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.
Foundation Essay – In 1529 the great monasteries of England and the 400 smaller establishments had never looked so good. They were doubly protected, by universal belief and by their many material connections…
Is Australia waiting for other countries to do all the hard work on renewables?
Torresol Energy
If Australia is truly serious about avoiding climate catastrophe we are going to need to move towards a zero-emissions economy. A price on carbon emissions is an important component of climate protection…
Plenty to talk about: reform to the tax system is desperately needed.
With Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan indicating carbon, mining and the GST are off the agenda for October’s tax summit, it’s been suggested there’s little left to talk about. Of course that’s not the case…
Hard-core cartels should be distinguished from beneficial cooperation.
Flickr
The recent settlement of a class action against cardboard manufacturers, Visy and Amcor, has been reported as providing a further boost to the “crackdown” on cartels in Australia. Unfortunately, coverage…
As a society, we seem to be obsessed by sex. So wondering out loud why we have it is likely to invite a highly bemused response. And yet sex remains one of the great, enduring mysteries of evolutionary…
Newer reactors are ten times as safe as the Fukushima power plant.
AAP
Does the design and construction employed at Fukushima really represent the best that can be done in nuclear power? Is it inevitable that a nuclear power plant will be overwhelmed by a magnitude nine earthquake…
Hand held radiation monitors don’t detect inhaled plutonium particles which can lodge in the lung and cause long term damage.
AAP
The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and complicating nuclear crisis throw into sharp focus concerns about exposure to ionising radiation. What is it, how is it harmful, how much is too much? Inside…
Powerful position: BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers unveils a record half yearly profit. Source: AAP.
When BHP chief Marius Kloppers returned Australia’s largest half-yearly profit for 2010, news reports described him as being ‘among the top 20 most powerful people in business worldwide.’ This tag is due…
At least three-quarters of city commuters travel by car.
AAP
Emissions trading is back in the news and in national political debate, as is the related question of how it will affect Australian motorists. Fair enough. This should receive attention because greenhouse…
Universities need to participate in a wider dialogue.
Tulane Public Relations
Foundation Essay – A democracy needs conversations that range broadly, find space for many voices, accept new information, explore unexpected ideas, allow people to reach a judgement about the issues that…
Age-related macular degeneration is responsible for almost half of all cases of legal blindness in Australia.
Caduser
What is the bionic eye? Often when we talk about the bionic eye, people get the idea of some sort of artificial eye implanted to replace visual function. In reality, the “eye” comprises a series of components…
Too much focus on balance doesn’t present the true picture.
AAP
While the evidence for climate change continues to strengthen, public acceptance of the science keeps declining. Closing the gap could be a question of better communication. At the commencement of the…
Sleeper: we’ll retire later even with a boost to fertility rates.
AAP
Many public debates come down to facts – issues like “Whose costing of the Opposition’s spending plans was correct?” or “How many people died in Iraq?” Too often the media report a strident opinion from…
Nuclear safety comes at a price that may make the industry unviable.
AAP
While the Japanese earthquake aftershocks will stop in a few months time, allowing Japan to recover, the shocks may prove terminal for the green nuclear renaissance. In the week since Japan was rocked…
Why is science so hard to communicate?
Andrew Huff/Flickr
Foundation Essay – Getting certain points across can be difficult. And yet democracies don’t function properly in the absence of broad, public discussion based on well-sourced information. Especially when…
Technical myopia - sometimes experts fail to see the bigger picture.
National Institutes of Health via Wikimedia Commons
In 2002 when I visited Santa Barbara, I went to a grocery store called Trader Joe’s. It had its own line in milk. Trader Joe’s Vitamin D Milk (Grade A, pasteurized, homogenized) had some ‘nutrition facts…
Planning is the cheapest way of avoiding major flood damage.
AAP
The tragic events of last summer confirmed that floods are among the most costly and dangerous natural disasters Australians face. Our response must start with a thorough examination of how we can better…
The arrival of Chi-X as a competitor for the ASX will also usher in a new vocabulary.
AAP
In the last five years, European and US equity markets have been undergoing a rapid evolution as regulatory reforms and technological developments usher in new trading venues that challenge formerly monopolistic…
Cattle grazing in Alpine National Park is not supported by science.
foxypar4 on flickr
In January, 400 cattle were released into Victoria’s Alpine National Park as part of a research trial to investigate the influence of strategic grazing as a tool to reduce fuel loads and bush fire risk…
The purpose of universities is to generate knowledge.
Don Pugh Flickr
Foundation Essay – Universities are at permanent risk of getting a bad rap.. They are too remote, too elitist, too unworldly, too expensive (especially in the US). They are ‘irrelevant’ to the needs and…
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne