science

SIRCA

SIRCA is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SIRCA rather than just read about it. In short: SIRCA is a provider of online services to support finance and other data-intensive research at universities, Government and financial market participants world-wide. History SIRCA was incorporated in 1997 as a not-for-profit company to host and manage share price data from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) for a small group of collaborating Australian universities.

Key takeaways

SIRCA belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SIRCA to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SIRCA from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SIRCA is a provider of online services to support finance and other data-intensive research at universities, Government and financial market participants world-wide.

History SIRCA was incorporated in 1997 as a not-for-profit company to host and manage share price data from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) for a small group of collaborating Australian universities. In its early years, SIRCA collaborated with the ASX and other research partners on a number of landmark studies including:

ASIC review of the research on the past performance of managed funds [2002] The ASX-SIRCA Benchmarking Study [2003] The Importance of Market Integrity [2004] Identity Fraud in Australia [2003] A report for financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC which found it to be $1.1Bn problem. Today, SIRCA serves over 50 universities including 37 member universities in Australia and New Zealand and over 20 from North America, Europe and Asia.

Services SIRCA in partnership with the Australian Financial Markets Association produces the Australian Financial Markets Report (AFMR) - an annual report with comprehensive coverage and statistics on all Australia's financial markets including equities, futures, bonds and over-the-counter securities. In 2012, these markets collectively turned over collectively turned over more than $125 trillion in 2011-12. SIRCA technology underpins the market leading Thomson Reuters Tick History database. This is used by most leading financial institutions around the world as a source of historical tick and end of day data for a variety of functions, including the back testing of algorithms to support automated trading strategies, and for a range of risk and compliance related tasks.

Governance SIRCA is a registered as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee with the Australian company regulator Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). SIRCA’s governance is overseen by a Board of Directors, and Executive.

See also Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Thomson Reuters Reserve Bank of Australia Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre

References

External links Official SIRCA Website Technology Spectator, "A smarter approach to innovation" 28 Aug 2012

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SIRCA

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SIRCA claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SIRCA before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SIRCA ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SIRCA

In research: SIRCA appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SIRCA in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SIRCA is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics E-Science, Financial services companies of Australia, Information science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SIRCA outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SIRCA in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SIRCA means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SIRCA out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SIRCA in simple terms?

SIRCA is a provider of online services to support finance and other data-intensive research at universities, Government and financial market participants world-wide. History SIRCA was incorporated in 1997 as a not-for-profit company to host and manage share price data from the Australian Securities…

Why does SIRCA matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SIRCA?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SIRCA.