CQUniversity's School of Medical and Applied Sciences is reinvigorating its honours programs.  A key strategy has been to offer a number of honours scholarships, to be awarded on a competitive basis.

During Term 1, five science honours applicants were successful, including Chris Slavin (marine debris in Tasmania), Darsy O'Neill (assessing mining revegetation projects), Aleisha Finger (maternal behavior in beef cattle), Jacqui Younger (invasive marine algal pests) and Laura Harbinson (pharmacology).

Scholarship recipients from the Rockhampton cohort Darsy O'Neill, Laura Harbinson and Chris Slavin (L to R) being congratulated by Prof Grant Stanley, Head of Medical and Applied Sciences

The revised structure of the BSc(Honours)(Science) now allows for greater flexibility, with part-time and mid-year entry now available, as well as scope for students to be located on a range of other campuses.

Jacqui Younger is based in Melbourne and is supervised by Professor Marnie Campbell on Gladstone Campus.  Two of the students are co-supervised by Dr Dave Swain from the Centre for Environmental Management (and have projects located in the Central Highlands).

Honours co-ordinator Dr Bob Newby said that while the new arrangements meant it was more complex to arrange activities such as seminars, he was pleased with the increased flexibility, the increased student numbers and the involvement of staff on non-Rockhampton campuses.

Dean of School Professor Grant Stanley said the scholarship program aimed to encourage outstanding undergraduate students to complete further study within the School of Medical and Applied Science, to obtain their Honours qualifications.  Two scholarships have been reserved for students starting in Term 2.

A number of projects are related to environmental sustainability and this is consistent with the themes in two of the specializations in the recently-revised undergraduate program in science which is due to start in 2012, said Head of Program, Dr Judith Wake.