Pursuit
Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
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Who is nature?
A new film taps into virtual reality and First Nations wisdom to help people re-conceive of the nature around them, not as a thing but as a “who” in a relationship that needs give and take
Design
Getting regional development right
A new strategic approach to revitalising Victoria’s Gippsland is centred on place-based leadership and could be applied around Australia’s regions
Humanities
Australia’s future as a destination for international students
At the end of a challenging year, it’s time to take stock of the impacts COVID-19 will continue to have on Australia’s reputation as a destination for higher education
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.
Who is nature?
A new film taps into virtual reality and First Nations wisdom to re-conceive Nature as a “who” requiring give and take, says a University of Melbourne expert.
Should schools close during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Research including the University of Melbourne finds schools are unlikely to play a role in COVID-19 community transmission, provided key measures are in place.
Australia’s future as a destination for international students
University of Melbourne experts say it’s time to take stock of the impacts of COVID-19 on Australia’s reputation as a destination for higher education.
Science Matters
Genomics, gene-editing and the Blue Revolution
Advances in genomic and gene-editing technologies are giving aquaculture a much more precise way of making disease resistant fish and shellfish
Legal Affairs
The investor-led push on climate change
Investor-led pressure on Australian companies is forcing boards to adopt sustainable business practices to meet climate change goals
Humanities
Australia’s universities need to be free to engage globally
Legislation allowing the Minister for Foreign Affairs to veto universities’ international agreements puts the student, research and societal benefits of international cooperation at risk
Science Matters
Our country, Our way
Wiradjuri man and geographer Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher explores how Indigenous people and knowledge can save Australia’s environmental unravelling
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COVID-19
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 1: Conversations on COVID-19: A Global View
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on ‘scientific experts’ - perhaps none more so than US advisor Dr Anthony Fauci - but will there be a greater role for scientists in public life?
Health & Wellbeing
Bonus Episode: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
Why is Melbourne back in lockdown when it looked like Australia had succeeded in reducing the spread of COVID-19? And what's the way out?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 4: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
As schools begin to reopen not just in Australia, but around the world, it’s timely to ask ourselves - are the kids alright?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 5: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
Australia is set for its first recession in 29 years, but what are the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on the way we work?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 6: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
This COVID-19 crisis is unlikely to be an isolated event, that’s why it’s important to start planning for the next pandemic
Business & Economics
Inside Business
Insurance failing when we need it most
The whole concept of insurance comes under question when disasters are apparently too big to insure, but the industry needs to do more to meet the challenge
Inside Business
Are you OK Australia?
Australians report high levels of life satisfaction but there are gaps – Indigenous Australians, immigrants and the unemployed fare worse. And a warning on COVID-19 fallout, social ties are important
Inside Business
Pandemic fallout exposes the young and vulnerable
Latest HILDA Survey shows it’s young workers most exposed to job losses, while poverty rates were edging higher before the COVID-19, it has made welfare policy critical to many Australians
Inside Business
Pets and Australians: Who has what?
HILDA reveals that almost half of Australian households have a dog, and around two-thirds have at least one pet, with cats and fish also popular at home
Inside Business
Blurring the weekend
About a third of working Australians do some work on the weekend, though for most their main job is still on week days. But will an increase in working from home blur the lines?
Inside Business
Childcare a challenge for poorer single parents
The HILDA Survey suggests single-parent households in Australia are abandoning formal childcare as they face greater poverty rates
Education
Learning & Teaching
Playing for participation
eSports has been touted as the future of sport in a post-COVID-19 world, but schools are uniquely placed to foster learning, collaboration and skills in gaming clubs
Learning & Teaching
Emerging from COVID-19 and taking the chance to change
Across Australia, restrictions are loosening and now is a good time to take stock of how COVID-19 has changed our lives – and where we go from here
Learning & Teaching
5 tips for Year 12 students preparing for exams
As Year 12 students prepare for their final exams during COVID-19, there are steps parents, carers and students can take to get through this final secondary school hurdle
Learning & Teaching
Australian literature’s great silence
The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the systemic racism in Australian society; a new study suggests that we must question the very white stories told in our classrooms
Education
Our changing identities under COVID-19
The fallout from the pandemic is a challenge to many people’s identity, but some of us have fewer resources to cope when our worlds are turned upside down
Environment
Design
Adapting Melbourne’s public transport to ‘COVID normal’
Given Melbourne’s franchised model of public transport provision, who is best positioned to manage cross-disciplinary risks during a pandemic?
Animals, Food & You
How do some frogs ‘rebound’ after disease while others perish?
A new study shows how some species survive infectious disease epidemics, and how we can use this knowledge to assist and direct wildlife management
Design
Without sustainable cities, global development goals will fail
Australian cities are integrating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into their own COVID-19 Recovery Plans, using local action to drive global sustainability
Health & Medicine
Why COVID-19 should make us rethink our relationship with meat
With COVID-19 spreading through abattoirs and meat processing facilities around the world, it’s a chance to reconsider eating meat for the climate
Design
The time is now for Indigenous design equity
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have always been the architects, the engineers and the land managers – that deep wisdom must be reflected in tackling climate change
Design
Reimagining international airports in COVID-19
COVID-19 highlights that our capacity to manage international travel is critical when responding to a pandemic. The way we design airports could minimise the risk of imported outbreaks
Health & Medicine
Eavesdrop on Experts
The science of coughing
Coughing is an important human defensive reflex - it keeps our airways clear - but there’s a big difference between a good cough and a bad cough
PodcastHealth & Medicine
The Indigenous eye-care gap is closing, but not fast enough
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-led approach to managing COVID-19 provides lessons for closing the gap on vision – but more government support is essential
Health & Wellbeing
Food Health Star labels are driving healthier products
Food labels are improving the nutrition of packaged products in Australia and New Zealand, but they must be compulsory to make a bigger difference
Health & Wellbeing
Time for smart masking
With so few cases of COVID-19 Victoria’s compulsory mask wearing laws don’t pass the pub test. We need to transition to smarter rules on mask wearing
Health & Wellbeing
Hooking up in lockdown
A new study shows that the Australian COVID-19 lockdown did impact on our sexual behaviour – but the need for reproductive health services remains during the pandemic
Politics & Society
Inside Business
Losing our religion
Australians are rapidly dropping their religious affiliation. Even among those who are religious, the importance of their faith is relatively low, the HILDA Survey finds
Health & Wellbeing
Safeguarding our shared cultural heritage
There are thousands of agreements in place between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but Traditional Owners need the right data to inform decision making
Humanities
The art of opposition in Erdoğan’s Turkey
Turkey’s opposition parties are mobilising against increased authoritarianism by using the Government’s own laws to establish new alliances
Public Affairs
What’s next for the Republicans after Trump?
If you are conservative, there are at least five reasons to feel concerned about Trump’s legacy — and another five to feel quite optimistic about it
Legal Affairs
The limits of government outsourcing
Failures in Victoria’s hotel quarantine have highlighted concern that outsourcing is hollowing out government. So when is contracting out appropriate and when isn’t it?
Public Affairs
The legacy of Trump
The measure of Donald Trump’s legacy will be the extent of the loss of faith in the office of the president – both as a leader and an institution
Arts & Culture
Legal Affairs
Rescuing Australia’s lost literary treasures
A new project is digitising some of Australia’s most culturally-important lost books, getting them into libraries and answering some important questions
Humanities
50 words in Australian Indigenous languages
A new online resource – the 50 Words Project – makes words from local Indigenous languages available for every Australian to hear and learn
Humanities
Other awful years in history
2020 has been grim, but there have been worse years. Here, experts from science, history and literature take us through just some of the other terrible times
Humanities
Bringing new life to cemeteries
Australians are embracing new ways of commemorating the dead, including eco-friendly burials, raising new questions about how communities make use of traditional cemeteries
Humanities
The international students trying to understand Australia from afar
Remote learning means many international students don’t have the opportunity to understand Australia as a country and a culture
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
An ounce of biosecurity prevention is worth two pounds of cure
Australia will avoid $A314 billion in damages, at an average return on investment of 30:1 through the continued operation of its biosecurity systems, new research shows
Health & Wellbeing
Translating thought into action
The first human trial of a tiny device that reads brain signals is successfully allowing patients with paralysis to operate computers and phones with their minds
Science Matters
Organised chaos: The key to next-generation solar technology
Researchers in Australia have resolved a fundamental design challenge in next-generation perovskite solar cells, bringing their widespread use a step closer
Science Matters
The science behind life in space on ‘Away’
Unfolding spacecraft, artificial gravity, and space disease all feature on Netflix’s series ‘Away’, but how much of the action is true to life?
Science Matters
Secrets of the basket-web spider’s silk
The only spider known to weave a container to catch prey, researchers now have the first insights into the evolution and structure of the basket-web spider’s rare silk
Science Matters
The tiny world of peptides
Many commonly available cosmetic and health products contain peptides – but what actually are they and what do they do in the human body?
Podcast