The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s largest university and top-ranked research institution. Founded in 1883, it has a scholarly tradition of international excellence. The University’s is a research-led, international university, recognised for excellence in teaching, learning, research, creative work and administration. It has a cosmopolitan student body of 40,000 of which 4,500 are international students representing over 100 countries. Its 3,800 academic staff are recruited internationally.
The main campus of the University is located in the heart of the harbour city of Auckland, New Zealand’s commercial capital and biggest city. There are also four specialist campuses at Grafton, Epsom, Tamaki and Whangarei. It is the only New Zealand university to be ranked in the world’s top 50 universities by the Times Higher Education Supplement.
More than 86 world-class research-led study programmes are offered at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in eight faculties: Arts (Humanities and Social Sciences), Science, Medical and Health Sciences, Business and Economics, Engineering, Law, Creative Arts and Industries and Education.
The University is New Zealand’s largest research institution and is the national leader in obtaining external research grants from nationally and internationally competitive funding sources. Uniservices, the University’s commercial research and knowledge transfer company, is the largest organisation of its kind in Australia and New Zealand.
The University is host to four of the seven National Centres for Research Excellence: the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, the New Zealand Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga related to research on New Zealand’s indigenous Maori, and the National Research Centre for Growth and Development. Large scale research institutes include the Bioengineering Institute and the Liggins Institute. The former institute deals with the application of mathematical and engineering sciences to biology and human physiology and the latter institute carries out biomedical and clinical research in health related areas, especially fetal growth.
The University is undertaking a major capital works programme, which has included the redevelopment of the student commons building in 2003, opening of a new School of Population Health at the University’s Tamaki Campus in early 2004 and the construction of a new Business School building, completed in 2008.
The growing significance for New Zealand of its links with Asia is reflected through the activities of the New Zealand Asia Institute, which organises seminars and conferences involving New Zealand’s Asian communities, government, media and business to strengthen links with counterparts in the Asian region. The University has also recently established a New Zealand Centre at Peking University with the support of the New Zealand Government and private donors. A Confucius Institute, run in collaboration with the Chinese government and Fudan University in Shanghai, was launched at The University of Auckland in early 2007.
Recognising the growing importance of Europe-New Zealand relations, and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the University of Auckland formally launched the Europe Institute in March 2007. The Europe Institute is a multidisciplinary research institute that brings together researchers from a large number of different departments. The mission of the Institute is to promote research, Europe and EU-related issues and collaboration on shared Europe-New Zealand concerns.
The University also hosts the New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies.
The University has a nationally and internationally active body of 100,000 alumni.
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