University of Adelaide



The University of Adelaide (colloquially Adelaide University or Adelaide Uni) is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia. It is associated with five Nobel laureates, 104 Rhodes scholars and is a member of the Group of Eight, as well as the sandstone universities.

Its main campus is located on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace in the Adelaide city centre, adjacent to the Art Gallery of South Australia, the South Australian Museum and the State Library of South Australia. The university has four campuses throughout the state: North Terrace; Roseworthy College at Roseworthy; The Waite Institute at Urrbrae; Thebarton; and the National Wine Centre in the Adelaide Park Lands, and an Education Centre in Singapore.

History
The University of Adelaide was established on 6 November 1874 after a £20,000 donation by grazier and copper miner Walter Watson Hughes, along with support and donations from Thomas Elder.

The first Chancellor was Sir Richard Hanson and the first Vice-Chancellor was Dr Augustus Short. The first degree offered was the Bachelor of Arts and the University started teaching in March 1876. In 1881, the University of Adelaide was the first Australian university to admit women to science courses and its first female graduate was Edith Emily Dornwell (BSc., 1885). The University also graduated the first female surgeon, Laura Fowler (MB, 1891), and the first woman elected to a University Council in Australia, Helen Mayo (MBBS, 1902).

The great hall of the University, Bonython Hall, was built in 1936 following a donation from the owner of The Advertiser newspaper, Sir John Langdon Bonython who left £40,000 for a Great Hall for the University.

The University of Adelaide graduates include prominent individuals who have made significant contributions to their fields nationally and internationally, and include Howard Florey, Lawrence Bragg, Marcus Oliphant and Hugh Cairns.

North Terrace


The main campus of the University forms the centre of Adelaide's main cultural precinct, North Terrace. It is bordered by the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library of South Australia, the South Australian Museum and the "City East" campus of the University of South Australia, with the Adelaide University Medical and Dental Schools located across Frome Road, behind the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The vast majority of students and staff of the University are based at the North Terrace campus, where the majority of courses are taught and schools are based. The central administration of the University and the main library, the Barr Smith Library, are both located on this campus. While many other universities have law and business schools or satellite campuses within the central business district, the University of Adelaide is unique among Australian sandstone universities for having its main presence adjacent to the main business and shopping precinct.

Bonython Hall, (the great hall of the University), the Mitchell Building, the Elder Hall, the Napier building and the Ligertwood building, form the North Terrace street frontage of the campus. Bonython Hall is one of the many historic and heritage listed buildings located at the North Terrace campus. Others include Elder Hall, the Mitchell Building and the reading room of the Barr Smith Library.

The North Terrace campus also regularly hosts live music and cultural events, particularly on the Barr Smith Lawns and in the UniBar.

National Wine Centre
Located in the Adelaide Park Lands at the eastern end of North Terrace, the Wine Centre offers some of the university's oenology courses.

Waite
The Waite campus has a strong focus on agricultural science, plant breeding and biotechnology. A number of other organisations are colocated in the Waite Research Precinct, including the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG). The School of Agriculture, Food and Wine is based on the Waite campus and the campus contains components of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. It is adjacent to the Urrbrae Agricultural High School.

It is situated in Adelaide's south-eastern foothills, in the suburb of Urrbrae on 174 hectares (434 acres) of land. A large amount of the land was donated in 1924 by the pastoralist Peter Waite. A large amount of money was donated by Rosina and John, the widow and son of William Tennant Mortlock. These donations were initially used to establish the Waite Agricultural Research Institute which later became the Waite campus.

A Soil Research Centre was founded in 1929 with a donation of £10,000 from Harold Darling of J. Darling and Son, grain merchants.

Roseworthy
Located north of the city, the Roseworthy campus comprises 16 km² of farmland and is a large centre for agricultural research. Other organisations 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 commercial 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. The flames for the recent Sydney and Athens Olympic Games were developed at the Thebarton campus by the TEC group.

Singapore
The Singapore presence, located at the Ngee Ann - Adelaide Education Centre (NAAEC), is the University of Adelaide's first overseas centre. It is a joint venture with the Ngee Ann Kongsi.

The vision of the partners is to provide a high quality educational facility in Singapore combining under-graduate and post-graduate academic programs with applied executive and professional development courses taught by experienced consultants and professionals. Courses are taught at the completely renovated Teochew Building on Tank Road in the city centre. Dedicated facilities for students include multi-media equipped lecture rooms, a student computer network with Internet access, computer equipped syndicate rooms, a computer laboratory, a student lounge and private study rooms.

The Ngee Ann - Adelaide Education Centre also serves as a platform for potential research collaboration in strategically important areas for both Australia and Singapore. Public lectures in the form of "3rd Tuesday: Where Great Minds Come Together", are presented by University of Adelaide professors on a regular basis. "3rd Tuesday" provides excellent opportunities for Alumni to network with subject experts and industry leaders, and to catch up with old friends.

Residential colleges
The University of Adelaide, unlike most universities, did not set any land aside on its North Terrace campus for student accommodation, due mainly to an ideological opposition to the culture of live-in students, but also influenced by the small size of the original campus. However, demand for residential college accommodation led to the establishment of private colleges affiliated to the University. St. Mark's College was founded by the Anglican Church (then called the Church of England) in 1925, Aquinas College in 1950 by the Catholic Church, Lincoln College in 1952 by the Methodist Church, and later St Ann's College, and Kathleen Lumley College. All are located within close walking distance of the University, across the River Torrens in North Adelaide. In addition to providing accommodation and meals for local, interstate and international students, each college organises academic support, social activities and sporting opportunities for its members.

Academia
The University is divided into five faculties, with various subsidiary schools:


 * Faculty of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences: Australian School of Petroleum (ASP); School of Chemical Engineering; School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Engineering; School of Computer Science; Education Centre for Innovation & Commercialisation; School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering; School of Mathematical Sciences; School of Mechanical Engineering.
 * Faculty of Health Sciences: University of Adelaide School of Dentistry ; School of Medical Sciences; Medical School; School of Paediatrics & Reproductive Health; School of Population Health & Clinical Practice; School of Psychology.
 * Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences: Elder Conservatorium of Music; School of History & Politics; School of Humanities; School of Social Sciences; Wilto Yerlo Centre for Australian Indigenous Research & Studies.
 * Faculty of the Professions: School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Urban Design; Business School; School of Economics; School of Education; Law School.
 * Faculty of Sciences: School of Agriculture, Food & Wine; School of Chemistry & Physics; School of Earth & Environmental Sciences; School of Molecular & Biomedical Science; School of Veterinary Science.

Through forward thinking strategies, the University of Adelaide has capitalised on a number of opportunities to commercialise its research. It engages in extensive contract research and collaborative work in conjunction with local and international companies, as well as Federal, State and Local Governments. This activity is managed by the University's commercial development company, Adelaide Research & Innovation Pty Ltd (ARI).

Some examples of recent influences 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.

In addition, the university participates in the Auto-ID Labs.

The university holds the Edward Said Memorial Lecture every October "to honour the memory of a path-breaking scholar, courageous advocate, passionate critic and an unfailing humanist, the late Edward Said".

Research
The University of Adelaide is one of the most research-intensive universities in Australia. The University has an outstanding track record spanning basic research to commercial outcomes and continue to produce real results at home and overseas. In the highly competitive funding environment, researchers continue to attract strong support across a broad range of fascinating and compelling fields including agriculture, health sciences and engineering.

Research strengths include; Agriculture, Environment, Mineral & Energy Resources, Social Innovation, Health & Biomedical Science and Sensing & Computation. As a leading research University, they are committed to providing unique opportunities for graduates and researchers, who are recognised as worldwide leaders for their vision and capacity to address global research challenges.

Rankings
The QS World University Rankings for 2011 ranked the University of Adelaide 92nd in the world's top 300 universities.

Associations
As of 1 July 2006, membership of the Adelaide University Union (AUU) has been voluntary for all students, following the passing of voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation by the Federal Government. The AUU funds five affiliates which carry out their functions autonomously. They are the Adelaide University Postgraduate Students’ Association (AUPGSA), the Clubs Association (CA), the Roseworthy Agricultural Campus Student Union Council (RACSUC), the Student Representative Council (preceded by the now defunct Students' Association of the University of Adelaide) and the Waite Institute Students' Association (WISA).

Media
The University of Adelaide has three print news publications; these are:
 * On Dit, the student magazine,
 * Adelaidean, the University's newspaper,
 * Lumen, the alumni magazine.

The University of Adelaide Press publishes staff scholarship and works of interest about the history and activities of the University.

The University of Adelaide founded Australia's first community radio station, Radio Adelaide, in 1972.

Sports
Most University sport is organised by the Adelaide University Sports Association (AUSA). The Sports Association was founded in 1896 by the Adelaide University Boat, Tennis and Lacrosse Clubs. The Association disaffiliated from the Adelaide University Union (AUU) on 1 January 2010 and is currently directly affiliated to the University of Adelaide. The AUSA supports 37 sporting clubs which provide a diverse range of sporting opportunities to students of the University of Adelaide (AU). The AUSA is a major stakeholder in the AU North Terrace Campus based Sports Hub fitness centre and the North Adelaide based university playing fields.

Student enrollment
The University currently enrolls in excess of 25,000 students, including 5,758 international students (2009) from more than 99 countries. Adelaide University has approximately 130,000 Alumni worldwide, along with 400 student exchange agreements.

Singapore Adelaide Alumni Fund
At the University of Adelaide and Ngee Ann Kongsi's 10th Anniversary dinner on 18 April 2008 in Singapore, Dr Tony Tan, Chairman of Singapore's National Research Foundation, launched the Singapore Adelaide Alumni Fund, which will provide ﬁnancial assistance to undergraduate students who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and are studying full time at the University of Adelaide. The Ngee Ann Kongsi has generously agreed to match every dollar contributed up to SGD$250,000.

Smoke-Free University Initiative
On 2 July 2010, the University officially implemented its "Smoke-Free Policy." This move was the culmination of an anti-smoking agenda headed by Professor Konrad Jamrozik and subsequently, following Jamrozik's death, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Justin Beilby. It is the first higher education institution in South Australia to institute a smoke-free policy. As of July 2010, the North Terrace campus is smoke-free, and by 2011, the Waite and Roseworthy campuses, and the University's residential facilities have also been made smoke-free.