Research needs to be driven by collaboration not competition writes Bruce Muirhead As an institution, universities have always existed as something of a paradox. Born out of the religious scholarly fervor of the Middle Ages, blooded among the humanist ideals ...

Sector and commentators must use the comprehensive data with integrity and precision writes Mike Calford. The announcement of the 2010 Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) outcomes has generated significant interest and debate.  Despite some well-aired weaknesses in the process, the ...

Post-secondary institution should recruit students in proportions that reflect the region they serve, writes Stuart Middleton I was astounded to read recently that Alaska State University had announced in tones seemingly ambivalent, shocked and celebratory that a milestone had been ...

Infrastructure funds reside in the fiscal equivalent of a floodplain. They can shoot up quickly, but they can get swamped just as easily. Last week’s cuts – to pay for the reconstruction of Queensland’s flood-damaged infrastructure – are the latest ...

Providers deserve payments for community service activities, says John Mitchell. Observers may be surprised by some of the recommendations in the Productivity Commission’s recent draft report on the VET workforce. One is that VET providers, and TAFE institutes in particular, ...

There’s no metric for inspiration, writes Dario Toncich. The expression post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this) could well be applied to the strategic philosophies being pursued by Australia’s universities and their masters. In recent years, ...

The time has arrived for action on agricultural education, write Simon Livingstone and Peter Smith. Food and Agriculture Organisation data from 2008 estimates there are 6.5 billion people in the world, and this is likely to climb to 9.3 billion ...

A focus on technology has scuppered old-fashioned technical skills, writes Stuart Middleton. There is a lot of talk these days about technology and its impact on our lives, the role it plays in an information economy and, of course, the ...

If the GFC had never happened, a future Australia would have just 1 per cent more tradespeople, writes Tom Karmel. One of the most obvious effects of the economic downturn on apprentices was the decline in the numbers starting an ...

Leaking is all the rage. But is it art or artifice, wonders John Ross. It’s been a wet summer, for the media as well as everyone else. On top of a deluge of flood stories, reporters tapped into a steady ...