Region. Honorary doctorates

Honorary doctorates were presented to Emeritus Professor Bruce Barraclough AO, Professor Alexandra Bune AM and Mr Peter Brennan AM in recognition of their distinguished community service, at the inaugural University of Western Sydney School of Medicine graduation ceremony.
Emeritus Professor Bruce Barraclough is regarded as a clinical and governance leader across the field of cancer care and treatment. Professor Alexandra Bune came to UWS as a member of the Medical School Expert Advisory Group and subsequently took up the role of Associate Dean (Academic Planning). Mr Peter Brennan AM, Chief Executive Officer of Bradcorp, has been a long time advocate of social and corporate responsibility.

Vice-chancellor Professor Janice Reid said each recipient has contributed in different ways to the success of the UWS School of Medicine and advanced the health and wellbeing of people in Greater Western Sydney and beyond.

North Ryde. Uni placed fourth

Macquarie University has made the prestigious Lieden list of the top 500 universities in the world in terms of scientific impact. The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012 has the university ranked 202 in the world and fourth in Australia behind the ANU and the universities of Melbourne and Queensland.

The ranking measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities worldwide. Using a sophisticated set of bibliometric indicators, it aims to provide highly accurate measurements of the scientific impact of universities and of universities' involvement in scientific collaboration.

Region. UWS receives $29.8 million

The University of Western Sydney has received $29.8 million from the federal government to significantly expand its flagship UWSCollege of higher education and to establish a new tertiary education facility in Lithgow - the first in the region

The expansion will see it significantly increase its enrolments to 5500 students within the next decade, with brand new facilities at Lithgow and the University's Penrith and Bankstown campuses, as well as enhanced facilities at the main UWSCollege site at Blacktown.

UWSCollege was established by UWS in 2006 to provide a supportive pathway to university and improve access to higher education for students who may not have had the same academic preparation to gain a place in a university course.

In addition to the federal funding, UWS is investing $15 million of its own to support the initiative.

North Ryde. Celebration of agreement

Edward Jung, who made his name at Microsoft Corporation where he was chief architect and advisor to executive staff, visited Macquarie University on a recent visit to Australia to celebrate the new commercialisation agreement between the university and Intellectual Ventures, the company Jung co-founded after leaving Microsoft.

The agreement enables Macquarie to submit inventions within Intellectual Venture's portfolio of interest for evaluation. If the evaluation is positive, Intellectual Ventures will effectively purchase the intellectual property and put its substantial funds under management to commercialise it.