Commentary and policy work on higher-education matters

This page contains some of published work or commentary on matters of relevance to Australian and/or international matters in higher education, the tertiary sector or the research and R&D sector.

Media articles and opinion pieces

1. “Australian Institute of Physics response to national science review: When the government trusts the Australian Research Council, science in Australia will have a bright future. Keep short-term politics out of science funding by articulating clear processes and by the inclusion of researchers in decision making“, Cosmos Magazine, 5 January 2023, Summary of Australian Institute of Physics submission in regards to a review of the Australian Research Council.
2. “Dear Mark McGowan, you wouldn’t ask this of a mining company“, Gerd Schröder-Turk, WA Today: Opinion piece in relation to the state governments role in relation to university governance (Click here for pdf)
3. “Mühsam, aber der Mühe wert: Akademische Selbstverwaltung ist ein hohes Gut, das es zu bewahren gilt“, Editorial by Gerd Schröder-Turk, Physik Journal (member magazine of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft), Feb 2021: Commentary on the value of academic self-governance in the German and Australian university system
4. “Disruptive innovation” by Gerd Schröder-Turk, ‘From the Executive’ column in “Australian Physics”, Member Magazine of the Australian Institute of Physics, Vol 28, Jun 2021: Brief perspective piece on government reform strategies in Australia’s tertiary sector, including University Research Commercialisation
5. “‘STEM everywhere’, but nowhere at Murdoch University“, by Gerd Schröder-Turk, The Australian Newspaper, 8 December 2020: Article in relation to cancellation of STEM degrees at Murdoch University and separation of teaching/research in Australian Federal Government “Job Ready Graduates Legislation”
6. “Hidden Physicists“ by Gerd Schröder-Turk, ‘From the Executive’ column in “Australian Physics”, Member Magazine of the Australian Institute of Physics, Vol 56(5), Sept/Oct 2019, p111: Brief perspective piece on the value of physics degrees and physics graduates to society

Articles in journals

1. “Australian Public Universities: A crisis of governance“, peer-reviewed article co-authored (as a minor author) by G.E. Schröder-Turk, Social Alternatives, Vol 41, No 1, p17-25 (2022)
2. “A self-selection mechanism for appointed external members of WA University Councils“, peer-reviewed article by G.E. Schröder-Turk, Australian Universities Review 63 (2020)
3. “How will COVID-19 change how we teach physics, post pandemic?“, by G.E. Schröder-Turk and D.M. Kane, guest editorial, not peer-reviewed, Phys Eng Sci Med 43, 731–733 (2020)
4. “Slow Science, Empowered Scientists”, section 5 of the article “Quo vadis biophotonics? Wearing serendipity and slow science as a badge of pride, and embracing biology” by Gerd Schröder-Turk, Faraday Discussions 223, 307-323 (2020): The bulk of the article is on the research area of biophotonics; section 5 provides commentary on scientific practice and on the use of metric-based assessments

Submissions in regard to curriculum or syllabus

1. Contribution to Australian Council of Deans of Science’s initiative to revise Science Threshold Learning Outcomes, Submission by the Australian Institute of Physics National Executive
2. “Consultation on changes to NSW Year 7-10 Sciences Syllabus“, Submission by the Australian Institute of Physics National Executive to the NSW Education Standards Authority, December 2022

Legislative or regulatory consultation submissions

Several of the below submissions were developed in my role as special project officer for policy of the National Executive of the Australian Institute of Physics

1. “Submission on priorities for the Australian Universities Accord“, personal submission to the University Accord process, 19 December 2022
2. “University Research Commercialisation“. Submission by the Australian Institute of Physics National Executive (co-authored by Gerd Schröder-Turk) to the Australian Government, Department of Education, Skills & Employment, in relation to consultation on the University Research Commercialisation scheme, 10 April 2021
3. “Risk and consequences of separation of teaching and research“ by Gerd Schröder-Turk: Submission to the Senate Education and Employment Committee in the Australian Federal Government Senate Inquiry in relation to the Job Ready Graduate Bill, September 2020. The focus of this submission was on the risk to research quality through loss of independence.
4. Submission by the Australian Institute of Physics in relation to the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020, submission to the Australian Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee inquiry, (co-authored by Gerd Schröder-Turk), 8 September 2021 (this submission was cited a couple of times in the Committee’s final report)
5. Submission in relation to consultation on draft legislation “Job-ready Graduates Higher Education Reform Package 2020 by the Australian Institute of Physics National Executive (co-authored by Gerd Schröder-Turk), to the Department of Education, Skills & Employment, 17 August 2020 (This submission was referred to by the Australian Financial Review on 25 August 2020)

Keynote lectures, interviews & panel discussions

1. “Who runs out universities?”, Interviewed by A/Prof Salvatore Babones in the ‘On liberty’ series (EP83) of the Centre for Independent Studies, 23 March 2022
2. “Systemic issues beyond academic freedom that limit the academic voice in university and tertiary sector governance”, Keynote Talk, EduTech 2020 Conference, Sydney (online conference), 9-10 November 2020
3. “Universities after the pandemic“, Gerd Schröder-Turk was an invited panelist on this online panel discussion hosted by the Federal Senator Mehreen Faruqi, 4 June 2020

Media appearances or commentary

The following journalistic works, none of which are co-authored by Gerd Schröder-Turk, include commentary attributed to and provided by Gerd Schröder-Turk (either in written form or as interview). This list is not complete.

1. “Still standing with Gerd“, Interview with Allison Barnes published in the National Tertiary Education Union’s Advocate, July/August 2021
2. “‘Stink from the corpse’: WA universities caught in vicious cycle for rankings, research and revenue”, WA Today, by Aja Styles, 17 Dec 2020: Commentary in relation to use of research funds to attract highly cited researchers
3. “Whistleblowers reject Murdoch claims over recruitment exoneration”, Times Higher Education, by John Ross, 12 October 2020
4. “Are corporate overreach and political correctness really undermining academic freedom?“ by John Ross, Times Higher Education, 15 October 2020
5. “University staff must find their voice, says Murdoch whistleblower“, Times Higher Education, by John Ross, 1 July 2020
6. “Whistleblower academic will still advocate for reform in universities”, Australian Financial Review, by John Bolton, 15 June 2020
7. “Murdoch University cuts ties with Indian student agency”, The Australian, by Victoria Laurie, 12 January 2020
8. “Cash Cows: The universities making billions out of foreign students“, ABC Four Corners episode, TV broadcast 6 May 2019, reported by Elise Worthington

Open letters & public statements

1. Open letter to the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor of Sydney University in regards to the termination of Prof Manuel Graeber, joint with Prof Jürgen Bröhmer, 22 November 2023 (see also this article by John Ross)
2. Tweet in relation to cancellation of university language offering and the need for university VC’s to act as the custodian of degrees as precious public assets, 14 Dec 2020
3. Tweet in relation to content of the Four Corners program on 6 May in relation to a finding by TEQSA, 12 Oct 2020
4. Tweet in relation to universities justifying poor behaviour by reference to the behaviour of the sector (the so-called ‘sector norm’), 4 Aug 2020
5. Public statement in relation to the settlement of the court case WAD303/2019 Schröder-Turk vs Murdoch University, 12 June 2020
6. A public statement, in the form of a series of tweets by Prof Graeme Hocking, Dr Duncan Farrow and myself in relation to Federal government support in the COVID situation, April 2020

University discussion papers and documents

1. “The ‘80% Teaching Direction’ at Murdoch University”, by Gerd Schröder-Turk, A discussion paper on the compatibility with regulatory and legislated frameworks and community expections of substantially increased academic teaching loads, April/May 2020
2. “Implications of the proposed enterprise agreement for academic life and academic matters”, A paper submitted to the Academic Council of Murdoch University discussing implications for the academic body and academic processes of a proposed Enterprise Agreement, 15 November 2017

Statements in courts of law

1. Statement of Claim and reply to Statement of Cross-claim in court case WAD303/2019, Federal Court of Australia, a number of amended versions of these unrestricted documents are available upon request from the Federal Court (see Federal Law Search)