Round 3 Grant Recipients 2017
Project | Project Coordinator | Project Description | Amount Funded |
1. Melbourne University Biomedicine Students' Orchestra (MUBSO) | Emily Sun, Student | The SSAF Grant is to support the Melbourne University Biomedicine Student’s Orchestra (MUBSO) which is an UMSU-affiliated club for students with a love of classical music and passion for charity. While not exclusively for Biomedicine students, MUBSO has a strong medical focus through medicine-related community concerts and events. At its heart, MUBSO helps foster students' emotional expression through music. In 2017, MUBSO held two major concerts, and looks forward to holding community concerts in December. In 2018, MUBSO plans to hold two major concerts (in April and September), as well as a Music Enrichment and Rural Community Outreach camp in rural Victoria. | $9,350 |
2. POC on POC Community Forum | Hannah Weeramanthri, Student | A forum and discussion space for young people of colour to meet with each other and hear from people who may inspire their futures. An informal discussion space will allow for true engagement with broad ideas and exciting and inspirational speakers. Attendees can speak with one another, rather than be spoken at. It will be a community program directed from within the community. | $5,500 |
3. Professional and Inter-professional development for medical and allied-health students | Kwang Cham, Optometry and Vision Sciences | This student-led initiative serves to enhance students’ graduate outcomes and employability by supporting them in identifying vital digital literacy skills required for their careers, and assisting them in developing a sound digital identity and capability through interactive workshops and seminars. Students will also organise industry events to engage and network with professionals that are both discipline-specific and inter-professional. This project will assist students in developing both generic and discipline-specific digital skills for their careers, and increase their exposure of career development opportunities whilst in University. Enhancing student professional development and inter-professional engagement is imperative to graduate employability. | $10,000 |
4. Personal and Professional Development Assist for Music Therapy students | Hina Fukuda, Student | This project is to better support students enrolled in the Master of Music Therapy in regards to their personal and professional development. It is also intended to support new first year masters students to have a smooth transition into their course by attending social events and professional development days financially supported by the university. | $5,000 |
5.Professional development and careers in the Bachelor of Agriculture | Sarah Frankland, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences | This project will support a professional development and careers week for Bachelor of Agriculture students. These activities will include sessions for students to explore their personal interests and values and to understand the breadth of career opportunities available to them. Our industry evening will also provide an important opportunity to engage with industry partners and develop professional networks in the discipline. Sessions focused on networking, presentation skills and CV writing will equip students to seek out and gain important career development opportunities while they are undergraduates | $8,900 |
6. Young Entrepreneurs Collective (YEL) | Derek Lieu, Student | The Young Entrepreneurs Collective (YEC) is an organisation aiming to enable student entrepreneurs. We aim to educate, inspire and connect individuals in the tertiary environment and help them on their journeys towards starting businesses. We also aim to be a bridge between the tertiary environment and the external startup sector. The funds will be used to fund our events and organisational administration. We hope to expand our operations next year and host events that will engage the student cohort in entrepreneurship as well as build a community for employment opportunities in the startup ecosystem. | $5,000 |
7. Student Conference 2017 School of Ecosystems and Forest Science (SEFS), Burnley | Joerg Werdin, Student | The conference is an annual 3 day event that brings the SEFS RHD graduate student cohort together, endeavouring to connect and empower our student group. SEFS graduate students are based at 3 separate campuses, which means we rarely spend time together and learn about the diverse research fields we are involved in. This conference facilitates cross-campus networking outside our day to day research life. Additionally, the conference program aims to empower students to get the most out of their candidature, get insight into and advice on career pathways, and importantly, enables students to network beyond their immediate research groups. | $9,970 |
8. A String of Light Project | Pisey Hong, Student | This project aims to provide a space for students who are interested in arts, specifically in do-it-yourself crafts, as well as those who are interested in fundraising for a good cause and creating an impact on disadvantaged communities of children in impoverished parts of the world. It aims to bring people together to learn, have some fun, and use their skills and talent to create change and make a meaningful difference to others who are disadvantaged and lack opportunity. We hope to bring light and smiles to disadvantaged children in need. | $555 |
9. Timor-Leste, Then & Now: Celebrating the Cultural Heritage of Timor-Leste at 15 Years of Independence | Maria Halkias, Student | The activity consists of a symposium and exhibition at The Good Room in Brunswick East. The symposium will be held October 27 and the exhibition will open the same day, running until November 9, 2017. Our keynote speaker at the symposium is the Director of Afalyca Arts Centre in Baucau. Other presenters are either individuals who've worked in Timor-Leste or representatives of Timorese community groups that are based in Melbourne. The exhibition will display a number of materials that are considered historical cultural heritage (then) and contemporary art and cultural productions/conservation endeavours (now). | $3,102 |
10. Library pop-ups | Kylie Tran, Academic Services | In 2017, the library trialed weekly library pop-ups across 6 locations on the Parkville campus. The initiative aims to engage with the student population in a more informal setting and potentially reach those who may not use our services. Library staff and collaborators in Student IT and Academic Skills prepare a webpage with key resources on a topic, which have included: time management tips, exam preparation, digital spring clean, free apps and software, reference management tools and wellness. Pop-up staff talk through the key messages and give away bookmarks with the website URL for future reference. | $1,500 |
11. Wellbeing Resources for Veterinary Students | Laura Dooley, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences | This project will develop new resources to assist veterinary students to maintain optimal wellbeing through their studies and beyond. Online videos and short activities will be developed, which present practical self-care, wellbeing and resilience strategies specifically targeted to the context of veterinary studies and employment. These resources will be complemented by small group workshop sessions facilitating student discussion around these topics. During the workshop sessions, students will create personal wellbeing and stress management plans which can immediately be actioned during their studies. | $8,291 |
12. Rare Trades Summer School | Grace Barrand, Student | With support from the SSAF grant, this Summer School will provide a platform for knowledge transfer and hands on training in a variety of rare artisan trade skills. This project will work to engage graduate students from a range of disciplines with artistic professionals who possess a rare trade skill in both lectures and workshops across one week. It is also an exciting opportunity for students to get together and socialise in an informal environment to learn from one another! | $10,000 |
13. Australian Play Project | Dominic Weintraub, Student | The Australian Play Project is a 14-week long project aiming to connect students from all disciplines at the Southbank Campus through a collaborative exploration of Australian theatre. This project will be a two-step process: a reading followed by a discussion of the play’s characters, themes, styles, and structure, and then a collaborative, interdisciplinary exploration of the ideas established in the discussion. This two-step process will be fortnightly, with a change of play every two weeks. The SSAF grant will help to purchase and photocopy plays, reimburse design students for any expenditure on materials, and provide refreshments for all attending students. | $2,800 |
14. .jpg Art Journal - Art History Student Society | Ella Shi, Student | .jpg is the biannual journal of the Art History Student Society. Initiated in 2016, it features writing (long form essays, exhibition reviews, interviews) and artwork by students. Currently .jpg consists of a publication team of a publications director, 5 editors and 5 graphics contributors - all of whom are students. So far, .jpg is predominantly published online via the art history student society website with occasional limited print runs. We want to expand our print publication, with the aim of becoming an established campus journal for the publication of student work in the fields of of art history, curatorship and conservation. | $1,200 |
15. A Touch of Green | Clair Richards, Melbourne Graduate School of Education | To bring the outdoors in and improve both physical and mental wellbeing by building a growroom that is filled with edible greenery. The growroom will be fabricated by the Melbourne School of Design and the plant choice, precise location and garden layout will be made in collaboration with the Graduate Education Society and our Master of Teaching student body at large. With a lack of greenspace at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and a disconnect through physical distance and the upcoming closure of Grattan Street, from the Student Precinct, access to their own growroom will be aimed at improving overall wellbeing and encouraging collaboration. | $8,708 |
16. Chamber Challenge | Andrew Groch, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music | During Orientation Week 2018, in a startup accelerator style competition, groups of music students will work to create an achievable strategy for the success of their small performance ensemble. By developing skills in finance, marketing, and strategy with assistance from IgniteLAB and industry professionals, they will compete to win a prize of $3000 to assist the winning group to implement their strategy. The SSAF fund will provide the prize funds and cover costs of engaging external speakers. | $5,000 |
17. World Universities Debating Championships Contingent | Ben O'Shea, Student | The World Universities Debating Championships brings together over 1,000 university students from six continents for a week-long debating tournament. The 2019 edition of the tournament is hosted by the University of Cape Town (South Africa) from the 27th December 2018 to 4th January 2019. It is attended by a host of distinguished universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, as well as many fellow Universitas 21 member institutions. The SSAF Grant will support sending a contingent of three teams and two adjudicators to the tournament and provide a flight subsidy to participants. | $10,000 |
18. Enhancing student experiences through digital storytelling and reflection on clinical placements | Nicolas Soputro, Student | This will be a new student initiative based in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, focusing on the use of multimedia to convey student experiences in their endeavour through clinical placements and medical electives both locally, interstate, and overseas. The aim of this project is to provide a medium whereby students can reflect on their experiences, practice developing an effective means of communication, and provide learning opportunities to their fellow colleagues based on their clinical/research experiences. This grant will be used to provide catering for the free workshops on digital storytelling, and purchase prizes for quality submissions. | $1,571 |
19. Wellbeing Arts Summer Program | Nadja Mott, Student | Our Well-Being Arts Summer Program run by University of Melbourne postgraduate students involves undergraduate and postgraduate students from across the University of Melbourne's Southbank and Parkville campuses. These students engage with internationally-renowned artists in collaborative and community-facing interdisciplinary Arts practice. The program further extends the students' professional and personal development through exploring themes vital to a holistic notion of wellbeing, with a particular emphasis on inclusiveness and equality. | $10,000 |
20. Catalyst | Raisa Litchfield, Student | Catalyst is a 24 hour Hackathon organised by the Computing & Information Systems Students Association (CISSA). Unlike other Hackathons, in Catalyst 2018 we will form teams of university and high school students as they endeavour to create technical solutions for problems related to the chosen theme, promoting student mental wellbeing. Furthermore, prior to the Hackathon, we'll host workshops targeted at high school students. With these, we aim to help university students develop their leadership skills and build their professional network as they work with industry experts to teach high school students skills they will need during the Hackathon. | $9,800 |
21. Graduate Education Society (GES) Student Support and Development Program | Mandie Lee, Student | The GES hopes to continue its growth in supporting student life at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education socially, professionally and with regards to wellbeing. The semester begins with a range of Orientation events and services for new and returning students, then continues with a number of professional development seminars, social breakfasts, lunches, and mindfulness sessions in stressful academic times, and a continual content uploads of student produced content on our new website. Supporting these different aspects of the student experience will enrich all students’ experience of graduate study, no matter where they are from or which graduate course they are studying. | $4,900 |
22. Female Creative Founders | Dove Rengger-Thorpe, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music | VCA/MCM will organise and host a series of workshops on leadership skill development with female executives, artists and conductors for current students to engage with successful female professionals. The aim of the workshop series is to provide role models for young women to inspire and motivate their future studies and careers. | $8,950 |
23. TransHealth@Unimelb | Ingrid Bretherton, Student | The TransHealth@Unimelb team is a group of predominantly student volunteers (trans and allies) who aim to support the mental health and emotional well-being of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) students and promote acceptance of gender diversity amongst the general student population. We have two main goals for this grant; firstly to create a dedicated webpage and social media network providing emotional support, self-care and reliable, evidence-based medical and health information for TGD students. Secondly, we will run special events to promote awareness of gender diversity and promote wellbeing across University campuses; a 'Facethefacts' transgender awareness campaign and a TransHealth Art Award coinciding with Transgender Day of Visibility (March 2018) and Transgender Awareness Week (November 2018) respectively. We aim to promote the health and wellbeing of TGD students, who, as a result of stigma and discrimination, are often disadvantaged in multiple areas including engagement in education, employment, housing, and health. | $23,465 |
24. MDSC Wellness Program | RJ Seastres, Student | In its second year, the MD Student Conference (MDSC) Wellness Program will provide the students of the University of Melbourne Medical School with an opportunity to engage in non-academic activities that promote the importance of a work-life (or in this case, academic-wellness) balance during MDSC 2018. The first iteration of the program launched in MDSC 2017 as a response to the issues that medical students face surrounding self-care and their mental health and wellbeing, which has come to the forefront in recent times at the Melbourne Medical School. | $60,000 |
25. GSA Governance Overhaul | Andrew Cameron, GSA CEO | The project is intended to create a new constitution and set of governance documents for Graduate Student Association (GSA). These new documents will provide a more sustainable governance structure for the organisation and thereby ensure continued high performance, greater consistency to operations, and enhanced transparency and opportunity for the University’s graduate students to participate in their representative association. | $112,702 |
26. Renewal and Expansion of Engineers without Borders' Regioneering Roadshow | Robert Schmid, Melbourne School of Engineering (in collaboration with students) | This project seeks to expand the scope of Engineers without Borders UniMelb Chapter’s Regioneering initiative and improve UniMelb students’ experience of the program both on and off-campus through additional activities and the purchase of new materials. Engineers without Borders (EWB) is a group of enthusiastic like-minded volunteers committed to educating and inspiring students about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) with a focus on tackling humanitarian issues. The annual ‘Regioneering’ initiative aims to address the under-representation of regional schools in STEM fields through hands-on workshops held throughout Victoria. | $21,790 |
27. MLS international students experiential learning project | Rachel Sun, Melbourne Law School | Melbourne Law School (MLS) international students experiential learning project is a 3 week program where international law students form teams to apply their legal knowledge and conceptual frameworks to real world projects provided by external organisations. The project aims to assist international law students to enhance their professional skills, apply their legal knowledge in a range of broader contexts, broaden networks and build industry connections. The overall project goal is to help international law students improve their employment prospects by equipping them with practical skills. | $20,000 |
28. Debt Help Project | Reeanna Maloney, UMSU Legal Service | The Debt Help project will provide financial counselling and community legal education to alleviate or prevent debt problems associated with legal matters. The University of Melboune Student Union (UMSU) Legal Service will employ a qualified financial counsellor 2 days per week to provide holistic resolution to legal matters impacting students. The project aims to incorporate casework, advocacy and community education across a broad range of areas including insurance, scams and infringements. The financial counsellor will work closely with the Legal Service lawyers as part of a multidisciplinary approach to assisting students with their legal needs. | $43,992 |
29. The Research Bazaar Conference (ResBaz) | Yamni Mohan, Infrastructure Services | The SSAF grant will be used to support the Research Bazaar Conference (ResBaz). ResBaz is a three day, interactive conference where researchers learn about digital tools, empowering them to work smarter not harder. ResBaz is an event run by researchers for researchers. The event has two major components. (1) Participation in 'samplers' of digital tools workshops, and (2) Sharing their ‘digital research toolbox’, outlining the digital tools that they use in their research - enabling us to better support researchers in the future. Today, all research is digitally-enabled and ResBaz is all about reducing the barriers to engaging with digital research tools. | $50,000 |
30. Developing Employability: Supporting non-performance career pathways for musicians | Susan de Weger, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music | The SSAF Grant will be provide a wide range of stipends for music students to undertake professional learning as Project Coordinators, Community Teaching Artists and Arts Administrators within community music organisations. Additionally the SSAF grant will provide $10,000 for a Creativity Fund Grant to enable entrepreneurial and enterprising students to bring innovative program ideas to life. This project represents engagement between University staff, students and industry partners to collaboratively work together and enhance a learning journey which benefits all parties. Given systemic employment challenges in the performing arts, graduate musicians must be supported to imagine self-created performance and non-performance pathways for their careers and to develop arts entrepreneurship and enterprise skills. | $50,000 |
| 31. Lateral Magazine, science communication experience for STEM students | Jack Scanlan, Student | Lateral is an online science magazine that provides a platform for students to learn how to communicate science to the general public while getting remunerated for their efforts. Founded by a team of University of Melbourne students two years ago, we have already helped dozens of students from the university to improve their communication skills — leading to valuable career opportunities. We hope to continue this record by providing students with detailed feedback on their work, a credible place to publish and guidance to help them set out on the path to becoming a science writer or illustrator. | $19,461 |
32. UMMSS Wellness Program | Jessica Wagstaff, Student | The UMMSS (University of Melbourne Medical Students' Society) has been researching ways to improve medical student wellbeing. At the Vanderbilt Medical School they introduced a wellness program and have had great success. After much discussion we have decided to implement a similar program tailored to Melbourne Medical School students, and collaborate closely with the various student groups that UMMSS already oversees. We believe "when doctors are able to stay healthy and happy, that means patients get physicians who are more compassionate and selfless." - Dr Rodgers (Associate Dean of Medical Student Affairs at Vanderbilt) to New York Times. | $14,500 |
33. Melbourne Space Program | Andrew Wetherell, Melbourne Space Program | The Melbourne Space Program (MSP) is a student-led Education organisation which aims to bridge the gap between curriculum and career for students interested in the Australian space sector. This is achieved by providing students with opportunities to develop professional and technical skills via hands-on projects supported by industry mentors. Presently, MSP is undergoing the design, manufacturing and testing of a 1U Nano-satellite, set to launch towards the end of 2018. In addition, MSP runs student professional development workshops, educational events with students to foster more engagement in the Australian space industry and social networking events for students to meet industry pioneers. | $100,000 |
| 34. ACP Projects | Rachel Marsden, Faculty of Arts | Building on the legacy of the 25th anniversary of the Art Curatorship program, ACP Projects will provide Masters students across different programs/schools with collaborative extra curricula, professional development and training opportunities to engage in exhibitions, events, public programs, symposia, skills workshops and publications. Through external partnership with arts and cultural organisations in Melbourne, Victoria and Australia (and potentially internationally), ACP PROJECTS will provide students with first-hand experience, mentorship and access to networks including key people and organisations in the creative industries, to gain applied knowledge and skills and be ready for the real world. More specifically, ACP Projects gives a new voice to the local and international arts-interested student cohort whilst establishing a public-facing field of discourse for the Art Curatorship/Arts and Cultural Management programs. | $249,042 |
35. Graduate Student Association WeChat launch | Amy Thompson, GSA staff member | This project will allow GSA to launch a presence on WeChat, the most commonly used social network in mainland China. WeChat is used extensively by Chinese students (and Chinese-speaking students) at the University. The project is intended to address the fact that Chinese students, who are some of the most common users of our services, struggle to remain up to date with GSA’s offering because they do not frequent the social networks we currently promote on. The grant is to facilitate set-up costs. Our intention is that use of the channel will be ongoing. | $24,356.20 |
36. Science Gallery Melbourne - Science Engagement Program | Lee Casey, Chancellery | Science Gallery Melbourne is part of an international network of galleries focused on inspiring young adults through arts and science. The Gallery provides an new venue to enrich the student experience whilst providing academic and career opportunities. Science Gallery Melbourne’s Science Engagement Program provides students with opportunities and insights into the vocational sector, through the Science Gallery’s program and networks, with a focus on non-research roles within STEM. The Program will offer students: peer to peer learning opportunities from Science Gallery’s Mediator program - current Masters and PhD students and recent graduates; industry engagement and networking opportunities; employment and internship opportunities with Science Gallery Melbourne; and the opportunity to contribute to Science Gallery Melbourne’s programs. | $31,644 |
37. University of Melbourne Undergraduate Arts Journal | Daniel Godstone, Student | The University of Melbourne Undergraduate Arts Journal will be a student-run journal dedicated to publishing the work of undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Arts program. The SSAF Grant will be used to cover the cost of design, contributions, publishing, printing, events and launch. The University of Melbourne currently lacks a dedicated extra-curricular platform for undergraduate students to publish work that allows them to both engage their academic interests and expose them to the publishing process. By expanding these opportunities, the journal will help achieve the University's student experience and University strategy goals. | $12,891 |
38. Fair Food Challenge at The University of Melbourne | Sophie Lamond, Student | The Fair Food Challenge is a University of Melbourne student led initiative that seeks to empower university communities to build fair, healthy and accessible food systems. The ‘Fair Food UniCycle’ is a cargo-bike that makes fair and sustainable on-campus catering and cooking easier, while also providing opportunities for food education, skills development and outreach programs for students. The UniCycle provides staff, students and student groups with opportunities to come together to cook, eat, share and connect through food while learning about the practice and principles of ‘fair-food’. In 2018 we seek to expand and make this program self-sustaining. | $35,115 |
39. The Pride and Diversity in Sport Program | Alex Affleck, MUSport | The Melbourne University, Pride and Diversity in Sport Program will welcome and celebrate diversity, ensuring the safety and ongoing support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) students, employees and community members of the University. Melbourne University Sport will ensure that all students are given a fair opportunity to participate in all University sporting, recreation and fitness programs where the focus will be on one's skills, work ethic and spirit, not sexual orientation and/or gender identity. | $149,470 |
40. BuddyUp | Andrea Byfuglien, Student | The SSAF Grant is to develop BuddyUp, an app that allows students to connect with students who are doing the same subjects and create study groups. This will foster collaborative learning, as well as facilitate student engagement on campus and with their academic work. Over 40% of students indicated in the latest Student Experience Survey that they mostly keep to themselves around campus, and that they do not feel like they belong to the University community. A solution is clearly needed, and BuddyUp offers an easy way for students to connect with their peers in an academic setting. Having won Melbourne Ideas 2017, BuddyUp has received strong positive feedback from both students and staff. | $85,300 |
| 41. Channels | Kay Are, Faculty of Arts |
‘Channels’ is an online platform, publishing 2-minute videos co-created by the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU)’s People of Colour Department, other UMSU office bearers and students who identify as diverging from normative identities with respect to gender, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, culture,
subculture, religion, class, bodily ability and appearance, intellectual ability and academic background. In an initial series of twelve, the videos will form currently the only channel for students to advise teaching staff on approaches that can successfully nurture welcoming learning environments for
these students. Videos will relate students’ viewpoints and their experiences of inclusive teaching and advise on preferred modes of classroom engagement and address. | $45,000 |
| Total: | $1,288,825.20 |