build community by engaging people in workshops, and empowering them to ‘pay it forward’, sharing the knowledge that they have gained to help others within their community. Our workshops are free, and all we ask is that you share your experiences and knowledge gained Research Platforms with your peers, and maybe even volunteering to be a Helper for a free workshop, or for one of our bigger events such as the Research Bazaar. You never know, you may just land a role within our team.
Contact us at Research.bazaar@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our team.
Of course!
By Louise van der Werff
It’s a beautiful sunny 23 degree day here in Melbourne today, and ResBaz17 is already kicking off. Located within and around Wilson Hall at Melbourne University in Melbourne, this years Research Bazaar promises to be a fun and exciting event, and quite different in format to previous years.
The registration desk is getting busy busy, even before 9am!
This year, instead of taking part in full tool workshops, participants will instead get the opportunity to view a variety of different ‘ResPitches’, shorter 30min sessions designed to whet the appetite. All participants then get first dibs on full free training workshops to take place in the following weeks.
The tents set up in Wilson Hall where the ResPitches will take place.
A peek inside on of the tents, with its lovely Moroccan theme
We are currently waiting for the Welcoming remarks and keystory.
Welcome to the final day of twelve days of Resbaz. We hope you have enjoyed the compilation of videos we have posted over the last few days. This is the final video before the conference and we’ve put it right at the end to send some programming inspiration your way.
Ever fangirl-ed so hard that you built a website to declare your love for someone? See this video and take consolation in the fact that you are not the only one. Haven’t done it yet? Here are reasons why you should!
By Kim Doyle
On top of the fabulous digital tools showcased at the Research Bazaar Conference this year, we also have some electives relevant to all researchers on Thursday 23rd Feb. Check out the line up and sign up for an elective at ResBaz! (sign up sheet at the conference, so be there or be square!)
ELECTIVES BLOCK A:10-11am
Demystifying the research commercialisation process
Presented by Lauren Sosdian, Translating Research at Melbourne (TRaM) Program Coordinator at The Carlton Connect Initiative.
“Research impact” and “research commercialisation”: phrases that researchers often hear or read on grant applications, emails, and newsletters. But what do they really mean? This workshop will introduce you to key principles of the research commercialisation process – by practicing with your own research. Come with the problem and solution that your research is solving (if you can) or be prepared to jump on another research idea, and you’ll leave more enlightened about methods to translate research and bring it outside the university!
Generative Writing: Productive Study Techniques and Writing Networks
Presented by Beornn McCarthy and Mary Khouri, GSA
This workshop will help prepare you for the challenges of thesis writing and give you the tools you can use to escape writing blocks. You’ll learn more about:
• Productive writing and generative writing
• How to use the Pomodoro technique effectively
• Writing networks on campus, including Shut Up and Write
• How to prepare for writing events such as Thesis Bootcamp
• How to create your own writing events and networks
Research Data Management
Presented by Lyle Winton & Greg D’Arcy
Researchers from all disciplines accumulate data as part of their research practice. This data can comprise a variety of forms: notes and documentation, interviews, images, archival records, surveys, and much more. Good research data management planning keeps your data secure, allows you to find and access it easily, and can verify research outcomes. It also supports your future research by enabling you and others to share and reuse your data. In this session, you will learn how you can effectively manage your research data and explore some of the services available at the University that can help.
Social Media for Research Impact
Presenter: Isabel Zbukvic
Looking to build your professional profile and networks? Hungry for inspiration and opportunities to present or collaborate? Keen to share your research with other academics and the public? It’s all at your fingertips (literally!) thanks to social media. Join usl for this hands-on workshop, where you’ll learn how to use platforms like Twitter to enhance your research impact. Don’t forget your smartphone or laptop!
ELECTIVES BLOCK B: 11am-12pm
Hack your Journal Article
Dr Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins
is an anthropologist, an early career researcher, and a member of the Curriculum Design Team in the Faculty of Arts.
goodwin@unimelb.edu.au
Get the word out! Publish or perish! It’s exhausting just thinking about getting your research into print, let alone finding the time to write. This session won’t offer you just-add-water short-cuts, but it will give you some tools and tricks that can help you get an article done (and help YOU get an article done). You’ll find this session extra helpful if you haven’t published before. Come with your big article idea - and get your publication on track for 2017.
ORCID & Researcher Profiles
Presented by Julia Kuehns & Sarah Charing
Researcher profiles such as Google Scholar can help increase your online visibility, allow you to take credit for you work, find out who cites your work, and be prepared for applications which ask for a demonstration of your research impact. An Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is a permanent identifier which facilitates disambiguation of researchers and research outputs and is increasingly used by funding bodies and journal publishers. This workshop will give an overview of the digital researcher profile landscape. [Bring your own device to set up profiles and your ORCID during the session]
Mind the Gap: Graduate Researchers and Employability
Presented by GSA: Beornn McCarthy
This presentation will showcase some of the market research the Graduate Student Association has undertaken in the area of graduate students and differing views of employability. It will present an ‘outsiders’ perspective on the graduate research job market in academia by placing graduate research within a broader employability framework.
Come to this presentation and you will hear about:
· Differing views on employability attributes in graduate students
· Graduate and doctoral attributes and changing expectations
· Graduate research views on about employability vs. the tough realities and employer perspectives
· The relationship between employability and higher education and industry trends and issues
· Insights into academic job market and the careers outside academia
· GSA’s Mind the Gap, an awareness campaign and a series of programs designed to help graduate students face the gap between study and work
Join a research community
Presented by Research Platforms: Nikki and Kim
Can’t get enough of the ResBaz conference? Research can be a lonely vocation, join a research community to upskill, network and socialise. Teaching next generation digital skills is fun when you do it with colleagues and friends. In this session Kim and Nikki share their personal experience and let you know how to get active.
ELECTIVE BLOCK C: 12-1pm
‘Thesis Editing’
Dr. Jay Daniel Thompson teaches writing at the University of Melbourne and Victoria University.
Every good thesis has undergone a rigorous editing process. But what is a ‘rigorous editing process’, exactly? How do you decide what to leave in and what to trim? How can you transform a shapeless, overlong mess into a piece of lean, mean scholarship?
In this workshop, Dr. Jay Daniel Thompson will share his tips on editing theses. Issues covered will include identifying and removing unnecessary sections; spotting and rectifying issues pertaining to spelling and grammar; ensuring that your overall argument is clear and easy to follow; and ensuring that you have referenced appropriately and consistently.
Maintaining wellbeing in research
Presented by The University of Melbourne Counselling and Psychological Services.
This 50 minute/one hour (whatever fits with your schedule) workshop will explore some of the common issues that can impact the mental health and wellbeing of researchers, particularly early career researchers and PhD students.
Topics covered will include ‘imposter syndrome’, procrastination, and some challenges of working independently such as loneliness.
This workshop, delivered by a Counsellor from The University of Melbourne Counselling and Psychological Services team, will include some strategies to address these issues, opportunity for discussion, and information about wellbeing supports available to you at the University.
Sharing your Article: Scholarly Communication and Open Access
Presenters:
Stephen Cramond (Manager, Institutional Repository)
Frederic Kiernan (Research Consultant, Open Access)
Isabel Zbukvic (PhD candidate in Neuroscience)
As academic publishing moves into cyberspace, the do’s, don’ts, advantages and limitations of online scholarly sharing are still being fine-tuned. This session will explore the benefits, risks and pitfalls of using scholarly collaboration networks (SCNs) such as ResearchGate.net and Academia.edu to share your research. Stephen Cramond (Manager, Institutional Repository) and Frederic Kiernan (Research Consultant, Open Access) will examine some of the problems with this type of sharing (and ways around them), and will discuss the role of the Institutional Repository (Minerva Access) in the scholarly communication landscape. Isabel Zbukvic will discuss her first-hand experience of using SCNs, as part of her work with ResPlat developing a program to manage the online presence and impact of researchers at UniMelb.
Hands-on Digital Humanities: How to make your research sticky
Presented by Deb Verhoeven and Brendan Sobczynski
This workshop is for researchers working in, or interested in working in, the digital humanities. It is designed to create practical opportunities for the digital humanities through discussion of existing and prospective initiatives and their wider potential.
Very specifically, the workshop will answer the questions: What is HuNI* (pronounced “honey”) and why would I use it?
*HuNI (huni.net.au) is a new research and discovery platform developed by and for Australian humanities and creative arts scholars. HuNI combines data from many Australian cultural websites into the biggest humanities and creative arts database ever assembled in Australia. HuNI data covers all disciplines and brings together information about the people, works, events, organisations and places that make up the Australia’s rich cultural landscape. HuNI also enables researchers to work with and share this large-scale aggregation of cultural information.
Find out how you can use and contribute to HuNI.
And don’t forget to bring your laptop or tablet to sweeten the experience.
There will be prizes!
Today we have two videos explaining some important linguistic concepts such sentence trees and corpus (not to be confused with corpses). We hope you enjoy the videos!
How to sentence tree.
Corpus Linguistics:
Here you can read all about the groups who will be doing a Guru Talk at ResBaz 2017.
COMBINE is the national association for Australian students in computational biology, bioinformatics and related fields and acts as the student subcommittee of the Australian Bioinformatics And Computational Biology Society (ABACBS) and the official International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Regional Student Group (RSG) for Australia. We aim to bring together students from the computational and life sciences for networking, collaboration and professional development. COMBINE organises seminars from experts in the field, workshops in general programming and specific analyses, and social events culminating in the COMBINE Student Symposium to be held in Adelaide in November 2017. Follow us on Twitter (@combine_au) or Facebook (@combine.australia) or subscribe to the news and join the mailing list at combine.org.au.
newCardigan is a social and professional group for people who work in galleries, libraries, archives and museums - and for those who like hanging around with GLAM types.
newCardigan helps GLAM professionals to be more awesome.
The ‘new’ in newCardigan doesn’t mean it’s for new graduates, although they are certainly welcome. newCardigan is about new ways of thinking about GLAM, new opportunities, new connections, and new energy. We’re trying to create something quite different from a traditional professional association. No membership fees, no position papers, and no gold pins - newCardigan is designed to connect GLAM workers and ideas rather than represent a particular profession.
You can find us (and our events/projects) on the web at newcardigan.org and on Twitter and Facebook as newCardigan. You can also join our Discourse discussion forum, register your Australian GLAM blog, listen to our podcast and join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.
Robogals Melbourne is a student-run volunteer initiative with the aim of increasing the amount of females in STEM, especially engineering! We hold free workshops for primary and high school kids focused around Lego NXT Robotics. We hope to inspire more young girls to consider following an engineering-related career to high school and beyond. Founded in 2008 we’re now global with over 32 chapters around the world. robogals.org
Giant magnets: giving a new clearer view into the mind
Brain scanners have made great strides in the past 40 years, giving unique insights into the functioning of the brain and improved diagnosis of disease. At the Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, we run one of the next generation ultra high field, 7 Tesla MRI scanners. This $10m machine (one of only 2 in Australia) can give a much sharper widow into the brain than those less powerful.
We work with many diverse disciplines across the University and will introduce some of our current project areas including:
In this session, we aim to demystify working with scanner and to inspire your potential projects for the system.
VicNode is a joint venture between Monash University and The University of Melbourne on behalf of all Victorian universities aimed at providing storage, sharing and long-term retention of research data for all researchers.
VicNode is operated for Victorian and Australian researchers and research institutions through operating centres at Monash University and The University of Melbourne. Their mission statement:
‘Researchers can easily store and share research data (collections) through an affordable, secure and sustainable service’
The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.
Our team of professional editors work with university, CSIRO and research institute experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public.
Access to independent, high-quality, authenticated, explanatory journalism underpins a functioning democracy. Our aim is to allow for better understanding of current affairs and complex issues. And hopefully allow for a better quality of public discourse and conversations.
I have been teaching a course in data journalism at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism for four years. The course, which I believe was the first of its kind in Australia, runs across four full days and covers data literacy, maths for journalists, statistics, data cleaning, data analysis, data communication and data visualisation.
WISE was founded in January, 2010 with the aim of promoting women in Science or Engineering. The vision of WISE is to inspire and to attract more female science and engineering students into their respective industries.
The team behind the Research Bazaar itself! Alongside the training that you’ll get to experience at ResBaz, Research Platforms also provides, builds and maintains ICT infrastructure for researchers, in particular cloud compute infrastructure and data storage infrastructure. Enabling data-driven research and the effective use of IT is at the centre of everything we do. We service more than 3,000 researchers from all disciplines across Parkville, within Victoria, and nationally.We work closely with key research support units including Faculty IT teams, the Melbourne eResearch Group, the Library, and other Infrastructure Services departments.
Find out more by coming to have a chat with us!
BajaBoard started as a hobby project in 2013 in Melbourne, Australia.
At that time, e-boards were on the rise, and being referred to as “last-mile” commuting devices. With the legality of e-boards on roads being questionable at the best of times, a trio of Melbourne engineers decided to create a machine that would take themselves off the beaten path. The whole thing started, as so many projects do, in the home garage.
Developing the BajaBoard was like trying to fit an off-road car under a snowboard. It wasn’t just a matter of putting fat tires onto a skateboard – everything was designed from the ground up, including riding dynamics. The board handles partly like a snowboard and partly like a motorbike.
Given it was the first to introduce chassis and suspension design, the BajaBoard engineering, prototyping, and testing process was a long one. After numerous iterations, the first BajaBoard was delivered to early adopters in August 2015. Based on feedback from the field, design has been continuously improved on, bringing about the G4 in 2016.
Today, BajaBoard consists of a tight knit core team supported by strong partnerships in manufacturing - check us out with our demo boards at ResBaz!
This group aims to create a friendly community for women who is interested in R statistical programming language in Melbourne. No matter how you define your gender, you are welcome at events if you support the same aims!
We are part of Global R-Ladies group. Website: http://www.r-ladies.com/
You can access our presentations, R scripts and more (soon) on our Github account and follow us on twitter to stay up to date about R-Ladies news!
Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) is a national resource – a National Research and Education Network (NREN).
AARNet is widely regarded as the founder of the Internet in Australia and renowned as the architect, builder and operator of world-class high speed low latency network infrastructure for research and education.
We connect over one million users—researchers, faculty, staff and students—at institutions across Australia, supporting education across the life-long learning spectrum and research across a diverse range disciplines in the sciences and humanities, including high energy physics, climate science, genomics, radio astronomy and the arts.
Nationally, AARNet interconnects Australian universities and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and other organisations with a research and education mission, or with whom the education and research sector interacts. These include hospitals, vocational training providers, schools and museums.
Physically, this is achieved by owning and having access to fibre optic links across the country and through major metropolitan cities. As a National Broadband Network (NBN) retail service provider, AARNet also uses NBN services to connect schools in remote locations.
Internationally AARNet interconnects the Australian Research and Education (R & E) community to the world – any university in Australia communicates directly with another university anywhere in the world without touching the commercial Internet.
Today’s video is not really a video at all… Instead, we are giving you the opportunity to explore all things Omeka in your own time. Omeka is a place where you can build digital repositories! Today’s link is an omeka of omekas- Omeka inception if you will.
Enjoy!
Installment #9 in the Twelve Days of ResBaz is two videos with a 3D
theme. The first introduces 3D printing; the second gives a
demonstration of the free and open source medical imaging software
3DSlicer, which can also be used as part of a 3D printing workflow. Enjoy!
Today’s video briefly introduces some concepts in Data Visualisation, with examples of beautiful graphics produced in R using ggplot2:
Starting from 3:30pm under the Main Tent at ResBaz Melbourne, we’ve got so many exciting activities lined up - check them out below!
As with previous years, we have invited organisations participating in various research-related, and community activities to come have a chat about all the cool things they do, as well as how to get involved. Over the course of 30 minutes underneath the main tent, expect to meet experts from diverse fields and learn about start-ups, digital archives, and more! Guru Talks will be on the 21st of February with the schedule is as follows - there will be a follow-up post on what each organisation does so keep an eye out for that!
As you know ResBaz attendees are all researchers in one way or another and as such, they have exciting tales to tell and share about their research endeavours and pursuits! Come hear all about their exciting findings and ongoing research at these 5 minute Lightning Talks held under the Main Tent. Check out the amazing variety of topics in the spreadsheet below!
Find out more about the tools you are interested in from data driven tools like R, Python, and MATLAB to visual based tools like Fusion 360, Inventor, and 3D Slicer. Tool Talks presents the opportunity to talk to our Research Community Coordinators about your research, learn new workflows, and find out how our available range of digital trainings can help accelerate the research you do! This will only be run on the first day of ResBaz (21st of February).
If you raring to get your hands dirty in the tools you’ve seen at ResBaz, on the second day (22nd of February) we’ll be running Tool Hacks. Intended for participants of all levels, this will be an opportunity to go through the challenges presented during the pitches in more depth, as well as to bring your own data to work on with our Research Community Coordinators.
Virtual Reality provides an opportunity for researchers to present information in ways not easily achieved through traditional 2D mediums. There will be hands-on demonstrations which will highlight some of the advantages of VR visualisation using examples of content produced both at the University and beyond. Check it out in Wilson Hall from 10:20 - 12:50pm, and 1:50 - 3:30pm!
A Makerspace will pop up during the second afternoon of ResBaz so get ready for a crafternoon (haha get it?) of everything from knitting, and origami to robotics, 3D printing, and stop-motion videoing!
On the second night of ResBaz (7-9pm 22nd of February) we’ll be hosting a Trivia Night under the main tent so come and test your knowledge on a wide range of topics and see how you stack up against the other teams! Teams will be formed on the night so come along and for some fun!
Meet other researchers! At ResBaz 2017, we have a range of social and networking opportunities during the afternoon that we haven’t mentioned above! Try your hand at yoga, have a massage, play board games with friends, or relax with a mindfulness session - we’ve got you covered at ResBaz! Doing research does not have to be a lonely endeavour so come meet, connect, and bond with other researchers and PhD students.
For today’s video, we want to showcase an inspiring and informative
video by ResBaz alumna Isabell Kiral-Kornek. Using web programming with
D3 as a case study, she talks about the importance and fun of
programming, and gives some general-purpose programming tips.
Ever heard someone say the ‘words’ CGI or API or IOT or any of the other wonderful internet abbreviations and wondered what the hell they were talking about? Then today’s video is for you. Today’s video explores the concept of API with food analogies. They certainly know how to capture our attention! Mmmm…
Today, we look at the history of type. We hope it inspires in you a love for beautiful lettering :)
A black screen with a tiny blinking cursor. Silence except for the quiet whir of a room full of computers. No Microsoft Windows here. What have I got myself into?
Where are the LOLcatz??
This was the world I found myself in when, in total ignorance, I mentioned to the Undergrad Research Opportunities team that I was ‘interested in bioinformatics’ (sounds cool and technical huh?). At this point my computing prowess amounted to some vague notions about Excel, and familiarity with the word ‘bioinformatics’ from first year biology lectures.
The job involved processing brain MRI scans to test for differences related to prescription drugs.
At my side was a coffee stained Introduction to Unix.
“Create a file called list1 containing the following fruit: orange, plum, mango, grapefruit…”
How this was meant to help me get the job done was less than clear.
A long 18 months followed, but thanks to my excellent (read ‘patient’) supervisors, I eventually got my head around Unix.
The next year it was back to good old biochemistry. The stuff you can see down a microscope, knock a gene out of, or get a horrific infection from:
But as I recovered from my honours project, in my fever dreams the command line was calling, even commanding me back.
The efficiency of a loop… the power of combining lots of different data to answer an interesting question… the joy of heading to the pub while it does your work for you… I was hooked!!
…but still fairly useless at coding.
I spent about a year mashing Unix and Excel together to work through a genomics project. All the while, I was reading papers in journals like PLoS Computational Biology, and wondering how they made those awesome figures?
from Goncalves et al., 2017 DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005297
The answer, I eventually discovered, was R. The free, powerful, widely used and completely hackable salve to any scientist’s Excel-induced rage.
This coding language really comes into its own with Rstudio - where you can write code and see the graphical results instantly on your desktop.
I enrolled in a PhD in infectious disease biology, and decided to get SRS about R.
I scoured the user guides for the software I wanted to use.
I chopped up code and put it back together to try to isolate the important parts.
I was a Guinea pig for the DataSociety R course and learned a lot through their materials.
I replaced online examples with my own data, searched Google relentlessly, patched up and saved anything that worked, until my figures started to look presentable.
The more I practiced, the more I found (overly-nerdy) uses for R.
Go-karting lap times….that would work as a box plot! Snow depth this winter? Line chart. Journal publishing cost by impact factor? Scatter plot. The interactive plot functions are especially cool:
https://plot.ly/~plot_ranger/13.embed
In all, this is the tool to help you find the stories in your data (and make them look great), with maximal reproducibility, and progressively less effort.
If you’re sick of scouring through Excel sheets, Prism is getting too fiddly, and VLOOKUP is losing its charm, come to ResBaz and try R. You won’t Rgret it.
To discuss any R problems, contact me at rp.brendan@gmail.com, or through twitter @ansellbr3
If you ever thought your computer might be a zombie trying to destroy
your brain, today’s video starring Bill Gates might be just what you’ve been looking for! He convinces a zombie to switch its diet to flowers
using “If” statements, and in the process provides a very gentle
introduction to this important programming concept.
“The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room.” — Morpheus, The Matrix.
Matrices are a powerful form of mathematical notation. They are used in ubiquitous fields, from image processing to machine learning, from weather forecasting to interplanetary navigation. Some of the software we teach assumes you know what a matrix is, even if you don’t understand how matrices can have such universal applications “in the real world”.
We chose today’s video from Khan Academy to bring you up to speed on matrices if you haven’t seen them before. Or maybe you saw matrices once a long time ago in highschool, and would like a refresher? Either way we hope you enjoy:
Introduction to Matrices
For Day 2 of the Twelve Days of ResBaz, we found a couple of videos that explain some universal coding concepts.
Programming/Scripting Concepts Explained (Variables, Arrays, Strings, & Length):
What is an algorithm and why should you care?
Enjoy!
WELCOME TO RESBAZ 2017!!!
If you have registered to attend to 2017 ResBaz conference, you would have received an email kicking off our 12 Days of ResBaz. In the lead up to ResBaz, we will be posting a video a day. These are videos that explain concepts we think would help attendees get the most out of Resbaz 2017 in Melbourne!
We hope you enjoy them!
Day 1: Why programming is like standup comedy.
Not quite sold on programming yet? You acknowledge the benefits of programming but are unsure about what is involved in the process? In the first video we want to share with you, standup comedian Wayne Cotter explains why programming is like stand up comedy. As an added bonus, he also explains why you should look outside the stereotypes imposed by society and how programming helps you do that. After all, we can’t be responsible programmers without being responsible citizens.
Let’s face it - we all have a nerd somewhere within us. Sometimes we just need a little help bringing it out (as if a research tools training conference isn’t enough). Welcome….
Nerd Nite is an informal gathering at which nerds and non-nerds alike gather to meet, drink, and learn something new. Nerd Nite Melbourne joined the other chapters around the world exactly a year ago and has been a huge success in our city. Many of our own ResComs have even taken the floor!
At ResBaz, we’ll host the first Nerd Nite of the year on Tuesday night with some of the most popular speakers Nerd Nite has ever seen! To see who’s coming, head over to Nerd Nite Melbourne’s website and check them out! You can also follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
Nerd Nite is open to everyone (including the general public) and there is NO cover. BYO drinks or cash bar available on site.
When: Tuesday, February 21 2017
Where: Outside Wilson Hall (at the end of Monash Road), at The University of Melbourne
Time: Doors open 7:00pm, 7:30pm start
RSVP via Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/659394034248849/
Dr Cordelia Fine
Title: Testosterone Rex
We’re all familiar with the idea the men and women have evolved different natures, implemented by biology, that explain sex inequality. But how do the assumptions of this popular and influential story stack up against the evidence?
Bio: Cordelia Fine is Professor of History & Philosophy of Science, in the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her latest book, Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the myths of our gendered minds, has been described as “a witty corrective” (Nature) and is an Amazon Best Book of January 2017.
Jason Cheun
Title: TIMTAMs: Technology, Innovation and Medicine - Traps and Minefields
How is technology transforming the delivery of modern healthcare? And what are some of the potential risks and pitfalls?
Bio: Jason is a Clinical Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences based at the Austin Hospital Department of Surgery. He is a Specialist Vascular Surgeon and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Jason is Director of Vascular Surgery at Austin Health and is also the Director of the Austin Health 3D Medical Printing Laboratory, formed in collaboration with The University of Melbourne Department of Mechanical Engineering. Jason maintains a strong interest in multiculturalism, diversity, safety and quality in healthcare, surgical education, simulation and training, as well as systems innovation and medical device development
Isabel Zbukvic
Title: Tears, Fears, and Cocaine: a PhD Story
Isabel has just submitted her PhD thesis, investigating what makes the adolescent brain vulnerable to drug addiction and anxiety disorders. In this presentation she will share her findings, as well as her own experiences surviving and thriving during a PhD.
Bio: Isabel is about to complete her PhD at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health and the University of Melbourne. She is a passionate mental health advocate, and developed the Mental Health Representative position on the Florey student society. Isabel is also part of the ResPlat family, working as an Engagement Officer to translate research into online content.
Hope to see all you Nerds there! Be there and be square!