Eight discipline areas have been divided into research fields, and for each field a leading researcher and institution is named. 

Thirteen Macquarie researchers have been honoured as Field Leaders, while Macquarie University is credited as the Leading Institution across five research fields. Read the complete list below.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sakkie Pretorius also contributed to the magazine and demonstrated Macquarie’s real-world impact from seeking cures for devastating diseases to developing heat-resistant crops.

“There should always be a hunger and an aspiration to do more and do better, to push the boundaries and look for new frontiers, and that is what collaboration offers to a university such as Macquarie that embraces those ideals,” he says.

Read the full article on The Australian website, or read it on The Lighthouse here.

Social Sciences

Field Geography and Cartography
Field leader Richard Howitt

Field Early Childhood Education
Field leader Rauno Parrila

Field Special Education
Leading institution Macquarie University

Engineering and Computer Sciences

Field Computer Networks and Wireless Communication
Field leader Stephen Hanly

Field Medical Informatics
Field leader Johanna Westbrook

Field Microelectronics and Electronic Packaging
Field leader Karu Esselle

Physics and Mathematics

Field Electromagnetism
Field leader Karu Esselle

Health and Medical Sciences

Field Bioethics
Field leader Wendy Rogers

Field Child and Adolescent Psychology
Field leader Liz Pellicano

Field Otolaryngology
Field leader Richard Harvey
Lead institution Macquarie University

Field Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Field leader Karen Vickery
Lead institution Macquarie University

Humanities, Arts and Literature

Field Ethnic and Cultural Studies
Field leader Amanda Wise

Field Foreign Language Learning
Lead institution Macquarie University

Field Philosophy
Field leader Neil Levy

Life Sciences and Earth Sciences

Field Animal Behaviour and Ethology
Lead institution Macquarie University

Field Geochemistry and Mineralogy
Field leader William Griffin

Incubating the future: A space for ideas, research and entrepreneurs  

Those walking through the south-west corner of the campus will have noticed a building going up very, very quickly.

The Macquarie University Incubator is being constructed at record speed, moving from concept to fully functioning work and ideas space in little more than a year.

Due for completion this July, the Incubator will be a brand-new place for staff, students, researchers and entrepreneurs, as well as those working on start-ups for a business idea or social venture to work, think and collaborate.

The new, very green building will incorporate event space, co-working and hot desks as well as a coffee shop.

The Incubator concept is operating already on campus in the form of a ‘pop-up’ facility on the ground floor of E3B.

Those wanting to be involved or to gain access to the space can contact the team via incubator@mq.edu.au.

University Experience Day

Macquarie’s LEAP (Learning, Education, Aspiration, Participation) mentoring program, run by the University’s Widening Participation Unit, matches high school students from refugee backgrounds with Macquarie University student mentors. Through mentoring, the program aims to broaden students’ aspirations and support their investigation of, and successful transition into, higher education.

The University Experience Day is one of the program’s highlights.

This semester, Professor Kevin Jameson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Registrar, welcomed to campus 96 high school students, their teachers and principals from six partner schools, for a fun and engaging day of activities.

Those attending are offered valuable, first-hand experience of university life and encouraged by the personal stories of current university students from refugee backgrounds. It is a wonderful day for the mentees, but also the mentors who, throughout the program, build skills, connect with like-minded peers and gain a new appreciation for Macquarie as a university of service.

Mystery of the missing tapestry

Macquarie University Art Gallery curators have solved – at least in part – the ten-year mystery of a missing artwork.

The tapestry, by Vivienne Pengilley, was one of a series of artworks commissioned in the early 1970s by then University Union Activities Officer, David Humphries.

Each commission was worth $1000 with the works to hang in the Students Union bar.

For her part, Ms Pengilley, a young English artist living in Australia, created the three fabric collage wall hangings pictured.

However, at some stage over the ensuing decades the tapestries were moved, whereabouts unknown, a fact not realised until 2007 when current gallery staff became aware of the work’s existence.

Now, one of the tapestry’s three components (top) has been found deep in the basement of the Campus Hub, a section of the building to which few people have access, happily in good condition.

However, the search for the two other components (pictured above and below) continues, with staff asked to keep a lookout, particularly in normally off-limits or private sections of the Macquarie campus.

The search is part of a wider audit of artworks on loan throughout the University.

If you have an artwork in your area, please take a quick snap of it with your phone and email to the gallery’s Head Curator, Rhonda Davis, rhonda.davis@mq.edu.au,  or curator Leonard Janiszewski, leonard.janiszewski@mq.edu.au

For more information call the gallery on x7437.

This year’s Festival sees more than 300 events at locations ranging from the heritage wharves at Walsh Bay on Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and Sydney Town Hall to suburban Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

Included are writers from diverse forms and backgrounds; contemporary novelists, screenwriters, musicians and non-fiction along-side leading intellectuals, scientists and journalists.

Dr Tanya Evans from the Department of Modern History is just one of a group of Macquarie academics involved with this year’s Festival.

“I love speaking about history with audiences outside of the academy,” Dr Evans says.

“I enjoy sharing the fruits of my research with diverse and usually enthusiastic audiences. These individuals often enable me to think about my craft in new ways.”

Another Macquarie participant, Dr Victoria Flanagan from the Department of English, says chairing one of the Festival events brings benefits to her role on campus.

“Being involved in the Sydney Writers’ Festival sends a whole range of positive messages to my students,” Dr Flanagan says.

“Most importantly, Macquarie’s involvement in the SWF signals to students that we are a supporter of the arts.”

The English Department’s Dr Stephanie Russo, who is also chairing an event, has been instrumental in the sponsorship agreement.

“The SWF is one of the biggest writers’ festivals in the world, and I think it’s important for Macquarie to sponsor the event because it makes us part of the conversation,” she says.

“Being there demonstrates that Macquarie not only offers degrees in English and creative writing but that we value the place of literature in contemporary society and we’re involved in all these exciting debates about art, politics and culture.”

Macquarie staff appearing at this year’s SWF include:

Dr Stephanie Russo:
chairing Natalie Haynes: The Children of Jocasta

Dr Alys Moody
chairing Reworking the Classics

Dr Rebecca Giggs
chairing Dreams of Her Real Self: Writers on Helen Garner AND Contemporary Essay: Personal and Public

Dr Victoria Flanagan
Talking Tough Topics with Jennifer Niven

Dr Tanya Evans
Documenting Hardship.

As a major partner, Macquarie University is proudly supporting all events in the Sydney Dance Theatre, ensuring they are free to Festival guests.

For first-timers, or those thinking the Festival is not for them, Dr Russo has this ‘hot tip’.

“Attend events with authors you’ve never read before,” she says. “That’s the best way to discover somebody new and exciting, or even discover something you didn’t think you’d be interested in.”

“Every year at the Festival I stumble upon somebody new that I’ve never heard of before, and those have been my best Festival moments.”

“Last year I attended an event with Paul Murray, whose novels I’d never read before and didn’t think I would be interested in, and he was just so funny and delightful I’ll now be buying every new novel of his for the rest of his career.”

“The Sydney Writers’ Festival is great at those serendipitous finds.”

This year’s Festival runs from 22-28 May.
Macquarie staff can get discount tickets when they book by using the promo code: SPONS17MU, and don’t forget, many events are free.

As a major Festival sponsor we’ve created a special promo, featuring quotes from some of our notable alumni, that will run before each event in the Sydney Dance Theatre.

Take a look…..

To the untrained eye, abstract art is often hard to interpret – but have you ever wondered why abstract art so captures the imagination of art lovers?

At an upcoming event on 24 June called In Conversation, the Macquarie University Art Gallery’s curators as well as art expert Paul McGillick, artist Andrew Christofides and freelance writer and curator Lizzy Marshall, will explore the origins of abstract art in Australia and the influence this art has had upon a new generation of abstract painters. The event will celebrate the gallery’s current exhibition Into Abstraction, which features a diverse range of abstract works from Macquarie University’s permanent collection.

On display during the current exhibition is an excitingly rare abstract piece called NIGHTLIGHT from well-known artist Harald Noritis, who has kindly donated the piece to the Macquarie University Art Collection. Art Critics and artists alike have described Harald as a progressive force in Australia during the 1960s, with critic James Gleeson heralding him “as one of the most gifted of our hard-edge abstractionists”.

The painting is a fitting addition to the Gallery’s existing collection from the same 1960s period that signaled a shift in pace from nationalism to internationalism in art at the time. Harald, whose paintings have found homes in institutions in Australia and overseas but mostly in private collections, says that NIGHTLIGHT is one of his seminal works which he kept, along with a few others, because it was important to him when he first started to exhibit his art.

“It was painted for my first solo show in the Central Street Gallery in 1968 and it received some favorable comments from art critics at the time. The Macquarie University Art Gallery had, since 2002 when they first mounted the show Central Street Live at the Penrith Regional & Lewers Bequest Gallery, exhibited interest in the work that the younger generation of artists in the sixties were making. This is when I first met Rhonda Davis and was able to assist with some of the material that she needed at that time to mount the exhibition,” Noritis explains.

“When Into Abstration was organised, I suggested to Rhonda that I was happy to send NIGHTLIGHT to the show and perhaps donate the work to the University where it would be in good company. After all, most of my friends’ and fellow artists’ work already resides in its collection,” he adds.

The donation has been met with much excitement from the Gallery’s curators and university staff alike.

“We are very fortunate to have received this wonderful painting from a prominent artist who was active during such an interesting time of Australian art history. Harald’s artwork certainly provides a unique insight into this heady period,” says Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery.

Other artists on display during the Into Abstraction exhibition include Sydney Ball, Andrew Christofides, John Coburn, Virginia Cuppaidge, Janet Dawson, Christine Dean, James Doolin, Michael Johnson, Alun Leach-Jones, Harald Noritis, John Peart, Robert Rooney, Rollin Schlicht, Joseph Szabo, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Tony Tuckson, Trevor Vickers, Dick Watkins and John White.

Exhibition details

When: Until 15 July
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery

Event details for In Conversation

When: Friday 24 June, 1-3pm
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery
Cost: Free
RSVP: Bookings are essential. Register online by 23 June.

With much elation, Macquarie University Art Gallery curators have reported that the long-lost painting from Wilmotte Williams – previously reported in This Week – has been found.

Staff were hoping to locate the painting in time to include it in an upcoming exhibition of the artist’s work, which will be officially opened at the Library on Wednesday 29 June.

“We just can’t believe it has been found! It is such a lovely ending to an intriguing local story,” said Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Gallery.

The painting was last seen in public in the Ryde area in the mid-1960s. As the story goes, Williams originally bestowed the piece to a boy who was eyewitness to the artist capturing a local Ryde scene. Touched by the boy’s enthusiastic praise she called by his house and presented the painting to the boy as a gift.

The boy from the story and current owner, Dr John Christie, who now resides in Newcastle, happened across a mention of the painting search in The Sydney Morning Herald.

“It was about 11pm and I just happened to see Wilmotte Williams’ name. That prompted me to read further, thinking that I have a painting of hers, I wonder what this is about?  As soon as I got to the bit about the school boy walking home from Eastwood Primary I knew it was me. I did let out a yell of shock and excitement, but unfortunately my wife had gone to bed, so only the dogs heard it,” explained John.

The painting, he says, depicts an old barn and part of a cottage that previously resided on his family’s poultry farm on Sobraon Road – the opposite side of Epping Road to the University.

“The farm was started by my great-grandfather, and was owned by my grandfather, father and uncle until most of it was resumed by the Department of Education in 1966 to build a high school. The school was never built, and so the land was then subdivided for housing. The rest of the land is now Dunbar Park, where the Little Athletics field is. There were market gardens further up the road,” said John.

“The piece is a delightful example of Williams’ quaint impressionist style. Her country-inspired depictions capture the simple beauty of the Ryde landscape during this era,” explained Macquarie University Art Gallery curator, Leonard Janiszewski. “We are very glad that this little piece of Ryde history has now been discovered again.”

The Macquarie University Art Gallery has plans to recite the serendipitous tale of how the painting was unearthed as part of the upcoming exhibition of Williams’ work, with John kindly agreeing to loan the painting to the University for the event.

“I didn’t realise I was going to cause such excitement,” John concluded.

As a major sponsor of the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival, Macquarie University will be highly visible at the city’s premier arts event, being held from 16-22 May.

Faculty of Arts staff will be amongst the 450 Australian and international speakers this year, participating in several of the events throughout the Festival. The University is also the main sponsor of the YA (Young Adult) events on 22 May.

“This Sydney Writers’ Festival is a signature event in the city and offers academics and other participants the opportunity to engage with the broader community and show us alternative models for showcasing our research and communication skills,” says Associate Professor Michelle Arrow from the Department of Modern History, who will chair a panel with two writers aiming to challenge fundamental assumptions about the past.

Dr Victoria Flanagan, convenor of Macquarie’s Master of Children’s Literature program, will chair one of the YA events, “Is This Just a Fantasy?” During the session, four leading YA authors will discuss why fantasy and dystopian literature are the most popular genres in Young Adult literature right now.

Other Macquarie speakers include:

• Dr Jane Messer from the Department of English, who will join other fiction writers on the “Finance and Fiction” panel to discuss her new book, Hopscotch, and deliver a workshop offering participants insight into how to write creatively
• Dr Katharine Rossmanith and Associate Professor Peter Doyle from the Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies who will speak at the “Forensics in Art and Literature” event
• Randa Abdel Fattah will join a conversation as part of the “Suad Amiry: Revisiting Home – Palestinian Stories” event.

“It’s really important for Macquarie to be involved in festivals like this because they create a strategic partnership between us as educators and the local, national and global arts communities,” says Flanagan. “These festivals are about supporting local talent and engaging in a broader conversation about the arts on a global scale.”

Mischa Parkee, third year Arts student (Majoring in English), has taken up a coveted internship position with the Festival, an opportunity made possible through Macquarie’s sponsorship.

“I am most looking forward to the actual week of the Festival,” Parkee says. “Seeing everything that I’ve been helping to achieve actually come to fruition will be a very gratifying experience.”

Learn more about the Sydney Writers’ Festival. Macquarie staff and students receive a discount when booking paid events, using the discount code SPONS16MU.

Missed an episode of Pioneering Minds? Find all the Season One episodes on Soundcloud or on iTunes.

The Macquarie University Art Gallery recently celebrated the launch of its first exhibition for 2016, with guests being treated to the illuminating works of three artists: Ian Milliss, Paula Dawson, and Vernon Treweeke.

The name of the exhibition, Light Years Ahead, reflects the use of light by these artists in the production and theatre of their work, using it to not only enhance the narrative, but also as an essential part of its display.

“At the forefront of light as art are these three pioneering Australian artists that have experimented with its properties since the 1960s,” explains Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery.

The works on offer include Paula Dawson’s ethereal and ghostly holographic renderings; transformative works by Ian Milliss that embrace cultural activism; and the abstract renderings from the ‘father of psychedelic art in Australia’, Vernon Treweeke. Individually, these three artists heralded change in the art scene by seeking alternative paths to produce pieces outside of the conventional art world context, says Rhonda.

“The experimental nature of the artists in Light Years Ahead shows the gallery space as one of infinite and interactive possibilities; reinforces the synergetic intersections of art and science with works rarely seen on public display.”

The Light Years Ahead exhibition is free, open to the public, and will run from 9am to 5pm weekdays until Monday 23 May (excluding public holidays).

An upcoming free tour of the exhibition, also open to the public, will occur on Friday 8 April at 1pm to 2pm, with tour groups meeting at the E11A building.

In the fourth installment of our Pioneering Minds Podcast series, listeners meet this week’s guest, Professor Jeanette Kennett from the Department of Philosophy.

Jeanette is a pioneer of neurolaw – a new interdisciplinary field that investigates the relationship between neuroscience and law. In her interview with Ben Mckelvey, she discusses the implications of this field on moral agency, criminality and culpability, the establishment of the neurolaw database, and how she was drawn to questions of justice.

Missed others in our podcast series? Meet Rifaie Tammas, last week’s featured interview, and hear from others in our series.

Missed others in our podcast series? Find out how this series came about and listen to the first two episodes featuring Distinguished Professor David Christian and Associate Professor Malcolm Choat.