The changes under way at the University of Melbourne are plain to see. Vice-chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell – who was recently reappointed for a second five-year term – is looking out his office window towards the uninterrupted city skyline.

In the foreground, the massive, new black headquarters of CSL loom large. Down below, work is being finalised on the new Parkville underground metro train station. A block away is the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Peter Doherty Institute and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.