Pursuit
World-changing research made possible by Melbourne
Welcome to Pursuit, the latest in cutting-edge research and expert commentary by world-leading experts.
More about usHealth & Wellbeing
The household chemicals affecting your fertility
Planning a baby? Here are seven pro-active steps you can take to avoid some common chemicals in your home and food that may affect your fertility
Learning & Teaching
Tips and tricks to boost your Year 12 scores
Study smarter not harder, with tips for students and parents from an educational neuroscientist
Humanities
Catalonian and Scottish independence: Why so different?
While separatists in Scotland and Catalonia rally support by mixing stories of past conflicts with contemporary grievances, democratic bargaining is the more effective way to resolve nationalist tensions
How neuroscience beats PowerPoint coma
Here are five ways to blitz your next PowerPoint presentation – it's all about the neuroscience, says a University of Melbourne researcher.
Why gargoyles and gryphons keep watch over cities
From mythical beasts on churches to skilled stoneworks on rows of terraced houses, the design features of buildings map a city's history.
When economists have babies
After both his children were born via C-section, University of Melbourne researcher Dr Cain Polidano investigated how caesarians impact cognitive development.
Bringing uni research to market
Research commercialisation is core to universities, but broadening goals beyond just revenue generation could lift success says a University of Melbourne expert
Tips and tricks to boost your Year 12 scores
Educational neuroscientist Dr Jared Horvath from the University of Melbourne shares his Year 12 study tips for students and parents.
Knee deep in footy injuries
Sports medicine has made huge advances into treating knee injuries; University of Melbourne experts discuss the prevention of injuries, especially in AFL.
Science Matters
The opportunists after the fires
Research finds a dramatic increase in feral predators as fires make some native Australian animals even more vulnerable
The Policy Shop
Can cities save us all?
By 2050, almost 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities. How can universities help urban populations thrive?
PodcastEngineering & Technology
Using maths to map mines deep underground
Mapping the massive network of tunnels that give miners underground access to mineral ores is an expensive and time-consuming process, but new optimisation software, inspired by the complexity of the microchip, could save the industry millions
Under the Microscope
When economists have babies
Personal experience led Dr Cain Polidano to question the impact of C-sections on children’s cognitive development
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The Brave New World of Work
Inside Business
Human vs computer: Becoming more employable than an algorithm
There is global unease that technology could leave many of us redundant, as jobs are taken over by computers. But it could, in fact, free us up to use our very human skills of creating new knowledge, problem solving and working collaboratively
Music, Arts & Screen
The jobs of 2027
In 10 years jobs we’re familiar with now will change as new technologies impact on how we work. Professionals like nurses, architects, artists and farmers will all need new skillsets to keep up with the technological revolution
Engineering & Technology
Thriving amid the rise of the machines
Since 1948, futurists have warned about the impact automation could have on the human workforce, and now those changes are becoming a reality. Does it mean a re-think about what jobs humans can do better than machines?
Engineering & Technology
The new hyper-reality of work
Augmented and virtual realities promises to dramatically change how we work in the future, but the technology is already having an impact in education and training
Health & Wellbeing
Hiring for personality, training for skill
As workplaces demand more of their employees, having only technical skills or expertise is no longer enough. Instead, the emphasis is on multi-skilled individuals making up a team
Politics & Society
Public Affairs
What history tells us about Catalonian independence
Spain says it will not recognise the latest referendum on Catalonian independence – but what can historical precedents tell us about the likelihood of future autonomy for Catalonia?
Humanities
“Risky” lack of nuclear governance in the Asia Pacific
Strong nuclear industry governance is crucial to ensuring power stations are safe and industrial nuclear material is kept out of the wrong hands, but in large parts of the Asia Pacific nuclear governance too often looks like “window dressing”
Public Affairs
Unified no more: Spain spirals towards constitutional crisis
As Catalonia’s leader vows to declare independence from Spain within a matter of days, the central government’s response represents a return to Franco-esque political oppression
Up Close
The rise and reach of transnational policing
Criminologist Ben Bowling on how policing is increasingly crossing national borders, chasing globalised crime and cyber offenses, and raising questions about governance and public accountability
PodcastLegal Affairs
Same sex marriage, religious freedom and the law
As Australians vote in the same sex marriage survey, the national debate has focused on anxiety over whether religious freedom could be negatively affected. So what exactly does discrimination law say on the issue?
Inside Business
Teenage daughters as a risk of divorce
Sullen exchanges and broken curfews are part of life for parents of teenagers, but could this period be also a stress-test for parents’ marriages? New research finds parents of teenage daughters are statistically more likely to separate than parents of teenage sons
Education
Inside Business
Bringing uni research to market
Finding a way to commercialise research while supporting academic culture is an ongoing but necessary challenge for universities
Learning & Teaching
Australia’s ‘spectacular’ failure in languages
Despite living in an increasingly interconnected world, the proportion of Australia’s Year 12 students taking a language has plummeted to just 10 per cent
Health & Wellbeing
Bullied school kids left behind in learning
The first large scale study into school bullying and academic achievement finds kids targeted by bullying are well behind in their learning, and the impact is worse on girls
Learning & Teaching
Realising the promise of STEM education
While there are many promising initiatives in Australia to engage students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, there is a need to support these in a sustained and coordinated way
Music, Arts & Screen
The trouble with teaching music in our schools
When many schools have cupboards full of musical instruments, why are so few students learning to play?
Environment
Science Matters
Thunderstorm asthma: Counting pollen to save lives
This year’s dry winter is good news for Melbourne’s hay fever sufferers, but after last year’s thunderstorm asthma event claimed nine lives, there are never any guarantees when it comes to pollen
Science Matters
Written in King Billy’s tree rings: 1700 years of climate history
The iconic King Billy Pines of Cradle Mountain offer a glimpse into climate history, with the publication of one of the longest tree-ring chronologies in the Southern Hemisphere
Design
Q&A: Aspiring to an ecocity future
Urban design, planning, building and maintenance must respond creatively, appropriately and effectively to the relationship between the social and the natural at both the local and global level. But how do the needs of countries differ?
Science Matters
Recurring fires are threatening the iconic snow gum
Frequent bushfires in the Victorian high country have devastated the snow gum population, endangering the flora and fauna that depend on them for survival
Engineering & Technology
Exploring the birthplace of monster waves
An expedition to the Antarctic explores where rogue waves begin, and what these monsters tell us about the way the ocean behaves and interacts with global climate change
Animals, Food & You
Are these Australia’s happiest dairy cows?
Watch our video of the University of Melbourne’s robotic dairy, where the cows decide when they’re milked
Business & Economics
Inside Business
Ex-auto workers could boost clean energy industry
Australia’s 100-year-old auto manufacturing industry will finally come to an end later this month, but workers’ skills would translate to the storable electricity industry
Inside Business
For the love of the punt
While we may be a nation of gamblers, how many of us are problem gamblers? And how much harm does it cause? The HILDA Survey is on the way to telling us.
Humanities
Getting women on board
Innovations in Australia and Singapore are getting more women on corporate boards across the Asia Pacific, but more work needs to be done to close the gap between senior executive roles and directorships
Inside Business
Lack of women in economics ‘bad for business’
Although some of Australia’s finest economic minds are women, they remain under-represented in the discipline’s highest ranks
Inside Business
Australia’s housing: Hard crash or soft landing?
After 25 years recession free - could our complacency about Australia’s euphoric house market be coming to an end?
Arts & Culture
Music, Arts & Screen
Jon Cattapan: A portrait of the artist as a new director
As he begins a new role as Director at the Victorian College of the Arts, Jon Cattapan talks life, loss and longevity in one of his most cherished places: his studio
Humanities
Peeling back history to reveal Melbourne’s faces from the past
Victoria’s Trades Hall has been standing for more than 100 years. Now a team of conservators is discovering the rich history under layers of paint ahead of a large-scale heritage redevelopment project supported by the state government.
Humanities
Alice Pung on John Marsden
In a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, the State Library Victoria and independent publisher Black Inc called Writers on Writers - modern authors reflect on the influence of those who came before them. In this book extract Alice Pung writes to her literary champion, John Marsden.
Humanities
The arrival of Amazon and the future of Australian publishing
As Amazon sets up shop in Australia, what impact could the massive online retailer and publisher have on the country’s book culture?
Go Figure
Why doesn’t modern Australia have diverse regional accents?
Unlike other countries the modern Australian-English accent doesn’t have huge regional variations. So what are the factors that lead to the evolution of an accent?
Humanities
Why Shakespeare would approve of the Pop-Up Globe
As Melbourne hosts the world’s first full-scale working replica pop-up of one of the greatest theatres in history, the second Globe, we explore what the Bard would make of it
Health & Medicine
Health & Wellbeing
Kids’ sleep a key indicator of wellbeing
Australia’s largest survey of children’s happiness finds that sleep is a key indicator of wellbeing – but traditional things like reading and pets still make kids smile
Health & Wellbeing
What is mindfulness? Nobody really knows, and that’s a problem
Mindfulness, or focusing on the present moment to improve awareness, is all the rage in schools, workplaces, and medical clinics, but questions have been raised over how poorly it is defined and researched
Health & Wellbeing
Getting sick in space on the way to Mars
As NASA announces its aim to have humans on Mars by the 2030s via a Deep Space Gateway - humans who make the long space journey will experience health risks we’ve never faced before
Health & Wellbeing
Uncovering the brain biology of eating disorders
Technologies like brain imaging and gene mapping are starting to shed light on the biological drivers of eating disorders, including a link to how our eyes track between points, but is prejudice towards a serious mental illness slowing down progress?
Eavesdrop on Experts
Gene genies: Meet the researchers mapping our DNA to combat cancer
Genome sequencing may provide the solution to cancer treatment and prevention
Podcast
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
Life’s a drag, unless you live in a bubble
In a breakthrough in our understanding of hydrodynamics, researchers have demonstrated the seemingly impossible: a ball that sinks in water with almost zero drag
Legal Affairs
RegTech and the future of customer protection
Big business uses artificial intelligence like regulation technology, or RegTech, to go through the fine print of contracts to ensure compliance - but isn’t it time the technology was used to protect customers?
Engineering & Technology
The students who built Australia’s first satellite
In 1970 a group of University of Melbourne students defied the odds to build and launch Australia’s first satellite – now a new book looks at their story of innovation and ingenuity
Animals, Food & You
Mapping Australia’s snakebites for pets
As spring begins to emerge, so too are Australian snakes. Now a first-of-its-kind map is tracking where and when our pets are bitten, but even which breeds are more likely to suffer a snakebite
Eavesdrop on Experts
Honey I shrunk the particles!
Nanodyamics, super sponges and jumping out of a plane in the name of science
PodcastGo Figure
Will Sydney-London ever be ‘weekend-able’?
Non-stop flights to London may be close for Sydneysiders, but will we ever be able to get there in just a few hours?