University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide (or Adelaide University) is located in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded in 1874, making it the third oldest university in Australia. It is a member of the "Group of Eight", an association of research intensive Australian universities. The main campus of the University is at North Terrace in the central business district of Adelaide, but it has three other campuses; Roseworthy, Waite and Thebarton.

As at 2004, the University of Adelaide teaches 18,690 students (comprising 13,769 undergraduates and 4,921 postgraduates) including 3,784 international students from 70 countries. It has 1,063 academic staff [1].

Academia

The University is divided into five faculties, the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of the Professions and the Faculty of Sciences.

While marketable disciplines such as wine science, information studies and business studies have been given wide prominence recently, the university still has a reputation for quality basic research and teaching in mathematics, engineering and biotechnology. Some examples of influnces to the University's teaching and research priorities are the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Adelaide's northern suburbs to which the University provides many physics, engineering and IT graduates, the growth in South Australia's wine industry which is supported by the Waite and National Wine Centre campuses producing oenology and agriculture/viticulture graduates.

The university participates in the Auto-ID Labs.

Alumni

Alumni include Dr Andy Thomas, the first Australian in space, Antarctic explorer and geologist Sir Douglas Mawson, nuclear physicist Sir Mark Oliphant and former president of Singapore Mr Ong Teng Cheong.

The university has produced three Nobel Prize-winners: x-ray pioneers Sir Lawrence and Sir William Bragg and penicillin pioneer Lord Florey in addition to 98 Rhodes Scholars.

Recent academic celebrities have included Paul Davies, a professor of Natural Philosophy.

Campuses

North Terrace

The North Terrace campus is the main campus of the University. It teaches components of all teaching programmes taught by the University.

Waite

The Waite campus has a strong focus on agricultural science, plant breeding and biotechnology. A number of other organisations are based on the site, including the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The School of Agriculture and Wine is based on the Waite campus and the campus contains components of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

It is situated in Adelaide's south-eastern foothills, in the suburb of Glen Osmond on 1.74 square kilometres of land. A large amount of the land was donated in 1924 by the pastoralist Peter Waite . This donation was initally used to establish the Waite Agricultural Research Institute which later became the Waite campus.

Roseworthy

Located north of the city, the Roseworthy campus comprises 16 km² of farmland and is a large centre for agricultural research. Other organistations linked to the campus include SARDI and the Murray TAFE.

Thebarton

The Thebarton campus, which is also known as Adelaide University Research Park, is the base of the University's Office of Industry Liaison. The campus works in conjunction with the University's commerical partners. Commercial enterprises at Thebarton campus include businesses involved in materials engineering, biotechnology, environmental services, information technology, industrial design, laser/optics technology, health products, engineering services, radar systems, telecommunications and petroleum services. The campus also provides much of the infrastructure for the Graduate Entrepreneurial Program which allows recent graduates to start businesses with support from the University.

External link

• Official website