Reconciliation Week Fundraiser and Auction

More than 60 guests, including University executives, council members and corporate partners, attended the inaugural Reconciliation Week Fundraiser and Auction on 1 June in the Art Gallery. Together, they raised more than $15,000 that will go toward scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and community development programs.

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Hon Tanya Plibersek MP tours campus

Hon Tanya Plibersek MP visited Professor S Bruce Dowton recently to discuss proposed changes to higher education legislation and how they might affect universities. Chancellor The Hon. Michael Egan AO (right) joined the MP and Vice-Chancellor for lunch and a tour of the campus.

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Department of Security Studies and Criminology hosts program in countering violent extremism

The University’s Department of Security Studies and Criminology, along with Access Macquarie Limited, recently hosted representatives from the Bangladesh Police Department for a program in countering violent extremism. The three-week course led by Dr Julian Droogan and Lise Waldek, looked at counterterrorism from operational, technical and community perspectives. The Bangladeshi representatives met with members of the Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police and government agencies to share experiences and discuss latest developments. Guest speakers were drawn from a range of government and private sector organisations and reflected a variety of perspectives on holistic community-focused approaches to countering violent extremism.

Experts in the field, Dr Droogan and Waldek appreciate the importance of international collaboration to understand and prevent extremist violence. The course is part of a larger program of collaboration, with a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between Macquarie University and the Bangladesh Police Staff College later this year in Dhaka.

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First-of-its-kind training for Macquarie’s first cohort of Software Carpentry Instructor trainees

Macquarie’s first cohort of Software Carpentry Instructor trainees participated in a two-day workshop led by Belinda Weaver and Software Carpentry Foundation CEO Jonah Duckles.

Macquarie became a member of the Software Carpentry Foundation late last year. The foundation, and its sibling organisation Data Carpentry, aim to develop research computing skills so researchers can “get more done in less time and with less pain.”

Trainees now have three months to gain their accreditation and will be integral in helping to build more training and communities of practice in eResearch and data science across the University.