LATEST ARTICLES

‘They do it tough’: Universities welcome disadvantaged Australians

‘They do it tough’: Universities welcome disadvantaged Australians

The winners of all seven categories in the AFR Higher Education Awards 2024, which recognise and celebrate the outstanding efforts of Australian universities during the past year, have now been announced. The categories include community engagement; emerging leadership; employability; industry engagement; equity and access; research commercialisation; and teaching and learning excellence.

AI in pharmacy – what’s it good for?

AI in pharmacy - what's it good for?

Well, quite a few things, actually – from patient simulations to drudge tasks, AI can complement rather than compete with human care. Artificial intelligence (AI) will transform pharmacy practice in Australia. Already powering comprehensive pharmacy educational tools in an Australian world-first, AI can relieve pharmacists of routine administration tasks and enable detailed tracking of patients and medicines.

Seeing more clearly

Seeing more clearly

Pathology tests and diagnostic imaging are a crucial part of healthcare. Test results are important for diagnosis, to track disease progression and to assess the impact of treatments, especially medicines, on the body. Pharmacists are medicine experts, with rapidly expanding expertise in identifying when medicines are unsafe, inappropriate or ineffective. Crucial to determining medicines’ safety …read more

‘We need to be champions of other women’

‘We need to be champions of other women’

Danielle Handley left her comfort zone in 2022 – moving from a long-term senior manager position in the insurance industry to a brand-new role in a company expanding into healthcare. But by the time she arrived at the offices of international healthcare and health insurance company BUPA, the executive who had hired her six months before …read more

Hydro power brings reliability to renewables

Hydro power brings reliability to renewables

Massive problems have beset the Snowy 2.0 pumped storage hydro program, an ambitious renewable energy project intended to become a vast reservoir of stored energy. One of the 2000-tonne tunnel-boring machines, known as Florence or Flo, recently got stuck in very hard rock and high-pressure water jets were deployed to set the machine free. Last year, …read more

Biofuels offer hope for hard-to-decarbonise sectors

Biofuels offer hope for hard-to-decarbonise sectors

Australian biotechnology company Licella invented and developed the world’s leading hydrothermal liquefaction technology: using hot pressurised water to transform waste biomass into biocrude which can then be upgraded to sustainable aviation fuel and renewable biodiesel. “Our technology unlocks the vast potential of the resources we have in Australia,” says Andrea Polson, Licella general manager stakeholder …read more

Net zero unlocks the nation’s critical minerals potential

Net zero unlocks the nation’s critical minerals potential

With government support and an abundance of the mineral resources vital for many renewable energy technologies, Australia has the potential to become a critical minerals powerhouse as the world shifts to net zero. Yet experts warn there are headwinds that require careful navigation. Certain critical minerals are essential for aspects of renewable energy generation, storage …read more

Important lessons on game-changing chatbot

Important lessons on game-changing chatbot

When ChatGPT burst on to computer screens around the world in late November 2022, Michelle Dennis knew the artificial intelligence chatbot was a game-changer. “It very quickly became apparent it would have an impact on classes,” says Dennis, head of digital at Haileybury independent school. “We knew we needed to have a policy before school year started.”

Shared networks explore AI resources

Shared networks explore AI resources

Independent schools across Australia are collaborating and forming networks to share the ways generative AI can be used for teaching and learning, say leaders in the sector. Widely considered the most significant educational technology development since the launch of the internet, the 2022 introduction of OpenAI’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT sent shockwaves around the world …read more

Demand for ‘more enriched’ education puts pressure on state system

Demand for ‘more enriched’ education puts pressure on state system

Increasing numbers of Australian families are choosing to have their children educated in independent schools, potentially indicating a loss of confidence in the chronically under-resourced state school system. Demand for places at Reddam House independent school in Sydney is the highest since the school was established in 2001, says principal Dave Pitcairn. “We have never seen a …read more