🚨In-person event moved to the Public Lecture Theatre, Old Arts Building on our Parkville campus. Tickets still available.
"Gut health" isn't just a wellness buzzword - there's real science behind how the gut microbiome impacts your health and wellbeing 🍽️ Join our Science at Melbourne Conversation on gut health, with a panel of experts speaking on a range of gut-related topics: using big data, food intolerances, parasites, and diagnostic and treatment solutions.
Moderated by Professor Chibuike Udenigwe from the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, our panel will include:
Professor Jason Tye-Din from @wehi_research
Associate Professor Jess Biesiekierski from the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
Professor Alex Johnson from the School of BioSciences
Professor Kim-Anh Lê Cao from the School of Mathematics and Statistics
This event is free and hybrid.
📍Public lecture theatre, Old Arts Building, Parkville campus and online
🗓️ Wednesday 20 May 6pm-7:30pm
🔗Tap the link in bio to register
There's something in the water - a rakali! Voted ABC Science's Most Underrated Animal of 2025, rakali are furry native Australian animals that live amongst us in creeks, rivers and beaches. Have you seen one? 👀 Dr Kylie Soanes from the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences and Pursuit's next Map of the Month will show where to spot these super-swimmers - but we need your help. Email your rakali sightings to [email protected] or DM Dr Kylie Soanes on Instagram at @DrKylieSoanes .
Creative Commons image credits: David Cook, Glaubradu, Ed Dunen
Thanks to Gabrielle Pounsett, Tingyao Li, Jayden Davis-Tope, and Mary from Burwood, for sharing their wild Rakali sightings with us.
Meet Priya, Master of Biotechnology student 👋 We met her as she was visiting the new MBERS teaching lab in Old Microbiology.
Priya's interest in science began in high school. "There was this really interesting fact that one of my biology teachers told me that our body contains more microbes, like more than 90% of of the cells on our body are microbes than human cells.
And that's what got got me into studying microbiology," she says.
When someone close to her had endometriosis, Priya set her sights on biotechnology.
💬 "That sort of really made me realise how much healthcare disparities we have and how there are a lack of competent therapeutics and that sort of really got me into research translation - like what are the steps involved in bringing a product from the bench to the bedside?"
"That's exactly what the Master of Biotech has to offer, and that's why I chose this course."
The variety of subjects and experience with industry appealed to Priya. "You get to learn about the technical aspects of biotech as well as the more business side of things," she says.
💬 "Most of our core subjects revolve around the commercialisation of science and all the steps involved in it, and then you can choose electives based on your interest."
Priya came to Melbourne from India. "As as an international student, when you come to uni, one thing that really, really stresses you out is: how do I make friends?" she says.
So she dove into the many student opportunities available in Science - she became a Science student ambassador and joined the Women in Science and Engineering club, eventually becoming the President.
💬 "Through that, I got to make a lot of friends with the other ambassadors. I got to know a lot of people there and it really helped me build the confidence that I thought I didn't have.
"Those two years were really meaningful because through that I got to meet so many wonderful people in STEM, especially some of them got to be my mentors later on in life."
🔗Tap the link in bio to learn more about our specialist graduate degrees in science
🦗☀️ All around the world, one of the first signs of summer is the evening song of the cricket – but the song is more than a familiar sound; it is also a signal of a healthy ecosystem.
As part of the Venice Biennale arts festival, 'The Song of the Cricket' reintroduced the Adriatic Marbled Bush-Cricket to Venice lagoons via floating habitats, creating both art an installation and ecological experiment, offering a new model for conservation, where art, design and science work together to restore ecological relationships.
This project, led by ABP, involves an interdisciplinary team from FEIT, Science and FFAM, and is one of five worldwide to be shortlisted for the Architizer A+Awards Popular Choice Vote in this category.
Tap the link in bio to learn more.
This project was developed by a team of Australian and Italian partners, led by Professor Alexander Felson and the UEDLAB, in partnership with entomologist Dr Filippo M. Buzzetti from the Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto in Italy and the Living Insect Museum Esapolis of the Province of Padova, led by Enzo Moretto, managed by Kheprica APS and Butterfly Arc Srl.
📷 Courtesy @AlexanderFelson & @UED_LAB@FEITUniMelb@SciMelb@UniMelb@VCA_MCM
Sir David Attenborough turns 100! 🎉
Head to our link in bio as we reflect on what makes him the world's most beloved conservation communicator and why his greatest lesson is making us care about the vanishing natural world 🌏
#UniMelb #SirDavidAttenborough #Science
Who loves maths so much that they think about data science during their own surgery? 🙋
Dr Patricia Menendez Galvan and A/Prof Karim Seghouane are data scientists, and may have also been your lecturer or supervisor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. Get to know them (wooden spoon carving anyone?), how maths took them all over the world and why they love it in the latest Science Squared. 🔗Tap the link in bio
Did someone say sharks with laserbeams? 🦈 Not quite, but a team of academics led by Dr Brandon Mahan from the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences are combining geochemistry techniques with marine ecology. By using x-ray and laser technology on shark cartilage, they've found a way to determine the age of a speartooth shark. But how do they do that?
🔗Tap the link in bio to learn more in Pursuit
Come with Master of Food Science student Nadini Pandit for a day of classes and study at our Parkville campus 🏫 She's researching the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Australian native plants.
Nandini picked food science partially because of her interest in something "unconventional" in science. "Food science caught my attention because I realised there was a way to directly influence what we see on the market shelves, and bring more variation to the table," she says.
🔗Tap the link in bio to learn more about graduate courses in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
Ever wondered what's inside the 12 Apostles, one of Victoria's most popular tourist spots? As researcher A/Prof Stephen Gallagher says, there are billions of fossils inside every Apostle 🦴
#UniMelb researchers from the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences have found the real age of the 12 Apostles by carefully examining ancient layers and the fossils within.
Tap the link in our bio to read more 🔗
#University #Melbourne
Did you dream of becoming a marine biologist when you were a kid? Dr Allyson O'Brien (@allysonob ) made her dreams come true, even after she was discouraged from pursuing marine biology. Today she studies the effects of pollution on coastal marine and estuarine habitats, focusing on marine invertebrates in sand and mud habitats - like worms, crustaceans and fish 🦀
She's also the Faculty of Science's Assistant Dean (Undergraduate programs) and teaches the next generation of aspiring marine biologists here at UniMelb.
🔗Tap the link in bio to read the latest Humans of BioSciences
It's hard enough getting your dog or cat to the vet, but how about a horse, cow or sheep? 🐴🐮🐑 As part of their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine course, students stayed at our Dookie farm campus to undertake large animal handling classes. We interrupted a game of Uno and asked a group of DVM students what they thought of the experience.
🔗Tap the link in bio to learn more
CORRECTION: One of our DVM students' name is Natassa, not Natasha. Apologies!
