From the Vice-Chancellor

The University is an institution grounded in excellence, continuing to produce many of our leaders, captains of industry, musicians, artists, internationally-renowned researchers, and on occasion, even a sporting champion.

Melbourne Arts student and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Marieke Guehrer this year joined the ranks of other notable alumni, including Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn, former and current Prime Ministers, and former High Court judge Michael Kirby.

The common traits in these remarkable people are their drive to excel and their passion for their chosen fields – traits which were encouraged and nurtured during their time as students of this public-spirited institution.

The University nurtures the development of the whole person. Self-discipline is needed for success in self-directed study. The challenge of studying with peers who are academic equals drives our students to pursue excellence.

Melbourne also strives to instil in its graduates a commitment to life-long learning and to make them clear, critical and creative thinkers. Regardless of their eventual career, they develop flexible and transferable attributes essential to their continued successes.

Our new curriculum sees our undergraduates study subjects from outside their faculties to broaden their educational experience and give them the time and opportunity to discover what they’re passionate about. The most successful of our graduates cite this passion for their work as critical to their success.

Many of them go on to teach and research at the University. This translates into a quality of teaching and learning at Melbourne that continues to inspire future students.

Our teachers are academic leaders, whose research work and research-led teaching meant the University was recognised as Australia’s top university in the Times Higher Education’s 2010 rankings, which placed us first in teaching, research and citations.

The work of our research staff brought significant research funding into the University.

Late last year, the Australian Research Council (ARC) awarded us $21 million to establish Stem Cells Australia (SCA), an initiative which will position Australia as a major world player in stem cell research, as well as $25 million to develop a Centre of Excellence to explore the origins of the universe.

These experts also share their work with the Melbourne community through public lectures and events, including the biennial Festival of Ideas that we will hold again this year, and will see many members of the public come to the University to watch some of Australia’s leading academics and thinkers tackle the big problems facing the nation. 

It’s this confluence of a broad and challenging curriculum, nurturing passion and a drive to excel, and striving and thriving in a challenging academic environment that leads our students to becoming leaders in their fields.

It’s these attributes that will see our current students become the next generation of leaders.

John Dewar
Acting Vice-Chancellor