NSHSS partner, University of Queensland joins the world’s elite to enhance global access to its teaching and research expertise.

Have you ever wanted to dive into tropical reef research with a world-renowned marine scientist? Or does travelling faster than the speed of sound interest you more?

In May 2014, The University of Queensland (UQ) will satisfy your curiosity about all this and more as they bring some of their most fascinating research and researchers to the world through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Offered through edX, the world’s leading MOOCs consortium, UQ will offer four internet-based courses.

 “Online courses enable us to cater not only to the needs and aspirations of enrolled students, but to extend our outreach to people all over the world,” said UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Høj. He explained, “A plethora of fine institutions have expressed an interest in joining edX, so it is a testament to UQ's quality teaching and research that we have been invited to join such a select group of elite global partners such as MIT, Harvard and UC Berkeley.”

UQ is one of only two Australian universities in the not-for-profit edX enterprise, which was founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  MIT Professor and edX President, Professor Anant Agarwal, has shared that online opportunities are transforming higher education by enabling interactive learning and providing researchers a lens into student-learning interactions.

"UQ’s world-class faculty and rich variety of courses will appeal to our growing, diverse community of students and we look forward to working alongside UQ as we improve learning online and on campus through research on the edX platform," Professor Agarwal said.

Head of UQ's Global Change Institute, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg will be delivering UQ’s course on tropical coastal ecosystems, and is excited about the potential for online learning. “Universities are here to innovate, generate and disseminate knowledge and understanding. MOOCs represent a tremendous mechanism in this regard,” said Professor Hoegh-Guldberg.

UQ is presenting a course on tropical coastal ecosystems. Given that these remarkable ecosystems are vital to the livelihoods of over 500 million people, their MOOC on the biology and management of mangroves, coral reefs and sea grasses should attract considerable interest.

The four UQ courses - known as UQx courses - commencing in May 2014 include:

• Hypersonic, from shock waves to scramjets with Professor David Mee
• Tropical coastal ecosystems with Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
• Biomedical imaging with Professor Graham Galloway
• The science of everyday thinking with Dr. Jason Tangen

To learn more about UQx courses go to: http://uqx.uq.edu.au and to sign up for UQx courses, join edX at: https://www.edx.org.