Group of Eight universities have urged the federal government to adopt a 10-year plan to lift Australia’s investment in research and development to three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to boost the nation’s capacity for productivity growth. A ...
More »Unis to build AUKUS workforce
Engineering and defence efforts at universities are ramping up as vice-chancellors, educators and the federal government look to build a nuclear submarine-ready workforce. The University of New South Wales launched its Nuclear Innovation Centre last Thursday, a hub where engineering, ...
More »ANU Vice-chancellor named Group of Eight Chair
Australian National University vice-chancellor and Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Brian Schmidt has been appointed Chair of the Group of Eight. Professor Schmidt will start his two-year assignment on February 1st. “I look forward to working with all my colleagues to ensure ...
More »NHMRC vows free access to research
A key federal government research body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has struck a blow for open inquiry by requiring all scholarly work it funds to be freely available as soon as it is published. The new rule, ...
More »UA chief explains why our international student market ‘still has a good story to tell’ – podcast
In a recent article published in The Conversation, Dr Peter Hurley from the Mitchell Institute argued that Australia’s international student “crisis” in higher education would continue to linger long after our borders open en masse, citing the problem of the ...
More »Sector responds positively to government’s commercialisation of research priority
Several of the higher education sector’s peak bodies and groups have welcomed the government’s wish to bring higher social and economic benefits to the country by ramping up the commercialisation of Australian research. In a consultation paper released last week, ...
More »Sociologist argues Australia’s universities are ‘addicted’ to China
University of Sydney sociologist Salvatore Babones has warned that some of Australia’s top universities are too dependent on China and are “scrambling” to deal with the COVID-19 travel restrictions affecting Chinese students in particular. In an article for The Centre ...
More »Foreign interference guidelines: What do they cover?
Universities have agreed to take on greater responsibilities to safeguard against foreign interference through new guidelines developed with government. Among the prompts laid out in the guidelines were that universities support staff to be mindful of foreign interference risks when collaborating ...
More »Visa fast-track for top talent ‘a win for everyone’
The government will fast-track visas for 5000 industry leaders every year as part of a global headhunting program. Immigration Minister David Coleman announced details of the Global Talent Independent program this week. Coleman said the goal of the program was to identify ...
More »Greens oppose increase in student fees
The Greens higher education spokeswoman Senator Lee Rhiannon said her party would oppose the push by the University of NSW vice-chancellor and chairman of the Group of Eight, Professor Fred Hilmer, to give universities the power to set course fees. ...
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