The University of Western Australia (UWA) is the State's oldest and most prestigious university. Since its establishment in 1911, UWA has earned an international reputation for excellence and enterprise. It is characterised by the quality of its education across a broad and balanced range of disciplines in the arts, sciences and major professions. UWA is the only Western Australian university to belong to the ‘Group of Eight’, a collaboration of the top research universities in Australia.

The campus at UWA, with its extensively landscaped gardens, is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful in Australia. Located on the banks of the Swan River, the architecture is a harmonized combination of traditional buildings, intermingled with state-of-the-art research facilities, well-equipped lecture theatres and laboratories.

Research Profile

Emphasis on research and research training is a defining characteristic of The University of Western Australia and as such it attracts researchers of international standing across the range of disciplines taught, including leaders in many diverse fields.

Annually the University receives in excess of $101 million of external research income, expends over $166 million on research and graduates over 250 higher degree by research students, mostly doctorates. The University has 85 research centres, including the Crime Research Centre, the Centre for Forensic Science, the Centre for Water Research and the Centre for Oil and Gas. Beyond excellence in teaching and research, UWA is committed towards developing new initiatives and maintaining strong links with industry.

In October 2005 Professor Barry Marshall, a UWA graduate and researcher, and his colleague Dr Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet for their discovery of “the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease”.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Study

UWA’s wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses is continually being developed to ensure the courses reflect the needs of a changing world, and accommodate new research and employment opportunities.

Courses include

• architecture/environmental design, landscape architecture

• arts, music, communication studies, social work, education and law

• biological sciences, biomedical science, molecular biology and biotechnology, genetics, nanotechnology

• commerce and economics

• computer science, information technology

• engineering, including petroleum, oil and gas, microelectronics, information and communication technology

• physical sciences

• medicine and dentistry, health science, podiatric medicine

• psychology

• natural and agricultural sciences, including conservation biology and management, agricultural economics, genetics and breeding and wildlife management.

A range of options are available for double degrees and a mid-year entry is available in most courses offered.

Support for students

The extensive student support offered by UWA complements the university experience and contributes directly to the welfare and well-being of the students. Services available include:

• personal and educational counselling as well as short courses in learning research skills, academic and assignment writing;

• a careers centre – vocational counselling and long term career planning and short term, part-time and casual job opportunities;

• a University Medical Centre;

• a Housing and Financial Aid office;

• a mentor scheme where new students are matched with a senior student for support and guidance;

• religious groups and facilities – UWA has a Muslim prayer room and wash facilities on campus.

Learning support on campus is excellent with extensive study space in the University’s many libraries and extremely good computing services where students have remote access to the university network.

Accommodation

There are five residential halls and colleges at UWA offering accommodation to international students. These are located on the main campus of the University. Accommodation includes a single study/bedroom, all meals and amenities rooms and libraries. Private accommodation is abundantly available close to campus.

The UWA Foundation Year

The UWA Foundation Year is taught by Taylors College Perth at the newly acquired UWA Claremont satellite campus and prepares international students for entry into undergraduate courses at UWA. The course is designed especially for international students to provide a successful academic bridge between studies in their home country and undergraduate studies in Australia.