From ResBaz to…China - Part 1
By: Katie Ewing
After organizing the ResBaz Conference, held at the University of Melbourne in February 2015, you could say I was having a bit of conference withdrawal. No more new connections. No more free food. No more fun! Luckily, an opportunity arose to present about ResBaz at the Universitas 21 Graduate Research Conference in Shanghai, China. How could I resist?
I’m back! Which way for ResBaz?
Founded in 1997, Universitas 21, or U21 for short, is the leading global network of research universities for the 21st century. Their vision is to “work together to foster global citizenship and institutional innovation through research‐inspired teaching and learning, student mobility, connecting our students and staff, and wider advocacy for internationalisation” [1].
Right now, there are 26 member universities around the world. That’s a whopping 1.3 million students and 210,000 academics and researchers part of this network! [2]
Hmm…which U21 uni will join the Research Bazaar next?!
U21 holds an annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) to give graduate students an opportunity to present their research and network with other students outside their fields. The theme of the conference varies year-to-year, but draws students from a broad range of disciplines.
The 2015 GRC was held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in Shanghai, China from June 9-12. Sound familiar? That’s because SJTU were the original publishers of the Academic Ranking of World Universities each year (where Melbourne Uni proudly sits at No.44). SJTU was founded in 1896 and is one of China’s oldest and most prestigious universities. Hosted at the School of Media and Design, the conference’s theme was “Digital Future,” with the aim of exploring the evolution and influence of digital technology on society.
SJTU’s School of Media and Design focuses on the interconnection of technology, science, research and arts. The perfect setting for all topics Digital.
Each member university could nominate graduate students from different departments to present their research covering multiple disciplines all related to the digital age, from digital media to digital life to digital technology. Representing Melbourne Uni, we had Prasanna Sritharan (Mechanical Engineering), Voula Karvelas (Education), Suneel Jethani (Media and Communications), and myself. I was fortunate in that I didn’t have to present my own research, but instead could talk about ResBaz!
The Melbourne Uni contingent (L to R): Pras, Katie, Voula, and Suneel.
The conference included 3 days of keynote talks from leading SJTU researchers, student presentations, a digital company tour, and of course nights out in Shanghai! Stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll fill you in on all the juicy details of the actual conference itself!
[1] About Universitas 21: http://www.universitas21.com/about
[2] If you’re reading this and are doing or thinking about starting a PhD at an U21 university, you may want to consider a jointly-awarded PhD program with two U21 universities. Joint PhD projects create opportunities for research collaborations with high quality research-intensive universities around the globe. You can truly tailor-make a PhD program for yourself!
