Director's Message

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue15 1–30 April 2021

Canberra is definitely seeing the beginning of autumn, with trees across town putting on their annual display and the nights rapidly becoming longer and crisper. This Saturday/Sunday night the clocks ‘fall back’ and we get an extra hour’s sleep (as well as a four-day weekend!).

With the change of the seasons we are also aiming to lift our eyes beyond the challenging changes that have been imposed on the ANU this past year and look to the horizon. The first in a series of future-oriented investments by RSAA is the Strategic Initiatives program I announced at the recent All-School Meeting. The RSAA Executive is looking for creative funding proposals from RSAA staff, emeritus staff and graduate students for strategic initiatives. These initiatives should advance the mission of the School in research, education or outreach, or support the reforms of the RSAA Culture Action Plan, or increase or diversify the School’s revenue base (or any combination of these things!). There is $250,000 available in total for such initiatives and the one-page proposals are due by 5pm on 1 April. The Executive is looking forward to reading these proposals and choosing some outstanding ideas that will make RSAA stronger and better.

Astronomy continues to be a leading discipline at ANU and contributes significantly to the University’s overall international reputation. The 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject showed ‘Physics & Astronomy’ at ANU has kept its #1 ranking in Australia and has risen 5 places in the world rankings to #40. This was the biggest rankings improvement of any field at ANU in 2021. The University as a whole is ranked #31 in the world and is the highest-ranked university in Australia, with U.Sydney second at #40 and U.Melbourne third at #41 (Australia has 7 universities in the top 100 in the world).

Many of you enjoyed the Easter egg hunt organised by Isabelle O’Toole this week. I’d like to share my appreciation of Isabelle’s ongoing efforts to add a bit of sparkle to everyday life at Stromlo. Keep the Easter eggs, Melbourne Cup sweeps and Christmas decorations coming Isabelle! (Plus the occasional rocky road chocolate for the Director.)

I wish everyone an enjoyable break over the Easter long weekend. I hope you all manage to take some time out to relax and re-charge.

Matthew Colless