University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne, established in 1853, is a prominent public research university located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. With over 53,000 students, including a significant international population from more than 100 countries, it offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across various fields, including arts, sciences, engineering, and health. The university features multiple campuses, the main one being in Parkville, and several specialized facilities dedicated to areas such as veterinary science and performing arts.
Notably, the University of Melbourne pioneered the Melbourne Model in 2008, encouraging a flexible academic structure where students start with a general degree before specializing at the graduate level. The university is also recognized for its commitment to sustainability and its extensive research output, particularly in fields like neuroscience and oncology. As of 2024, it ranks as the top university in Australia and the thirteenth globally according to the QS World University Rankings. With a rich history, the university has educated numerous influential figures, including Nobel Laureates and prime ministers, and it continues to foster a diverse and inclusive academic environment.
On this Page
University of Melbourne
Date founded: 1853
Colleges or faculties: Architecture, Building and Planning; Arts; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Fine Arts and Music; Law; Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science; Science; Veterinary and Agriculture Services
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Type: Public
Size: 53,000+ students (2023); about 10,000 faculty and staff
The University of Melbourne is a Melbourne-based centre of higher learning with faculties offering more than two hundred undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the arts and the sciences. Of the more than 53,000 students at the university’s seven campuses, many are international and come from more than one hundred countries. The main campus is in the heart of Melbourne, primarily in the suburb of Parkville but with additional facilities in Carlton. The university has eleven residential colleges and a number of other campuses, each with their own speciality. Four are in the Melbourne area: Burnley (horticultural), Southbank (performing arts), Werribee (veterinary science) and Hawthorn (commerce). The rest are located elsewhere in Victoria: Creswick (forestry), north of Ballarat; and Dookie (veterinary and agriculture) and Shepparton (health and medicine courses) in the central north. The university has nearly two dozen graduate schools and more than one hundred research centres and institutes. Among the areas of focus at these centres and institutes are neuroscience, oncology and biomedical technology.
The University of Melbourne pioneered the Melbourne Model in 2008. This new system of study encouraged students to begin with a general bachelor's degree and then specialise at the graduate level. Related to this is the Flexible Academic Programming project, which encourages students and staff to pursue study options that are more conducive to each individual student, including using the entire calendar year to complete study. In the digital environment, the University of Melbourne offers a host of all-online courses (including at graduate level), along with a large handful of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
The university motto is Postera crescam laude: “Grow in the esteem of future generations”. In 2024, the University of Melbourne was ranked as the top university in Australia and the thirteenth best in the world in the QS World University Rankings, an annual list compiled by the analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds.
History
The University Act (Victoria) 1853 established the University of Melbourne. Victoria and New South Wales had separated in 1851, in the year that gold was discovered in Australia. First to lead the university as chancellor was Redmond Barry. The first students, a total of sixteen, took classes beginning in 1855. In that year the Quadrangle, site of all classes and the living quarters for the university's (then only) four professors, opened. Two years later, the university opened a Law School, staffed by one part-time lecturer. Four years after that, in 1861, came the Faculty of Engineering; a year later, the university opened the School of Medicine.
In 1872, Trinity College opened its doors. The Church of England formed the curriculum for this college, the first of six such Christian denomination institutions on campus. Ormond College (Presbyterian) came along in 1879, Queens College (Methodist) followed in 1888, and Newman College and St Mary’s College (Catholic) both began in 1918. Janet Clarke Hall (Anglican), established in 1886, was the first Australian college to admit women. The University Council in 1879 admitted female students to all but the School of Medicine. Julia Guerin earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1883; Guerin was the first woman to graduate from an Australian university. The School of Medicine admitted female students in 1887.
Student societies began in 1880, with the Medical Students Society. Nine years later came the Engineering Students Society. By 1884, a University Union, representing all male students, had begun. Female students in 1888 organised the Princess Ida Club (named for a character in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson). Both unions would merge in 1914, the year after the formation of the Student Representative Council.
The university established a Diploma of Education in 1903, just in time for the Schools Registration Act, which required teachers to have a diploma, and the opening of the Continuation School, the first state high school in Victoria. University personnel contributed to the Allied war effort in both World War I and World War II, in building munitions and, during World War I, developing a new kind of gas mask.
The university’s seventh residential college, University College, was founded in 1937 as a women’s college. Medley Hall, the smallest of the colleges, was added in 1954 when the university acquired Benvenuta, an Italianate former mansion built in 1893. The Olympic Games took place in Melbourne in 1956, and the university was both a training facility for Olympic events and the beneficiary of new facilities, such a new swimming pool and a new running track. The following year, International House was added to accommodate overseas students. Four more colleges were added in the 1960s, of which two remain affiliated with the university: Graduate House (1962) and St Hilda’s College (1964). In 1971, International House was the first college offer co-ed housing.
In 2024,
Impact
Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, in 1975, became the first female professor. She was known for her work in the medical field in both Great Britain and South Africa. The university had continued its leading role in educating the teachers of the Australia; in 1988, the university joined with the Melbourne Teachers College to form a new Faculty of Education, with the Teachers College becoming the College of Advanced Education in 1989.
The university is a leading contributor in cutting-edge fields of medicine, notably neuroscience. The university prides itself on its commitment to sustainability, encouraging recycling and non-fossil-fuel-burning transport for its students and staff. In fact, the university’s current five-year strategic plan, Growing Esteem, calls for sustainability to be a vital element of research. Much of the work in the energy department focuses on renewable resources. The commitment to sustainability extends to an agreement to purchase Fair Trade products as much as possible.
Among the notable alumni of the University of Melbourne are Nobel Laureates (Sir James Mirrlees for Economics; Elizabeth Blackburn, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Sir John Eccles, Joshua Lederberg, Lord Howard Florey and Bert Sakmann for Physiology or Medicine). Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs earned her PhD at Melbourne. Four prime ministers (Alfred Deakin, Julia Gillard, Harold Holt and Sir Robert Menzies), five governors-general, and several dozen other state and federal politicians were educated at Melbourne. Feminist writer Germaine Greer is both a graduate and a professor.
Bibliography
“About Us.” The University of Melbourne, 2024, about.unimelb.edu.au/. Accessed 12 June 2024.
Davis, Glyn. The Australian Idea of a University. University of Melbourne Press, 2017.
“Facts and Figures.” The University of Melbourne, 2024, about.unimelb.edu.au/facts-and-figures. Accessed 12 June 2024.
Forsyth, Hannah. A History of the Modern Australian University. NewSouth, 2014.
Jones, Michael. “Documenting Things: Bringing Archival Thinking to Interdisciplinary Collaborations.” Australian Library Journal, vol. 65, no. 3, Aug. 2016, pp. 213–223. EBSCOhost, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=117830736&site=ehost-live. Accessed 5 February 2019.
Nott, George. “‘Biometric Mirror’ Reflects AI’s Worrying Potential: Researchers at the University of Melbourne Have Designed a Mirror Which Uses AI to Detect an Individual’s Character Traits Based Solely on Their Face. And It’s Powerful Enough to Detect Their Levels of Happiness, Introversion and Aggressiveness.” ComputerWorld, July 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=130926274&site=ehost-live. Accessed 5 February 2019.
“QS World University Rankings 2025: Top Global Universities.” Quacquarelli Symonds, 4 June 2024, www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?page=4. Accessed 12 June 2024.