Education and training update

This month Matthew Tan submitted his PhD thesis for examination. Matthew completed his PhD on new diagnostic methods for nematodes and amazingly completed more than two months short of the three year mark! Hot on his heels is Rachel Mann (nee Powney) who is also due to submit her thesis on fire blight. Matthew has started working with a diagnostics company in Singapore and Rachel is with the Department of Primary Industries Victoria. Congratulations to Matthew and Rachel.

A happy Matthew Tan following his thesis submission, with his supervisors, David Berryman (left) and Michael Jones (right).

I recently conducted a post-PhD survey of our student cohort. The main purpose of the survey was to determine the satisfaction levels of our current students and to identify areas for improvement in the Plant Biosecurity CRC. It was very pleasing to note that 56% of our students rate their overall experience with the CRC as ‘very good’ and 44% as ‘good’ – the top two categories! Areas of improvement include the need to streamline some processes and more input into the professional development sessions that we provide. Some of the comments received are listed below:

The extra opportunities provided by the CRC were great. I learnt valuable skills through the workshops, was able to make great collaborative links which were fruitful and I finished up with a thesis I am proud of.

Thanks to the CRC's support I obtained a golden chance to gain training in the plant biosecurity field.

The CRC provided excellent opportunities for professional development and networking through workshops, science exchange meetings, and field trips. It was definitely the best way to spend three years.

As the CRCNPB comes to an end I would like to acknowledge the support of all of the PhD supervisors. Wherever possible our students have been supervised by both an academic and an industry supervisor.

The time that supervisors allocate to their students should not be underestimated, with many hours spent planning, analyzing and conducting experiments with the students, as well as plenty of late nights spent editing thesis chapters and manuscripts. And don’t forget the need for several boxes of tissues when the going gets tough!

On behalf of the CRC I would like to thank everyone who has been involved with our student projects and I hope that you have received a lot of enjoyment from working with our students.

Kirsty Bayliss
Education and Training Program Leader

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