On Christmas Eve 2021, the pub-test folly struck again. The two of us found ourselves, angry and heartsore, resigning from the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) highly respected College of Experts in protest at the minister’s rejection of grant funding recommendations. This was not a comment on the college, a laudable body of experienced research leaders committed […] … learn more→

An ill newborn’s life is hanging by a thread, and only the right diagnosis will afford her the treatment that may save her life. A cancer patient’s therapy can be tailored to the specific type of tumour they have, if only the doctors know what the molecular targets are that will make the drugs effective for that patient. Parents […] … learn more→

It’s been a funny old start to the year hey? As I write this, in mid January, the Omicron variant is raging here in Australia. Supply chain problems are resulting as key workers either get sick, or have to isolate. Every visit to the supermarket is an adventure – you don’t know what you are […] … learn more→

Stress is an extremely detrimental mental state for employees and employers alike. Individuals suffering chronic stress can have mental and physical health problems, such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and stroke. Meanwhile, organizations with stressed workforces likely suffer from lower productivity, lower-quality services and high employee turnover. It benefits workers and workplaces to identify […] … learn more→

The saying “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone” reminds us not to take things for granted. It is often when we no longer have something or someone that we recognise the value of what we’ve lost. This is true of international students in Australia whose numbers halved during the pandemic. Can hindsight help us […] … learn more→

The pandemic that we have been experiencing for almost two years now has upset teaching practices. Distance courses have multiplied, many schoolchildren, high school students and students have had to work more alone, often without support from teachers or their families. Educational inequalities have thus been accentuated . In this context, the students who succeed best are those who […] … learn more→

The Office for Students, England’s higher education regulator, has outlined new proposals to ensure university students reach “acceptable outcomes” from their studies. The proposals, released as consultation documents, include numerical targets. For full-time students, 80% of those studying for their first degree should continue in their study after the first year, 75% should complete their course, and […] … learn more→

I’ve been meaning to write this post all week. But I’ve not done so. And here I am on Sunday morning with the prospect of not having anything to publish, for the first time ever. I’ve sat at my desk on several occasions fully intending to write. But other things called to me – the […] … learn more→

The “Facebook files” affair confirms what many researchers have been talking about for a long time: social networks can have deleterious effects on the well-being of young people who use them without moderation. By comparing their life with that, fantasized, of their contacts, some would be drawn into the spiral of eating disorders, depression and even suicidal impulses. […] … learn more→

Compulsory schooling is a social conquest, and in societies that uphold democratic principles of social justice and participation, it should guarantee valuable educational experiences. Currently we consider this right and duty as something already achieved, but this is not always the case. Schooling has become not only a right but also a duty. Its fulfillment must be […] … learn more→