It’s important to do the things others are not doing, says Brian Schmidt

ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says its important to do the things Australia needs done that others are not doing.

ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says it’s important to do the things Australia needs done that others are not doing. Photo: Jamie Kidston

ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says his institution is “really focused on being the national university”.

“There’s no place for us to be mediocre. It’s really important to do the things that Australia needs done that other people are not doing.

“You know we do nuclear physics, literally the only place that does that. We do a whole range of physics that other places don’t do.

“We do Asian studies, we do political science and geoeconomics. These are things that are important for the nation to have a strong, regionally focused capacity in.”

Based in Canberra, the ANU also performs a particular service for the federal government. “We do have proximity. We’re six minutes away, and therefore, we do train and work and consult with the federal government – as we should – in a way that no other university can.”

But he’s very clear about the nature of this role. “We’re not a think tank. We’re not a consultancy firm. We need to give them what they need in what universities are excellent in.”

Schmidt says the poor state of government research funding has got to the point of being perilous.

“Research has become so poorly funded in this country that we’re all finding it pretty untenable. And the things we’re doing as the national university are really not things you want to be cross-subsidising from foreign students. They’re things of sovereign importance. And it’s putting me and the university into a very uncomfortable position.”

Schmidt believes it’s important for the ANU’s future research paths to be mapped both from the bottom up, responding to the initiative of its talented researchers, and the top down, to meet big strategic objectives.

“My researchers are coming up with all sorts of things in the traditional fields. So I try to provide a great environment where some of the best people come in and have an environment to do things bottom-up, like I did my Nobel prize.”

Then there are broader research goals set at the top, in areas such as climate change and energy transition, which cut across the humanities, the sciences and engineering. Schmidt gives a shout out to cybernetics, the field which Genevieve Bell, who takes over from Schmidt as ANU vice-chancellor next year, has been building at the university since 2017. And he has a special mention for another program, the First Nations Portfolio, which aims to break the cycle of disadvantage for Indigenous people.

The ANU leads in 12 fields of research: Anthropology; Asian Studies & History; Astronomy & Astrophysics; Birds; Chinese Studies & History; Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors; Evolutionary Biology; Geophysics;

International Law; Optics & Photonics; Plasma & Fusion; Political Science.