The new special research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics will be based in Canberra, administered by CSU, and run in partnership with the University of Melbourne - combining the expertise of its Centre for Philosophy and Public Issues with that of Charles Sturt's Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics. Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Kath Bowmer said the funding announcement was particularly pleasing because of the prestige associated with such national successes. Dean Professor Ross Chambers welcomed the announcement as providing a wonderful opportunity for CSU to build on one of its major strengths. He said the University had one of the largest cohorts of ethics staff in the country, working on a broad range of issues from the media, policing, corruption, social and political issues, to environmental and computer ethics. It is increasingly clear that trained philosophers have a major role to play in the clarification and resolution of these matters.
Ethics is an essential part of any research and is applied to critical issues in our everyday lives.
The centre will combine the complementary strengths of two existing centres at Charles Sturt and Melbourne Universities, specialising in the burgeoning field of applied philosophy. It builds upon existing collaborative links between these philosophy and ethics centres, and utilises their extensive local and overseas connections for new initiatives bearing on vital public issues. Director of this new Special Research Centre will be Professor Seumas Miller, the current director of the CSU Centre of Professional and Applied Ethics, and deputy director is Professor Tony Coady, the current director of Melbourne University's Centre for Philosophy and Public Issues. Two ARC Large Grants have been awarded to CSU, where Charles Sturt academics are tasked as chief investigators in road rage and floodplain restoration projects.