Contact us

  • E7B, 14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Avenue
  • Balaclava Rd, North Ryde, Macquarie University
  • NSW 2109 Australia
  • T: +61 (2) 9850 6001
Follow us on Twitter
Workplace health & safety

Driven by the spirit of innovation

The Faculty of Science and Engineering is a young and dynamic faculty driven by the spirit of discovery. Here we nurture the next generation of science and technology innovators.

From a handful of students on the University’s first day, the Faculty now serves nearly 6000 students across all our programs.

Our research and teaching addresses the big issues faced by society in Australia and globally – the changing environment, future materials and fuels, biotechnology, cyber security, to name a few.

The pairing of engineering and science in a single faculty means many of our research discoveries in science see direct technological applications in engineering.

Our research excellence

We have led many significant initiatives over the years, including:

  • early climate change research
  • the commercialisation of WiFi
  • photonics
  • evolutionary biology
  • internationally leading research in Earth’s crustal systems.

We are active within many industry partnerships, commercial collaborations, and joint enterprise initiatives with government, industry and business partners.

Our departments and schools

The Faculty consists of seven academic departments, the School of Engineering, AAO Macquarie, and the Faculties’ associated research centres. Our passionate staff and engaged student body are dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering in the 21st century. View our departments and schools.

PhD and research degrees

We supervise and progress higher degree research students undertaking their masters and PhDs across a wide range of specialist discipline areas.

Importantly, we conduct world-leading research across the breadth of science and technology disciplines.

We provide research training pathways for students from Australia and around the globe.

From humble beginnings

The Faculty of Science and Engineering traces its roots back to the founding of the University in 1964. It is the amalgamation of the Divisions of Environmental and Life Sciences (comprising Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biomolecular Sciences, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Human Geography, Physical Geography, and the Graduate School of the Environment), and Information and Communication Sciences (Computing, Electronics, Mathematics, and Physics). You can still see these original divisions in the names of our seven Departments, one School and  AAO Macquarie.

It was the appointment of several key figures within these two divisions that drove our approach and strategy to this day:

  • Professor Frank Mercer appointed as the Chair of Biology in 1965.
  • Professor John Ward, a Fellow of the Royal Society and nominated for a Nobel Prize twice, appointed to the University.
  • Professor Ron Aitchison became the first Professor in Electronics in 1971.
  • Professor Alan Voisey, the first Head of the School of Earth Sciences (and foundation Professor), who had been the foundation professor of Geology at the University of New England before coming to Macquarie.
  • Professor Jim Piper, who developed our world-renown capability in photonics.
…to world-renowned excellence

Over the years, we have been the home of a number of areas of research excellence, and led many significant initiatives including pioneering climate change research, the commercialisation of WiFi, photonics, evolutionary biology, and internationally leading research in Earth's crustal systems. The commercialisation of WiFi, early work in climate change, and the development of gene sequencing are hallmarks of our world-changing achievements in wireless, the environment, and proteomics, respectively.

We have also promoted the growth of science through our various research centres, including the Climate Futures Centre, GEMOC, and Risk Frontiers.

The launch of our strategic plan 2016-2020 heralded the beginning of a new era for science and engineering at the University, one which looks back and honours the achievements of the past while focusing with excitement on the possibilities and opportunities the future will bring.

The purpose of this Strategic Plan is to provide strategic direction and priorities for the Faculty of Science and Engineering. It will be used as a basis for allocating Faculty effort and resources to key priority areas, as well as measuring outcomes against targets set for these priority areas over the next five years.

The 2021-2025 FSE Strategic Plan will be developed in 2021.

Page owner

E: Faculty of Science and Engineering

Last updated: 22 Mar 2021