What happened during the first microseconds of the universe? Why is the cosmos filled with galaxies, stars and planets? How did that lead to life on earth? How do we know what happened and when? Why is all life built from cells using information in DNA? Why does it matter? How does this tie into cutting-edge research at La Trobe and internationally? The big ideas of science are a set of cross-cutting concepts that are fundamental to our understanding of the world around us - and how science works. In this subject, you will be introduced to these concepts, which link seemingly different phenomena via fundamental principles and laws of nature and form the basis of the major scientific disciplines. Using cutting-edge research as examples, you will see how scientific evidence is produced, and how that can lead to controversy, conflict - and scientific progress.