Students With Disability Scholarship Opportunity: Applications Open May 6th 2019
Professor Jamie Rossjohn, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Head of the Infection and Immunity Program at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute within the Faculty of Medicine, is offering Monash undergraduate students who have a disability, the opportunity to apply for a scholarship in his laboratory. The scholarship program will equip students with valuable skills and experience in either laboratory research work or office administration.
Laboratory work may include assisting with the operation and maintenance of technical equipment and services, the preparation of solutions and experimental design, and other laboratory tasks.
Administrative duties may include clerical and book keeping tasks and other office duties pertaining to the running of the office and laboratory including assisting in the preparation and management of documentations and coordinating the routine back-up of laboratory research and administration data.
These scholarships are generally of one month duration and provide flexible work hours and the stipend is equivalent to other Monash student vacation scholarship programs.
This opportunity is anticipated to provide students who have a disability with work experience and skills that will increase their post university employment prospects.
Students who have a strong work ethic, are currently studying in a science related discipline or in office administration, and have a strong motivation to work in this field are encouraged to apply.
These scholarships will align with the winter and summer research scholarship programs – see link: https://www.monash.edu/students/scholarships/current/summer-winter
It is an online application and expected to open on May 6th.
Winter applications: Monday 6 May – Friday 24 May
- Notice of outcome: mid-June
Summer Round 1 applications: Monday 8 July – Friday 26 July
- Notice of outcome: early September
Summer Round 2 applications: Monday 9 Sep – Friday 4 Oct
- Notice of outcome: mid-November
Project dates:
- Winter: 1 July – 26 July 2019
- Summer (Rounds 1 and 2): 25 Nov 2019 – 21 Feb 2020
Jamie will be offering 2 projects:
1) Laboratory research work: “Defining the key molecular interactions underlying receptor recognition events in immunity”
2) Office administration: “Sensory exhibition and outreach Program”
Further information about the Rossjohn lab:
The academic research program within the laboratory is focused on defining the key molecular interactions underlying receptor recognition events that are
the primary determinants of immunity.
The laboratory’s research has provided an understanding of the basis of peptide, metabolite and lipid presentation – events that underpin protective immunity and deleterious immune reactivity. The team’s research on anti-viral immunity has provided an understanding of the factors that shape MHCrestriction (e.g. Nature Immunology 2015; Immunity 2016; Nature Rev Immunol 2018), while also demonstrating how the pre-TCR, a receptor crucial for T-cell development, functions by autonomous dimerization (Nature 2010).
In relation to aberrant T-cell reactivity, our team has provided insight into alloreactivity (Immunity 2009), Tregs and autoimmunity (Nature, 2017) Celiac Disease (Immunity 2012, NSMB 2014), rheumatoid arthritis (JEM 2013) and HLA-linked drug hypersensitivities (Nature 2012). Regarding innate and innate-like recognition, the team has shed light into how Natural Killer cell receptors interact with their cognate ligands and viral immunoevasins (Nature 2011; JEM 2016; NSMB 2017; Cell 2017; PNAS 2018).
Further, we have provided fundamental insight into TCR recognition of lipid-based antigens in protective and aberrant immunity (e.g. Nature 2007; Nature Immunology 2016; Nature Communications 2016; Nature Immunology 2018). Most recently, our team identified the long sought after ligand for MAIT cells, namely showing that MAIT cells are activated by metabolites of vitamin B and can also respond to commonly prescribed therapeutics (Nature 2012, 2014; Nature Immunology 2016, 2017).
Our research program uses numerous biochemical and biophysical techniques including protein expression and purification, surface plasmon resonance and three-dimensional structure determination with the use of the Australian Synchrotron.
Further, cellular immunology techniques are taught within the laboratories of the collaborators of the Rossjohn laboratory. The industrial research program of the laboratory includes a close collaboration with Janssen, for the development of new therapies to treat psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The laboratory is funded by the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, Cancer Council Victoria, National Institutes of Health, Worldwide Cancer Research, Wellcome Trust and Janssen (of Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals).
For more details on the research themes, fellowships awarded and publication
outputs see, http://research.med.monash.edu.au/rossjohn/