Pursuit
Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
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Our mental health has gone digital
Apps, wearables and ingestibles that support digital mental health have lowered barriers to access but have profound social, ethical, and legal implications
Engineering & Technology
The Southern Ocean is Earth’s climate ‘engine room’
A shipboard monitoring system is giving researchers much-needed measurements of Antarctic wind, waves and ice
Inside Business
Changing the cost of some uni degrees didn’t change students’ minds
New research finds that hikes in the cost of some university degrees had limited impact on students’ choices
Dodging disease and death in the first US presidential debate
A University of Melbourne expert says the first US presidential debate didn’t have a winner but was a testimony to dire political discourse without compassion.
Should foreign countries intervene in civil wars?
Professor Anne Orford explores the legitimacy of foreign intervention in civil wars such as those being currently waged in Syria, Iraq and the Ukraine
The podcast shining a light on a murder verdict
A hit podcast called "Serial" - around the trial of the murderer of US teenager Hae Min Lee - demonstrates the role journalism can play in revisiting cases.
Getting the right money on the right terms at COP28
When financial investors contribute to blended finance options for climate change at COP28, it can amount to more than money says University of Melbourne expert
Our mental health has gone digital
Apps, wearables and ingestibles that support digital mental health have profound social, ethical, and legal implications, says University of Melbourne expert
Black Summer showed we’re good in an emergency but bad in a crisis
Australia’s emergency response to bushfire is “exemplary” but we fail to deal with the climate change crises that cause them says University of Melbourne expert
Science Matters
Black Summer showed we’re good in an emergency but bad in a crisis
Australia’s emergency response to bushfire is “exemplary” but we repeatedly fail to deal with the climate crises that cause disasters
Legal Affairs
COP28 is a global stocktake of climate change
This year’s international climate change conference could disappoint or deliver meaningful actions to combat the climate emergency and support adaptation measures
Humanities
Banning the Nazi salute is one thing, let’s talk about the consequences
Neo-Nazis feed on fear and controversy. Their response to new Australian laws banning their symbols is hard to predict
Design
Five ways retrofitting cities can help decarbonise our future
New construction is the source of massive amounts of carbon pollution. Retrofitting existing infrastructure is cleaner, and brings multiple benefits
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Education
Learning & Teaching
The Australian Universities Accord cannot ignore climate change
COP28 is a reminder that higher education needs a mandate to combat the climate crisis and support the planet
Learning & Teaching
School refusal needs a national response
The recent Senate Inquiry rightly recommends a coordinated national approach to a growing national problem
Learning & Teaching
Communication and education to mobilise global climate action
Evidence-informed strategies for promoting global climate literacy and action are essential for addressing the climate crisis
Learning & Teaching
Helping more students ‘see themselves’ in the classroom
Increasing the diversity of Australia’s teaching workforce hasn’t been a policy priority. It’s time for a rethink
Legal Affairs
Universities can’t forget about lower socio-economic students
If the Government wants to increase higher education participation, it first needs to tackle the very real financial, psychological and cultural barriers for disadvantaged students
Environment
Legal Affairs
On the ground and hoping ambition triumphs at COP28
Director of Melbourne Climate Futures Professor Jacqueline Peel is in Dubai and hoping for positive progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement
Science Matters
Human rights law demands climate change adaptation
Supporting climate adaptation for vulnerable peoples is not just a matter of ‘aid’ but rather a legal obligation that must be met
Design
Decarbonising transport for our health
Transforming Australia’s carbon-intensive road transport system can also solve one of our most significant public health challenges
Science Matters
From diet to climate, our fertility is at risk
A childhood fascination with the family dairy farm led Associate Professor Mark Green to a career in reproductive biology
Design
Informal settlements are where cities are made
Far from the superficial notion of ‘slums’, informal settlements shape urban development across most of the world’s cities
Science Matters
When it’s hot in the city, let green spaces do the sweating for you
Everyone needs access to urban green spaces, not just those in more affluent areas
Politics & Society
Legal Affairs
When AI gets it wrong, workers suffer
AI can be just as discriminatory in the workplace as any human manager and the law needs to catch up to this new reality
Humanities
China welcomed Albanese but remains wary of Australia-US relations
Although the Australian PM’s recent visit was well-received in Beijing, Chinese media remains unsure how Australia can balance its interests with both China and the US
Public Affairs
The impasse between Israel and Hamas
It’s increasingly difficult to see a way out of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas that has already seen thousands of civilians lose their homes, families and lives
Humanities
The great ‘gayby’ boom
Changing social and legal perspectives of parenthood, and access to the global fertility industry has enabled a huge rise in queer people raising children
Public Affairs
Q&A: Israel, Hamas and the future of the Middle east
Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel marks a dramatic escalation in the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Business & Economics
Inside Business
Think the best footy players earn too much? Here’s why they should be paid more
The pursuit for competitive balance means teams are underpaying AFL’s top players, even those sitting on million-dollar contracts
Inside Business
Avoiding the cliff and the freefall into poverty
For more than 20 years, Anti-Poverty Week has campaigned to ensure that every Australian has adequate food and shelter. How far have we come?
Inside Business
The role you play in modern slavery in Australia
There are more than 40,000 people living and working in conditions considered modern slavery in Australia – but do Australian consumers care?
Inside Business
A sustainable solution to Australia’s engineering skills shortage
To solve the skills shortage for good, we need to inspire a stronger connection with engineering
Inside Business
The business leaders ‘hiding’ chronic illness
After COVID, the impact of long-term health conditions is being felt across the workforce. But managers are keeping their illnesses a secret over career concerns
Inside Business
Overcoming gender bias of boardroom gatekeepers
If we remove professional barriers for women, they can compete on equal footing with men. And key to that is tackling the bias of gatekeepers
Arts & Culture
Humanities
Quiz: 100 years of Disney vs Warner Bros.
As two giants of Hollywood’s culture-defining studios turn 100 this year – Warner Bros. and Disney – test your knowledge about their creative history
Humanities
Remembering and forgetting the dead
Ancient Celtic Halloween – or All Hallow’s Eve – was a day to acknowledge the dead. Modern rituals of marking death continue this tradition, both remembering and letting go
Humanities
Homicide on Hydra
A new book explores the more-or-less forgotten crime novels of one of Australia’s most successful authors, George Johnston
Music, Arts & Screen
Working to preserve cultural tradition through technology
Ngarluma man Andrew Dowding’s research fuses education, innovation and heritage in digital mapping to empower Indigenous Australians
Music, Arts & Screen
The rebirth of ‘The Doll’ at its theatre of origin
History and future come together with a new staging of Ray Lawler’s iconic play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at the new Union Theatre
Health & Medicine
Health & Medicine
Losing a parent to domestic homicide – and everything that’s wrong with this headline
The words we use to describe how children are impacted by domestic homicide are important – and it’s time to be honest
Health & Medicine
“That weird kid without parents”
Losing a parent through domestic homicide can change a child’s self-understanding in isolating ways. Support must respond to identity-based distress and foster belonging
Health & Medicine
A child’s right to be heard
After a parent is killed due to domestic violence, children aren’t given enough opportunity to express their opinions on decisions that directly affect their lives
Health & Medicine
A stable place in a time of turmoil
Schools can be the only stable and predictable environment in the lives of children affected by the tragedy of fatal domestic violence – but they need resourcing
Health & Medicine
Don’t look away
Children bereaved by domestic homicide deserve support and advocacy, not silence and stigma. As a society, let’s engage rather than look away
Health & Medicine
When ‘home’ is taken away
The concept of ‘home’ fundamentally shifts after a child loses a parent to domestic homicide and it can be challenging to rebuild a sense of belonging
Sciences & Technology
Engineering & Technology
The elite athlete training for an extreme Arctic race in a fridge
An ultra-marathon runner is training in a research refrigerator with a team of engineers ahead of a 230-kilometre Arctic race
Engineering & Technology
How Australia’s prefab industry can help the housing crisis
Prefabrication is a practical solution to meet Victoria’s urgent housing needs by providing speedy and cost-efficient dwellings
Engineering & Technology
Kids with disability are gamers too
Working with an eight-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, researchers have co-designed a video game controller to provide more opportunities for fun and social connection
Science Matters
The great mystery of interstellar chemistry
Researchers are replicating the cold vacuum of space to study how interstellar molecules are produced and what they’re made of
Science Matters
Sports coaches make these seven kinds of decisions
Understanding the seven decision types sports coaches make – with their strengths and pitfalls – can help us all make better choices