Employer Profile

Institution Description:

The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching institutions. We strive for excellence through the creation, preservation, transfer and application of knowledge. For more than a century, we have educated and worked with outstanding people to deliver knowledge leadership for a better world.

World rankings

UQ ranks among the world’s top universities, as measured by several key independent rankings, including the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2017 (35)*, the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities (41), US News Best Global Universities Rankings (45), QS World University Rankings (48), Academic Ranking of World Universities (55), and Times Higher Education World University Rankings (65).

More than 164 UQ staff (including honorary and adjunct appointments) and emeritus professors are Fellows of Australia’s learned academies, which include AAS, AAHMS, ASSA, ATSE, and AAH.

UQ is one of only three Australian members of the global Universitas 21, a founding member of the Group of Eight (Go8) universities, and a member of Universities Australia.

Teaching and learning excellence

Skilled and motivated teachers are integral to providing positive teaching and learning outcomes for students.

UQ has a strong focus on teaching excellence, having won more Australian Awards for University Teaching than any other in the country and attracting the majority of Queensland's highest academic achievers, as well as top interstate and overseas students.

The educators of UQ are committed to excellence in learning experiences and outcomes for their students.

edX

In late 2013, UQ joined edX – the world’s leading consortium of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), jointly founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

UQ is one of only two Australian charter member universities included in the not-for-profit edX enterprise, and UQx represents this organisation on behalf of the University. UQx works with the University’s academic teaching staff to create and present a range of MOOCs through the edX platform and to further the goals of the UQ Student Strategy with respect to on-campus teaching.

UQx has 47 MOOCs running on edX with more under development. UQx MOOCs cover subjects drawn from many disciplines along with meta-skills courses in employability and teamwork. Since releasing its first course on edX in March 2014, UQx has registered more than 1.8 million participants representing every country.

Student experience

The Student Employability Centre provides students with opportunities, choices and support that will enable them to achieve their individual aspirations, to become leaders in their chosen fields and to positively impact on the society in which they live. In addition to flexibility in program choice, student benefits include the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of extracurricular activities during their studies. Students can study abroad, participate in conferences and research opportunities, access more than 200 clubs and societies, and utilise sporting and cultural facilities.

In 2017, the University had more than 52,000 students including 15,400 international students from 141 nations. UQ’s more than 16,400 postgraduate students include one of Australia's largest PhD cohorts, celebrating its 13,000th PhD graduation in 2017.

UQ is continually discovering and practising innovative approaches to fostering student retention and employability. The University works towards and achieves its strategic objectives by developing ways to engage students – and by pursuing best-practice inductions and student experiences.

Notable alumni

The University’s outstanding 250,000-plus alumni include a Nobel laureate, two Fortune 500 company CEOs, an Academy Award winner, and leaders in government, law, science, public service and the arts. The University celebrates its alumni as its greatest assets. Their achievements make the University great and, in return, the University will work hard to strengthen its reputation.

Research focus

The UQ Graduate School offers significant support to higher degree by research (HDR) students through a broad range of scholarships and research travel awards, dedicated office spaces, skills training, and professional development opportunities. The University introduced the Career Development Framework– another first nationally – designed to accelerate HDR students’ career development and enhance their employability. Evidence indicates that the University’s research excels in both quality and impact.

The Federal Government’s 2015 Excellence in Research for Australia exercise confirmed UQ as one of the nation’s top three universities, measured by the quality of its comprehensive range of specialised research fields. UQ’s outstanding critical mass offers researchers significant interdisciplinary capability. The assessment rated 100 per cent of UQ’s broad fields of research at or above world standard.

Over the last five years UQ has attracted more Australian Research Council funding for discovery and early-career research than any other Australian university. With three major campuses – located at St Lucia and Herston in Brisbane, and Gatton in South East Queensland – the University has invested substantially in construction and development, helping create great environments in which to study and research. UQ is committed to developing state-of-the-art learning spaces that are in step with industry demands and expectations.

UQ has established eight research institutes, many with a multidisciplinary focus:

• Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
• Global Change Institute
• Institute for Molecular Bioscience
• Institute for Social Science Research
• Mater Research Institute-UQ
• Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
• Queensland Brain Institute
• Sustainable Minerals Institute.

UQ is also a partner in the Translational Research Institute (TRI) – an Australian-first that represents the future in biomedical research. TRI has the capacity to discover, produce, test and manufacture new treatments and vaccines in one location.

In 2016, UQ attracted more than $368 million in research funding from government, industry and community sources. The University is also grateful to the many alumni and community members who donate towards teaching and research initiatives.

UniQuest, established by UQ in 1984, is one of Australia’s leading research commercialisation companies. UniQuest’s innovation portfolio includes Australia's first blockbuster vaccine Gardasil®, pioneer pain drug developer Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, the internationally acclaimed Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, and UQ’s superconductor technology, which is used in two-thirds of the world's MRI machines.

* This ranking reflects P, P (top 10%) and PP (top 10%) impact indicators using fractional counting.