Australian National University is a public university in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory which is located in the suburb of Acton. The main campus encompasses 7 teaching and research colleges with several national institutes. This university was founded in 1946 and is the only university created by the Parliament of Australia. It has a motto of ‘first to learn the nature of things’. The chancellor of this university is the Hon Gareth Evans AC and the vice-chancellor is Brian Schmidt AC. Originally a postgraduate research university, ANU formally started undergraduate teaching in 1960 AD when it integrated the Canberra University College, which had been established in 1929 as a campus of the University of Melbourne. This university enrolls 10,052 undergraduate and 10,840 postgraduate students and 3,753 employees’ staff. The university’s endowment stood at A$1.13 billion in 2012.
History: This University was established and formally started its education from 1946, August 1. This university was originally organized into four centers; the Research School of Pacific studies, physical Sciences and Social Sciences, and the John Curtin School of Medical Research. In 1960, CUC was integrated into ANU as the School of General Studies, initially with faculties in-laws, arts, economics, and science.
Faculties in Oriental studies and engineering were introduced later. Bruce Hall, the first residential college was opened in 1961 for the undergraduates. The Canberra School of Music and the Canberra School of Art were amalgamated by this university in 1992. ANU established its Medical School in 2002, after gaining federal government approval in 2000. ANU astronomers conducted research from the Siding Spring Observatory containing 10 telescopes including the Anglo Australian Telescope.
Location and campuses: The University is located in Acton, Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The main campus of this university is extending across the Canberra suburb of Acton comprising of 358 acres of mostly parkland with university buildings landscaped within. The University is roughly bisected by Sullivan’s, part of the Murray Darling Basin, and it is bordered by the native bushland of Black Mountain, the suburb of Turner, Lake Burley Griffin and the Canberra central business district. With over 10 thousand trees, it was ranked as the 2nd greenest university campus in Australia in 2011.
The university comprises of the 5 learned societies based on it: the Australian academy of science, Australian academy of social science, academy of humanities, and academy of law. The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and the National Film and Sound Archive are also located at this university, while the National Museum of Australia and CSIRO are located next to the campus.
With over 10 thousand trees, it was ranked as the 2nd greenest university campus in Australia in 2011. The university comprises of the 5 learned societies based on it: the Australian academy of science, Australian academy of social science, academy of humanities, and academy of law. The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and the National Film and Sound Archive are also located at this university, while the National Museum of Australia and CSIRO are located next to the campus.
Curriculum: This University was reorganized to create 7 colleges in 2006 each of which conducts both teaching and research. The colleges of this university especially comprise of the undergraduates and postgraduates studies and contain all the faculties being taught here. The faculties are enlisted below:
Libraries: The library of this Australian University was founded in 1948 with the appointment of the first librarian, Arthur McDonald. It holds over 2.5 million physical volumes, distributed across 6 branches, the Chifley, Hancock, Menzies, Law libraries, and Art & Music Libraries and the external Print stores.
Contact:
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+61 2 6125 5111
(Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm)
Postal address
The Australian National University
Acton ACT 2601
Australia
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