Presenter: Lucinda Matheison (University of Melbourne)

OPTIMA Training: Conflict Resolution Essentials for Early to Mid-Career Researchers and Beyond

90-min practical workshop presented by: Lucinda Mathieson, STEM Careers and Programs Coordinator, Faculty of Science (UOM)

Navigating conflict is an inevitable part of research and professional environments—whether working with supervisors, collaborators, or interdisciplinary teams. This workshop is designed specifically for our OPTIMA early to mid-career researchers to build confidence and capability in navigating challenging workplace interactions (all OPTIMA members welcome to attend).

The session will be followed by a chance to continue the conversation and connect with your peers over lunch. 

What to expect:

• Explore professional identity – how your professional self (communication style, values, and behaviours) shapes your experience within both academic and industry settings
• Strengthen communication skills across different roles and disciplines
• Learn how to work effectively in research and industry teams
• Navigate differences in expectations or priorities

Leave with a toolkit of practical strategies to manage conflict professionally, maintain productive collaborations, and confidently transition your skills across academic and industry environments.

Registrations: Members only event (Members please refer to link sent via email)

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oin Dr. Jason Looker (Department of Defence) for this OPTIMA Training

Title: Stochastic Optimisation: An overview of modelling, implementation and optimisation

Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) have developed a software package that significantly reduces the considerable implementation challenges of producing decision-support models using Stochastic Optimisation (at least for dynamic scheduling and resource allocation problems).

The aim of this workshop is to increase the awareness of two factors that aided the development of this Stochastic Optimisation software, namely, a modelling framework and a number of free and open source software (FOSS) packages. This workshop will provide an overview of how to bring this modelling framework and these FOSS packages together to produce stochastic decision-support models, and the lessons DSTG have learnt while using Stochastic Optimisation to develop evidence-based decision-support models at scale across multiple application domains.

The session will be followed by a chance to continue the conversation and connect with your peers over lunch. 

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From uncertainty to insight: don’t miss this opportunity to gain practical stochastic optimisation skills with industry‑tested, open‑source tools.

Registration essential: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/24f2
Book your place at OPTIMA Training: Stochastic Optimisation