An introduction to the University of Queensland

The University of Queensland helps students become leaders in their fields

The University of Queensland (UQ) is Australia’s leading research and teaching institution. The University strives for excellence in knowledge creation, preservation, transfer, and application. It has educated and collaborated with exceptional individuals to provide knowledge and leadership for a better world for more than a century.

University of Queensland- an overview

The University of Queensland is a public research university based primarily in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an informal designation for the state’s oldest university. The University of Queensland is a founding member of edX, Australia’s leading Group of Eight, and the International Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

The university has a college, a graduate school, and six faculties that offer associate, bachelor, master, doctoral, and higher doctorate degrees. UQ is home to over a hundred research institutes and centers, including the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the Boeing Research and Technology Australia Centre, the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and the UQ Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation.

The university’s recent notable research includes pioneering the invention of the HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer, developing a COVID-19 vaccine currently in human trials, and developing high-performance superconducting MRI magnets for portable scanning of human limbs.

History

State Parliament Act established The University of Queensland in 1909 and officially founded it on April 16, 1910, with the gazette of appointments to the first UQ Senate. Teaching began in 1911 at the Old Government House on George Street in Brisbane. There were three faculties, Arts, Science, and Engineering, and 83 students.

Following World War I, the University grew rapidly and quickly outgrew its inner-city location. An additional site in Victoria Park (now occupied by the Medical School) was acquired in 1922. Dr. James O’Neil Mayne and his sister Miss Mary Emelia Mayne, provided funds four years later to purchase the St Lucia site where the University’s main campus is now located. Construction on the St Lucia site began in 1937, and the first building was later named the Forgan Smith Building in 1939. It served as the advanced headquarters for the Allied Land Forces in the South West Pacific during WWII.

In 1990, The University merged with the Queensland Agricultural College at (now Gatton), 80 kilometers west of Brisbane, resulting in the union of the State’s two oldest higher education institutions and a significant increase in enrolment. The former Queensland Agricultural College first admitted students in 1897, and the two institutions had a long history of collaboration. 

In 1999, UQ established a major campus in Ipswich’s provincial center, replacing the Challinor Centre mental health facility. This campus was transferred to the University of Southern Queensland in January 2015. Still, UQ continued to teach at the USQ Ipswich campus until 2016 to help specific students finish their studies. UQ’s major clinical health and research teaching location at Herston, which opened in 2010, is now the university’s third campus.

Campus

The University of Queensland has several campuses and facilities across the state. UQ’s main campus is located in the Brisbane suburb of St Lucia, bounded to the north, east, and south by a meander in the Brisbane River. Several sources have praised UQ’s main campus for its beauty. Gatton and Herston are two of its other campuses.

St Lucia campus

The Brisbane City Council reclaimed the St Lucia campus’s land in 1927, using money from James O’Neil Mayne and his sister Mary Emelia Mayne to replace the less spacious city campus. The Gardens Point campus of the Queensland University of Technology now occupies the city campus. The construction of St Lucia’s new university began in 1937.

Gatton campus

The UQ Gatton Campus is located in Lawes, near Gatton, Queensland, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Brisbane on the Warrego Highway. The campus opened in 1897 next to the Queensland Agricultural College, which was merged with UQ in 1990. UQ Gatton is the central campus for the agricultural, animal, veterinary science, and environmental research, learning, and teaching.

The Centre for Advanced Animal Science (CAAS) was established on the Gatton campus in 2008 as a joint venture between UQ and the Queensland Government.

Herston campus

The core campus for clinical health teaching and research is UQ Mayne Medical School and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. The Herston campus is part of the Queensland Health system, which includes the Royal Brisbane Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital, and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

The Faculty of Medicine, the School of Population Health, the Herston Health Sciences Library, the Centre for Clinical Research, and clinical research and learning activities of the School of Nursing and Midwifery are all housed there.

Other important facilities on the Herston campus include the Oral Health Centre and the purpose-built Herston Imaging Research Facility. In 1999, the medical school building was the new addition to the Queensland Heritage Register.

Ipswich campus

UQ sold the Ipswich Campus to the University of Southern Queensland in 2014, believing that USQ would benefit more from this regional teaching campus.

On nearly 25 hectares, the campus housed 20 buildings and over 5001 students (62 acres).

Arts, business, medicine, and social sciences courses and interaction design were available. It is located just south of the CBD in central Ipswich, Queensland. 

Faculties and courses

Six faculties support both research and teaching activities at the university.

Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law

• School of Business
• School of Economics
• School of Law

Faculty of Engineering, Architecture, and Information Technology

• School of Architecture
• School of Chemical Engineering
• School of Civil Engineering
• School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
• School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering

Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences

• School of Dentistry
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
• School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences
• School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
• School of Pharmacy
• School of Psychology

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

• School of Communication and Arts
• School of Education
• School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry
• School of Languages and Cultures
• School of Music
• School of Political Science and International Studies
• School of Social Science

Faculty of Medicine

• School of Biomedical Sciences
• School of Public Health

Faculty of Science

• School of Agriculture and Food Sciences
• School of Biological Sciences
• School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
• School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• School of Mathematics and Physics
• School of Veterinary Science

UQ Study areas

• Agriculture and animal sciences
• Architecture, design and urban planning
• Arts, humanities, and social sciences
• Business and economics
• Communication, media, and experience design
• Computer science and IT
• Education
• Engineering
• Environment
• Health and medicine
• Law
• Science and Mathematics

Rankings

Several key independent rankings place UQ among the world’s top universities

• The US News Best Global Universities Rankings 2023 (36)
• The Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities 2022 (33)
• The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2022 (32)
• The QS World University Rankings 2023 (50)
• The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2022 (47)
• The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023.

Alumni

A Nobel laureate, an Academy Award winner and leaders in government, law, science, public service, and the arts are among the University’s outstanding 318,600+ alumni. The University considers its alumni as its most valuable asset. Their accomplishments reflect well on the University, and UQ works hard to maintain and improve its reputation.

UQ has produced several notable alumni

• Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine Peter C. Doherty
• Geoffrey Rush, Recipient of the ‘Triple Crown of Acting’ and others (having won Primetime Emmy, Tony, and Academy Awards),
• Tim Munro, Triple Grammy Award-winning musician
• 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 
• Eurovision representative, Dami Im
• Former CEO of Dow Chemical, Andrew Liveris

Key takeaways

• The University of Queensland (UQ) is a leading research and educational institute in Australia. Excellence in knowledge creation, preservation, transfer, and application is the university’s primary goal.
• The University of Queensland has several campuses and facilities across the state. UQ’s main campus is located in the Brisbane suburb of St. Lucia. The university has two other campuses called Gatton and Herston.
• The university has six faculties that support both research and teaching activities. UQ teaches several disciplines, such as business, communication, engineering, environment, and arts.

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FAQs

Q1. Is the University of Queensland good for Indian students?

Ans- Indian students make up one of UQ’s top three largest international cohorts, with Ph.D. studies, Post Graduate Business, and Bachelor of Engineering among the most popular program options.

Q2. What is the acceptance rate of the University of Queensland?

Ans- The acceptance rate of the University of Queensland is 40%.

Q3. Can I get a scholarship to the University of Queensland?

Ans- Students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievements during their senior secondary studies and are beginning their first year of a bachelor’s degree at UQ are eligible for financial assistance.