When Dr Richard Jacoby arrived at Monash University in August as part of EMBL’s ARISE fellowship program, he hoped to deepen his technical expertise and learn more about Australia’s research infrastructure landscape.
Following a placement at the Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Platform (MPMP) and visits to facilities across the country, he left with new skills, professional connections and ideas for future collaborations.
An Australian researcher currently based at EMBL Heidelberg, Richard undertook his placement with Professor Ralf Schittenhelm at MPMP, where he continued research from his ARISE fellowship project investigating how microbes break down agricultural pesticides.
Beyond the science itself, it was the day-to-day operation of a major research facility that made the greatest impression.
“The highlight of my placement was shadowing the staff running the mass spectrometry platform,” he said.
“Observing how they manage maintenance, workflows and user support gave me first-hand insight into the skills required to operate a successful research infrastructure facility. It also helped me understand what excellence looks like in these roles and consider whether this is a career path I would like to pursue in the future.”
Following his time at Monash University and with the support of Bioplatforms Australia, Richard visited research infrastructure facilities across four states:
- In Sydney, he visited the UNSW Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics and Sydney Mass Spectrometry (SMS) at the University of Sydney;
- In Brisbane, he visited Queensland Metabolomics and Proteomics (Q-MAP) at the University of Queensland and met with researchers from the Centre for Microbiome Research at the Translational Research Institute; and
- In Perth, Richard was hosted at the University of Western Australia Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology.
For Richard, who has spent the past 12 years overseas, the placement offered a valuable opportunity to reconnect with Australia’s research ecosystem.
“My ARISE secondment in Australia was a great opportunity for me to learn about the current status of biological mass spectrometry research infrastructures in Australia,” he said.
“This international placement gave me the chance to observe the state of my technology field in my home country and better understand the Australian research landscape.”
The experience has already delivered lasting benefits.
“It has helped to build my professional network in Australian research infrastructure, and I have multiple new ideas for potential projects and methodological services,” he said.
Richard’s placement highlights the value of EMBL’s ARISE program, which combines advanced technology development with international experience and professional training to support the next generation of research infrastructure specialists. Facilitated by EMBL Australia, the placement highlights the importance of knowledge exchange between Europe and Australia’s leading research infrastructure facilities and their expert staff.
EMBL Australia is currently developing AusRISE, an NCRIS-funded pilot program for Australian research infrastructure specialists, based on EMBL’s ARISE. AusRISE will launch in early 2027.
More information on EMBL’s ARISE2 Fellowship Programme.
More information on AusRISE.