Now in the fifth and final year of our shared mission to boldly go where no other Australian universities have gone before, we are propelling at warp speed towards the opening of the newest Group of Eight university in January. So this is the final entry in our “captains’ log”, as the future of our endeavour – and the stewardship of her history – passes into the care of another highly capable crew.

As we look back at the voyage, there is plenty to be proud of. We made a deliberate and informed decision, based on solid modelling of future demand, to do something that would endure for generations. We took the legislation enabling the merger of The University of Adelaide and University of South Australia – the ) – as our foundation and embraced the opportunity to energise our legacy institutions’ formative missions of excellence, equity and enterprise.

We admit that we’ve never had much time for the few who have cried “takeover” or “loss” – and the numbers have underlined that aural volume does not always reflect human volume: our institutions’ staff retention during the merger process has been the highest we have witnessed in our combined 30 years at the helm.

As scientists, we see our founding universities as catalysts in the creation of Adelaide University – speeding up a reaction without being consumed in the process. Through our collective ambition and human endeavour, our goal is simply to travel further and faster (real Star Trek afficionados might want to insert a reference to here).

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Our feeling is that we will be able to realise that aspiration despite growing funding pressures, institutional competition, operating costs and geopolitical uncertainties – and that is because we are backed with the resources to simply do more. While other universities are scaling back, Adelaide University can look to scale up and make greater investments in its academic offerings and outreach.

Going back to fundamental scientific principles, it is only through an endless thirst for discovery and a sense of unbiased wonder at the unknown that we can make genuine advances. Merging two enormous universities, with a combined community of nearly 500,000 staff, students and alumni, was never going to be easy. It has been hideously complicated – including securing legislative instruments and agreements that are not designed for non-adversarial change of this magnitude. And transformation necessarily entails breaking stuff – even stuff once considered off limits. Such choices inevitably lead to doubts and disagreements.

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But success comes by respecting the waypoints that are mission-grounded, fiercely protecting what is critical to purpose regardless of institutional origin. The prize is an expansive, student-centric university with the most contemporary curriculum in the country and enhanced partnered research.

The price, in our case, is an ending: we both felt that the sense of takeover could only truly be avoided if neither leader of the legacy institutions led Adelaide University.

Some might ask whether it has all been worth it. Our resounding response is yes. Because after some challenging days come the halcyon days and the realisation that we are changing the course of education and research innovation for the better in our geography.

We have co-created a strategic direction and global brand with our staff and extended community. We have redesigned programmes and courses with industry, facilitating more work-integrated learning and solid digital underpinnings. We have redefined student entry, challenging elitism and exclusion without compromising our standards. And we have reimagined a sleeker and more integrated research system with an ecosystem that will accelerate translation into commercial outcomes.

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In addition, we have taken the important step of becoming the first Australian university to enshrine an Aboriginal institutional name, Tirkangkaku, in our founding legislation. This is a gift of the Kaurna People, who represent more than 65,000 years of continued culture, knowledge and innovation on the land we now know as Adelaide. That gift honours the transformative potential of education for all.

So as we two face our final frontier, as last remaining employees of our legacy institutions, we are feeling the satisfaction of mission accomplished. We will watch fondly as Adelaide University/Tirkangkaku takes off in the new year. We will hand it over and wish it Godspeed. May it live long and prosper.

is vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia and is vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide. They are the founding co-vice-chancellors of the new Adelaide University.