Since 1975, Griffith University has been proudly doing things differently. With more than 55,000 students, its community spans five campuses across South East Queensland, Australia. Ranking in the top 2% of university’s worldwide, Griffith’s teaching and research is focused on addressing the most important social and environmental issues of our time.
One of the debates that has escaped scrutiny since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers last month is what our annual refugee intake should actually look like. I acknowledge…
Welcome to the Future of Work, a series from The Conversation that looks at the ongoing evolution of the workplace. Today, Griffith University’s Olav Muurlink looks at how the mining industry is single-handly…
Last week, Caltex decided to close its Kurnell refinery in Sydney. This closure follows a recent decision by Shell to close its refinery at Clyde in Sydney and it will leave the city without any oil refineries…
On 23 July, the rating agency Moody’s put the triple A debt of Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on a negative outlook. The day after, the outlook on the European Financial Stability Fund was also…
Much public discussion around the current mining boom focuses on the lack of qualified staff to fill an expanding employment market. But yesterday’s report by Deloitte Access Economics warning that the…
Food security has typically been framed as an issue of global concern, concentrated within developing countries. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation defines food security in terms of the availability…
The human species is one of the most efficient terrestrial animals. We adapted to run on dry riverbeds and grasslands, but development of modern society has strained the evolutionary process. Footwear…
What is a quantum technology? Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that explains the behaviour of matter and energy at the atomic scale. So does “quantum technology’’ just mean technology based on…
If the lead stories in the digital and print media are anything to go by, Indonesians have little interest in the recent asylum seeker boat sinkings and the accompanying loss of life. Over the past couple…
As the image above illustrates, my colleagues and I at Griffith University have been able to photograph the shadow of an atom for the first time – the culmination of five years of work by our team. The…
European leaders will meet tomorrow and Friday for the EU summit in Brussels, which has been billed as a “make or break” event that will determine not only the fortunes of the eurozone, but of the global…
The $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has just passed the Senate and is now law. For all the attention it has received you may not have noticed, but a new industrial revolution is afoot…
A national apology to Australian mothers who experienced forced adoptions was announced by Attorney General Nicola Roxon last weekend. This apology will follow those made to the Stolen Generations, Forgotten…
In the swathe of important debate that’s occurred in the last week about the massive changes underway in the Australian media, there’s a piece of the puzzle that’s been ignored. Indeed, it’s a piece that…
Yesterday the Federal Reserve announced limited measures to boost the economy. Whatever effect they will have on the economy, they are unlikely to be of any benefit to Obama. Indeed, history shows that…
For all the talk about Australia’s resource and energy riches and the country’s economy riding the waves of a resource boom, one facet of the country’s energy situation has largely been under the radar…
All eyes are on Greece this weekend for the second legislative election in five weeks. This is no ordinary election: the global implications of the outcome might be significant. Griffith University lecturer…
WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks…
Why are retail sales in the doldrums, or headed online? To me, it’s in part because Australian shopping malls are bland, uninteresting containers of branded chain stores and the same old franchises offering…
The term “uncertainty principle” suggests some grand philosophical idea, like “you can never be sure of anything”, or “there are some things you can never be sure of” and sometimes people use it as if…