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University of Newcastle

Guided by our values of equity, excellence, sustainability and engagement, the University of Newcastle has built a strong reputation as a world-leading university making an impact within our own regions, in Australia and across the globe. We are ranked in the top 200 of the world’s universities by QS World University Rankings 2021.

Across our campuses in Newcastle, the Central Coast, Sydney and Singapore, the University of Newcastle enrols more than 37,000 students from diverse backgrounds, with a focus on equity and developing our next generation of socially-oriented leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators.

Our University has long been known as a champion of innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Many of our courses are designed to integrate theory with practice, offering rich opportunities for real-life, hands-on experiences.

We are also a research-intensive university and proud of the great things we have achieved in collaboration with our partners in industry, business, government and the community here and around the world. Our sights are set firmly on the future, as we work hard to build our research capacity and maintain our position as a competitive destination for the world’s best researchers and global innovation leaders.

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Displaying 901 - 920 of 1073 articles
There is a meaningful distinction to be drawn between moral and ethical decisions. Helga Weber

You say morals, I say ethics – what’s the difference?

Paul Walker, Newcastle University and Terry Lovat, University of Newcastle

Certain customs or behaviours are recognised as good and others as bad, and these collectively comprise morality – arguably the summation of our value system as human beings. So a conversation about ethical…
Djapana – sunset – at Bawaka in North-East Arnhem Land. Sarah Wright

Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka

Laklak Burarrwanga, Macquarie University; Banbapuy Ganambarr, Macquarie University; Djawundil Maymuru, Macquarie University; Kate Lloyd, Macquarie University; Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Macquarie University; Ritjilili Ganambarr, Macquarie University; Sandie Suchet-Pearson, Macquarie University, and Sarah Wright, University of Newcastle

Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
Cullen possessed a natural likeability, even an awkward politeness. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Review: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen by Erik Jensen

Kit Messham-Muir, University of Newcastle

Adam Cullen, Australian artist and winner of the 2000 Archibald Prize, died just over two years ago at the age of 46. He spent the last three years of his life working with a young writer, Erik Jensen…
When African nations can effectively curb tax evasion, they may also be able to fight their major health problems. AAP/EPA/AHMED JALLANZO

How tax inspectors could prevent the next Ebola outbreak

Craig Dalton, University of Newcastle

Much has been written about the poor public health and clinical capacity to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Inadequate medical and nursing staff resources, inadequate isolation wards, inadequate…
Understanding violence is the first step towards changing attitudes. Riccardo Cuppini

Violence is here to stay – we need to understand it

Philip Dwyer, University of Newcastle

Over the coming months, we’ll be running pieces looking at the history and nature of violence. Here Philip Dwyer explains why. Violence – to state the obvious – isn’t new. But interest in the history of…
Ideally lollies, biscuits, sugar-sweetened drinks, potato crisps and processed meats will never appear in your shopping trolley. Matt/Flickr

Health Check: five foods to always avoid at the supermarket

Clare Collins, University of Newcastle

Want to stack the nutrition odds in your favour? The key is good food so here are five things to never let into your shopping trolley: lollies, biscuits, sugar-sweetened drinks, potato crisps and processed…
A gene patent means only the patent-holder has the right to undertake research and development involving that gene. Shutterstock

Four things you should know about gene patents

Rodney Scott, University of Newcastle

The Federal Court’s decision that gene patenting is permitted in Australia will have ramifications for all gene patents, even though the case involved only one gene associated with breast cancer. A gene…
Allergic reactions to food have dramatically increased over the past 10 to 20 years. Dan Peled/AAP

Changes to bugs in the gut could prevent food allergies

Reema Rattan, The Conversation and Alexandra Miller, The Conversation

Changing the bacteria in the gut could treat and prevent life-threatening allergies, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal today. “These…
George Pell insists it is individual moral failures that are the root of the Catholic Church’s problems. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Church’s moral failure on trial at the Royal Commission

Kathleen McPhillips, University of Newcastle

It is the long-held view of Cardinal George Pell and other senior Catholic officials that the sexual abuse crisis is an issue primarily about the moral failure of individual priests and not related to…
Proportionality in sentencing cannot be achieved through mandatory sentences created as a result of an overreaction to community fear and outrage. AAP/Dave Hunt

Mandatory sentences can’t deliver justice or stop one-punch killings

John Anderson, University of Newcastle

The Victorian government’s introduction of the Sentencing Amendment (Coward’s Punch Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2014 this week has again sparked debate about the deterrence value and general utility…
Could a child have painted Picasso’s Seated Woman? That’s the wrong kind of question to ask of art. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Three questions not to ask about art – and four to ask instead

Kit Messham-Muir, University of Newcastle

Art raises a lot of questions. That’s what it does. If an art work in a gallery or a news story has made you ask “what the …?”, it has already started to do its job. But for many who are not familiar with…
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by ticks. Mike K/Flickr

Lyme-like disease may result from related unknown bacteria

Tim Roberts, University of Newcastle

A government investigation into whether Lyme disease exists in Australia and how to treat it has ended without being able to resolve the issues. But there is a plausible explanation for why people here…
The Great White North is about as similar to Australia as any other country … so why don’t we follow their lead? Winston Wong/Flickr

For top broadband policy, look no further than Canada

Robert Imre, University of Newcastle and Stephen Owen, University of Newcastle

You might have seen communications minister Malcolm Turnbull raising the issue about Australian press not discussing policy problems and solutions from overseas, in a speech delivered at the Lowy Institute…
Maryam Mirzakhani – the first woman to win the Fields medal – was recognised for contributions to understanding the symmetry of curved surfaces. Stanford University

Meet the winners of the Fields medal – the ‘Nobel prize of maths’

Jonathan Borwein (Jon), University of Newcastle

The four winners of the 2014 Fields medals – the most prestigious prizes for mathematics – were announced today, including the first female and first Latin American recipients of the 78-year-old prize…
Does Psy represent the future of music? AAP/ Yonhap News Agency

The Brisbane Declaration: a blueprint for the musical world

Catherine Grant, University of Newcastle

Earlier this year the number of views of South Korean mega-star Psy’s Gangnam Style YouTube video exceeded two billion. That’s more than a quarter of the people on the planet who have watched the video…
Nicholas Clements’ The Black War sheds new light on the long and bloody war between colonists and Aboriginal people in Tasmania in the early 19th century. Crop of Governor Davey's Proclamation to the Aborigines, Wikimedia Commons

Noted works: The Black War

Lyndall Ryan, University of Newcastle

Nicholas Clements, The Black War: Fear, Sex and Resistance in Tasmania (2014, University of Queensland Press). In the heat of commemoration of Australians’ involvement in the first world war, it’s timely…
Taking tips from other countries on public education would be a good thing - if only we didn’t follow the ones who are failing. Flickr/Sakkra Paiboon

Five trends that jeopardise public education around the world

John Fischetti, University of Newcastle

Where I come from in North Carolina it is currently 14 hours behind Australian Eastern Standard Time. I tell my colleagues that I have come from the past. However, when it comes to seeing how the failed…
BPOV MEAO (Behind Point of View, Middle East Area of Operations), printed in Canberra, edition 1/1, 2009–10, digital colour photograph, inkjet on paper, 111.8 x 80.3 cm. Australian War Memorial

Two artists go to war – Shaun Gladwell and Ben Quilty

Kit Messham-Muir, University of Newcastle

Shaun Gladwell and Ben Quilty – two of Australia’s leading artists – display very different approaches to war at parallel exhibitions opening at Perth’s John Curtin Gallery on Saturday. Gladwell is Australia’s…

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