Griffith University

Overview

Griffith University is a public research university located in Queensland, Australia. The university was founded in 1971 and officially opened to students in 1975. It was named after Australia’s first Chief Justice, Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, who had a key role in drafting the country’s constitution.

Griffith offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs in a wide range of disciplines. These are Architecture, construction and planning; Business and government; Criminology and law; Education; Engineering, IT and aviation; Humanities, languages and social science; Medicine, dentistry and health; Music and performing arts; Science and environment; and Visual and creative arts. The university was the first to offer degrees in environmental science and Asian studies.

Postgraduate programs are also offered under the same disciplines. Students can choose from degrees such as Master of Advanced Health Services Management; Master of Cyber Security; Master of Environmental Engineering; Graduate Certificate in Visual Arts; Graduate Certificate in Business; and Graduate Diploma of Criminological Research Studies.

Griffith is a research-intensive university and ranks in the top 2% of universities worldwide. It maintains an extensive network of more than 20 research institutes and centers. The university research institutes include the Environmental Futures Research Institute; Menzies Health Institute Queensland; Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery; Griffith Institute for Educational Research; and the Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies Institute.

The university’s centers also contribute to degrees by providing students access to the latest knowledge in their respective fields. Centers include the Center for Quantum Dynamics; the Center for Work, Organisation, and Well Being; and the Centre for Governance and Public Policy.

Griffith University was officially created and recognized by the Queensland Government through the Assent to Griffith University Act 1971. It had 451 students enrolled in the Humanities, Science, Modern Asian Studies, and Australian Environmental Studies. Since its early years, Griffith has been using a “problem-based” approach for its course design and research instead of the traditional disciplinary approach.

Today, the university has more than 50,000 students and six campuses including a Digital campus that houses more than 100 degrees that can be taken fully online or mixed with on-campus hours. Griffith received the seventh-highest student satisfaction rating among Australian universities in the 2019 Student Experience Survey (SES).

Griffith University has a long list of notable alumni spread in the fields of politics, arts, sports, business, and journalism among others. These include five-time ARIA award winner, Katie Noonan; renowned First Peoples artist, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins; a leading scientist in Malaria research, Professor Alan Cowman; and Australia's pop icon, Dami Im.