POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOETHICS RESEARCH CENTRE OF CLINICAL RESEARCH EXCELLENCE (CCRE) IN INFECTION AND BIOETHICS IN HAEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNENCIES The CCRE is a multi-centre research collaboration with a special focus on bioethics which consists of four research sites affiliated with the University of Sydney, including the Western Clinical School at Westmead Hospital, The Children’s Hospital Westmead, the National Centre for Immunisation Research, and the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELIM).  The research collaboration will develop surveillance methods and interventions to improve infection-related outcomes in malignant haematology and bone marrow transplantation, with interdisciplinary bioethics research underpinning all major themes.  Expressions of interest for postgraduate scholarships (Masters or PhD) are invited for degrees to begin in 2006.  Examples of potential areas of research within the CCRE include: Masters Projects Consent and understanding in clinical research in haematology, transplantation, and infectious diseases Perceptions of donors regarding participation in research The use of metaphors to describe illness/cancer Risk perception in transplantation Care of institutionalized persons with leukaemia Ethical issues in the active management of dying in the palliative care/ICU settings Use of complementary therapies and therapists by transplant patients in Australia The use of ‘self-help’ literature or the internet by transplant patients Health professionals’ attitudes to the use of potential harmful agents The experience of isolation of children and adult transplant patients Experience of bereavement following transplantation PhD Projects Consent to high risk procedures (e.g., transplantation) Autonomy, agency, and dependence in health care Intuition in medical decision-making Patient experience of survival following allogeneic stem cell transplant The creation of “saviour siblings” as stem cell donors Postgraduate scholarships will be made available on a competitive basis, and considered on a rolling basis until positions are filled.  Successful candidates will have relevant background and skills for the proposed topic and research program, including an honours degree or equivalent.  Candidates must meet standard criteria for NHMRC scholarships, including full-time enrollment and Australian citizenship or permanent residency status, as well as the criteria for admission to postgraduate study in the Faculty of Medicine or Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney.  Projects will be supervised by relevant chief investigators within the CCRE, who include Associate Professor Ian Kerridge and Dr Rachel Ankeny.   For more information or to lodge an expression of interest for the CCRE postgraduate scholarships in bioethics, please contact Dr Chris Jordens, Clinical Research Fellow. Ph 0434 07 07 88 or email: cjordens@med.usyd.edu.au.