Melbourne Neuroscience Institute
The institute combined interdisciplinary research in the neurosciences with technology and industry expertise to improve health and teaching outcomes.
Melbourne Interdisciplinary Research Institutes
Ambitious ideas. Collaboration. Local and global expertise. Solving the big challenges together.
After an imaginary virus, Refuge members take part in disaster drills, talk to epidemiologists, and have tea with neighbours. Research from the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. Image: Bryony Jackson / Arts House
Transforming the social and economic wellbeing and health of people with disability. Shifting from a fossil fuel-based economy to a clean-energy economy. Building resilience in our food systems to fire, drought and flood. Centring Indigenous knowledges, perspectives and experiences. Addressing social disadvantage in health, education, housing and work
The Melbourne Interdisciplinary Research Institutes do all of this and more.
Working with industry, government and not-for-profit organisations in Australia and internationally, they challenge current thinking and offer new solutions to change our world.
Institute researchers come with different perspectives. They identify complex and emerging issues and forge unexpected connections. They acknowledge an imperfect world to build evidence and drive discovery. Then they translate research into results that matter.
This is how we solve the big challenges.
Explore the institutes
It is through the collision of creative enquiring minds and growing ideas that solutions to complex challenges can be achieved.
Professor Mark Hargreaves, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaboration and Partnerships)
A Better World: Research that enriches lives (2017)
Watch: A Simpler Way
A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity follows a community in Australia who explore a simpler way to live in response to global crises.
The group build tiny houses, plant veggie gardens, practice simple living, and discover the challenges of living in community.
The film is an outcome of research on sustainable consumption beyond the growth economy, led by Dr Samuel Alexander at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute.
A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity (2016) - Full Documentary
Former interdisciplinary research institutes
Networked Society Institute
The institute explored connectivity between people and objects, and the social, ethical, environmental and economic impact of digital technologies.
Melbourne Materials Institute
The institute advanced materials science and materials processing, to meet challenges in sustainability, cultural conservation, medicine and energy.
An agenda for research, education and engagement
Interdisciplinary work is data-informed and experience-based. The institutes collaborate with industry and communities that have the real-world expertise to drive research.
We take pride in the fact that researchers do not just talk about things. Their projects provide answers, inform policy, build machines, engage with the public and change society out in the real world.
The institutes inspire the next generation of research leaders. Graduate and Early Career Researchers challenge and extend their ideas, and gain expertise in collaborative approaches. They also get support through project funding, research help, scholarships and mentorships.
Listen: One in Five podcast
In Australia, one in five people lives with disability.
One in Five gives voice to people with disability and asks about their experiences with employment, housing, the law, supporting families and early intervention.
A range of experts including people with disability, researchers and people working in the sector talk about what we can do to improve the lives of people with disability.
One in Five is produced by the Melbourne Disability Institute.
Publications
Image: Dr Samantha Loi with “Betty” the support robot, from A Better World.
Hallmark Research Initiatives
The Initiatives address significant local and global challenge that cannot be solved by one discipline alone.
Partnership case studies
Find out what it's like to partner with the University.
Multidisciplinary research
Explore the University’s multidisciplinary research programs for graduate researchers. Collaborations include PhD programs, institutes and centres.
The funeral industry in the digital age
Funeral directors decide which digital services are appropriate for grief and mourning, making it difficult for entrepreneurs to enter the industry.