About us
  1. Macquarie University
  2. Faculty of Science and Engineering
  3. About

Driven by the spirit of innovation

The Faculty of Science and Engineering is a young and dynamic faculty driven by the spirit of discovery. Here we nurture the next generation of science and technology innovators.

From a handful of students on the University’s first day, the Faculty now serves 6000 students across all our programs.

Our research and teaching addresses the big issues faced by society in Australia and globally – the changing environment, future materials and fuels, biotechnology, cyber security, to name a few.

The pairing of engineering and science in a single faculty means many of our research discoveries in science see direct technological applications in engineering.

Our research excellence

We have led many significant initiatives over the years, including:

  • early climate change research
  • the commercialisation of WiFi
  • photonics
  • evolutionary biology
  • internationally leading research in Earth’s crustal systems.

We are active within many industry partnerships, commercial collaborations, and joint enterprise initiatives with government, industry and business partners.

Our schools and departments

The Faculty consists of four schools and two research departments, and the Faculties’ associated research centres. Our passionate staff and engaged student body are dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering in the 21st century. View our schools and departments.

PhD and research degrees

We supervise and progress higher degree research students undertaking their masters and PhDs across a wide range of specialist discipline areas.

Importantly, we conduct world-leading research across the breadth of science and technology disciplines.

We provide research training pathways for students from Australia and around the globe.

From humble beginnings

The Faculty of Science and Engineering traces its roots back to the founding of the University in 1964. It is the amalgamation of the Divisions of Environmental and Life Sciences (comprising Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biomolecular Sciences, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Human Geography, Physical Geography, and the Graduate School of the Environment), and Information and Communication Sciences (Computing, Electronics, Mathematics, and Physics). You can still see these original divisions in the names of our seven Departments, one School and  AAO Macquarie.

It was the appointment of several key figures within these two divisions that drove our approach and strategy to this day:

  • Professor Frank Mercer appointed as the Chair of Biology in 1965.
  • Professor John Ward, a Fellow of the Royal Society and nominated for a Nobel Prize twice, appointed to the University.
  • Professor Ron Aitchison became the first Professor in Electronics in 1971.
  • Professor Alan Voisey, the first Head of the School of Earth Sciences (and foundation Professor), who had been the foundation professor of Geology at the University of New England before coming to Macquarie.
  • Professor Jim Piper, who developed our world-renown capability in photonics.
…to world-renowned excellence

Over the years, we have been the home of a number of areas of research excellence, and led many significant initiatives including pioneering climate change research, the commercialisation of WiFi, photonics, evolutionary biology, and internationally leading research in Earth's crustal systems. The commercialisation of WiFi, early work in climate change, and the development of gene sequencing are hallmarks of our world-changing achievements in wireless, the environment, and proteomics, respectively.

We have also promoted the growth of science through our various research centres, including the Climate Futures Centre, GEMOC, and Risk Frontiers.

The new Faculty of Science and Engineering Strategic Framework 2022-2026 continues to build upon the themes of the earlier 2016-2020 plan of excellence in research, teaching, innovation and engagement, and goes further, to address the social, technological and economic challenges of today and the opportunities that those same challenges bring.

The Faculty of Science and Engineering Strategic Framework 2022-2026 sets out our mission and strategic goals for the years immediately ahead, and provides detailed initiatives that underpin our goals with milestones and projects. As we look ahead to the future in a rapidly shifting global landscape, we commit to align our research and coursework curricula with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, indigenous systems and knowledge, and the new economy. We aim to equip STEM graduates for their careers. Together with industry and our community we will innovate for the future and look to nurture existing and establish new partnerships with commercial, government, cultural and professional organisations. We will engage in building the new economy, with environmental and social sustainability at the core.

The Framework 2022-2026 is aligned with the six areas of focus under the Macquarie University Operating Plan 2020-2024.

The launch of the faculty's Strategic Plan 2016-2020 heralded the beginning of a new era for science and engineering at the University: one which looked back and honored the achievements of the past while focusing with excitement on the possibilities and opportunities the future would bring.

The faculty commenced development of the 2022-2026 FSE Strategic Framework in 2021 and was pleased to release the plan in August 2022.