The Opportunity
Are you ready to steer one of Australia’s most dynamic biomedical environments and redefine the future of human health?
Reporting to the Head, School of Biomedical Sciences and Director, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, the focus of this role will be to provide visionary academic leadership as the Professor and Head of Department for Physiology. Located within the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, you will drive excellence in research, education, professional activities, and policy development while overseeing the strategic, financial, and operational management of the department.
This is a premier platform for profound global impact. Leading a department with an operational oversight budget in the order of $40M, you will champion world-class discovery research, spearhead commercialisation, and drive clinical translation. The Faculty consistently ranks in the top 40 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical, and health sciences, and your department will play a critical role in providing the research underpinning the groundbreaking new heart hospital to be built right here on our Clayton campus. If you are an internationally recognised authority with the strategic vision to mentor the next generation of pioneers and influence global health policy, this role provides the perfect platform to make a lasting impact.
As the successful candidate, you will be responsible for:
- Strategic & Staff Leadership: Providing high-level strategic leadership, fostering team building, managing equitable staff workloads, and driving recruitment and performance development.
- Financial Oversight: Managing a laboratory budget ($500K-$1.5M) alongside broader oversight of a Department budget in the order of $40M.
- Research Excellence: Maintaining an active, high-impact publication record in a specialist physiology area, procuring competitive research grants, and driving clinical translation and commercialisation.
- Educational Innovation: Leading curriculum planning, course design, and teaching quality monitoring to ensure an exceptional student experience, while expanding the Higher Degree by Research (HDR) program.
- Partnerships & Collaboration: Cultivating interdisciplinary research links and broadening collaborative partnerships with clinical precincts, industry, government, and international agencies.
To be successful in this role, you will bring:
- A doctoral qualification (or equivalent accreditation and standing) and recognition as a leading authority in the discipline of physiology.
- Evidence of outstanding scholarly activity of an international standard, including significant publications in high-impact journals and a proven history of attracting national competitive grants.
- Substantial experience in discovery research, translation into clinical settings, and commercialization.
- Demonstrated experience in academic management, including the strategic planning, financial, human resource, and decision-making skills required to lead a major university department.
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to mentor early-career researchers and effectively advocate for the department on institutional boards.
About Monash University
At Monash, work feels different. There’s a sense of belonging, from contributing to something ground breaking – a place where great things happen.
We value difference and diversity, and welcome and celebrate everyone's contributions, lived experience and expertise. That’s why we champion an inclusive and respectful workplace culture where everyone is supported to succeed.
Some 20,000 staff work for Monash around the world. We have 95,000 students, four Australian campuses, and campuses in Malaysia and Indonesia. We also have a major presence in India and China, and a significant centre and research foundation in Italy.
In our short history, we have skyrocketed through global university rankings and established ourselves consistently among the world's best tertiary institutions. We rank in the world’s top-50 universities in rankings including the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Together with our commitment to academic freedom, you will have access to quality research facilities, infrastructure, world-class teaching spaces, and international collaboration opportunities.
Learn more about Monash.
Today, we have the momentum to create the future we need for generations to come. Accelerate your change here.
Monash supports flexible and hybrid working arrangements. We have a range of policies in place enabling staff to combine work and personal commitments. This includes supporting parents.
To Apply
For instructions on how to apply, please refer to 'How to apply for Monash Jobs'. Your application must address the Key Selection Criteria.
Diversity is one of our greatest strengths at Monash. We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, and people of all genders, sexualities, and age groups.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible recruitment process at Monash. If you need any reasonable adjustments, please contact us at [email protected] in an email titled 'Reasonable Adjustments Request' for a confidential discussion.
Your employment is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of all pre-employment and/or background checks required for the role, as determined by the University.
Enquiries: Professor Dena Lyras, Interim Dean, Sub-Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Director, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI), [email protected]
Position Description: Professor and Head of Department - Physiology
Applications Close: Sunday 6 September 2026, 11:55pm AEST
Supporting a diverse workforce
