On January 29 – February 14, 2014, Associate Professor Dr. Raminta Pučėtaitė (Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies) and Associate Professor Dr. Rasa Pušinaitė (Department of Business Economics and Management) – the executives of a Global Grant project – paid a research visit to the University of Queensland in the sunny Brisbane (Australia).
To Australia with the aim of meeting a world-class scientist
The University of Queensland was established in 1910 and has been among the 8 highest ranking research universities in Australia for the past 20 years, the others being the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the Monash University, the University of Adelaide, the University of New South Wales and the Australia’s National University. In The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2013, the University of Queensland was in the 62nd place.
Therefore, according to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Raminta Pučėtaitė, an opportunity to have a traineeship with a professor of Management, an editor of the Journal of Organizational Behaviour and a second editor of the international journal Academy of Management Review Neal Ashkanasy was a fruitful outcome of the efforts made since 2009. Despite his tight schedule, the professor was glad to share his insights on the Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities project “The Impact of Organisational Ethics on Organisational Novelty Transformation into Sustainable Innovations”. This interaction with the known scientists enabled the VU KFH lecturers to not only discuss the concept of the project, its actions and methods applied, but also to meet colleagues who carry out research on similar topics. An interesting discussion followed with one of the best-known researchers in this field Dr. Nicole Gillespie. Thanks to her PhD student, contacts with researchers of sustainable innovations in the Cranfield University (United Kingdom) have been developed.
The University of Queensland combines both work and Recreation
The professor and his colleagues spared no advice on not only publication, professional career management related questions, but also the issues dealing with issues common among humans as well as with the socio-cultural life. For example, he passionately talked about the difference between the Australian rugby and regular rugby or Australian football and why all Australians cricket. However, the most surprising was his answer to the question if any of his publications have ever been denied. “Yes, the ratio of my denied to accepted articles to be published is 5:1. Thus, if I want to remain an active scientist, I must write approximately 12-15 articles a year, only 2-3 of which will actually be published”, said professor Neal Ashkanasy.
The University of Queensland creates great working conditions for any active scientist: the campus has an excellent library and rich databases that allow access to exclusive publications. Recreational and work areas are well established, i.e. there are several stadiums for different sports, an Olympic pool, tennis courts. The representatives of our Faculty liked the idea of power sockets installed into benches around the University and the Internet accessible throughout the entire territory of the University. The University has a park with ponds where parrots and big lizards hang around, and the foot-bridge is a perfect place to watch a big bale of freshwater turtles or enormous eels.
The built environment is complemented by the central art deco style university premises. The Oxbridge style courtyard, the historical library structure where the headquarters of General McArthur were located during the War of the Pacific (1939-1946), the modern premises of the Faculties of Technologies and Engineering had risen throughout a period of a decade due to the financing of private investors.
Travelling to Brisbane and meeting local Lithuanians
The Lithuanian scientists admired the city of Brisbane that is located on both sides of the Brisbane River. The city’s population reaches up to 2,5 million, yet the razzle-dazzle and the vital force of a metropolitan city goes along with the town’s compact nature and coziness just perfectly. Its exceptionality lies in the differently styled and different purpose bridges that are differently lit upon darkness, and the complex engineering construction solutions of skyscrapers add to it. The coasts suit the recreational needs of the locals: they contain playgrounds for kids, roads for cycling and jogging, river slopes for mountain climbing. The centre of the city has a beach and a tropical forest around which culture begins to settle, i.e. gallery complexes with outstanding exhibitions, Opera and Ballet theatre. The Modern Art gallery left an unforgettable impression with its Cai Guo-Qiang (China) exhibition whose metaphorical installations gave birth to contemplations about existence and modern way of living.
Thanks to sheer luck, the scientists were able to meet the Lithuanian community in Brisbane and took part in a Saturday afternoon were the members and winners of the annual Australian sports event were celebrated. A lot of the Lithuanian speaking members of the community are the descendants of the Lithuanians who emigrated from Lithuania in 1948-1949. According to R. Pučėtaitė, the members of the Lithuanian community were especially happy to meet the Vilnius University representatives, showed them around the city and shared their experiences.
The impressive country is home to kind people
The associate professors say that the pleasant impressions during their traineeship were also complemented by the random Australians met on the streets who do not lack a good sense of humour. “Almost everyone there has a good sense of humour – from officers to clerks and bus drivers; thus, at first it might be difficult to understand who’s joking and who’s being serious. People there will always help to find your way around without being asked. When the map “ends”, they would grab their smartphones or even offer a ride so that you wouldn’t need to walk around in circles in high heat”, says associate professor R. Pučėtaitė. Anna Augunas, the editor of the Lithuanian community’s newspaper born in Australia, when asked if there were any Australians who would not want to live in Australia, said with a smile, “And why wouldn’t they want to live here? The weather is great, the people are nice, and the government lets them do whatever they want!”
We thank associate professors Raminta Pučėtaitė and Rasa Pušinaitė for sharing their impressions on the visit to Australia on the basis of the EU-funded Global Grant project.