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The
department of astrophysics at UNSW has been ranked in the world’s
top one per cent of space science institutions by the international
ranking agency, the Institute of Scientific Information.
The agency’s essential science indicators (ESI) is a web-based
compilation of indicators to assess and rank the global research
performance of scientists, journals, universities and nations.
Aimed at researchers and policy makers, ESI analyses more than
ten million journal articles from over 8,500 indexed journals
in 22 fields of scientific endeavour.
The department’s top ranking is based on the publication
of 372 journal papers that were cited 6,652 times in the past
10 years. ESI updates its ranking bi-monthly and publishes them
on its website.
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Head
of physics at UNSW, Professor John Storey, said the new ranking
was partly a result of key academic appointments in astronomy
and astrophysics.
“We made several key appointments 10 to 15 years ago in
the areas of cosmology, star formation and instrumentation that
are now paying dividends,” Storey said. “The cosmology
programs initiated by Professor Warrick Couch have been especially
successful.”
Couch was appointed in 1989 and is responsible for 40 per cent
of all space science citations attributed to the department of
astrophysics.
The ranking comes as UNSW works in collaboration with institutions
in the US, France and Italy to build the first permanent national
observatory on Australian-Antarctic territory.
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Storey
said the current era of space science was
an exciting one.
“The past few years have seen the discovery of planets around
other stars, the first detailed measurements of the structure
of the early universe, and the discovery of a black hole in the
centre of our galaxy,” he said.
Warrick
Couch
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The
NSW Governor, Marie Bashir and the community services minister,
Carmel Tebbutt recently launched new research on the effectiveness
of family-based intervention in protecting children.
The study, Protecting children by strengthening families, is the
result of collaboration between the University’s school
of social work and Barnardos Australia.UNSW’s Dr Elizabeth
Fernandez monitored a range of at-risk families participating
in Barnardos family support programs for six months to assess
the service’s impact in preventing child abuse and neglect.
“The findings show the programs did have a positive impact,”
Fernandez said. “The majority of families developed better
coping strategies which enhanced child and family well-being.
Overall there was a reduced involvement in child protective services.”
“We like the partnership and we hope to go on doing more
of it,” said the chief executive of Barnardos, Louise Voight.
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“Being
a partner to a university is a bit of a roller-coaster ride. You
think they’re going to tell you that you’re all right
– but they don’t always. It’s important though
to have our practices examined, so our workers must ask whether
we could do it better.”
According to Dr Fernandez, the study is one of the few that takes
a 360-degree look at the family, through interviews with children,
parents and family support workers.
“I’m delighted to be here for such a significant event,”
said Marie Bashir, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. “In
recent years, a body of evidence has been accumulating which has
deepened our understanding of the most vulnerable children and
families in our society. This knowledge has inspired studies such
as this, which are indicating some of the way ahead based on evidence.”
The researchers also adapted a UK framework for the assessment
of children in need and their families. “The model, which
focuses on seven key domains, enables family support
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professionals
to work with families in a holistic way based on early intervention
strategies,” said Fernandez. “It focuses on prevention
rather than the current risk assessment models, which are incident-focused.”
Carmel
Tebbutt, Marie Bashir and Elizabeth Fernandez at the lanuch.
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