February 2026

There are many reasons to feel positive about the year ahead. With the majority of Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) offer rounds completed, we are on track to achieve our load plan delivering 9 per cent growth in domestic students. Importantly, we increased offers across all regional campuses; and significantly increased direct domestic offers for 2026.

I am very grateful to colleagues who have worked so hard to produce these fantastic results – and who continue to work tirelessly to convert offers into enrolments – particularly the teams in Recruitment; Admissions; Contact Centre; Customer Care; Academic Services; Market Strategy & Insights; Marketing, Creative, and Production; Web and Digital; Social Media; and Information Services.

We have also recorded strong increases in applications and offers for international students compared to this time last year. Colleagues in Recruitment and Admissions are putting in a big effort to convert as many offers as possible to enrolments and preparing to welcome and support a new cohort of international students to La Trobe.

Coupled with our terrific start to the year in health and medical research funding rounds (see more below), these results put us in a strong position as we enter 2026 with renewed purpose and a focus on people.

There is no doubt that the world for which we are preparing our students and supporting our partners is evolving at an accelerating pace. We are making great progress in our mission to deliver programs that make a difference for our communities by expanding opportunity, advancing knowledge, and harnessing innovation to deliver meaningful impact.

With that in mind, I’d like to mention some recent activities and achievements from across the University.

India connections

Deepening our partnerships and engagement with India is a key element of our Strategic Plan. India offers huge potential for innovation, growth and impact, particularly in relation to AI, biotech, future skills and workforce development. To help advance our collaborations in India, I visited Goa, Bengaluru and New Delhi last week to meet with education, government, and industry partners and discuss opportunities to expand joint activity.

A highlight of the trip was the QS India Summit 2026 in Goa. The conference theme India@2047: Building Skills, Achieving Scale, Driving Innovation reflected the Government of India's vision to transform the Indian economy by the 100th anniversary of independence in 2047. The conference was timely, given India’s rising leadership in digital capability, innovation and skills, which means the country is well placed to harness the profound shifts that AI is bringing to how people learn and work. I took part in a panel discussion with education leaders from India, Canada and the United States about education governance that explored ways to create more flexible, transparent and innovation-friendly frameworks to support global participation and collaboration.

I also spoke at The PIE Live India summit in New Delhi, where I joined with education leaders and Vik Singh, the Trade and Investment Commissioner for Austrade in South Asia, to discuss workforce transformation, education reform and global mobility. In Bengaluru, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The GAIN Global Startup Accelerator that will support collaboration with La Trobe in research translation and innovation and further connect us with India’s biotechnology and startup sectors.

I will be back in Delhi later this month for the India AI impact Expo 2026 hosted by the Indian Prime Minister. This provides an opportunity to showcase La Trobe’s leadership in AI, including the Australian Centre for AI in Medical Innovation (ACAMI) powered by Australia’s-first NVIDIA DGX H200 supercomputer, and our landmark collaboration with OpenAI to provide universal access to transformative technologies for our whole university community.

Health innovation

Our expertise in health innovation was highlighted recently when four La Trobe projects secured a combined $11.7 million in the MRFF Clinical Trials Activity round that supports trials of new treatments and research into rare cancers and diseases. Congratulations to project leaders Kay Crossley, Eliza Hawkes, Adam Culvenor and Hui Gan.

And well done to Brian Oldenburg and Grant Drummond, who have received prestigious NHMRC Ideas grants. The $3.9 million funding will support Brian’s innovative project using AI tools to deliver personalised support for people with chronic conditions, while Grant will work with colleagues to develop treatments for the life-threatening condition abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Supporting local solutions

Lisa Denney and colleagues in La Trobe’s Centre for Human Security and Social Change are known for driving and supporting positive change across Asia Pacific. The team will contribute to the design of future investments and programs after receiving an $810,000 grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to undertake research that aims to improve understanding about how support of local leaders and coalitions contributes to locally-led development in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Pathways to success

I am enormously grateful to the McCall-MacBain Foundation for expanding its investment in La Trobe’s mission to support regional learners participating in our incredibly successful Regional Pathways Program.

The Foundation is providing a $1 million gift to establish the Pathways to Education and Knowledge (PEAK) program that will provide 100 scholarships over three years for Pathways graduates. The Regional Pathways Program helps students build confidence and assists in their transition from secondary school to higher education. The Program has been life-changing, with more than 70 per cent of its 1,000 participants going on to further education. It’s also a terrific example of the impact we can have with support from partners who share our goals.

Pride of La Trobe

It was terrific to see La Trobe represented at the Midsumma Pride March in St Kilda on 1 February, with the La Trobe Staff Pride Network organising a group of staff and students to take part and celebrate and show support for LGBTIQA+ communities. La Trobe's Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) also had a pop-up stall during the Midsumma Carnival to promote LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing, which offered resources like tote bags, pronoun badges, stickers, and engagement with ARCSHS’ flagship LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing surveys.

Australia honours

Congratulations to the La Trobe alumni and staff past and present who were recognised for their impact in this year’s Australia Day Honours. It was especially pleasing to see Shaun Collin, Co-Director of AgriBio on our Bundoora campus, appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to tertiary education. In addition to being a world-renowned expert in neurobiology, Shaun has held senior leadership roles at the University of Queensland and the University of Western Australia.

Upcoming events

La Trobe Asia is presenting two interesting events this month.

On 19 February, Ruth Gamble will chair a discussion about opportunities for Australia and the Republic of Korea to forge closer collaboration to help promote stability in our region. The event, which also serves as the launch of the latest edition of The La Trobe Asia Brief, features Jimin Kim, Charge d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Australia; Bec Strating from La Trobe’s new Centre for Global Security; Danielle Chubb from Deakin University; and SungYong Lee from Soka University. You can register here.

On 26 February, La Trobe Asia is hosting the launch of the latest issue of Australian Foreign Affairs at La Trobe’s city campus. Bec Strating will chair a discussion with Shiro Armstrong from Australian National University; Melissa Conley Tyler from the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue; and La Trobe’s Nick Bisley. They will consider the global trading system and issues facing Australia as trade becomes weaponised. You can register to attend in person or online.

La Trobe Art Institute (LAI) has released its 2026 exhibition program, which you can read about here. The year’s first exhibition, All That is Alive, opens on 25 February and is a touring exhibition co-commissioned with UTS Gallery & Art Collection. It brings together 11 Australian artists and collectives working with living systems, encompassing diverse art practices that reflect on life in its many forms. The exhibition includes the excellent work of La Trobe Visual Arts Lecturer Dr Kylie Banyard and her collaborator Saskia van Pagee Anderson, a La Trobe honours student. All That is Alive is showing at the LAI in View Street, Bendigo until 10 May.

Looking ahead, on 18 March Julie Andrews’ book Where’s All the Community: Aboriginal Melbourne Revisited will be launched at a public event at Readings bookshop in Carlton. Julie’s book is a vivid social history that provides insights into Aboriginal mobility, kinship, culture and identity in Melbourne. I’m delighted it is the first book being published this year by the La Trobe University Press.

In closing

Thanks again to those who have worked over summer to manage offers and admissions, as well as staff who are hard at work preparing for Orientation.

I encourage colleagues to consider volunteering for the Ask Me Desk at our Bundoora campus to help new students with enquiries and finding their way around campus.

I look forward to welcoming our newest students later this month.

Best wishes,
Theo