Pursuit
Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
Welcome to Pursuit
More about usGo Figure
What you need to know about nitrogen pollution
Could a new measurement more accurately identify places at risk of damaging levels of nitrogen?
Learning & Teaching
Beating the bullies by thinking differently
Having a resilient mindset makes a big difference to how much damage bullying does - parents and teachers can help kids learn that they have the power to cope with difficulty
Design
Q&A: The Indigenous design perspective
The Indigenous design perspective has been ignored, replaced or forgotten for too long, says architect Jefa Greenaway - but things are changing
How to help babies avoid getting a flat head
A University of Melbourne expert says plagiocephaly, or flat-headedness, is common but preventable - if parents encourage their babies to move their own heads.
Our cancer preventing genes revealed
In a world first, University of Melbourne scientists have found how the most important cancer-preventing gene, called p53, stops the development of lymphoma.
The enigma of the ACL
More people than even are injuring their ACL; University of Melbourne PhD candidate Raneem Haddara is focussing on preventing the injury, rather than curing it.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart: Why I have hope
Although the government rejected the Uluru Statement of the Heart, a University of Melbourne academic finds there's reason to hope for indigenous recognition.
Beating the bullies by thinking differently
University of Melbourne research finds that helping kids to develop a resilient mindset makes a big difference to how much damage bullying does.
What you need to know about nitrogen pollution
A new measurement from University of Melbourne researchers could more accurately identify places at risk of damaging levels of nitrogen pollution.
Science Matters
How commuting is transforming our cities
Book extract: Twice a day, every weekday – millions of us spend time in cars, buses, trains and trams commuting. Although many of us hate it, the experiences of our daily journeys are transforming life in our cities
The Policy Shop
Academic freedom & free speech in Universities
Professor Adrienne Stone and John Roskam debate the freedom to offend, the nature of expertise and the state of academic freedom in Australia and around the world
PodcastAnimals, Food & You
Fighting the ‘white cancer’ threatening global food security
Researchers have made a ‘game changing’ shift in our understanding of how plants succumb to high levels of salt in agricultural soils.
Health & Wellbeing
Breathing easy: Treating steroid resistant asthmatics
Steroid resistance in the lungs is a critical problem for severe asthmatics, but researchers have tracked down the molecular cause and a new inhaled treatment is on the way
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Business & Economics
Legal Affairs
Tackling underpayment in cleaning supply chains
The link between the complicated layers of contracting arrangements and underpayment of wages in cleaning supply chains exposes the need for better solutions to tackle non-compliance with workplace rights
Inside Business
Why do medical specialist consultation fees vary so much?
A new report highlights the wide variation in fees and earnings among medical specialists, pointing to the need for more transparency in healthcare charges
Learning & Teaching
Want to lead self-motivated employees?
The right leadership style is key to fostering self-motivated employees and workplace well-being
Inside Business
Don’t blame inequality just on the ‘Fat Cats’
CEO salaries are often highlighted as an example of widening income inequality, but that singular focus misses the other equally important ways big business fails to contribute to a fairer society
Learning & Teaching
Millennials want the same as the rest of us, but can’t afford it
Remaining close to family and friends matters to millennials, but few can afford to buy their own home in the neighbourhoods that mean the most to them
Politics & Society
Legal Affairs
Sexism, women and Australian politics
The sexist remark thrown at Senator Sarah Hanson-Young underscores the urgent need for more women in Australian parliament
Humanities
The Battle of Kursk: 75 years on
The human and material toll of the world’s largest tank battle was horrendous as the Wehrmacht’s tactical edge was overwhelmed by superior means of destruction
Public Affairs
Q&A: The great British Brexit
Key resignations over British Prime Minister Theresa May’s approach to Brexit has plunged the government into chaos. But what does it mean for Brexit?
Under the Microscope
Race, sport and media: Questioning the status quo
Researching racism in media and sport has taken Professor Karen Farquharson from post-Apartheid South Africa to youth sport clubs in Melbourne’s suburbs
Public Affairs
Mexicans voted overwhelmingly for change. Will they get it?
The Mexican general election was not only the biggest in the country’s history, with over 3,400 positions at stake, but it may be the greatest shock to the political status quo since the Mexican Revolution ended in 1920
Eavesdrop on Experts
Your online life after death
From algorithms that post tweets for us after we die to bequeathing a digital legacy to our families – death is being disrupted by technology
Podcast
Environment
Animals, Food & You
Taking steps to cut your nitrogen footprint
We’ve all heard of our carbon footprint, but it’s important to understand why your daily caffè latte is contributing to your nitrogen footprint
Under the Microscope
Conserving biodiversity to safeguard our future
From reintroducing previously-extinct species to examining apex predators, the new Head of the Melbourne Veterinary School Anna Meredith works across disciplines to maintain diversity in ecosystems
Animals, Food & You
Small farms and China’s reliance on agricultural chemicals
Overuse of agricultural chemicals is taking a toll on health and the environment in China, and small farm size is a big part of the problem
Science Matters
Speeding natural selection in the name of conservation
A breeding experiment to genetically adapt quolls to resist toxic cane toads could lead to a new tool to help endangered creatures from corals to Tasmanian Devils
Science Matters
What happens to wildlife in a city that never sleeps?
Artificial lights have brightened the night in cities across the world and urban wildlife is being forced to adapt – but what happens when, after 3.5 billion years of evolution, light invades what should be darkness?
Education
Learning & Teaching
Why don’t Australian school kids feel a sense of belonging?
Respectful and valued relationships with teachers and the wider community are key to helping more students feel greater connection to their school, leading to far-reaching positive effects
Learning & Teaching
Universities must stand firm as radically inclusive communities of knowledge
Universities elevate and empower – providing an engine for prosperity and social mobility. But their role as establishers of truths, or challengers of concepts and beliefs is under pressure
Learning & Teaching
What’s it like to be young and from overseas in Australia?
The first ever census of young Australians from refugee and migrant backgrounds paints a mixed picture of optimism and belonging against a backdrop of ongoing discrimination
Public Affairs
Creating ripples of learning in China
While Australia wrestles with committing to recommendations in the Gonski report on education, China is embracing student-driven learning, improving rural education and bridging the tech-divide
Engineering & Technology
Breaking next-gen scientists out of the lab
Fewer exams, add a language, and ‘dip a toe in the arts’ are all part of encouraging tomorrow’s scientists to innovate in the real world
Learning & Teaching
How Australia got so many law schools
Australia’s large number of law schools is a product of higher education policy change in the 1980s, but has it limited opportunities for growth?
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
From gravitational waves to mobile phones: 50 years of physics
To celebrate 50 years of the July Lectures in Physics, we look back at four physics discoveries that have changed the world
Science Matters
Bringing back the northern white rhino from ‘extinction’
There are only two female northern white rhinos left in the world, but the species could soon make a comeback thanks to assisted reproductive technologies and a little help from their southern cousins
Science Matters
All the forests in the world from a single layer of cells
Researchers have discovered the workings of wood-making cells inside trees, settling a century-old debate about how plants make bark and wood
Science Matters
Quantum leap in computer simulation
Physicists have successfully run the largest quantum computing simulation to date, a key step in becoming quantum-ready
Science Matters
Crowdsourcing security intelligence
Inspired by how bees make collective decisions, researchers are exploring how crowdsourcing techniques may help intelligence analysts produce the best-reasoned analysis from the available data
Arts & Culture
Eavesdrop on Experts
From “failed musician” to innovative entrepreneur
Susan De Weger is not your typical classical musician. The self-confessed “failed musician” now helps young musicians connect with modern audiences and compete with digital disruption
PodcastHumanities
How did a cockatoo reach 13th century Sicily?
Images of a cockatoo in Frederick II of Sicily’s falconry book reveal how trade routes around Australia’s north were flourishing as far back as medieval times
Humanities
Bringing back languages from scraps of paper
The controversial ethnographer Daisy Bates recorded many Aboriginal languages in the early 20th century, which would otherwise be lost today; now her papers have been digitised
Under the Microscope
Putting cross-cultural stories centre stage
Kim Ho has won the prestigious Patrick White Playwrights’ Award for his play Mirror’s Edge, which explores the interplay of Anglo-European, Chinese, and Indigenous cultures in Australia across three centuries
Humanities
Criss-cross history hidden in a letter
A colonist’s letter of 1839 is crammed with adventure, but holds a deeper and unsettling insight into the history of Australia’s frontier conflict
Music, Arts & Screen
Pulling no punches: The underrated art of stage fighting
Stage combat isn’t about hitting stuff – it requires a lot of choreography, training and skill to create the convincing illusion that you are, actually, hitting stuff
Health & Medicine
Health & Wellbeing
How to help babies avoid getting a flat head
Plagiocephaly, the clinical name for asymmetrical flat-headedness in babies, is relatively common but easily preventable. Parents just need to encourage their babies to defy gravity
Under the Microscope
The enigma of the ACL
More people than ever are injuring their anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. But PhD candidate Raneem Haddara is exploring how to prevent the injury, rather than cure it
Health & Wellbeing
Why are young girls asking for vaginal cosmetic surgery?
A pilot study has found girls as young as 11 are seeking cosmetic surgery for their genitals. What’s going on?
Under the Microscope
Healing the wounded
Most of us think wounds are easy to manage – put a Band-Aid on and the magic happens. But what about wounds that don’t heal and become chronic? That’s where Dr Suzanne Kapp’s research comes in
Health & Wellbeing
World-first test could predict your risk of a heart attack
Researchers have developed a world-first blood test which improves the prediction of the long-term risk of heart attack in people with severe coronary artery disease