Facilitating open exchange of data and information

By broad consensus, Open Data presents great value. However, beyond that simple statement, there are a number of complex, and sometimes contentious, issues that the science community must address. In this review, we examine the current state of the core issues of Open Data with the unique perspective and use cases of the ocean science community: interoperability; discovery and access; quality and fitness for purpose; and sustainability. The topics of Governance and Data Publication are also examined in detail. Each of the areas covered are, by themselves, complex and the approaches to the issues under consideration are often at odds with each other. Any comprehensive policy on Open Data will require compromises that are best resolved by broad community input. In the final section of the review, we provide recommendations that serve as a starting point for these discussion

Nitrate ion effects on uranium chemistry in the tributylphosphate-dodecane system

Understanding the role of nitrate in the speciation of actinides is important in order to determine the necessary data for extraction modeling of the UREX process. The focus of this project is on the fundamental chemistry of uranium (U) in the tributyl phosphate (TBP) extraction system, with emphasis on the effect of nitrate on actinyl speciation. Speciation calculations can be performed if stability and solubility constants for the chemical species formed under the examined conditions are known. The stability constant of the uranyl-TBP complex was evaluated under a variety of conditions. The variables were nitric acid, uranyl, total nitrate concentration, and ionic strength. The thermodynamic data collected can be incorporated into extraction modeling codes used to predict distribution in reprocessing. The methods used in this research will be modified for corresponding experiments with plutonium and provide necessary data for optimizing the modeling codes

A map series of the Southern East Pacific Rise and its flanks, 15� S to 19� S

Four large-scale bathymetric maps of the Southern East Pacific Rise and its flanks between 15 S and 19 S display many of the unique features of this superfast spreading environment, including abundant seamounts (the Rano Rahi Field), axial discontinuities, discontinuity migration, and abyssal hill variation. Along with a summary of the regional geology, these maps will provide a valuable reference for other sea-going programs on- and off-axis in this area, include the Mantle ELectromagnetic and Tomography (MELT) experiment

Artist acaemics: Performing the Australian research agenda

Despite the recent focus on creativity and innovation as the backbone of Western knowledge economies, the presence of the creative arts within universities remains problematic. Australian artist academics, who seek a balance between their artistic and academic lives, work within a government-directed research environment that is unable to quantify and, therefore to recognize, the value of creative research, yet which accepts the funded outcomes of post-graduate practice-based students. Using interview methodology, this study sought to unravel how artist academics from a variety of non-written creative disciplines perceive the relationships between their roles as artists, researchers and tertiary educators. Central to the discussions was the question of whether and how creative work constitutes legitimate research. Although this is an Australian case study, the findings have relevance to artist academics in many settings

The interface between arts practice and research: Attitudes and perceptions of Australian artist-academics

Whilst an academic working in the arts may have been appointed as a consequence of artistic accomplishment and a capacity to teach, the research that underpins such work is an intrinsic part of its production and also needs to be recognised. In Australia, the ability of the artist-academic to translate research into a form that is respected and rewarded is an issue of contention. This paper gathers responses to this issue. Perceptions of and attitudes to creative work as research are canvassed alongside life decisions arising from those perceptions and attitudes. This research occurs in the context of a new Australian framework for the evaluation of research. This framework offers some recognition of the research that supports creative practice. Thus, the long-standing experience of compromise reported by the Australian artist-academics interviewed for this study are discussed alongside new policies that seek to construct methodologies for its amelioration

Arts practice as a site of knowledge/research: An Australian perspective of the artist in academia

Due, in part, to the previous lack of recognition for arts practice as research, artists working as academics in Australia have been active in a growing body of writings addressing different approaches to practice-led research. In February 2008 the Australian Federal Labor government announced Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA), a new research framework that formally recognizes the research component of many creative works. There is now formal recognition of both the practice itself, and of practice-led writing. This paper draws on interviews conducted prior to the implementation of ERA with eight artist-academics employed at Australian universities. The study sought participants’ views on their arts practice as research or a site of knowledge. The relationships and interactions between the work of the artist and the work of the academic were being constantly negotiated and emerged as integral to the recognition of practice as research. Participants’ views appeared to be shaped by the creative medium in which each worked, and while responses married with views in the literature, several new issues were identified. Findings suggest many ways of writing about and teaching the knowledge contained within the artistic process and product. This knowledge has particular value to the academy in different locations