Monash University Faculty of Science
The Monash University Faculty of Science is one of the largest science faculties in Australia, with about 3,500 students. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses, from bachelor's degrees through to PhD. Originally, it was based entirely at Monash's Clayton campus, but since the 1990s it has extended to Gippsland and Malaysia.[1]
The faculty offers units of study in biological sciences, chemistry, geosciences, mathematics, and physics, among others. The School of Chemistry within the faculty was ranked the best in Australia for both teaching and research in 2009.[2]
Associated with the faculty are a number of student societies, including the Monash Science Society, the Biological Society, the Biomedical Society, the Monash Environmental Science Students Association, Monash University Geology Students, the Society of Physics and Mathematics and the Monash Weather and Climate Society.[3]
The faculty has been strengthened by the opening of the Australian Synchrotron at the Clayton campus (open 31 July 2007), and the establishment of the Monash Centre for Synchtrotron Science, with which the faculty is affiliated.
The faculty operates a number of other major research facilities such as the Monash University Centre for Green Chemistry, the Monash Centre for Astrophysics, the Centre for Biodiversity and two observatories.
Financial Exigency Issues
In 2010 the University offered widespread voluntary redundancies to staff to ease budget pressures.[4][5] In August 2010, Monash announced the appointment of a new Dean of Science, Scott O'Neill.[6] In 2011 the Faculty of Science was not able to avert further budgetary problems and entered a period of 'financial exigency' that led to forced severance of up to 4 tenured staff.[7][8] This resulted in news media- and union-publicised friction between researchers and the Faculty of Science management.
Notable alumni
The Faculty of Science has produced a number of notable graduates who are leaders in their field, including:
- Greg Ayers - Director of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
- Peter Carey - Booker prize-winning novelist
- Damian Conway - Computer scientist
- Hugh Evans - Young Australian of the Year and founder of the Oaktree Foundation
- Tim Flannery - Writer, scientist, Australian of the Year 2007
- Peter Arthur Fox - Professor, scientist (known for: defining Informatics and Data Science in Earth Sciences; defining the Sun-Earth Connections Research Agenda and Convening the Community)
- Gail Gago - South Australian Minister for Environment, Conservation and Mental Health
- Lauren Hewitt - Australian athlete
- Geoff Hunt - World champion squash player
- Paul McNamee - Former tennis player and sports administrator
- John Thwaites - Former Deputy Premier of Victoria and Minister for Environment, Water and Climate Change
- Anna Wilson - World champion cyclist
- Greg Wilton - Politician
- Michael Wooldridge - Former Australian Minister for Health and Chairman of UNAIDS
References
- ↑ About the Faculty of Science, Monash University
- ↑ Academic Ranking of World Universities in Chemistry - 2009
- ↑ Student societies, Monash University Science
- ↑ "Australian University's Review / Monash / Redundancies", accessed 16 Aug 2011
- ↑ Lane, Bernard "Monash University axes staff amid fall in enrolments", The Australian, Dec 15 2010
- ↑ Binning, David, "Monash names professor Scott O'Neill as new Science Dean". LifeScientist, 13 Aug 2010
- ↑ NTEU "Budgetary measures cut science jobs - where next?", accessed 16 Aug 2011
- ↑ Hobday, Liz "Monash Uni slashes jobs". The World Today, ABC Radio National, 22 July 2011
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