University of Queensland

The University of Queensland (UQ) is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Established in 1909 by an act of the Queensland Parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities; an informal designation for the oldest university in each state. UQ is also a founding member of edX, the Group of Eight and the international research-intensive Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

The main St Lucia campus occupies much of the riverside inner suburb of St Lucia, southwest of the Brisbane central business district. Other UQ campuses and facilities are located throughout Queensland, the largest of which are the Gatton campus and the Herston campus, notably including the Mayne Medical School. UQ's overseas establishments include UQ North America office in Washington D.C., and the UQ-Ochsner Clinical School in Louisiana, United States.

The university offers associate, bachelor, master, doctoral, and higher doctorate degrees through a college, a graduate school, and six faculties. UQ incorporates over one hundred research institutes and centres offering research programs, such as the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Boeing Research and Technology Australia Centre, the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and the UQ Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation. Recent notable research of the university include pioneering the invention of the HPV vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, developing a COVID-19 vaccine that was in human trials, and the development of high-performance superconducting MRI magnets for portable scanning of human limbs.

UQ counts two Nobel laureates (Peter C. Doherty, a UQ graduate, and John Harsanyi, though neither prize was awarded while they were at UQ), over a hundred Olympians who have won numerous gold medals, and over a hundred Rhodes Scholars among its alumni and former staff. UQ's alumni also include University of California, San Francisco Chancellor Sam Hawgood; the first female Governor-General of Australia, Dame Quentin Bryce; former President of King's College London, Ed Byrne; member of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology, Max Lu; Oscar, Tony and Primetime Emmy Award winner Geoffrey Rush; triple Grammy Award winner Tim Munro; former CEO and chairman of Dow Chemical, Andrew N. Liveris; and current director of multiple organisations including IBM.

History

Foundation of the university

According to the Queensland Government's Heritage Register's History section:

Proposals for a university in Queensland began in the 1870s. A Royal Commission in 1874, chaired by Sir Charles Lilley, recommended the immediate establishment of a university. Those against a university argued that technical rather than academic education was more important in an economy dominated by primary industry. Those in favour of the university, in the face of this opposition, distanced themselves from Oxford and Cambridge and proposed instead a model derived from the mid-western states of the U.S.A. A second Royal Commission in 1891 recommended the inclusion of five faculties in a new university; Arts, Law, Medicine, Science, and Applied Science. Education generally was given a low priority in Queensland's budgets, and in a colony with a literacy rate of 57% in 1861, primary education was the first concern well ahead of secondary and technical education. The government, despite the findings of the Royal Commissions, was unwilling to commit funds to the establishment of a university.

In 1893, the Queensland University Extension Movement was begun by a group of private individuals who organised public lecture courses in adult education, hoping to excite wider community support for a university in Queensland. In 1894, 245 students were enrolled in the extension classes and the lectures were described as practical and useful. In 1906 the University Extension Movement staged the University Congress, a forum for interested delegates to promote the idea of a university. Opinion was mobilised, a fund was started and a draft Bill for a Queensland University was prepared. Stress was laid on the practical aspects of university education and its importance for the commerce of Queensland. The proceedings of the Congress were forwarded to Premier [of Queensland] Kidston. In October 1906, sixty acres in Victoria Park were gazetted for university purposes.

The University of Queensland was established by an Act of State Parliament on 10 December 1909 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Queensland's separation from the colony of New South Wales. The Act allowed for the university to be governed by a senate of 20 men and Sir William MacGregor, the incoming Governor, was appointed the first chancellor with RH Roe as the vice-chancellor. Old Government House ... [then Government House] in George Street was set aside for the university following the departure of the governor to the Bardon residence, Fernberg..., sparking the first debates about the best location for the university.

Campuses and buildings

The University of Queensland maintains a number of campuses and facilities throughout Queensland. UQ has its main campus in the suburb of St Lucia in Brisbane, bordered by a meander in the Brisbane River to the north, east, and south. UQ's main campus has been recognised for its beauty by a number of sources. Its other campuses include Gatton, Herston and Dutton Park (formerly the Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence).

St Lucia campus

In 1927, the land on which the St Lucia campus is built was resumed by the Brisbane City Council using money donated by James O'Neil Mayne and his sister Mary Emelia Mayne to replace the less spacious city campus. The city campus is now home to the Gardens Point campus of the Queensland University of Technology. Construction of the new university at St Lucia began in 1937.

Great Court

At its centre is the heritage-listed Great Court – a 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) open area surrounded by Helidon sandstone buildings with grotesques of great academics and historic scenes, floral and faunal motifs and crests of universities and colleges from around the world. This central semi-circular quadrangle features a connected arcade so students could reach any section under cover. The Great Court was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2002.

Museums

The University of Queensland Art Museum is located in the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre on the St Lucia campus. The Art Museum was established in the Forgan Smith Tower in 1976 to house the artworks collected by The University of Queensland since the 1940s, relocating to its present site in 2004. Today, with more than 4,400 artworks, the university's Art Collection is Queensland's second largest public art collection.

The university also houses the R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum in the Michie building (bldg 9, level 2) which contains Queensland's only publicly accessible collection of antiquities from ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt and the Near East. The museum supports research and teaching at the university. The UQ Anthropology Museum (also in the Michie Building on level 1) contains a significant collection of ethnographic material. It is also open to the public.

Gatton campus

The UQ Gatton Campus covers 1068 ha at Lawes, near the town of Gatton, Queensland, about 90 kilometres (56 mi) west of Brisbane on the Warrego Highway. The campus was opened in 1897 next to the site of the Queensland Agricultural College which was then amalgamated with UQ in 1990. UQ Gatton is the core campus for research, learning and teaching activities and facilities in agriculture, animals, veterinary science and the environment.

Governance and structure

The University of Queensland is organised into a number of divisions for academic, administrative and logistical purposes.

University Senate

The senate is the governing body of The University of Queensland and consists of 22 members from the university and community. The senate is led by the chancellor and deputy chancellor, elected by the senate. The University of Queensland Act 1998 grants the senate wide powers to appoint staff, manage and control university affairs and property and manage and control finances to promote the university's interests.

The academic board is the university's senior academic advisory body. It formulates policy on academic matters including new programs, teaching, learning and assessment, research, promotions, student academic matters, prizes and scholarships. An academic board member is elected annually as its president. The president is assisted by a half-time deputy president.

Faculties and departments

The university has five faculties to support both research and teaching activities.

UQ has a semester-based modular system for conducting academic courses. The Australian higher education model features a combination of the British system, such as small group teaching (tutorials) and the American system (course credits).

Academic affiliations

UQ is a partner of McDonnell International Scholars Academy - an international network of research universities and scholars comprising 28 university partners, including Boğaziçi University, Fudan University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Keio University, Korea University, Makerere University, Middle East Technical University, National Taiwan University, National University of Singapore, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Peking University, Reichman University, Seoul National University, State University of Campinas, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Tecnológico de Monterrey, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University, University of Chile, University of Ghana, University of Hong Kong, University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, University of Tokyo, Utrecht University and Yonsei University.

Academic profile

Research and publications

UQ has a strong research focus in science, medicine and technology. The university's research advancement includes pioneering the development of the cervical cancer vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, by UQ Professor Ian Frazer.

In 2009, the Australian Cancer Research Foundation reported that UQ had taken the lead in numerous areas of cancer research.

In the Commonwealth Government's Excellence in Research for Australia 2012 National Report, UQ's research is rated above world standard in more broad fields than at any other Australian university (in 22 broad fields), and more UQ researchers are working in research fields that ERA has assessed as above world standard than at any other Australian university. UQ research in biomedical and clinical health sciences, technology, engineering, biological sciences, chemical sciences, environmental sciences, and physical sciences was ranked above world standard (rating 5).

In 2015, UQ is ranked by Nature Index as the research institution with the highest volume of research output in both interdisciplinary journals Nature and Science within the southern hemisphere, with approximately twofold more output than the global average.

In 2020 Clarivate named 34 UQ professors to its list of Highly Cited Researchers.

Aside from disciplinary-focused teaching and research within the academic faculties, the university maintains a number of interdisciplinary research institutes and centres at the national, state and university levels. For example, the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the University of Queensland Seismology Station, Heron Island Research Station and the Institute of Modern Languages.

The University of Queensland plays a key role in Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners, Queensland's first academic health science system. This partnership currently comprises Children's Health Queensland, Mater Health Services, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Metro South Health, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, and the Translational Research Institute.

Research divisions

With the support from the Queensland Government, the Australian Government and major donor The Atlantic Philanthropies, The University of Queensland dedicates basic, translational and applied research via the following research-focused institutes:

Institute for Molecular Bioscience – within the Queensland Bioscience Precinct which houses scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery

Student life

The University of Queensland maintains a number of support and student services. The campuses at St Lucia and Gatton have Student Centres which provide information and support services.

Student union

The UQ Union is the peak student representation body that coordinates various student services and activities, including over 190 affiliated clubs and societies, some of whom are listed below.

Sports and athletics

UQ Sport offers a wide range of sport, fitness and recreation opportunities at the St Lucia and Gatton campuses of the University of Queensland. Its facilities and services are open to students, staff, alumni, and the general public.

The UQ Athletics Centre maintains an Olympic standard 8 lane synthetic track and grandstand able to accommodate up to 565 spectators. The UQ Sport and Fitness Centre is a multi-purpose indoor facility.

The UQ Tennis Centre is the largest tennis centre in both Brisbane and Queensland. The UQ Playing Fields and Ovals is also managed by UQ Sport, home to a total of eight oval fields at the St Lucia campus. The majority are designated for use by particular sports including cricket, rugby and soccer. These ovals are also used for recreational activities and lunchtime social sport.

Residential colleges

The University of Queensland has 11 residential colleges with 10 of these located on its St Lucia campus and one on its Gatton campus. The University of Queensland Intercollege Council is the organisational and representative body for the residential colleges which coordinates sporting and cultural events and competitions.

Cromwell College is a co-ed college founded in 1950. It is affiliated with the Uniting Church and accommodates 249 students.

Duchesne College is a women's only college founded in 1937 in Toowong, moving the university in 1959. It is affiliated with the Society of the Sacred Heart and accommodates 210 students.

Emmanuel College is a co-educational college founded in 1911. It accommodates 340 students.

Gatton Halls of Residence was established in 1897 and has 440 residential students, making it by far the largest and oldest college at the university.

Grace College is a women's college founded in 1970. It accommodates 181 students.

International House is a co-educational college for International and Australian students founded in 1965.

King's College provides accommodation for 320 male and female students of the university.

St John's College is a co-educational college founded in 1911. It is administered by the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.

St Leo's College is a men's college affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

Notable people

Notable alumni

UQ has produced numerous distinguished alumni. Several notable examples include recipient of a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine Peter C. Doherty, recipient of the "Triple Crown of Acting" (having won Primetime Emmy, Tony and Academy Awards) Geoffrey Rush, triple Grammy Award-winning musician Tim Munro, former Chief Justices of Australia Sir Gerard Brennan and Sir Harry Gibbs, international not-for-profit 'Hear and Say' founder and officer of the order of Australia Dimity Dornan, Principal of King's College London Edward Byrne, singer and eurovision representative Dami Im, former CEO of Dow Chemical Andrew Liveris, the first female Governor-General of Australia Dame Quentin Bryce, former Singaporean Minister of Defence and Manpower Lee Boon Yang, Singaporean actor Tommy Wong, consecutive Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer David Theile, highly cited epidemiologist Graham Colditz, international best-selling author Kate Morton, CEO of MS Research Australia and Harvard Club of Australia fellow Matthew Miles, alleged war criminal and former general manager of Seven Brisbane Ben Roberts-Smith, and Fijian diplomat Merewalesi Falemaka.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)