See how we’re making the world a better place

Our researchers tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, focusing on five priority areas: Healthy People, Resilient Societies, Prosperous Economies, Secure Planet and Innovative Technologies.

Our pioneering culture has encouraged and inspired researchers to break free from conventional thinking, and to actively shape the complex issues that define the future of the world we live in. Their research translates into real-world impact for society, culture, the environment and the economy.

Discover just a few of the innovative ways our researchers have created change:

Concert at the Metro Theatre, Sydney, Australia

Understanding Australia’s artists

We stream music and listen to audiobooks, flock to free festivals, and attend live concerts, theatre and dance. 98% of Australians engage with the arts. 84% agree that the arts make a positive difference to individuals and society. Yet, as Macquarie Unive...

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Indigenous activism - Indigenous person filming a rally

The practice of being Indigenous online

Since the early days of Facebook, Professor Bronwyn Carlson has been overturning misconceptions about Indigenous peoples’ engagements with digital technologies. Professor Carlson, Director of Macquarie’s Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, h...

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A technician using a surgical machine

The ethics of surgical innovation

­Technological change is critical to improving health care. But innovation comes with potential costs. As surgeons ‘try something new’, often with the intent of improving an individual patient’s outcome, they run the risk of seriousl...

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recording animals in the pit fall trap of a biodiversity survey with Rangers at Bulubuluwen

Growing knowledge through sharing knowledge

Macquarie’s Cross-cultural Ecology lab group, led by Associate Professor Emilie Ens, is working closely with remote Indigenous communities in northern Australia’s Arnhem Land to develop new cross-cultural approaches to science and environmenta...

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Close-up on a researcher's gloved hands, removing a specimen from frozen storage

Improving the lives of patients with MND

Since its inception in 2013, Macquarie’s Motor Neuron Disease Research Centre has driven the growth of MND research nationally and internationally. Motor Neuron Disease (MND) has a devastating impact on the Australian community. Two Australians die ...

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