Pacific Research Colloquium 2016
25 January - 5 February 2016
The Pacific Research Colloquium (PRC) is one of the most significant activities that the SSGM program organises each year. It is part of SSGM’s broader commitment to building social science research skills in the Pacific, including Papua and Timor-Leste.
The PRC brings early career social science researchers from the Pacific (including Papua and Timor-Leste) to a 2 week intensive workshop in Canberra, Australia, to work with experienced researchers in developing skills for social science research in the special context of the Pacific.
The 2016 PRC will be held at The ANU from Monday 25th> January to Friday 5 February. The 20 fully funded participants from the region will include: 4 from Fiji; 1 from New Caledonia; 4 from Papua; 3 from Papua New Guinea; 1 from Samoa; 3 from Solomon Islands; and 2 from Vanuatu.
The 2 week PRC program will include intensive and interactive training on designing, planning, conducting, and writing reports on, research projects. Part of the focus is on developing the research writing and presentation skills of participants. This includes scholars from SSGM and other parts of the ANU and other universities providing mentoring to participants in advance of the PRC, as you develop their research projects, and during the PRC.
There have been two big developments with the PRC in 2015. The first is that for the first time, the PRC has been recognised as an accredited course by the ANU. Initially this will only be as a course that SSGM post-graduate students must take as part of their preparation for their research work. In due course, however, we propose to make this approach to training in research methodology for the Pacific a part of broader teaching programs.
The second major development in 2015 is that for the first time a two week program based on the PRC approach was presented in Port Moresby, PNG to twenty five staff of the PNG Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC). This was our first experience of presenting an intensive social science research methodology training program to a group of practitioners, without much background in this kind of research. The SSGM facilitators learned a great deal from developing and presenting this training. We expect to present a similar course for PNG CLRC staff, and staff of other PNG government institutions on an annual basis over the next few years.
2015 Timor-Leste Update: Book Launch
A New Era? Timor-Leste after the UNEdited by Sue Ingram, Lia Kent and Andrew McWilliamAbstractTimor-Leste has made impressive progress since its historic achievement of independence in 2002. From the...
Dates for the 2016 PRC
The PRC will be held from the morning on Monday 25th January, and end on the evening of Friday 5th February 2016. Participants must arrive in Canberra no later than the evening of Sunday 24th January. Most are expected to depart Canberra on Saturday 6th February.
Visa
Unless you are an Australian citizen, you MUST hold a 600 Class Visa to enter Australia . No participant will receive a ticket until they present evidence that their visa has been granted. SSGM will reimburse visa expenses for the participants we are sponsoring. So bring the receipt.
Airport Pickup Arrangements
As a participant flying into Canberra for the PRC, you will be met at the Canberra Airport by SSGM personnel, who will take you to your accommodation.
Accommodation and Meals
SSGM sponsored participants usually stay in ANU student accommodation, at John XXIII College. Three meals per day will be served at the College.
PRC Venue
The venues where PRC sessions are held are on the ANU campus, in the Coombs Extension Building and in the Hedley Bull Building. They are close together, and a five minute walk from your accommodation at John XXIII College.
Weather and Clothing
It will be mid-summer in Canberra. The weather is usually dry and warm to hot (25 to 38 degrees centigrade) during the day, but reasonably cool at night.(below 20 degrees). But Canberra weather is unpredictable. Sometimes a few days during the PRC are cold, and even rainy. So plan for mainly warm weather, but bring a mixture of clothing, including at least some suitable for cold weather.
Dress Code
During PRC working sessions, feel free to dress casually. We usually make a visit to the Australian Parliament (In February 2015 participants had a meeting there with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Julie Bishop.) Neat casual dress is acceptable for that visit.
Jenny Munro
Dr Jenny Munro is a cultural anthropologist who works in West Papua (Tanah Papua) and other regions of eastern Indonesia. She joined the SSGM as a Research Fellow in 2013. Her doctoral research...
Professor Anthony Regan
Anthony is a constitutional lawyer who specialises in constitutional development and conflict resolution. He has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 15 years and in Uganda for three years. In...
