Dear colleagues
Last week I participated in the Universities Australia Summit alongside colleagues from UNSW and across the sector, as well as representatives of government, industry, peak bodies and the occasional international expert. Universities here and overseas are facing similar challenges: integrating AI into teaching and learning, preparing graduates for a world in transition, driving national productivity and innovation from an increasingly constrained research environment, focusing on societal benefit in a context of unremitting negative commentary. I was pleased that the summit as a whole appeared to comprehend the significance of the challenges and demonstrated a commitment to working together toward solutions.
One of the sessions I chaired was on elevating and ensuring the student voice in universities (pictured above). UNSW’s Arc Chair Aania Cheema spoke eloquently about the challenges students face to fully participate in university life and governance, and emphasised the importance of meeting students where they are. I believe student participation in every level of decision-making, from university council, to sporting clubs, to the tutorial room, is not just critical to the operation and direction of the University, but valuable preparation for employment and shaping a democratic society.
I also introduced a keynote speech by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Tony Haymet, on High Performance Computing and Data Infrastructure. AI has caused a revolution in the research environment and Australia’s digital infrastructure faces an enormous challenge to catch up to demand. As a small country with the capacity to integrate policy, industry and the tertiary sector, we should be able to tackle significant problems – disaster forecasting, environmental resilience, energy system transformation, genomic medicine. We have done it in the past with the e-research infrastructure roadmaps developed 15 years ago. But it needs significant and directed investment so we can advance scalable solutions in line with Australia’s needs and continue to have an outsized impact on global innovation.
High Street Ventures launch
It was a pleasure to welcome NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey to UNSW recently to launch High Street Ventures. The event brought together colleagues and leaders from across our research, innovation and investment communities, and highlighted the strong alignment between UNSW’s progress for all strategy and the NSW Government’s Innovation Blueprint and Industry Policy. Our discussions reinforced a shared focus on housing, the energy transition and local manufacturing, and the vital role universities play in supporting economic growth and productivity across the state.
The event marked UNSW’s new $35 million investment into research commercialisation. The investment is made up of a $25 million Pre-Seed Fund and a $10 million investment into High St Ventures – an independent venture capital fund that will provide growth capital to successful UNSW spinouts. It’s one of a number of ways we are investing in startups and spinouts from research, people and ideas from UNSW. UNSW investment is required to fill the early-stage capital gap for our fantastic spinouts.
Translating research and innovation into real-world societal impacts is an ever-growing part of our strategy. UNSW is acknowledged as the most entrepreneurial university in Australia, and with that comes the responsibility to drive Australia's innovation ecosystem. It is particularly rewarding that so many of our spinouts focus on solving pressing global issues.
Celebrating Mardi Gras
It was wonderful to see our community come together to celebrate Mardi Gras – a time of pride, reflection and joy.
UNSW is incredibly proud to stand alongside our LGBTQIA+ community and allies, not only during Mardi Gras, but all year round. This year’s celebrations were marked by something truly special: an extraordinary quilt featuring more than 100 patches created by our students, colleagues and alumni. Each patch tells a story of identity, belonging and lived experience, and together they form a powerful expression of community.
We were also fortunate to have the creative input of UNSW alum Jordan Gogos, whose bold textile practice helped shape the look and feel of the quilt. By incorporating archival images from the Kirby Institute’s 40-year history, Jordan has woven into the fabric of the work a moving tribute to Kirby’s global leadership in HIV and AIDS research and advocacy.
My warmest thanks to everyone who contributed a patch, shared their story and helped bring this project to life. And congratulations to the Kirby Institute on this remarkable milestone — having you march alongside UNSW this year felt especially fitting.
There’s more to read Inside UNSW…
- Congratulations to Associate Professors Yenni Tim, Nick Apoifis and Terry Ord who have received a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning at the 2025 Australian Awards for University Teaching.
- The Resilient Democracy Lab is a new research hub that will harness UNSW’s standing as a world leader in democratic research across economics, political economy and law to build the knowledge, capacity and dialogue needed to keep democracy resilient here and globally.
- An international research team, including UNSW medical scientists, has secured $2.8 million to study how AI can better predict ovarian cancer survival and treatment responses.
- In this edition’s AI Insider Associate Professor Lynn Gribble explores how we can adapt what we teach and how we teach it to prepare students for a world with AI.
- In this edition’s staff profile, we meet Rebecca Martin, Manager, Societal Transformation in the Office of Societal Transformation & Equity and find out about her travel bug.
- This Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day. Find out more about the IWD events happening across UNSW in Canberra and Sydney to celebrate women at the University and encourage conversations about this year’s theme, Give to Gain.
Best regards
Attila
Professor Attila Brungs
Vice-Chancellor & President
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