The Australian National University

Semester 1 is officially over 💫

A big thank you to our students, staff and community for a great start to the year. Bring on Semester 2.

ANU has climbed three places to 29th in the QS World University Rankings 2027.

This recognition reflects our standing as a global leader in research and education, and the outstanding community that makes it possible.

Read more: quicklink.anu.edu.au/4ac4

“When we talk about truths, we don't want to take away from anybody else's truth,” says Minda Murray, a PhD candidate who also works at the ANU Centre for Indigenous Policy Research.

“But it is really important to recognise the past injustices and the suffering that our people have gone through in the process of colonisation.”

Minda, a proud Yorta Yorta and Duduroa woman, joined the Walk for Truth alongside many other First Nations people and allies this Reconciliation Week to call for a national commitment to truth-telling.

Minda likens the process of truth-telling to the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken ceramics are pieced back together with gold lacquer.

“That's the journey. And the fact that it's got a golden crack through it draws attention to the fact that it was broken but healed, and now it's a thing of beauty."

Read more: quicklink.anu.edu.au/orcg

“Safety on dating apps is not one-size-fits-all,” says ANU researcher Dr Hannah Robertson.

Robertson's research focuses on online dating safety in Australia and the policies shaping the future of digital dating. The stark reality is that 75% of Australians who use dating apps have experienced some form of harassment or abuse.

As governments and platforms grapple with how to respond, Australia has become an international test case for whether industry self-regulation can deliver meaningful accountability.

Read more: quicklink.anu.edu.au/xiyf

Autumn, we miss you already 🍂✨

Associate Professor Katie Sutton is bringing to life the overlooked histories of q***r, gender-diverse and neurodivergent people.

A German and gender studies expert at the ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Sutton is a leading Australian voice in global discussions on gender, neurodiversity and health humanities.

The ANU researcher’s work examines LGBTIQ+ representation historically to change dominant narratives in the history of gender and sexuality, contesting transphobic beliefs that argue trans identities are a contemporary social trend.

This Pride Month, Sutton reflects on the resilience and bravery of the q***r community over many decades – a theme which they explore through their studies – that have long been a catalyst for social change.

“Doctors and scientists in the late 19th and early 20th century didn’t just start exploring trans identity out of the blue, they did so because people in the community were speaking back to the authorities,” Sutton says.

“We owe them a real debt.”

Read more: quicklink.anu.edu.au/7mwz

Arts & Social Sciences at ANU

The gang-gang cockatoo is one of Australia’s most iconic birds, but despite this we know very little about this endangered species. Learning more about their behaviour and habitat is essential for their conservation.

Researchers from the ANU Fenner School of Environment & Society have been studying the movements of gang-gangs across Australia. They use small GPS transmitters to learn how far the birds travel and where they go during and after breeding.

This conservation project, led by the Difficult Bird Research Group at ANU, will help inform new renewable energy developments and is a key project funded by the Renewables Environmental Research Initiative (RERI) led by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

How well do you really know campus? 🤔 Can you name this ANU landmark?

ANU geophysicist Emeritus Professor Malcolm Sambridge has a knack for solving the unsolvable. His pioneering work developing mathematical models has helped solve some of the most significant earth science problems, including helping scientists learn more about Earth’s interior, which holds clues about the planet’s evolutionary history.

A self-professed “algorithm nerd”, Sambridge has transformed how earth scientists extract information from complex data. His contributions to the earth sciences over his 40-year career has seen him elected to The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

Sambridge’s election as Fellow of the Society sees him join an exclusive club of renowned scientists including Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Dorothy Hodgkin.

“It’s overwhelming. I mean, I’m giddy as a schoolboy. I feel very honoured, but equally I feel humbled and astonished that this has happened,” Sambridge says.

Sambridge’s path to becoming one of the world’s most eminent scientists started with a fortuitous “sliding door” moment when he decided to uproot his life in the UK, where he was studying at the University of Cambridge, and relocate to Canberra in 1984 to study a PhD in seismic imaging at the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.

Read more: quicklink.anu.edu.au/4sxq

Science & Medicine at ANU