Macquarie was the first university in Australia to introduce the Master of Research (MRes), an international-standard, two-year research training pathway program. But it’s not just students taking an interest – several staff have also returned to the classroom to pursue their research interests and enhance their careers.

Student Wellbeing Emergency Care Manager Steve Bailey has undertaken his third post-graduate qualification (and his second from Macquarie), to assess the effectiveness of the online delivery of a mental health and wellbeing program designed to improve the mental health of university students.

“Improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people can literally transform lives, so learning what works in online mental health and making it accessible is something that I was very interested in,” said Steve .“Macquarie has an outstanding reputation for research in this area, so I feel lucky to be able to pursue my love of learning here.”

Faculty of Science General Manager Imtiaz Bhayat is looking at the impacts of financial policy, including University budgeting and organisational performance. His research aims to identify financial policy strategies to help universities achieve their teaching and research objectives.

“In a business and organisational context research is a great mechanism to learn about what has worked and what hasn’t in a variety of situations, then apply that information in solving problems, challenging peoples thinking and having the data there to back it up,” said Imtiaz.

“Transitioning to a formal research program at Macquarie was easy and made sense once I started working here. The structure of the MRes was also perfect for me, given that my previous postgraduate study was by coursework only.”

Imitaz says his proudest moment was having his first paper accepted.

“It was a great learning experience, dealing with the journal editor and refining the paper (and refining the paper, and refining the paper….) based on reviewer comments. At some points it was hard work and tedious, but it all absolutely paid off when the editor said, ‘ok, we are there’!”

Learn more about MRes training pathway program or register for an information session.

Read about the MRes projects of Michelle Wood, Director of Communications at MGSM and Hana Krskova, Faculty of Business and Economics Finance Manager.