Understanding the Earth - big picture research at GEMOC
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A group of GEMOC postgrad students. |
Postgrad students joining a key Macquarie University research centre are invited to think big - as big as the planet we're standing on.
"Since we were set up in 1995, we've come a long way in understanding the top 200 kilometres of the Earth, which is known as the lithosphere," says Director of the ARC National Key Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC), Professor Sue O'Reilly. "We've now extended that and we're looking at the whole Earth, from the surface right down to the core, 3000 kilometres beneath us."
O'Reilly says this big picture focus is applied by everyone working at GEMOC.
"We encourage thinking across the traditional boundaries within geoscience, across geophysics, tectonics and geochemistry and in doing so I think we're giving postgrads and postdocs a distinctive edge for their careers," she says.
"Often they come here and they've had particular types of tuition or they've done particular types of research. We take them out of their comfort zone by saying 'Yes, but how does this fit into the broad picture?' and 'Who will be interested?' 'Why would anybody want to fund this sort of stuff - what's its relevance?' We make them think big. Although the project they're doing may be extremely specialised, it is adding to a larger picture and they become aware of its importance in the whole jigsaw of understanding how the Earth works."
Joining the international GEMOC network
GEMOC has enjoyed an excellent postgraduate research environment with students coming from many countries - including France, Germany, China, Russia, the USA and UK, Africa and Australia - to study at Macquarie. In addition, last year alone GEMOC had over 30 international researchers come and work on collaborative projects at the Centre.
If you couple that academic collaboration with interaction with industry partners, an international network of experts is quickly developed.
"We have people from industry spending significant periods of time here with us and we, including postgrads, go and spend significant time either in industry or in the field with industry partners," says O'Reilly. "At the moment, for example, we've got two people from BHP here for a week, one from South America and the other from Perth. They're working one-on-one with our postgrads and postdocs, just part of our team."
Technology and facilities
The final part of the postgraduate package, according to O'Reilly, is making sure that postgrad students are trained in the very latest tools and technologies.
"Part of our success has been due to our focus on getting state-of-the-art instrumentation and targeting it at finding answers we really want to know," she says. "We have perhaps the best directed geochemical technology park in the southern hemisphere, which postgrads make full use of. So not only are they being trained in absolutely frontline research, they have industry experience and they're getting new technology. With all these skills they're able to go out and get a job anywhere in the world and join our international network."
For more information, visit the GEMOC website at www.es.mq.edu.au/GEMOC/PostgradInfo.html