Join Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sydney, and get ready to view the world from a different perspective.
From our own wellbeing to the preservation of the planet, The Solutionists dives into the most pressing issues of our time and introduces you to the people unearthing the seeds of remarkable solutions.
23 September 2026
Society feels more divided than ever before, and the evidence says it’s only getting worse. But businesses have a huge opportunity to develop social cohesion – they're some of the only institutions people still trust, and workplaces are where you’re likely to see the most diversity. Professor Betina Szkudlarek explains how refugee employment is leading the way to a more cohesive society.
9 September 2026
Australia’s population is ageing and our aged care system is already under major stress – could technology be the solution? Sociologist of technology Barbara Barbosa Neves wants us to take a wider view. ‘Techno-solutionism’ is little more than marketing that turns our attention away from systemic problems.
26 August 2026
Cervical cancer is low on the list of most deadly cancers in Australia, yet it’s right up the top for many of our closest neighbours. Cancer epidemiologist Karen Canfell explains why Australia is projected to be the first country to eliminate cervical cancer, and outlines how what we’ve achieved here can improve public health systems worldwide.
12 August 2026
Our population is growing, which means more people need to eat – but at the same time, climate change is making farmland increasingly scarce and volatile. That’s why scientists like Richard Trethowan are trying to create entirely new types of wheat. The crop makes up a fifth of daily calories consumed worldwide, but growth is plateauing, so Richard and his colleagues are engineering more robust plants for the future.
29 July 2026
A billion people suffer with chronic pain, and Professor Greg Neely wants to help them – so he’s studying venomous snakes. After studying infectious diseases and seeing that pain is the body’s first response to danger, Greg’s been looking at some of the venomous creatures on the planet, trying to understand how their attacks interact with our bodies.