Marcus Butler
1 November 2016: From unveiling your ancestry in a genetics lab to waging war on Tasmanian Devil facial tumours, a group of University of Canberra researchers have put their skills to the test, summarising their research into a 90 second pitch in a bid to secure extra funds to further their work.
A field of 17 competitors took part in this year’s University of Canberra Pitch for Funds competition, where researchers of all levels, from PhD candidates to associate professors, appealed for funding grants in front of a panel of judges and a live audience.
Competitors this year are investigating an incredible range of topics, including preserving person-to-person heritage, fossil hunting in rural Australia, boosting kids spelling skills and even discussing what Socceroo Tim Cahill and women with hip pain have in common.
See the 2016 P4F competitors in action
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Frances Shannon offered $7,000 in prize money with judges receiving $1,500 each to allocate as they wish. Members of the 200-strong audience also had five ‘UC-dollars’ each to award to their researcher of choice.
The prize money was shared by four presenters; Shara Ranasinghe, Kasia Bail, Louise Curham and Tessa Daffern, each received $1,500 from the judging panel, who decided to award their prize allocation in equal lump-sums.
There was also a special commendation for PhD candidate Abel Zhou, whose work attracted special attention on the night, with an external funder present in the audience announcing their interest in supporting his work to improve diagnostic imaging techniques.
Professor Shannon said the format is designed to challenge researchers to think about how they present their work.
“Throughout their career researchers will need to present to lay-audiences and often they’re the people in charge of the purse strings for funding grants,” Professor Shannon said.
“There’s a definite skill to being able to describe complex research in a relatable and interesting way and it’s even more challenging to do that in 90 seconds.”
The judging panel was made up of Senator Katy Gallagher, Professor Tim Senden from The Australian National University, successful entrepreneur and local businesswoman Sheryle Moon and adjunct professor Tony Peacock.
The annual event, which started on campus in 2011, is a unique opportunity for all participants to potentially share in the funding pool instead of a 'winner-takes-all' scenario.
Pitch for Funds Competitors
Abel Zhou - Scatter radiation reduction revolution (PhD candidate Faculty of Health)
Dr Angie Fearon - What do Tim Cahill and women with hip pain have in common? (Clinical assistant professor, Faculty of Health)
Cynthia Mathew - Promising SINEs against asthma (PhD candidate, Faculty of Education, Science, Information Technology (IT) & Mathematics)
Dr Dennis McNevin – Unveiling your ancestry in a genetics lab (Associate professor, Faculty of Education, Science, Information Technology (IT) & Mathematics)
Gregory Mowle – Revealing the extreme excitement of financial literacy (PhD candidate, Faculty of Business, Government and Law)
Helen Sellers - Talking to the tiger, Australia and India’s national security dialogue (PhD candidate, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis)
Dr Jamie Gaida - The sympathetic nervous system and musculoskeletal pain (Associate professor, Faculty of Health)
Dr Janine Deakin - Waging war on Tasmanian devil facial tumours: understanding the enemy (Associate professor, Institute for Applied Ecology)
Jenny Duxbury - A Government Lawyer’s Guidebook (PhD candidate, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis)
Kasia Bail - Nurses care less for older people but it costs more (Assistant professor, Faculty of Health)
Louise Curham - Tending the archive – how keeping stuff links to using stuff and builds better communities along the way (PhD candidate, Faculty of Arts and Design)
Dr Michael Frese - Insects, fish and dinosaurs? (Assistant professor, Faculty of Education, Science, Information Technology (IT) & Mathematics)
Nadya Urakova - Breaking the viral 'photocopier' (PhD candidate, Faculty of Education, Science, Information Technology (IT) & Mathematics)
Dr Richard Keegan - Do something different: move more and see the benefits (Assistant professor, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise)
Sean Dicks - Bereavement experiences of families of potential organ donors (PhD candidate, Faculty of Health)
Shara Ranasinghe - Enhancing patient-centred cancer communication during cancer treatment (Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Design)
Dr Tessa Daffern - Spell it out (Assistant professor, Faculty of Education, Science, Information Technology (IT) & Mathematics)
