Two research projects at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have been granted a total of $580 000 to investigate the benefits and harms of birds and insects to horticulture, and the role of virtues in social services.

A CSU social work researcher is hoping to shine a light on the secrecy, shame and stigma of drug-use and drug-related deaths in Australia.

The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Andrew Vann, says yesterday's cuts to the Australian higher education sector, announced by the federal government, will impact on the University and its capacity to contribute to the productivity of regional and rural Australia.

Leading experts on a range of global issues from East Timor to genetically modified food, bioethics, cloning, policing and media ethics will converge in Canberra tomorrow at the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics Sixth National Conference.

Charles Sturt University has a range of experts available for comment on the threat that avian influenza (strain H5N1) poses for Australia.

As more than 60 000 Year 12 students continue sitting their New South Wales Higher School Certificate exams this month, most of them would have accessed the NSW HSC Online resource.

Charles Sturt University was recognised for its contribution to criminal intelligence training in Australia at the annual Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers conference last night (Thursday 3 November) in Sydney.

With one in five Australians expected to experience some form of mental illness during their life, researchers at Charles Sturt University have examined one of society’s most vulnerable groups – the children of mental health patients - and how to prevent mental illness from being passed from their parents to them.

More than 100 students will begin their first day of study with Australia’s Charles Sturt University in Ontario today, Monday, 29 August 2005.