One Big Idea
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT - Join the waitlist here.
One Big Idea showcases UNSW academics, researchers and PhD students as they share how they could change the world as we know it.
For one night only this 14 October, One Big Idea program luminaries will have no more than ten minutes to share how one concept in their field of expertise could revolutionise life on earth.
Come along and hear these insightful academics as they bring their ideas to life. From the impact of nanotechnology on cancer treatments to supporting ocean environments with urban engineering to the power of radical acts of kindness, this evening promises hope in an everchanging world.
Professor Maria Kavallaris AM | Tailor-Made Childhood Cancer Treatments
More than 400,000 children and adolescents will be diagnosed with cancer worldwide this year. But the tiniest tools – nanoparticles – could beat childhood cancer.
Dr Charu Maithani | Rewiring AI
Millions of AI images are generated every week but they only represent a narrow view of real life. Changing the approach to machine learning could have far reaching effects on visual vocabulary.
Dr Alison Goldingay | The Power of Light
Light has unlocked many technological advancements over the course of human history. Find out why quantum technologies are next in line.
Ann Flemming Nielsen | Grand Designs for our Oceans' Habitats
Feats of urban engineering could help bring back our coastal marine habitats by mimicking their functions in restoration designs.
Dr Regina Jefferies | Reframing Rescue with Communities at the Heart
What would it take to rescue people from disasters without removing them from their homes? Community partnerships and a new mindset could hold the answer.
Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta | Unpicking the Lock to the Blood-Brain Barrier
Most medicine never reaches the brain due to the blood-brain barrier. But, with the right key, we could unlock the solution to treating brain cancer.
Dr Gabi Nudelman | Kind by Design
Kindness costs nothing but could revolutionise our universities. This quiet disruptor has already begun to have long lasting impacts within and beyond the classroom.
LIVE EVENT & VENUE INFORMATION
The Library Auditorium is located inside the State Library of New South Wales at 1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney NSW. Please note this is a live event only, and will not be available via livestream.
TICKETS
STATE LIBRARY ENTRANCE
The Macquarie Street building is temporarily closed for a major refurbishment until late 2025. Please enter the Library via the Mitchell building on Shakespeare Place.
ACCESS
Wheelchair Access
The Mitchell Building has an accessible lift entrance on Shakespeare Place. Please note that the State Library does not have an accessible drop-off zone. Information on nearby accessible parking options can be found here.
Assisted Listening
The Library Auditorium has a permanent hearing loop available.
Auslan & Captioning
Auslan interpreting services and/or live captioning can be provided for selected talks upon request.
Accessibility at the State Library of New South Wales
For further information on accessibility at the State Library of New South Wales, please click here.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT & PARKING
The State Library of New South Wales is easily accessible via public transport. The closest metro and rail stop is Martin Place (250 metres from the Library) with a number of buses stopping nearby. For more information please call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 or visit transportnsw.info.
The nearest paid parking station is Parkhouse Car Park (187 Macquarie Street), with metered parking available on Hospital Road.
For further information on getting to the State Library, please click here.
CONTACT
For all event related enquiries, please email centreforideas@unsw.edu.au or call the Centre for Ideas on 02 9065 0485.
The Centre for Ideas is happy to receive phone calls via the National Relay Service. TTY users, phone 133 677, then ask for 02 9065 0485. Speak and Listen users, phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 02 9065 0485. For more information on all other relay calls visit here.
For all venue related enquiries, please call the State Library of New South Wales on 02 9273 1414.
Professor Maria Kavallaris AM
Professor Maria Kavallaris AM is the Founding Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW, and Head of Translational Cancer Nanomedicine at the Children’s Cancer Institute. Her award-winning research has identified clinically important mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapies and shown effective nanoparticle-based delivery of gene silencing material and chemotherapy, can reduce tumour growth in aggressive cancers.
Dr Charu Maithani
Dr Charu Maithani is a researcher who organises her inquiries in the form of writing and curated projects. Her research articulates conditions of mediality, aesthetic and political relations of/by media objects, and material-discursive practices by thinking and working across media studies, media ecologies, digital art and cinema. She is interested in exploring the perceptual and epistemological changes in contemporary media culture facilitated by AI and the relationship between data practices and dominant ideological arrangement of vision. She is a Lecturer in the School of Arts & Media, UNSW Sydney.
Dr Alison Goldingay
Dr Alison Goldingay is an award-winning Postdoctoral Fellow at UNSW in the School of Physics where she works to design, make and measure qubits, which are the hardware components of the quantum computers of the future. Prior to her current role at UNSW, Alison earned a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Sydney for her work on carbon-based solar panels. Alongside her work, Alison loves to engage with the public through science communication to share her passion for science.
Ann Flemming Nielsen
Ann Flemming Nielsen is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, at the School of BEES, in the Faculty of Science at UNSW. She has a background in environmental engineering and has worked on reef restoration around the world. Combining these two, her research aims to improve restoration of marine habitat forming species in areas of severe decline, by designing and testing innovative solutions that augment how natural habitats act as ecosystem engineers.
Dr Regina Jefferies
Dr Regina Jefferies is a lawyer and Laureate Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, ARC Laureate Evacuations Research Hub at UNSW. Dr Jefferies specialises in international human rights law and international refugee law, with a focus on transnational legal theory, human mobility, and the application of international legal norms in transboundary and multi-jurisdictional settings.
Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta
Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta is a Research Officer at the Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI) and Conjoint Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney. She completed her PhD in 2024 at CCI, focusing on unravelling the composition of the surface proteome in adult and paediatric aggressive brain tumours to identify novel therapeutic targets. Currently, her research efforts are focused in developing advanced in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier for high-throughput drug screening to improve the delivery of therapeutics to the brain.
Dr Gabi Nudelman
Dr Gabi Nudelman is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management and Governance in UNSW’s Business School. She holds a PhD in Higher Education Studies from Rhodes University, South Africa. Her research focuses on the development of students' employability skills in higher education, with a growing interest in kindness as a critical, values-based practice. Gabi integrates systems thinking, ethics, and structural change in her work, and teaches into large, diverse postgraduate classes.
