Julie Bishop has vowed to stay on as chancellor of the Australian National University after the vice-chancellor tendered her resignation, ending a tumultuous two years at the institution marked by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture.

Bishop confirmed on Thursday morning that Prof Genevieve Bell had resigned from ANU, with provost Rebekah Brown to be interim vice-chancellor until a replacement is found.

Bell said she would return to ANU’s School of Cybernetics as a distinguished professor after taking a period of study leave, adding it was “not an easy decision” to make and being the university’s 13th vice-chancellor had been an “extraordinary privilege and also a heavy responsibility”.

“I believe firmly in our delivering on our national mission

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