The University of Western Australia will be recognised internationally for its excellence in teaching and research and as a leading intellectual and creative resource to the communities it serves.
Mission:
To advance, transmit and sustain knowledge and understanding through the conduct of teaching, research and scholarship at the highest international standards for the benefit of the international, Australian and Western Australian communities.
Defining Characteristics:
The University will be recognised by the following defining characteristics.
High quality, as the pervading criterion for all our activities.
Comprehensive, with a broad teaching and research profile in the arts, sciences, and professions.
Selective, within a comprehensive base, to develop particular areas of strength and emphasis.
Research-intensive, with a strong teaching and research nexus across all our disciplines.
Internationally focused, for both the content and standards of our activities.
Technologically innovative, to maximise our flexibility.
Responsive, to meet the needs of the community, our students and our graduates.
The University of Western Australia, the State’s first university, was established in 1911 and opened two years later with 184 students in three faculties: Arts, Engineering and Science. Today the University enrols over 18,000 students, in nine faculties: Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; UWA Business School; Education; Engineering, Computing and Mathematics; Law; Life and Physical Sciences; Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences; and Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
Located 5 km from the Perth CBD, the 65-hectare Crawley campus is widely acclaimed for the beauty of its setting beside the Swan River and for its grounds and buildings, which are listed in the Register of the Australian National Estate.
The University has an annual operating budget in excess of $500 million and assets totalling over $1.5 billion.
University staff members have won numerous awards for teaching and research; the most noteworthy being Professor Barry Marshall and Emeritus Professor Robin Warren who were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
The University has a strong research record with 7.1% of the Australian Competitive Grant funds and 6.3% of the total research income funds allocated to Australian higher education institutions in 2005. On a per capita basis, these were the nation's third highest allocations.
The University’s achievements in teaching and learning were recognised with the award of more than $4.8 million from the Commonwealth’s Learning and Teaching Performance Fund for 2008.
UWA consistently attracts high calibre students. In 2007 UWA enrolled 87.4% of the State’s top 5% of school-leavers and 78.8% of the top 10% of school leavers who enrolled at Western Australian universities.
In 2006, 9.9% of UWA’s enrolments were in higher degree by research compared with a national average of 4.9%. The latest national figures show that in 2005, UWA had the second highest proportion of higher degree research enrolments nationally.
Source: DEST Higher Education Research Data Collection (a) Total includes research income not allocated to faculties (b) Discrepancies between the sums of component items and totals are due to rounding
Higher Degree Research Completions per 10 Academic FTE 2005 (f)
UWA
14,684
19.1%
18.3%
9.9%
112,610
4.8
Sydney
35,564
20.6%
23.1%
8.1%
101,034
4.3
UNSW
28,450
23.2%
24.2%
8.5%
88,376
4.6
Melbourne
33,935
25.9%
25.6%
9.2%
136,430
5.3
Monash
40,609
33.7%
21.0%
5.4%
74,094
3.5
Queensland
29,066
17.9%
21.3%
9.5%
117,341
4.6
Adelaide
15,256
25.7%
21.3%
8.6%
126,523
2.5
ANU
10,867
24.1%
31.7%
15.2%
102,031
6.4
Curtin
27,796
43.5%
14.3%
3.6%
40,524
2.4
Edith Cowan
16,391
20.4%
17.1%
2.2%
22,682
1.8
Murdoch
9,258
16.8%
15.2%
6.9%
64,415
2.6
Australia
691,928
26.0%
20.7%
4.9%
65,562
3.0
Source: DEST Selected Higher Education Statistics, unless otherwise indicated (a) DEST preliminary 2006 total student load data exclude exchange students and various other categories (b) International student load as a percentage of total student load, preliminary figures only (c) All postgraduate student load as a percentage of total student load preliminary figures only (d) Doctorate by Research and Masters by Research load as a percentage of total load, preliminary figures only (e) Source: DEST, unpublished summary of Higher Education Research Data Collection (f) Full-time equivalence of academic staff, with a level B or above appointment, excluding casual staff
