Senior Lecturer, Dr Lisa Sedger runs a research article competition as the main assessment item for second year science students in General Microbiology. Sponsored by the ithree institute (i3) research strength, this has become an annual event that inspires and motivates students to explore research in the area of microbiology.
The aim of the assignment is to encourage science students to research their chosen topic and produce a research article that effectively communicates accurate, scientific information using text and visuals to a wide audience.
“I really try hard to give the students a wide variety of topics to choose from because it makes it interesting and gives them a chance to explore the depth and spread of microbiology ranging from bacteria’s, viruses, fungi and infectious diseases in a number of areas such as industry, medical and environmental microbiology”, said Dr Sedger.
The over 250 students enrolled in this subject, the competition is fierce with a winner and a runner up chosen from ten different topic areas. Each research topic was assessed and judged by several academics in the School of Medical and Molecular Bioscience (MMB). Winners of each category received a $50 iTunes voucher proudly sponsored and presented by the Deputy Director of the ithree institute (i3), Professor Liz Harry.
“It gives me great pleasure to see a lot of people doing general microbiology and to know that Dr Sedger is doing a great job in teaching our undergraduate students this area of science. The posters for this subject always get rave reviews and I think the standard in general is fantastic and the idea of this assignment task is great”, Professor Harry said.
“It’s a creative and innovative way to get students thinking about science research and gives them the opportunity to explore the options and capabilities of research in microbiology in the future.”
The overall best assignment receives the Australian Life Scientist (ALS) magazine sponsored publication award, where the student’s research article is published in the next upcoming issue of the magazine. This year’s winner of the ALS publication award was Darren Cox for his creative research approach and communication of Hendra virus: A virus you wouldn’t punt on!
Research topics included:
1. Bureli Ulcer – A necrotizing lesion of Mycobacteria ulcerans.
2. Clostridium difficile – a cause of inflammatory bowel disease?
3. Haemophilus influenzae: the ENT bug that’s not “the flu”!
4. Neisseria gonorrhoeae. One reason why “if it’s not on – it’s no on”!
5. Mycoplasma pneumonia the “walking pneumonia”
6.Prochlorococcus: the invisible forests of the sea.
7. We give thanks for our daily bread and also for Saccharomyces!
8. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Frog versus fungus.
9. Hendra virus. A virus you wouldn’t punt on!
10. Cytomegalovirus: A virus that you can catch before you are born!
For a closer look at these outstanding assignments the winning posters will displayed at UTS in the Science building, outside the practical class laboratories on level 3, for one year.
