Established by an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1946, The Australian National University (ANU) was the country’s only full-time research university. It then had no undergraduate teaching responsibilities. Its mandate was to undertake “postgraduate research and study both generally and in relation to subjects of national importance”. Since then, the University’s character has developed and there have been progressive additions to its range of activities, including the addition of undergraduate teaching in 1960.
ANU is distinctive among Australian universities in its research intensity, the relatively small scale of its undergraduate enrolments, its national capital location, and its special mission for contributing to nation building and advancing Australia’s place in the world.
ANU is an education-intensive research institute, and has earned a distinguished national and international reputation for excellence in research and teaching. It is consistently ranked as Australia’s leading research university and among the best universities of the world, and has been commended for achieving “outstanding results” in the Australian Government’s Learning and Teaching Performance Fund.
ANU has seven Colleges, made up of the research and education Centres, Schools and Faculties that contribute to the various broad disciplines. The ANU Colleges link research and teaching at undergraduate, postgraduate and higher degree levels, and give the base to achieve research at the highest standards of excellence, educational programs informed by current research and active researchers that give students a memorably good experience of ANU.
The ANU campus is on an attractive 145-hectare site in Australia’s national capital, Canberra. Adjoining native bushland, Lake Burley Griffin and the city centre, the campus provides a safe, enjoyable and friendly study environment.
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