MUSSE

Eminent Melbourne QC and University of Melbourne alumnus Allan Myers has presented the University with a generous gift, part of which will go directly towards furthering research links between the Oxford University Faculty of Law and the Melbourne Law School.

This aspect of the gift will see £14 000 ( around AUD $25 000) used to facilitate a collaborative research project between an Oxford and Melbourne Law School research team and will be known as the “Oxford-MLS Research Partnerships”.

Dean of Law, Professor James Hathaway says the Law School is looking forward to taking applications from any and every field of Law research, “perhaps around something so new and cutting edge that it’s not appropriate for the normal grants system”.

“In many ways we want to leave that open to the imagination of colleagues at Oxford and Melbourne,” he says.

The grant is to encourage University staff to seek out other researchers, and to build what might be the beginnings of long-term research relationships.

The Australian legal system evolved from and has a lot in common with the British system, Professor Hathaway explains. Australian cases are cited in British courts and vice versa – but there are “some very interesting differences to be explored, and where there are differences, they’re often differences that we can learn from”.

The two universities have long enjoyed a strong relationship facilitated by Mr Myers’s generosity, including the exchange of research staff, the purchase of Australian legal books for the Oxford library, and the strong support of Melbourne students undertaking graduate study at Oxford.

The strength of the relationship is not just by virtue of funds, however. “There is a good understanding at both institutions of the quality of the people and the high quality of the research undertaken by both law schools,” says Professor Hathaway.

The Law School is keen to have the first research project supported by this new grant ready to go next year, to act as a pilot project and encourage others to consider projects.

“We want the students and staff to see themselves as part of an international intellectual and professional community, and to give both our students and our staff as many opportunities to form good relationships and travel to other top universities, ” Professor Hathaway says.