The ANU Undergraduate Research Journal presents outstanding essays taken from numerous ANU undergraduate essay submissions. The breadth and depth of the articles chosen for publication by the editorial team and reviewed by leading ANU academics demonstrates the quality and research potential of the undergraduate talent being nurtured at ANU across a diverse range of fields.

While ANU is widely appreciated for its scholarly production at the professional and post-graduate levels, less is known about the extent and the quality of research conducted by the almost 10 000 undergraduate students who represent more than half of the university's enrollments. As we believe that this substantial share of the ANU community deserves equal attention to their more senior colleagues, and that originality, commitment and entrepreneurship are qualities to be found across the whole academic body, we seek here to exhibit a snippet of this year's undergraduate production