Pursuit
Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
Welcome to Pursuit
More about usHumanities
40 years: The protests that began Mardi Gras
In Sydney, on the night of 24 June, 1978, police cracked down on a march celebrating gay and lesbian solidarity. It was just the start of what would become the world famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Learning & Teaching
Want to lead self-motivated employees?
The right leadership style is key to fostering self-motivated employees and workplace well-being
Design
Melbourne's housing crisis and homelessness
As Melbourne faces a growing housing crisis, pockets of innovation are offering some people a leg up out of social housing and into home ownership
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 hard science behind surviving a zombie attack
As Xbox releases its survival game, State of Decay 2, the developers called on a University of Melbourne disaster expert to model a zombie outbreak in Australia
What are the long-term health risks of having your tonsils out?
For the first time, University of Melbourne researchers have identified the long-term health risks of removing tonsils and adenoids in childhood.
Healing the wounded
How do we treat wounds that don't heal and become a chronic problem? That's where the research of a very focused University of Melbourne expert comes in.
40 years: The protests that began Mardi Gras
Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was born of a police attack on protestors. A University of Melbourne expert recalls the night and the importance of radicals
Want to lead self-motivated employees?
University of Melbourne research has shown how leaders can support employees to work more autonomously, creating a happier and more productive workplace.
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
Legal Affairs
Duty and honour at the heart of Indigenous recognition
The Voice to Parliament proposed in the Uluru Statement would ensure Indigenous Australians are consulted about laws that affect them, as is already done in Canada and New Zealand
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
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
Subscribe to Pursuit
Receive your weekly email digest from Pursuit
Politics & Society
Public Affairs
This is not a drill: A cyberthreat reality check
Cybersecurity is now an official national priority for Australia. So how would we respond to an attack on the country’s critical infrastructure? And what makes Australia vulnerable?
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
The Policy Shop
A new model for public policy?
Examining Nicholas Gruen’s proposal for an Evaluator General to ensure policy is genuinely evidence-based
PodcastLearning & 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
Humanities
20 years after Soeharto: Is Indonesia’s ‘era reformasi’ over?
Since the end of President Soeharto’s 32-year rule, Indonesia has gone through a period of reform. But recent political and social changes raise questions about where the country is heading
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
Fighting back against the Australian blowfly
Melbourne researchers have been collecting blowfly samples from across Australia as part of the fight against flystrike
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
Science Matters
Finding the building blocks of wood
Scientists are looking inside plant cells to learn how wood is formed and how that process can help develop materials for the future
Engineering & Technology
The hard science behind surviving a zombie attack
Build a defensive ring or run as fast as you can - the disaster modelling that could help you survive a killer zombie outbreak in Australia
Under the Microscope
If we could talk to the animals
Happy animals are more productive, and in turn have happier and wealthier owners. Animal welfare scientist Rebecca Doyle is sharing these ideas with farmers in the developing world
Eavesdrop on Experts
Smashing through science’s glass ceiling
From a schoolgirl who studied science to meet boys, Professor Frances Separovic became the first female chemistry professor in Victoria. Now she champions young women in science
Podcast
Education
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?
Learning & Teaching
Nice work, if you can get it
As young people respond to a changing labour market in Australia, internships can offer a bridge between education and employment. But how do we ensure they’re the good kind of internship rather than exploitation?
Learning & Teaching
Who’s citing whom and who’s citing what
Understanding the history of citation, over centuries, can help map the influence of an idea - telling us where research began and where it might go in the future
Environment
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?
Design
Paying the right price for energy efficient homes
New research finds that people are willing to pay more for energy efficient housing, making the case for a mandatory national rating system for existing homes
Science Matters
Why parts of Earth have barely changed in 3 billion years
Earth’s transition from a volcanic state to modern plate tectonics created super-stable rocks that are the source of much of our mineral wealth
Eavesdrop on Experts
Solving our climate history puzzle
Joelle Gergis has pieced together Australia’s climate history for the first time, confirming our continent is already experiencing weather extremes far beyond natural variability
PodcastScience Matters
The big picture of the Kilauea eruption
Hawaii’s Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes - but what does this recent eruption tell us about what’s going on deep underground?
Arts & Culture
Humanities
When department stores were more than just stores
Australia’s Foy & Gibson department store once dominated Melbourne, with showrooms, factories and warehouses spread over 500,000 square feet, and while it no longer exists, its legacy lives on
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
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
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
The Crucible reborn
It’s the 17th-century witch-hunt story everybody knows, but what relevance does Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible have today? Acclaimed theatre director Adena Jacobs explains her modern take on the play, before her UK operatic directorial debut later this year
Health & Medicine
Health & Wellbeing
Our cancer preventing genes revealed
In a world first, Melbourne scientists have discovered how the most important cancer-preventing gene, called p53, stops the development of lymphoma – and potentially other types of cancer
Arts & Culture
Confronting the feel, smell and taste of blood
Would you drink from a cup made from blood once infected with HIV? The inaugural exhibition from Science Gallery Melbourne challenges our deeply held beliefs about blood
Health & Wellbeing
From decades to days: 3D modelling tuberculosis
3D modelling of the mutations in TB means doctors around the world could soon tailor individual treatments for the disease in a matter of days, rather than years
Science Matters
What are the long-term health risks of having your tonsils out?
For the first time, researchers have examined the long-term effects of removing tonsils and adenoids in childhood, finding the operations are associated with increased respiratory, infectious and allergic diseases
Health & Wellbeing
Busting the myth that endometriosis is a ‘skinny woman’s’ disease
Endometriosis is very common, but relatively little is known about it; Melbourne researchers are filling in these knowledge gaps, starting with the condition’s link to body mass index
Health & Wellbeing
It’s time to ‘big note’ Indigenous health leaders
Indigenous Australians need to ‘name and claim’ their leadership roles and recognise their valuable contributions to improving communities’ health
Business & Economics
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
Go Figure
Blockchain: Lucrative buzzword or legitimate game changer?
Blockchain technology is commonly associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but that’s only the beginning
Legal Affairs
When families and money don’t mix
The banking Royal Commission highlights the vulnerability of parents acting as guarantors of their child’s business loan and the need for better ways to support decision-making
Inside Business
It's official: Power creates a narcissist
For certain people, holding a position of power can unleash their inner narcissist
Go Figure
Why moaning about work can actually be good for you
The research is in: Having a whinge with your colleagues can make everyone’s day a bit better