A diverse sampling of UNE’s postgraduate students descended on the university’s Business School Tuesday to present their research to fellow academics, and the community at large.
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Higher Degree Research Coordinator Philip Thomas said the two-day conference would focus on “Intersections of Knowledge,” encouraging collaboration between researchers from different fields of study.
“It’s a theme that’s highly appropriate in a small university like UNE,” Dr Thomas said.
“In fact it’s highly appropriate at every university, but with smaller numbers here, more conversations involving more diverse backgrounds can be achieved.”
Around 80 students would present findings of their research over two days, Dr Thomas said, and said he was happy to see members of the New England community in attendance as well as academics.
“The local community is always welcome,” he said.
One-time UNE student and agricultural researcher Dr John Dixon emphasised this point with a keynote speech on food supply systems, and how they will cope with the twin challenges of climate change and a rising population.
Dr Dixon said that particular issue alone encompassed the fields of health, agriculture, ecology and politics.
“Each year, hunger and malnutrition kill 1.5 million more people than AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, road accidents, malaria and natural disasters combined,” he said.
Canadian gymnast-turned-academic Dan Aubin encouraged his audience to take risks in their research, ditching the usual PowerPoint presentation and, instead, using several chairs and acrobatic skill to get his point across.
Standing in the low light of a packed lecture hall, Mr Aubin spoke about the need to think differently, to consult with others with different points of view, and to take risks in one’s research.
At intervals Mr Aubin stacked four wooden chairs in successively higher, more precarious towers as he spoke, before performing handstands on top of the wobbling apparatus.
“We live in a safety culture,” Mr Aubin said after a rehearsal earlier in the day, “and we’re given readymade templates for everything, even on how to do research.”
“And research is one of the most creative acts, the creation of new knowledge, so I’m trying to provoke research programs to find a way to look at problems and ideas differently,” he said.
“I’ve been tempted by PowerPoint a few times,” he added, “but I haven’t caved yet.”
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