Pursuit
Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
Welcome to Pursuit
More about usHealth & Wellbeing
How sound alters sense of touch
New research suggests our brains process different sensory inputs more like a symphony, combining and harmonising information rather than processing separately
Inside Business
Ensuring families aren’t left behind in the recovery
The COVID-19 economic shock has seen widespread financial stress among families with young children and now is the time to tackle it
Legal Affairs
What to expect at COP26
With so many big issues at COP26, ensuring a successful outcome was always going to be a challenge, even without the COVID-19 wildcard
The maths and ethics of minimising COVID-19 deaths
A University of Melbourne experts says the government must factor in the maths and ethics of either flattening the curve or an eradication endgame for COVID-19.
Modelling the spread of COVID-19
Forecasting the spread of COVID-19 including undetected cases is difficult but important; a University of Melbourne scientist has an app to track the outlook.
Why do some people believe the Earth is flat?
Although science says the Earth is round, there are some people around who still think it's flat; two University of Melbourne experts look at why.
How universities can ‘walk the talk’ on climate action
Universities have a responsibility to be national and global leaders in tackling our carbon footprint and climate change, says a University of Melbourne expert.
Australia given serious health warning on climate change
Research monitoring the health impacts of climate change highlights the global emergency and the threat to Australians, warn University of Melbourne experts.
How sound alters sense of touch
New research suggests our brains process inputs from different senses like a symphony, combining and harmonising information say University of Melbourne experts
Health & Wellbeing
Killing the malaria parasite by blocking its recycling system
An international collaboration has developed a new drug candidate that stops the malaria parasite from breaking down waste, resulting in fatal ‘molecular constipation’ and hope for new treatments
Animals, Food & You
The crucial work of Indigenous Rangers
New research explores the work of Yolŋu Indigenous Rangers in North-East Arnhem Land to understand their crucial contribution of Indigenous cultural and natural resource management
Legal Affairs
Australia’s rivers are ancestral beings
Rivers around the world are now recognised by law as legal persons and living entities. Here in Australia, our rivers can be understood as ‘ancestral beings’ under Indigenous laws
Inside Business
Targeting support to break the cycle of disadvantage
Families’ reliance on income support is being passed down across generations, primarily among children of single parents and parents with disabilities
Subscribe to Pursuit
Receive your weekly email digest from Pursuit
COVID-19
Health & Wellbeing
Choose (vaccinated) life
Around four per cent of people hospitalised with COVID-19 are fully vaccinated – 96 per cent aren’t. One Emergency doctor says there’s no escaping the life-saving truth that vaccines do work
Health & Medicine
The facts of vaccinating our kids against COVID-19
Does the risk versus benefit equation justify having my Year 7 child vaccinated against COVID-19? The answer is yes
Design
From ‘nice to have’ to ‘must-have’ in the post-COVID workplace
The collective experiences of workers pre and post-pandemic offer five lessons for organisations to reimagine workplaces and practices
Design
Liveable Melbourne a blessing amid weary lockdowns
Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns have been among the longest in the world, but Melburnians can be grateful for and protective of their highly liveable city
Humanities
Communicating COVID-19 to our older culturally diverse Australians
COVID-19 lockdowns forced us online, but that’s been a mixed experience for older Chinese Australians – especially when it comes to getting accurate vaccine information
Environment
Legal Affairs
How universities can ‘walk the talk’ on climate action
Universities have a responsibility to be national and global leaders in tackling our carbon footprint
Health & Wellbeing
The betrayal of our young
COP26 is a chance to listen to our young people on climate change, but given recent trends, it may just mean empty words, according to one father and daughter
Science Matters
Indigenous knowledge and the myth of ‘wilderness’
Aboriginal ideas of ‘wilderness’ are in contrast to romantic views of a ‘pristine’ environment. But it actively excludes Indigenous and local people from conservation
Design
Hope and courage in the climate crisis
A new book is a guided tour of ideas to inspire and sustain radical hope and defiant courage in the long climate emergency which now lies before us
Engineering & Technology
What Victoria’s earthquake tells us about the safety of our structures
Australia has earthquake safety regulations for buildings, but Wednesday’s earthquake reminds us to be informed about the safety of our structures
Science Matters
Sequenced quoll genome a new tool for conservation
Researchers have sequenced the genome of the eastern quoll, and it may lead to improved breeding programs in the bid to re-establish the animal on the Australian mainland
Politics & Society
Humanities
How to rescue free trade in the post-COVID world
Free Trade Agreements have ended up as the ‘poster boy’ of anti-globalisation, but labour and environmental provisions in FTAS could provide an answer to the critics
Humanities
Racism in sport: So where to from here?
While we have made great steps forward, when the ‘rubber hits the road’ Australia is coming up short when it comes to racism in sport
Legal Affairs
Germany’s election at the negotiating table
After a knife-edge result in Germany’s Federal elections there are now three parties that must negotiate to form a coalition
Learning & Teaching
Submarines and vaccines: France’s 2022 presidential elections
Why do the French elections matter to Australia? More now due to new challenges to France’s commitment alongside Australia in the fraught geo-politics of the Indo-Pacific
Learning & Teaching
Australia’s Gen Y democracy gap
New research finds there’s democracy gap for young Australian adults, with a distrust of traditional politics but a focus on civic mindedness
Business & Economics
Inside Business
The power shift in global economics
Low interest rates and COVID-19 mean governments, not central banks, now control the world’s key economic levers
Legal Affairs
Directors’ duties and cyber security - it’s complicated
Effective management of cyber security risks is a core governance concern but the imposition of a new mandatory directors’ duty would be a step too far
Inside Business
It’s more than the money: Getting GPs to go to rural areas
While Australia’s Federal Budget promises more money to rural GPs, will the cash make a difference when it comes to getting and keeping doctors in remote Australia?
Inside Business
Saying ‘no’, nicely
Many businesses have become ‘gatekeepers’ during COVID-19, prioritising public health over profit. But there are strategies to keeping customers happy while sticking to the pandemic rules
Inside Business
Keeping supply chains ethical and sustainable amid COVID-19
The pandemic has put global supply chains under stress and we need to be watchful that ethics and sustainability don’t fall by the wayside
Inside Business
Should we pay Australians to get vaccinated?
Right now, the incentives for Australians to get their COVID-19 vaccine are all wrong. Carrots, sticks and nudges don’t seem to be working. So, why don’t we pay people to get vaccinated?
Health & Medicine
Health & Wellbeing
Looking out for our kids through lockdowns
A panel of experts give their views on building resilience in children and families, and what to look for if a child isn’t coping
Health & Wellbeing
A simple way to improve maternal health globally
Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are complications of pregnancy that can endanger a woman and her newborn, yet a key treatment isn’t being used in many parts of the world
Health & Wellbeing
We need to keep talking about miscarriage
Bereavement leave for miscarriage is welcome but more work is needed to better support people through their grief
Health & Wellbeing
NSW should be ‘okay’ opening up
New modelling suggests that NSW – as well Victoria and ACT – should have confidence that opening up will be ‘okay’ at 70 to 80 per cent double vaccinated
Health & Medicine
The pros and cons of prescription-only liquid nicotine
From October, all purchases of liquid nicotine and nicotine vaping products will need a prescription. So, what does that mean for the public and for public health?
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
Severity of Melbourne’s grass pollen season hanging on rain
In good news 2021 is shaping as an average pollen season but late spring rain may yet cause a heavier-than-average allergy burden
Science Matters
Whale migration in our noisy oceans
Mathematical modelling reveals that human-driven noise in our oceans is affecting marine life, particularly whales, confusing their annual migrations
Engineering & Technology
Purifying water with a simple powder
Researchers have found a material that quickly kills bacteria in drinking water, creating a safe and cheaper alternative to chlorine.
Science Matters
Q&A: 4 things you need to know about Victoria’s earthquake
It’s the largest onshore earthquake in Victoria in recorded history and it rocked Australia’s east coast – but where did it come from? And why now?
Science Matters
No bones about it, dunnarts crawl before growing a skeleton
New insights into the development of the dunnart – or marsupial mouse – provide a model animal to study other unique Australian fauna and could aid conservation efforts
Arts & Culture
Humanities
Don’t forget the sweets!
Childhood letters are rare in the historical record, but like those of the young Malcolm Fraser, they provide unique insight on the experience of children
Humanities
The symbolism of Australia’s Southern Cross
Australia’s Southern Cross has been used on flags and coats of arms since the early colonial period but, despite its endurance, it’s a very difficult emblem for many Australians
Music, Arts & Screen
Using music and words to bridge dementia
Music and reading can help people living with dementia. Now an international trial is showing that specific programs can help carers deliver these benefits to their loved ones at home
Humanities
How smaller can be better for memorialising history
Major historic events like 9/11 seem to demand monuments, but for many communities, smaller, more intimate memorials can provide a closer connection
Humanities
The poem behind the Green Knight
The medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is now a movie, but the poem itself already has a surprisingly contemporary message about tradition, modernity and our sense of self
Health & Medicine
Getting involved
The pandemic has changed student life rapidly –impacting on mental wellbeing. But our sense of belonging and connection can help protect our mental health
Podcast
Education
Humanities
Understanding China through education
Australia’s changing and challenging relationship with China needs far more – not less – China literacy in our schools
Under the Microscope
The language of learning
Stanley Wang is one of this year’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians for his work on bilingualism in school to help foster cultural identity in Australia
Health & Wellbeing
Giving students time for recovery and learning
Over the next years, our focus shouldn’t be to rapidly return schools to the old ‘normal’, but to provide students with adequate time and support to enjoy learning and retain knowledge and skills
Design
Building stronger connections between schools and communities
While all schools are part of their local community, some are developing partnerships and sharing spaces to become hubs for school-community connections
Health & Medicine
Promoting health in schools: Old idea, new opportunities
The WHO’s ‘health-promoting schools’ is an old idea, but finding new ways to fully realise its potential for young people globally has never been more urgent
Learning & Teaching
Children are more than just a return on investment
Early childhood programs and related funding are often justified on the cost-benefit analysis of what children could contribute to the economy when they grow up. But that needs to change