Phase-field approach to polycrystalline solidification including heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation

Advanced phase-field techniques have been applied to address various aspects of polycrystalline solidification including different modes of crystal nucleation. The height of the nucleation barrier has been determined by solving the appropriate Euler-Lagrange equations. The examples shown include the comparison of various models of homogeneous crystal nucleation with atomistic simulations for the single component hard-sphere fluid. Extending previous work for pure systems (Gránásy L, Pusztai T, Saylor D and Warren J A 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 art no 035703), heterogeneous nucleation in unary and binary systems is described via introducing boundary conditions that realize the desired contact angle. A quaternion representation of crystallographic orientation of the individual particles (outlined in Pusztai T, Bortel G and Gránásy L 2005 Europhys. Lett. 71 131) has been applied for modeling a broad variety of polycrystalline structures including crystal sheaves, spherulites and those built of crystals with dendritic, cubic, rhombododecahedral, truncated octahedral growth morphologies. Finally, we present illustrative results for dendritic polycrystalline solidification obtained using an atomistic phase-field model

Confirmation of candidature: an autoethnographic reflection from the dual identities of student and research administrator

The confirmation of candidature is a significant milestone in Higher Degree by Research programs. As research administrators, and as doctoral candidates ourselves, we have observed and experienced many different approaches to the confirmation of candidature process. In this chapter we describe the confirmation of candidature process at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) with a brief comparison to other institutions’ processes. We use an autoethnographic approach to discuss the positive aspects of the confirmation of candidature process for research candidates with the aim of providing a rationale for the process and to answer the ‘why do I have to do this?’ question we are often asked in our research administrator roles. The chapter includes a set of useful and practical strategies that will assist research students to successfully complete the confirmation of candidature milestone. It is hoped that this information will be useful to research students, supervisors of research students, and the academic and administrative staff that are involved in the confirmation of candidature process

Neoliberalism is not a theory of everything: a Bourdieuian analysis of illusio in educational research

 Despite the frequency with which the concept of neoliberalism is employed within academic literature, its complex and multifaceted nature makes it difficult to define and describe. Indeed, data reported in this article suggest that there is a tendency in educational research to make extensive use of the word ‘neoliberalism’ (or its variants neoliberal, neo-liberal and neo-liberalism) as a catch-all for something negative but without offering a definition or explanation. The article highlights a number of key risks associated with this approach and draws on the Bourdieuian concept of illusio to suggest the possibility that when as educational researchers we use the word ‘neoliberalism’ in this way, rather than interrupting the implementation of neoliberal policies and practices, we may, in fact, be further entrenching the neoliberal doxa. That is to say, we are both playing the neoliberal game and inadvertently demonstrating our belief that it is a game worth being played. In so doing, this article seeks to extend understandings of what illusio means within the context of educational research

Moving beyond essentialism: Aboriginal parental perceptions of school bullying and school engagement

One of the key research methods that has often been cited to perpetuate the essentialist colonial positioning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is that of quantitative statistics (Walter 2010). Whilst some scholars may argue that statistics has no place within the Indigenous research setting (Penman 2006), it is our position that, if approached from an Indigenous standpoint, it is possible to ensure that statistics can more accurately and meaningfully represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their communities (Kukutai and alter 2015; Walter and Andersen 2013). It is the purpose of this chapter to apply an Indigenous statistical standpoint that will highlight the limitations in essentialist reasoning and also speak to qualitative research framed within Indigenous research methodological practices (Kovach 2009; Martin 2008). Specifically, this chapter will engage with Indigenous scholarly literature that highlights the complexities of bullying within and across Indigenous communities (e.g. Coffin 2011)

'Terre Chérie-Ed U. K. Shone' : a desiring machine for rappin' and extrapolatin' on the monstrosities of academia

In this chapter, Bansel and Linnell take up the theme of the production of monstrous desire in the academia machine. They come together with their inventions, call centre worker/aspiring university student ‘Terre Chérie’ and aging junior academic ‘Ed U. K. Shone’, to form the ranting-and-rapping machine known as ‘Terre Chérie — Ed U. K. Shone’. Taking a line of flight away from the same old track record, through proliferating brand-new numbers such as The Innovation Sensation, Election Hip-Hope and Rejoinder Rap(ture), these four actors stutter and stumble their ways through a landscape where every peak achievement turns out to be yet another plateau. Through their rappin’ and extrapolatin’— they (hip)hope to recalibrate the machinery through which they perform themselves as unbecoming academics. But will the monster that they have created consume them through its bottomless desire for recognition and love

Positioning Pathways Provision Within Global and National Contexts

This chapter positions the increase in the provision of pathway programs, including foundation and enabling programs, as a function of global trends shaping higher education and localised responses to social, economic, political and cultural factors. These localised responses play out against a broader global context, in which the increasing mobility of students looms large. Demography, politics, history and economics all contribute to considerable diversity in the structure, financing and market composition of higher education systems. In turn, these factors shape the purpose, design and delivery of pathway programs. This chapter draws upon UNESCO, OECD and World Bank data sets to contextualise relevant examples of African, Australasian, European, Middle East, and North American higher education systems, against each other and other international benchmarks. The trajectory of these education systems across time demonstrates convergence towards higher levels of school participation and massification of higher education participation, but also differential patterns of international student mobility and responsiveness to national contextual factors. The signs are that global forces and national context will continue to shape the evolution of pathway programs internationally

Bullying as Intra-active Process in Neoliberal Universities

The reformed neoliberal universities, with their micromanagement of ever-increasing productivity, competitiveness, and individualization, have recently been described as unhealthy institutions, creating conditions that incite incivility, workplace bullying, and other forms of employee abuse. In this article, the authors employ collective biography as a form of "diffractive methodology" in order to provide new, theoretically driven insights into workplace bullying in neoliberal universities. Drawing on the concepts of intra-activity and performativity, the authors examine bullying in universities as an intra-active process that informs and is informed by the desire of an individual to be recognized and to perform as a viable academic subject-one who is professional, flexible, and accountable within a neoliberal environment. © The Author(s) 2011

African Christian diaspora religion and/or spirituality: A concept analysis and reinterpretation

The purpose of this article is to analyze how the concept of African Christian diaspora religion and/or spirituality, as a missionary-based model, is currently being used and defined within African transnational research and diaspora religion. I conducted a review using a citation search strategy to retrieve peer-reviewed articles that explore the extent to which the seminal paper of Steven Vertovec on “Diaspora Religion” has informed the conceptualization and analysis of the concept of African Christian diaspora religion and/or spirituality (ACDRS). The search generated empirical articles which met the inclusion criteria and were included for concept analysis. This concept analysis identified five emerging attributes of ACDRS as (a) a network of support, (b) a transnational dynamic, (c) a platform for civic engagement and activism, (d) the basis for developing place bonds and diaspora identity, and (e) as an experiential religion. These defining attributes position ACDRS as a multidimensional concept encompassing noninstitutionalized religious expressions and activities, albeit with limited empirical data. I also discussed some study limitations and conceptual issues related to the attributes, antecedents, consequences, and cases of ACDRS