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 Western Australian, Australian and international 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 21,000 students, in nine faculties: Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; 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 $600 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, obtaining 6.7% of the Australian Competitive Grant funds and 5.9% of the total research income funds allocated to Australian higher education institutions in 2007. 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 $4.0 million from the Commonwealth’s Learning and Teaching Performance Fund for 2009; the highest amount per EFTSL nationally.
UWA consistently attracts high calibre students. In 2009 UWA enrolled 89.6% of the State’s top 5% of school-leavers and 86.3% of the top 10% of school leavers who enrolled at Western Australian universities.
In 2008, 9.4% of UWA’s enrolments were in higher degree by research compared with a national average of 4.6%. The latest national figures show that in 2008, UWA had the third highest proportion (10.3%) of higher degree research enrolments nationally.
Higher Degree Research Completions per 10 Academic FTE 2007 (f)
UWA
16,369
21.5%
19.2%
9.4%
144,160
4.4
Sydney
37,165
23.1%
26.6%
8.3%
158,987
4.2
UNSW
32,329
24.6%
25.5%
7.4%
123,160
4.6
Melbourne
35,488
27.9%
27.9%
8.9%
154,099
5.1
Monash
42,826
36.1%
20.8%
5.5%
111,577
3.4
Queensland
29,803
20.5%
21.3%
9.2%
145,458
4.0
Adelaide
16,831
27.8%
21.7%
7.5%
131,857
4.2
ANU
12,115
25.2%
32.6%
14.1%
120,301
6.0
Curtin
28,441
42.3%
16.8%
3.7%
61,966
3.1
Edith Cowan
15,545
26.2%
20.4%
2.2%
22,819
1.9
Murdoch
11,766
29.5%
15.2%
5.6%
78,675
2.5
Australia
757,850
28.4%
20.9%
4.6%
83,988
3.1
Source: DEEWR Selected Higher Education Statistics, unless otherwise indicated (a) DEEWR 2008 total student load data; exclude exchange students and various other categories (b) Load of International student as a percentage of total student load (c) Postgraduate student load as a percentage of total student load (d) Doctorate by Research and Masters by Research load as a percentage of total load (e) Source: DEEWR, 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
