SRFME Collaborative Linkages Program

The main components of the SRFME Collaborative Linkages Program are the SRFME PhD Scholarship Scheme which was advertised in October 2001 and the SRFME Collaborative Research Projects Scheme, which will begin early in 2002.

SRFME PhD Scholarships

The PhD scholarship scheme will involve SRFME and WA Universities co-investing in 10 PhD stipends and operating funds. SRFME's investment into the scheme is about $650,000 over three and a half years.

The main characteristics of the scheme are that the awards were made on the basis of strategic research projects submitted by university researchers who will be the principal supervisors of the students. These projects were designed to link with the core SRFME projects and to lever additional benefit out of the resources going into the core projects. The students who will be carrying out the work towards a PhD degree will be co-supervised by CSIRO Marine Research Division scientists and staff from other commonwealth and state research and management agencies.

The list of projects awarded scholarships due to start in 2002 is as follows.

• Enhancing zooplankton & micronekton biomass estimation & size & species classification based on acoustic remote sensing (Curtin)
• The development & validation of algorithms for remotely sensing case II waters (Curtin)
• Morphological responses of seagrass meadows to light limitation & their application to environmental quality criteria (Edith Cowan)
• Investigation of the cycling of trace metals and metalloids as contaminants in WA coastal ecosystems (Murdoch)
• Uncertainty associated with alternative ecosystem representations (ecosystem modelling) (Murdoch)
• Temporal & spatial variation of sediment composition, redox potential & benthic photosynthesis in semi-enclosed coastal embayments subject to different catchment loading regimes (UWA)
• Use of surrogates for the rapid assessment of marine biodiversity (UWA)
• Biogeochemical processes in seagrass sediments (UWA)
• The influence of microphytobenthos on nitrogen cycling in sediments (UWA)
• Physical & chemical forcing of primary production in shallow coastal waters off southwestern WA (UWA)

SRFME Collaborative Research Projects

The other main component of the Collaborative Linkages Program is the SRFME Collaborative Research Projects Scheme which will invest about $2 million over the next four years. This is an exciting initiative which will enable WA researchers to be funded to actively participate in SRFME and tackle some interdisciplinary projects in a truly collaborative way.

It is envisaged that the guidelines for applications to this scheme will be released in time for successful projects to begin in mid 2002 and the application process will encourage projects which provide significant leverage to the SRFME funds and in part address the gaps in areas of the SRFME research priority framework not included in the core projects. It is envisaged this scheme will add to the capacity building goals of SRFME by providing opportunities for the appointment of Post-doctoral scientists.

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