Endeavouring to make a difference
Christopher Rivet and Wesley Robertson
Three North American researchers have received prestigious Endeavour Awards by the Australian Government to undertake research at Monash University during 2012.
Christopher Rivet and Dr John-Christopher Boyer have received Endeavour Research Awards, while Wesley Robertson has received an Endeavour Postgraduate Award (Masters).
Mr Rivet, who has already arrived at the university, will collaborate with researchers from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute and the Forsyth Institute to develop an innovative biomaterials strategy for central nervous system disorders.
“The Endeavour Research Fellowship provides me the opportunity to evaluate the cellular response and regenerative potential of a composite material I developed by using the brain injury repair expertise of Monash University and my previous research on the regeneration of an injured spinal cord at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,” Mr Rivet said.
The unique collaboration will help improve central nervous system function, with the results significantly impacting biomaterial tissue research.
During his time at Monash Mr Robertson, a former English teacher at Ueda City Daigo Junior High School in Japan, will pursue a master’s degree in Applied Japanese Linguistics.
Mr Robertson plans to examine natural conversation, political speech, discourse, oratory, and the written word. The goal of this research will be to help second-language speakers of Japanese employ the language at high levels of competence in a more convincing and expressive manner.
Dr Boyer is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University in Canada.
The Endeavour Awards, part of the Australia Awards scheme, is the Australian Government’s internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia.