From the Vice-Chancellor January 2023

Dear Deakin community,

I hope the festive season was a relaxing and restorative time for you and your families.

As always January is a chance to both consider the year gone and to anticipate what will happen in the year coming. During the break, I was reflecting on the events of 2022, marvelling at how dramatically things had changed from the year’s beginning to its end. By December, we had finally emerged from what felt like an extended winter in Victoria, and we had held two rounds of in-person graduations at Costa Hall, which featured the high levels of optimism and energy we had missed so much. There is nothing like seeing graduands alongside their family and friends, celebrating their success together, and reminding us all of the importance of education.

As we start 2023, we have an opportunity to reflect on individual contributions to our communities with the announcement of the 2023 Australia Day Awards. My sincere congratulations to all of those in the Deakin community who have been recognised with honours. Serving the community is a founding principle of Deakin, and it is always gratifying to see the wonderful contributions made by Deakin alumni, current and former staff, partners and students. You can read the full list of recipients in our media release and more of the details in this edition.

I would also like to extend my thanks to those within our community who contributed to the Deakin end-of-year appeal. Your donations were matched by an incredible $20,000 grant from Community Bank at Deakin University at the end of last year.

In total, 122 Deakin alumni and donors contributed $38,272 which will have an enormous impact on Deakin students and researchers. This support will mean that:

• at least two more talented students who are facing disadvantage will have access to life-changing education through ongoing scholarships
• at least 15 more students who are struggling financially can receive emergency assistance grants. This provides relief to pay essential bills, afford food, focus on their studies and ultimately make it to graduation
• we have further funding to help kickstart research careers through providing strategic grants for Early Career Researchers and their breakthroughs across climate science, engineering innovation, medical research and Indigenous Knowledges.

All the best for 2023, and I look forward to seeing you at one of the many events throughout the year.

Best wishes,
Iain

Vice-Chancellor
Deakin University