The time has come for me to move on to the next adventure. I’ll be leaving the I-DEEL group to start up my own group at the Australian National University! My time at UNSW was nothing short of amazing, and I must admit, I am very sad to be leaving all the wonderful people that are part of the I-DEEL group, and UNSW more generally.
 
I recall back to when I first started; it was just Shinichi, Losia, Rose and I. How much it has changed since 2015. Us four kicked off all the fishy work together, in collaboration with Dan Hesselson at Garvan. Much of the initial work really formed the foundation for Rose’s amazing set of empirical projects…I think Rose is one of the most efficient people I know and probably has collected more data than just about any PhD student on the planet (although, I think Fonti is a pretty close second). I’ve always been so impressed with how she can juggle huge experiments and then two weeks later come with a wonderfully written manuscript (I need to learn how to do that). In any case, I’m excited to see what Rose gets up to in the future, no doubt it will be very cool stuff.

In addition to all of us, the group has now expanded to include Susi, Dom, Hamza, Maddy, Nathan, Yong and Donny. It’s actually getting so large now that I think we need to start holding lab meetings in a bigger room, and probably cater in sweets every week so Rose and Fonti don’t kill themselves baking so much. Nonetheless, it has been very exciting having them all as part of the group and I’d like to thank them for being such great people and teaching me a bunch.

Of course, I can’t thank Shinichi and Losia enough for all that they have taught me. It has been one of the most pleasant, productive and enriching periods of my academic career and I really could not have landed the job at ANU without their support and encouragement. I’m really looking forward to continuing working with them up until they retire. Although Shinichi says this will happen, I may actually retire before him ;)

While I am leaving, I’m not that far away, and I am really excited that I can continue working with all the wonderful people in the I-DEEL group for some time to come; probably forever given how many papers we need to write! Shinichi and I should probably tally this number up at some point; thankfully his “sticky note” wall will remind us of all the fun times we still have ahead!

by Yong Zhi Foo 

Travelling is an essential part of academia. Academics travel for many reasons, ranging from short-term conferences and research visits to long-term resettlements for new jobs. But managing the logistics of moving to a new place can be daunting. Having recently moved to Sydney to join the I-DEEL lab for a research fellowship, I thought I might share some useful tips on moving to Sydney.

Housing rental 

Finding a place to stay is probably one of the biggest issues for someone moving to Sydney, where rental demand is always high (although apparently the housing and rental market is cooling down at the moment). So, this is one of the main things that I will be talking about in this post. There are several things to take note when finding a place to stay:
 
Sources of rental: There are two main options when renting: finding your own place or sharing with others. Some of the popular websites for finding your own rental place include domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. Most housing agents advertise on these two websites. One important thing to note about the ads on these websites is that the photos are not always representative of the actual property. If the ad does not explicitly say that the property is furnished, you should assume that it is not, even if the photos show a fully-furnished place.
 
If you are keen to share with someone else, flatmates.com.au is a good option. I found my current place from there. For shorter-term visits, there is Airbnb.
 
Costs: Just as a ballpark, at the time of this blog, a decent (i.e. not breaking apart, does not have mouldy walls/carpets etc.) 1-bedroom apartment in suburbs surrounding UNSW costs at least AUD450 per week (yes PER WEEK). At this price, the place would most probably be unfurnished. For sharing, depending on the number of people that you are sharing with, the price would be north of AUD200 per week.
 
Besides the weekly rent, there are other potential start-up and ongoing costs, such as rental bond (usually 4 weeks’ rent), purchasing furniture and white goods, home internet, and utilities.
 
Where to stay: Many people working/studying at UNSW stay in the nearby suburbs, such as Randwick or Kensington, for the convenience. If you enjoy going to the beach, Clovelly and Coogee are pretty nice and still relatively close. If you are keen to stay closer to the City, places like Surry Hills or Paddington might suit you. I chose my place based on proximity to the food places that I like (see the photos below for evidence :D).

When to start looking: Rental in Sydney moves really quickly. Plus potential tenants are required to inspect a place before they can submit a rental application. Therefore, I would not advise people start looking too early. Instead, plan your move so that you have some time to go around and inspect places personally at the start. You can probably begin looking on websites a few days ahead to create a potential shortlist of places.
 
Getting around
 
Sydney is pretty well connected in terms of public transport. If you are taking public transport, get an Opal Card and load funds into it for travelling on trains, buses, and ferries.
 
Tip: There are several options for traveling to and from Sydney Airport, including train, bus, taxis, etc. I find that Uber offers the best value for money. Once you make a request, your Uber ride will be directed to a special pick-up spot. Just go to where it is indicated on the app to wait for your ride.
 
Mobile/Internet
 
Some of the major mobile/internet network providers include Vodafone, Telstra, and Optus. Some of my friends have used companies such as TPG and reported good things about them. A typical mobile plan is around AUD50 and home internet is around AUD60 and above. Pre-paid is another option for mobile plans.
 
Banking
 
Any of the major banks, like Westpac, ANZ, or Commonwealth should fit your needs. Just go in and speak to the banking staff and they will sort you out. With any banking or mobile applications, international people will need to bring their passport for identification purposes.
 
Hopefully this post will be of use to people moving to Sydney! 

by Shinichi

It has been nearly 4 years after starting I-DEEL with only 4 initial members (Losia, Rose, Dan and me in 2015). We now have a bigger group with over 10 people. Great (yet sad) news is that Dan got a job at the Australian National University (ANU) and is leaving us soon. I often tell Losia that I want to clone myself because I chronically have too much to do. Dan is probably the closest it can be to my clone. Dan, however, is even better, as he is more patient and codes much better than I could. It will be hard without his capable hands. At the same time, I am curious about what a cool research group Dan will establish at ANU (farewell!).

It has actually been a little shy of a decade since I got my first job as a lecturer at the University of Otago. And I have just achieved my long-term goal of becoming a full professor. At this special occasion, I think of two things. First, I have been extremely lucky with people I have worked with. Among these people, I have my 3 wise men – Jarrod Hadfield, Wolfgang Forstmeier and Tim Parker. It is especially memorable that open science movement brought all of us together to work on the same publication. Second, working smart is really important although some tasks just take a lot of time. Around 2 years ago, I decided to get up early and work from 6 am. This gives me 2 hours of an uninterrupted working time before breakfast (especially great for writing).

For now, I seem to have lost an audacious goal to pursuit (I need to find one soon). But, for the time being, I like the sound of this: “Japanese working ethics and Scandinavian efficiency” (i.e. working hard and smart). Actually, Susi told me about this the other day because, she thought, I was unusual in asking both from my people not just one (i.e. asking for a Darwinian demon = no trade-off). I believe striving for this principle will bring something amazing over the next 10 years or so not only to me, but to all. I will make this as an ideal for I-DEEL.