It gives me great pleasure to introduce this first issue of UNSW’s flagship publication for 2015 – and my first issue as President and Vice-Chancellor.

This year marks the magazine’s 40th anniversary, and you might notice it has undergone something of a facelift. The masthead has morphed into the UNSW magazine – with its former title, Uniken, now a subhead to identify the magazine more closely with our institution.

But it is still the same great publication. When I was first considering this new role, I set out to discover as much as I could about the work and the ethos of UNSW. Uniken provided an invaluable window into the institution: its people, its priorities and the breadth of its endeavours and achievements.

I know the magazine has evolved quite dramatically since its inception in March 1975 – from what was essentially a fortnightly staff bulletin, intended to be a “vital channel of communication within the University”, to the more polished outward facing quarterly it is today.

I understand ‘ken’ in ‘Uniken’ can be taken to represent either knowledge or the suburb of Kensington – a combination of the lofty and the prosaic that is quintessentially Australian! I’m pleased the name will be retained as a reminder of the magazine’s proud history.

The masthead may have changed, but the UNSW magazine will continue to focus on the very important work undertaken at this University. The stories in this issue include a report on a project to help women in Papua New Guinea deal with domestic violence in the workplace; another on empowering the elderly and their carers at the end of life; and a story on a mobile app that monitors its owner’s mental health. Plus a report on our national award-winning teaching staff.

I hope you enjoy the coverage in this issue – and I wish the magazine all the best on its 40th!

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Professor Ian Jacobs

President and Vice-Chancellor