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Monash University

Monash is a university that embraces change. The concept of transformation lies at the heart of our philosophy and is one of the main reasons that we’ve joined The Conversation.

The objective at the heart of The Conversation is to transform the way big issues are discussed in Australia. It’s a daring goal, exactly the sort of intrepid initiative that we pride ourselves on at Monash.

We think the same characteristics that will set The Conversation apart, are some of those that define Monash: an expansive knowledge network, strong global focus and an emphasis on solving real problems.

This last point, the desire to make a difference, informs everything we do, not least of all our research. Already widely known for achievements in areas like health, accident prevention, sustainability and chemistry, Monash researchers make an impact well beyond the academic sphere. Their work has the potential to change people’s lives for the better, locally or internationally—and often both.

Established in 1958, Monash is the youngest member of the highly-regarded Group of Eight. In just over fifty years we have grown to become Australia’s largest university, in no small part because our youthfulness—our lack of formality and conformism—appeals to many of Australia’s brightest students, most inspired researchers and most accomplished academics.

Research Excellence

The desire to make a difference informs everything Monash does, not least of all our research. Already widely known for achievements in areas like health, accident prevention, sustainability and chemistry, Monash researchers are committed to research, which has an impact well beyond the academic sphere. And they always have been.

Just a decade after the University was established, our researchers began to make giant strides in the nascent field of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Professors Alan Trounson and Carl Wood would go on to achieve Australia’s first successful IVF birth in 1980.

Professor Mark von Itzstein and his team at Monash designed and synthesized the anti-flu drug zanamivir. It became available in Australia (under the trade name Relenza) in 1999. Research into drug design, discovery and development continues with recent advances Significant advances in vaccines for common allergies, asthma triggers and malaria.

In 2000, a Monash team led by Professor Alan Trounson and Dr Martin Pera were the first in the world to demonstrate that human embryonic stem cells could generate specific types of body cells in the laboratory.

Our ambitious research has also put us at the forefront of:

  • Numerous scientific ventures based on research conducted at the Australian Synchrotron, which adjoins our Clayton campus
  • At the forefront of the latest in Nanotechnology, further enhanced by industry partnerships including the newly-established Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication
  • Biomedicine
  • Aeronautical engineering, having partnered with Boeing and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to fast-track the design and construction of a new generation of super-lightweight and efficient passenger planes
  • Helping reduce road fatalities, workplace and other injuries through ground-breaking accident research
  • Preventing and treating obesity
  • Investigating ways medicine can help the adult body repair and regenerate damaged tissues and organs
  • Green Chemistry solutions
  • Global environmental and conservation research projects
  • Renewable energy projects including printable solar cells
  • International success in cancer research and potential treatments.