Our uni life
Next-door to Melbourne’s CBD, the University of Melbourne’s location, you have to admit, is a pretty big attraction. It’s close to transport, fantastic cafes, arts and sports venues and accommodation. Everything is accessible.
Speaking of accommodation, living at one of the 12 University-affiliated residential colleges really is worth considering. Colleges are a cost-effective option when compared with private rental accommodation and they can help with that transition period of settling into uni life.
If you’re into sport and exercise (or would like to be), the Sports Centre and sports clubs offer everything from Pilates to netball, archery to Ultimate Frisbee. Group fitness classes, a gym, the Beaurepaire Swimming Pool, squash and tennis courts are all on offer. There’s also an athletics track, sporting fields, and accommodation for hire at the Mt Buller Alpine Lodge.
As a way of meeting people, joining a club (or two or three) is a great idea. Many departments have their own clubs and societies that give you access to networks, social activities and support. Other clubs cater to special interests like social justice, environmental issues and politics, or indulge your passion for chocolate, cooking, Star Trek or debating.
Our students tell you what they like about Melbourne
Our students tell you what they like about Melbourne Uni
Union House is at the heart of the Parkville campus; here you’ll find food, coffee and shops as well as Student Union services like advocacy, legal advice and opportunities for work. And of course, make sure you check out the North Court markets where you can find books, clothes, CDs, jewellery and loads of other stuff. There is also the Rowden White Library with an extensive DVD and CD burning collection.
There’s always something happening on campus. Any night of the week will see a range of activities on offer—theatre shows, exhibitions, gigs, trivia nights, comedy and film as well as public lectures. There really is something for all.
The University is known for fostering engagement across a range of activities, from Farrago, the student newspaper which has helped launched many a person’s career into journalism, to student theatre and a range of music clubs, students don’t just undertake structured learning, but can develop a range of skills and interests along the way.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our model
In 2008 we introduced a landmark new model for higher education – known widely as the “Melbourne Model”.
The Melbourne Model - incorporating six broad undergraduate degrees in Arts, Biomedicine, Commerce, Environments, Music and Science – have put us at the forefront of educational reforms in the country.
And the degrees give our students the option of going straight into careers, doing a professional degree or doing a research degree.
The Melbourne Model also brings the graduate school experience to Australia, providing more intense and professionally focused degrees.
In short, the Melbourne Model provides students with a well-rounded education that will help them meet their career aspirations and life goals, not just on completing university, but well into the future.
The Melbourne Model provides our students with a uniquely Melbourne experience that reflects a well-established international trend in higher education in the US, Europe and increasingly across Asia.
This new model will help cement our university among the best universities in the world and will provide our students with a depth in learning and breadth of experience that will best equip them for their future careers.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our people
An internationally focussed university should have internationally recognised teaching staff, right? Well, that’s what you get at Melbourne. Talented and inspiring people from all over the world come to study, work and research here.
Some of the distinguished scholars include: Professor Peter Singer, a Laureate Professor in the Faculty of Arts; and Fellows of the Royal Society, Professors David Solomon and David Boger. That’s in addition to Nobel prize winners — Professor Peter Doherty (Physiology and Medicine) and visiting eminent scholar Professor Sir James Mirrlees (Economic Science).
Watch why current students choose to study at Melbourne
To give you an idea of the range of the high achievers on staff consider this: Professor Margaret Abernethy received the IBM Community and Government Award for her outstanding business skills; Dr Robin Gasser, Associate Dean International in the Faculty of Veterinary Science was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship; and Professor Trevor Kilpatrick, Director of the Centre for Neuroscience and his Multiple Sclerosis Group received the Eureka Prize for Medical Research.
These are the kind of people you want to learn from.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our learning spaces
You really get a sense that Melbourne is interested in not just cutting edge research, but also in the most up-to-date teaching and learning methods.
For example, eLearning studios are designed for collaborative work in small groups and have PCs, laptop interconnectivity and data projectors; eSeminar rooms are designed for seminars and presentations that use a range of different media; iMedia theatres and theatrettes have ‘lecture capture’ that records audio and visual content from lectures making streamed and downloadable versions of these recordings (very handy for those days when you’re unavoidably detained or unable to make it on to campus).
Then there are those spaces specifically designed for particular disciplines. The Engineering Learning Lab supports group and collaborative work. The Law moot court trains future lawyers in using technology to present their cases. Biology labs are equipped with audiovisual equipment so that microscope, video and 35mm slide images can be projected to television monitors so that there’s not a bad seat in the house; and the Information Systems Interaction Design, Evaluation and Analysis (IDEA) laboratory is specially designed for conducting computer user experience tests and interaction research.
Learning is no longer about chalk and talk.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our libraries
The University of Melbourne is proud to lay claim to one of the oldest and largest academic libraries in Australia. It has around 3.6 million holdings in its collection and more than 20 languages are represented. When combined with the large electronic journal and ebook collections that’s a huge amount of information.
The libraries are being upgraded to state of the art learning centres with IT-rich spaces for individual as well as collaborative study. Whether you want to hit the books by yourself or work in a group, you can find space to accommodate you.
The Baillieu is the biggest library on campus and has floors stuffed with resources on art, the humanities and social sciences and undergrad material for physics and mathematics. Then there are the branch libraries, including the state-of-the-art law library with the latest electronic resources for teaching and research, computing facilities and a huge legal collection.
Recently redeveloped as part of the new MDHS precinct, the Brownless Biomedical Library has fantastic spaces suited for both independent and collaborative learning.
Other discipline specific libraries include Architecture, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Veterinary Science, Mathematical Sciences laboratory, the Giblin Economics and Commerce Library, Earth Sciences Laboratory Library and the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our international profile
When choosing a university in which to earn your degree, you want to know that at the end of your study, you can work anywhere in the world.
From this perspective alone, Melbourne is a great choice. It’s consistently ranked among the leading universities in the world, with its international peers placing it in the top 20 worldwide, and employers placing it in the top 10. In the recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings Melbourne was the only Australian university to rank in the top 30 on all surveyed disciplines.
Melbourne's membership of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and U21, as well as involvement in other international business and cultural institutions like the Business Councils for China, India and Malaysia means its reputation precedes it.
With the Melbourne Model now aligning the University with the world’s top universities in Europe, North America and Asia, it’s a great choice for developing the skills and attributes required by employers all over the world.
Melbourne also produces and is associated with scholars of truly international standing.
Nobel Prize winners like Professor Peter Doherty, Professor Sir James Mirrlees and Professor Elizabeth Blackburn and well known academic Professor Peter Singer are among the scholars, visiting scholars and alumni of the University.
In the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2010 Academic Rankings of World Universities, Melbourne was the most rapidly rising university in the Top 100, rising 13 places to 62. The University is ranked second of all Australian universities and fourth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?
Our international opportunities
If you want to do more than think globally, Melbourne is a great place to study.
The fact that Melbourne collaborates with other top universities around the world, through membership of Universitas 21, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and other partnerships, opens up international opportunities for study and collaboration.
Bilateral agreements with international institutions in 35 countries means academic staff from other countries regularly visit and lecture at the University and there are lots of cultural exchange programs and joint research projects.
Melbourne has around 135 exchange partners in over 32 countries around the world. Most students of the University are eligible to apply for an exchange place, so check out your options. Melbourne Global Mobility is the place to go to find out about accessing international study through a range of scholarships, semester-long study abroad programs, short-term programs, single subjects overseas as well as work and internship opportunities. Students from other universities can also undertake part of their studies at the University of Melbourne under the Study Abroad program.
Just one of the great programs available is the jointly funded scholarship offered by the Melbourne Law School and the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. A £5,000 scholarship is offered annually for a Melbourne University Law graduate to study for the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford.
Why not tell your friends about this feature of Melbourne Uni?