The
Australian National University, commonly
abbreviated to ANU, is a public teaching and research university located in Canberra
, Australia, the federal capital city. The
University was established by an act of the
Parliament of Australia on 1 August
1946, with the legislated purpose of conducting and promoting
research in Australia.
The
University is consistently ranked
as the best
university in Australia by many worldwide university ranking
systems, including the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
and the annual Times Higher Education Supplement
rankings. Its notable
staff and
alumni include five
Nobel
laureates.
The University is governed by a 15-member council. ANU is a member
of several university alliances and cooperative networks, including
the
Group of
Eight , the
Association of Pacific
Rim Universities, the
Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the
International
Alliance of Research Universities.
History
ANU is the only Australian university to be established by an act
of the Federal Parliament.The Australian National University Act
1946-47 was introduced into parliament by the then Prime Minister,
Ben Chifley, and the Minister for
Post-war Reconstruction,
J.J. Dedman. The bill was passed on 1 August 1946
with support from the Opposition Leader
Robert Menzies. A group of eminent Australian
scholars were involved in the infancy of ANU, including a leader in
radar development and nuclear physics, Sir
Mark Oliphant; the discoverer of the benefits
of penicillin, Sir
Howard
Florey; the eminent historian, Sir
Keith Hancock; and the renowned economist and
public servant,
H. C. Coombs.
After its establishment, the University conducted research and
provided only postgraduate education.
The former Canberra
University College
was amalgamated into The Australian National
University in 1960, as the School of General Studies, to provide
for the education of undergraduate
students.
Academic structure
ANU comprises seven Colleges and the Institute of Advanced Studies.
The Colleges undertake both undergraduate teaching, postgraduate
studies and research. The Institute of Advanced Studies comprises
nine research schools which focus exclusively on research.
The Colleges
ANU School of Art
The University's seven Colleges combine research with research-led
teaching and are responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate
courses.
- ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
- The ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences aims to set
national and international standards in research, education and
community engagement across its three platforms: humanities,
creative arts and social sciences. The College plays a vital role
in enhancing the distinctive profile of ANU and in shaping its
future through a commitment to high achieving academic knowledge,
information public debate and instilling a life-long love of
learning in its students and graduates. Also part of this
College are the ANU School of Music
and ANU School of
Art.
- ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
- The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific houses a remarkable
assembly of scholars and resources devoted to the study of
Australia's neighbourhood from Afghanistan to the Pacific.
Dedicated to outstanding research and education, the College is a
centre for Australia's intellectual engagement and scholarly
dialogue with the societies, worlds of thought, economies and
cultures of Asia and the Pacific. The College comprises the
Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy; Crawford School of Economics and
Government; Faculty of Asian Studies and the Research School of
Pacific and Asian Studies.
- ANU College of Business and Economics
- The ANU College of Business and Economics seeks to advance
knowledge through high quality teaching and research in the closely
related fields of business and economics. It contributes to the
associated professions, industry and government by conducting world
class research and through the provision of a range of coursework
and research degree programs.
- ANU College of Engineering and Computer
Science [36565]
- The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science is commited
to world class excellence in teaching and research. The College
comprises the Department of Computer Science, the Department of
Information Engineering and the Department of Engineering. Some
staff and postgraduate students from the schools are also
affiliated with the Research School of Information Sciences and
Engineering which exists within the College as part of the
University's Institute of Advanced Studies.
- The ANU College of Law conducts important and socially useful
research; imparts the results of that research to some of the best
and brightest students in Australia; and engages with the community
in a wide range of outreach activities such as advising government,
sitting on tribunals, giving pro bono legal advice. Concern about
law reform and social justice is a strong component of the ethos of
the ANU College of Law.
ANU School of Medicine
- ANU College of Medicine, Biology and
Environment
- The ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment embraces
the Medical Research, Life Sciences, Psychology and Environmental
Science undertaken at ANU. The College provides a unique
environment to study, research and apply life sciences, and all
aspects of medicine from fundamental research to clinical practice
and population health.
- ANU College of Physical Sciences
- The ANU College of Physical Sciences' focus is on outstanding
science research and teaching. The College comprises Astronomy
& Astrophysics; Chemistry; Earth Sciences; Mathematical
Sciences; Physics; and Science Communication.
The Institute of Advanced Studies
The Institute is focused on post-graduate education and research
and comprises nine research schools and a research centre:
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
[36566]
- The
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) is based at
the Mount Stromlo
Observatory
. RSAA runs university's telescopes at the
Siding Spring
Observatory
, in NSW
. On
Thursday 20 April 2006 it was reported that the Research School of
Astronomy and Astrophysics would build the world's most powerful
telescope. This project is a collaboration between an
elite international group of research institutions which also
includes the University of Arizona
, Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory
and Harvard University
.
- Research School of Biological Sciences
[36567]
- Research is carried out in areas such as agriculture, environment, neuroscience, visual science, neuroethology, health
and technology.
- Research School of Chemistry [36568]
- Research School of Earth Sciences [36569]
- The Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) is one of the top
ten university geoscience programs in the
world.
- Research School of Information Sciences and
Engineering [36570]
- The Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering
(RSISE) exists within the College of Engineering and Computer
Science.
- Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
[36571]
- The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) is
Australia's leading centre for research and postgraduate training
on the Asia Pacific region. Priority research areas include
East Asia, Southeast Asia, South
Asia and the Southwest
Pacific.
- The Research
School of Physical Sciences and Engineering (RSPhysSE). The
school's primary research areas are: materials science and engineering; lasers, nonlinear
optics and photonics; nanotechnology and mesoscopic physics; physics of atoms, molecules and the nucleus; plasma
physics and surface science;
physics and the environment.
- Research School of Social Sciences [36573]
- The Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) concentrates on
theoretical and empirical research in the social sciences. The
following programs exist within the school: Demography & Sociology, Economics,
History, Law, Philosophy, Political Science and Social & Political Theory.
The John Curtin School of Medical
Research
- The John Curtin School of Medical Research
[36574]
- The
John Curtin School of Medical
Research
(JCSMR) was formed in 1948 as a result of the
vision of Nobel Laureate Howard Florey and Prime Minister John Curtin. Two Nobel Prizes (John
Carew Eccles in 1963 and Peter
C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel in 1996) have been won by
research performed at John Curtin.
- The Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies
(1973-2007) [36575]
- The Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES)
includes economists, hydrologists, historians, ecologists,
anthropologists and soil scientists. Research is undertaken into
many natural resource and environmental issues. It was combined
with the School of Resources, Environment and Society (SRES) to
form The Fenner School of Environment
and Society in 2007.
University Centres
The University Centres are organisational structures that can draw
from both the Faculties and the Institute.
Rankings
The Australian National University is consistently ranked as the
best in Australia.
The following publications ranked universities worldwide.
The corresponding rankings within Australia are:
The
Times Higher Education
Supplement consistently ranks the Australian National
University very highly. In 2007, its position 16th in the world and
the best in Australasia, one place higher than Stanford University
and one place under Cornell University on the overall
ranking..
The 2009 Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings place ANU as the
59th university in the world, and 3rd in the Asia Pacific
region.
Both ranking systems use research output as a key determinant of
quality. ANU ranks highest on research compared to other Australian
universities.
Campus
Mount Stromlo after the fires: remains
of the old administration building with the dome of the Farnham
telescope
The
university's main campus occupies most of the Canberra suburb of Acton
. The campus covers adjoining native bushland,
Black Mountain
, Lake Burley Griffin
, the suburb of Turner
and the city
centre
. Eight of the university's nine affiliated
halls and colleges are located on campus, while Fenner Hall is
located on Northbourne Avenue in the nearby suburb of Braddon
. The halls and colleges are:
With over 10,000 trees on its campus, the ANU was awarded the
Silver Greenhouse Challenge Award at the annual Australian
Engineering Excellence Awards in 2003.
The
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) is located
away from the main campus in Acton, at the Mount Stromlo
Observatory, near Weston Creek in
south Canberra. RSAA also runs the Siding Spring
Observatory near Coonabarabran
, New South
Wales. Since the destruction of Mount Stromlo's
telescopes in the
Canberra
bushfires of 2003, this is university's only telescope site.
The
university also runs a coastal campus at Kioloa
on the South Coast of New South
Wales dedicated to field work training, and a North
Australia Research Unit in Darwin
in the Northern Territory
.
Students on all campuses are represented by the ANU Students'
Association. Representation for postgraduate students is provided
by the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association (PARSA), a
member of the
Council of
Australian Postgraduate Associations. The
Australian National
University Union provides representation to all students in the
provision of catering and retail services as well as functions
amenities.
Precincts
The ANU campus is divided into eight precincts, with three on the
west side of Sullivans creek, and five on the east side.
- The west side precincts are:
- Dickson Precinct - located in the west, it
includes five of the residential colleges - John XXIII, Burgmann,
Ursula, Burton & Garran and Bruce.
- Linnaeus Precinct - located in the centre
west, includes the Hancock library
- Daley Precinct - located in the north west,
includes the gym and Willows Oval
Sir Roland Wilson Building at
ANU.
- Located on the east side of Sullivans creek are:
- Kingsley Precinct - located in the north,
includes Union court, the Chifley library, Toad Hall, Drill hall
gallery and AD Hope building
- Baldessin Precinct - located in the north
east, includes the Faculty of Asian Studies, Crawford School of
Economics and Government [36587], and the School of Art and the School
of Music.
- Ellery Precinct - located in the centre,
includes the Law building and HC Coombs building.
- Liversidge Precinct - located in the south
east towards Acton Peninsula, includes University House, Lennox
House and Sir Roland Wilson Building
- Garran Precinct - located in the south,
includes everything south of South oval including the John Curtin
School of Medical Research.
- Map of
campus - clickable with key to ANU buildings
Notable graduates
Academic leaders have included Professors: Manning Clark
(historian); Bart Bok (astronomer) and Hanna Neumann
(mathematician). Notable alumni include current
Prime Minister of Australia,
Kevin Rudd.
See also
References
- httt
ip://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pasteact/0/346/pdf/ANU1991.pdf
- Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong
University.
- The Times Higher Education Supplement
- ""ANU part of elite group to build world's biggest
telescope"" The Canberra Times
- http://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/links/archival/index.php
- http://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/links/archival/index.php
-
http://www.globaluniversitiesranking.org/images/banners/top-100(eng).pdf
-
http://www.globaluniversitiesranking.org/images/banners/top-100(eng).pdf
- - QS World University Rankings 2007 - Top 400
Universities
External links
[36576],
[36577],
[36579],
[36580],
[36581],
[36584],
[36585],
[36586]
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