The University of Melbourne is a global leader in higher education. Across our campuses we convene brilliant minds from different disciplines and sectors to come together to address important questions and tackle grand challenges. In a disrupted world, that capacity has never been more important.
Our vision is to equip our students with a distinctive, future-facing education personalised around their ambitions and needs, enriched by global perspectives and embedded in a richly collaborative research culture. As active citizens and future leaders, our students represent our greatest contribution to the world, and are at the heart of everything we do.
We serve society by engaging with our communities and ensuring education and research are inspired from the outset by need and for the benefit of society, while remaining committed to allowing academic freedom to flourish. In this, we remain true to our purpose and fulfil our mission as a public-spirited organisation, dedicated to the principles of fairness, equality and excellence in everything we do.
We strive for an environment that is inclusive and celebrates diversity.
Beyond our campuses we imagine an Australia that is ambitious, forward thinking and increasing its reputation and influence globally. We are committed to playing a part in achieving this – building on our advantageous location in one of the world’s most exciting cities and across the state of Victoria, in a region rapidly becoming a hub for innovative education, research and collaboration.
To enhance the opportunities for children, we need to ensure we have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong social and economic future.
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A government review of regional, rural and remote education tells us we need to recognise the uniqueness of and understand successes in these communities to improve outcomes for these students.
As a result of the electoral boundary changes, Labor notionally gained two seats in Victoria and one in the ACT, and the Coalition lost two seats in Victoria.
AAP/Tony McDonough
On the new boundaries, Labor requires just a five-seat gain to win a majority, while the Coalition needs to gain two seats to retain its majority.
A big difference between the losing streaks of Malcolm Turnbull and former PM Tony Abbott is that Abbott often trailed Shorten as better PM, while Turnbull has always led Shorten.
AAP/Brendan Esposito
Questionable research practices are not fraud, and they’re not cause for panic. But they do give us some hints about how we can make science more robust.
The poor continue to be drowned out by a global minority enjoying elite status.
EPA/ALEX HOFFORD
Fresh earthquakes and aftershocks hit parts of Papua New Guinea following February’s deadly quake. It’s Australia’s slow push north that’s part of PNG’s seismic activity.
Kids dream about going to space – and some very wealthy adults are booking tickets.
from www.shutterstock.com
With any type of human exploration, there are risks as we push boundaries, and there are inevitably mishaps and fatalities as a result. Space tourism is no exception.
Mandatory retirement ages are still in place for the Australian judiciary. But this practice may be out of step with contemporary workforce needs.
Dave Hunt/AAP
Mandatory retirement ages are mostly a thing of the past in Australia. Removing the last vestiges of this practice is one way to address the problem of Australia’s ageing workforce.
Indonesia’s former president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left), and current president, Joko Widodo, had activists and scholars supporting their presidential campaigns. Many of them have since been given special staff positions in the administration.
Adi Weda/EPA
Many activists have entered politics in the two decades of Indonesia’s democratisation. But this hasn’t improved the quality of democracy in the country.
Mantan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (kiri), dan Presiden Joko Widodo, didukung aktivis dan intelektual dalam kampanye mereka untuk menduduki posisi RI 1. Banyak aktivis tersebut diberi posisi staf khusus di Istana Negara. Adi Weda/EPA.
Adi Weda/EPA
It’s understandable to want to shield children from the impacts of disasters. But research suggests that they should be given a voice in disaster planning and a role in reducing the risks.
For the Earth, which is shaped like a ball, the force of gravity pulls you to the centre from every point on the ground.
Cindy Zhi/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
At a time when young people across the West are increasingly sceptical about liberal democracy, the Netflix series Babylon Berlin reminds us of the lessons to be learnt from the history of the Weimar Republic.
Income and gender roles are not the only factors in the division of household chores.
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Housework is typically thought of as a gendered or economic exchange, but a new study emphasises the role played by the knowledge we gain about our partner over the course of a relationship.
The British First Fleet knew little of conditions in Port Jackson, later Sydney Cove, before their arrival.
George Edwards Peacock, State Library of New South Wales.
When the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove in 1788, they entered an ancient and unforgiving landscape. A new book charts Australians’ relationship with one of the world’s most volatile climates.
Current MDMA trials could lead to the drug moving from the fringes of mainstream psychiatry to being recognised as a mainstream treatment option.
AAP
Current trials suggest MDMA could used to treat psychiatric disorders as a prescription medicine by 2021. But there remain a number of unresolved patient / doctor issues to be considered.
Evidence isn’t always as straightforward as it might first seem.
Mai Lam/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation and Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation
Brain-zapping, the curious case of the n-rays and other stories of evidence
The Conversation, CC BY70.4 MB(download)
You've had an x-ray before but have you had an n-ray? Of course not, because they're not real. But people used to think they were. Today, on Trust Me, I'm an Expert, we're bringing you stories on the theme of evidence.
Many more people experience World Heritage sites like the Sydney Opera House in digital form than physically visit them.
Many more people experience World Heritage online than in person. While that further elevates the status of iconic sites like the Sydney Opera House, it has other more complicated consequences too.