The University of Western Australia was established in 1911 following the proposals by a royal commission in September 1910. The original campus was located on Irwin Street in the center of Perth which received its first students in March 1913 and consisted of several buildings situated between St Georges Terrace and Hay Street.
About The University of Western Australia
History
A remnant of the original buildings survives in the form of the Irwin Street Building, called after its prior location.n It was transported to the new campus in the 1930s and its restoration was funded in 1987 by Convocation, and later it was moved across campus to James Oval.
The Convocation Council meeting room has been accommodated in the northern end of the building since then, while the remainder is used for meeting rooms and change rooms of the cricket pavilion.
The building has been heritage-listed by both the Australian Heritage Council and the National Trust. Architect Rodney Alsop won the bronze medal for his Winthrop Hall from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1932.
The university introduced the degree in Doctorate of Philosophy in 1946 and made its first award to Warwick Bottomley in October 1950 for his research of the chemistry of native plants in Western Australia.
You May Also Search: Top Universities in the USA
Campus
University of Western Australia is the largest landowner in Perth by government and private bequests and constantly expanding its infrastructure. Recent developments include the $22 million University Club and Water Sports Complex and its $64 million Molecular and Chemical Sciences building opened in 2005, and a $31 million Business School building opened in 2008.
The Crawley campus sits 160 acres about 5 kilometers west of Perth on the Swan River central business district. The Arts Faculty building encompasses the New Fortune Theatre first occupied in 1964. The university’s cultural precinct is located on the north side of the Crawley campus. The UWA Conservatorium of Music hosts several concerts by students and visiting artists each year, including a series of free lunchtime concerts.
The Berndt Museum of Anthropology in the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery houses one of the most important collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural materials in the world. Its Asian and Melanesian collections are also of considerable interest. It was founded by Ronald and Catherine Brandt in 1976.
Libraries
The campus of the University of Western Australia includes five libraries, including the architecturally recognized Reid Library building, which is the largest library on campus. The other libraries are the Barry J Marshall Library, the Beasley Law Library, the J Robin Warren Library, and the Education, Architecture, Fine Arts Library.
Residential colleges and additional student accommodation buildings located near the campus include University Hall, St Catherine’s College, Trinity Residential College, St George’s College, and St Thomas More College. St Catherine’s College also offers short stays for nonstudents. The colleges are adjacent to each other and run parallel to the main campus.
Students at the UWA refer to the location of the college, which runs along a common road, as “College Row”. All the colleges are co-educational and host several inter-college events throughout the year, in which residents of different hostels compete against each other in a selection of events.
The University established the UWA Albany Center to address the needs of rural education in 1999. Curtin University of Technology joined UWA in Albany in 2005 to offer additional courses to the local rural community. The university owns nearly every parcel of land between them and has long-term plans to expand the two sites into each other.
Research
The university attracted more competitive research funding than any other Western Australian university. Annually the university receives more than $71 million in external research income, spends more than $117 million on research, and earns more than 300 advanced degrees from research students, mostly doctorates.
The university has more than 80 research centers and institutes, including the Oceans Institute, the Energy and Minerals Institute, the Center for Energy, and the Center for Software Practice. The university also secured funding from the state government for an international center for radio astronomy research.
You May Also Search: Top Universities in the UK
Faculties and Schools
Each school at UWA represents an educational journey of collaboration, learning, and shaping future leaders in their respective fields. Our full teaching staff plays an important role in guiding this process. From science to the arts, from health to business, our schools provide a dynamic environment where innovation thrives and knowledge grows.
- Dental School
- Business School
- Graduate School of Education
- Graduate Research School
- Medical School
- Oceans Graduate School
- Law School
- School of Design
- School of Engineering
- School of Humanities
- School of Social Sciences
Administration and Organization
- Robert French, Chancellor
- Amit Chakma, Vice Chancellor
Academics
The university’s degree structure changed in 2012 to consolidate the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees available. The justification for this new system lies in its simplicity and effectiveness among outsiders who understand the system. It is the first university to have this new system in Western Australia.
Undergraduate-level students entering the university must choose a three-year bachelor’s degree. The university offers a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, and Bachelor of Arts. As of 2017, the Bachelor of Design was no longer offered to first-year non-students.
Rankings and Reputations
University Western Australia ranking by QS World University ranked consistently in the top 100 universities along with US News World University rankings. The Academic Ranking of World Universities has also consistently ranked the University of Western Australia in the top 100 universities.
UWA was ranked 85th in the world in 2022, based on overall performance in QS, THE, and ARWU, as reported by the Top Universities Overall Rankings report. Student Guild in UWA is the premier student representative body on campus. Guild offers a variety of services from catering to financial consulting.
There are also over 100 societies and clubs funded by and affiliated with the Guild. UWA has had a publishing arm since 1935, when the university was the only tertiary campus in Western Australia. It was renamed UWA Publishing in 2009.
You May Also Search: Top Universities in the Japan
Fees Structure
| Bachelor | Foreign | $5884/ year |
| Local | $1471/ year | |
| Master | Foreign | $6136/ year |
| Local | $7537/ year | |
| Doctorate | Foreign | $22547/ year |
| Local | $27765/ year |
Notable Alumni
- Bob Hawke, prime minister
- Robert French, Chief Justice Australian High Court
- Kim Beazley, Deputy Prime Minister
- Barry Marshall, Nobel Prize laureate
- Sir Rod Eddington, CEO of British Airways and Ansett Airlines
- Kookaburras, hockey captain
You May Also Search: Top Universities in China
Contact Us
Tel: +61 8 6488 6000
Official Website: www.uwa.edu.au
Address: 35 Stirling Highway, Perth WA, 6009 Australia
Related:
FAQs (Frequently Ask Questions)
Is the UWA good for international students?
The University of Western Australia is a leading university with a strong reputation for research, innovation, and academic excellence.
Is Perth a good place to live?
Perth is an ideal destination for international students and is regularly ranked as the best livable city in the world. Its pleasant affordability and climate are the best things about living in Perth.
What is the minimum GPA for UWA?
Undergraduate students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or 83-86% and graduate students must have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and a required GPA of 50 to 65%.
What are the top 5 universities in Perth?
These five institutions are first-class and main universities in Perth.
- Curtin University
- Edith Cowan University
- Murdoch University
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Western Australia
1 thought on “University of Western Australia”