The University of Melbourne is set to lose its two most senior leaders next year. Provost  Margaret Sheil announced yesterday she will leave the university to become vice chancellor of QUT in February. Professor Sheil will depart ahead of VC Glyn Davis, who is scheduled to leave at the end of 2018. Professor Sheil joined UniMelb from the Australian Research Council, where she was chief executive and was provost at Melbourne for five years. She will replace 15 year QUT veteran Peter Coaldrake.

This is a big loss for the university, which faces the possibility of the federal government unrolling the publicly funded Melbourne model of undergraduate plus professional masters.  The university’s flexible academic programme plan is also in her portfolio.

A learned reader points out that next year Brisbane will become research policy central, with three former ARC chairs running universities. Peter Hoj and Aidan Byrne are respectively VC and provost at the University of Queensland with Professor Sheil on the way.