Pieter Duvenage – Science, technology and Wisdom

In this contribution I will start with with Aristotle's influential discussion of the intellectual virtues in the sixth book of the Nicomachean Ethics. I will then move to Heidegger and Gadamer's 20th century appropriation of Aristotle in their respective discussions of the role of science, technology, and wisdom in contemporary society.

Robert Schall - Effective research collaboration with a consulting statistician

This presentation will provide guidelines and advice for an effective research collaboration with a consulting statistician. The ideal consulting statistician is not primarily a “number cruncher”, but an expert in research methodology. As such, the statistician can make a significant contribution at various stages of the research project, including design and planning, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of findings and their publication. Like good wine, consulting statisticians improve with age (up to a point).

Jacques Raubenheimer - Statistics in science

How you present your statistical data is very important if you want the reader to interpret it correctly. Sometimes graphs work better than tables, while writing it out in words can in some cases trump the graphical presentation of the results. Students often make use of creative ways to hide data that has not been gathered correctly or to place the emphasis on the results that they expected to obtain, even though it may not be the correct interpretation of the results. This presentation will focus on the correct ways of presenting your statistical data, while simultaneously taking the fear factor out of the metaphorical statistical equation.

Lize Joubert - Plant collection for identification and research

Herbarium specimens are valuable resources which can be used for a multitude of purposes such as plant identification, mapping of plant distribution ranges, study of plant morphology, anatomy, plant pathology and traditional uses. This workshop deals with the basic techniques in collecting, drying and preserving high quality plant specimens which can be used for identification purposes. Well prepared specimens can also be included in permanent herbarium collections and serve as an important source of data for several generations of researchers.

Jano Myburgh - Photography for academia

Photography is a medium that can be used to visually communicate and more effectively convey research as well as serve as a visual record of data and findings. In order to fulfil either or both of these objectives the camera operator is required to understand and be able to employ certain basic skills to improve the aesthetic quality of images and fulfil technical requirements for images to serve as data. This presentation will introduce researchers to these basic skills and allow them to engage their target audience with more pleasing visual images and more clearly illustrate their finding as well as introduce them to a proper image cataloguing system to better store and access their visual data.

John Taylor - Your role in attracting and retaining the next generation of RD&E professionals

Declining university enrolments in ‘agriculture’ have led to concerns in Australia that the supply of agricultural professionals (i.e. scientists, advisors/extension officers, farm managers and consultants) will not meet the demand. Reasons for the decline include the image of primary industries, perceptions of career opportunities and a poor understanding of the sources of food and fibre in an increasingly disconnected, urban society. A recent review of the scientist education pipeline for the livestock industries in Australia has identified three key phases when career motivations can be aroused, nurtured and developed: at primary school, secondary school and at university. Student feedback reveals that in each of these phases there are a range of actions you could take to inspire and motivate the next generation of research, development and extension (RD&E) professionals.

Terry Everson - People, the environment, and community research

People are an integral component of almost all natural systems on earth, yet are often viewed as being ‘unnatural’. Research in natural systems often ignores the human aspect; alternatively, the human component of a system is accommodated as a function and within the context of a particular society.

Adrian Shrader - Writing a project proposal – the academic aspect

Within academic environments, project proposals rest most fundamentally on their scientific credibility. However, project proposals, especially at undergraduate or beginner-scientist level, often suffer from irrelevant information, a lack of logicalprogression, and unclear objectives.

Wayne Truter - Finding funding for research

Research efforts and opportunities are often limited by the availability of funds. However, considerable monetary resources are available if searched for correctly. Additionally, funds are often renewable if appropriate performance is maintained by the researcher

Luthando Dziba - Networking, management and collaboration in research institutions

Scientists usually have specialised fields of interest and expertise. Collaboration is, therefore, a useful way to expand the scope of research projects. Despite this, collaboration is an often underused opportunity.

Clement Cupido - Managing photographs for optimum use

Photographs are normally saved in folders with one unique name or number. An image might contain a lot of information, eg. a picture of a cow grazing in the grassland biome. Adding tags (e.g. cow, grazing and grassland) to a picture makes it much easier to search images in your photo library. Tags, which are essentially keywords or phrases that make it easy to search for images within a certain category. Tips on renaming pictures in bulk and how to reduce image size for email purposes, websites, presentations and reports will also be shared.

Justin du Toit - Chaos to order - managing research data effectively

Experiment or monitoring data are often captured and stored in ways that reduce their potential, make them inaccessible, and allow them to be lost. Some simple principles and tools allow the information in even huge datasets to become easily available and pliable.

Jan Roodt - South African National Standard 10386: The care and use of animals for scientific purposes

An introduction will be given about the ethical aspects (the way animals are treated) involved when domesticated animals and wildlife form part of a research project. Emphasis will be placed on the procedures to follow with regards to permission from the ethical committee to do research of any sort on such animals.

Terry Olckers - Presenting effectively with PowerPoint

Platform presentations are nowadays usually dependent on PowerPoint. Despite this technology, many presentations fail to effectively convey the statement the presenter is trying to make.

Adrian Shrader - 11 seconds – presenting posters effectively

Poster presentations are a valuable, and often the only available, way of presenting work at a congress. This results in many congresses having numerous posters, too many for an individual to read. Therefore, a poster must compete with other posters if it is to be read by the delegates.

Tony Palmer – Reviewing

The anonymous peer-review system is central to scientific research. Carefully executed reviews can substantially improve the quality of a paper, and in turn the abilities of the author. The review process can also be frightening to inexperienced authors, and the comments of reviewers need to be taken in the correct light. Reviewers who are overly interested in structure rather than content can be of disservice to authors.

Amelia Genis - The public can't speak Science because scientists don't speak English

Scientists often do not realise what wealth of life-changing information they hold, because sharing their research with the ordinary public seldom forms part of their training thinking. However, in a time when sensation and gossip about celebrities sometimes dominate the news, South African society needs scientists who can explain the significance and relevance of their research to the public, or at least to journalists and editors. There are a couple of tricks to the trade, some of which will be shared during this talk.

James Bennett - Getting it out there – overcoming the publishing obstacle

Peer-reviewed articles (‘papers’) are the accepted means of recording and communicating ideas and findings in science.  However, the prospect of writing up research for publication, especially for beginner scientists, can be quite daunting, and scathing reviews of submissions can be discouraging.  This session provides a step by step guide to the key considerations in producing a scientific paper both from an author and reviewer/journal editor perspective.