Monash University

Overview

Melbourne, Australia-based Monash University is a public research university with a significant international student population and a consistent placer in various world rankings. Monash excels in the fields of biomedicine, engineering and technology, pharmacy and pharmacology, performing arts and law, both in academics and research. Particularly, it gained fame for its works in in vitro fertilization, having delivered the world’s first IVF baby in 1980.

Founded in 1958, the university has grown into a true international university consisting of campuses in Australia, Malaysia, China, Italy, and South Africa, among others. In a given year, Monash would see around 50,000 undergraduate students and more than 22,000 graduate students coming from Australia and over 100 countries.

Monash University was chartered by the Australian Parliament in 1958, initially offering bachelor’s and graduate studies in medicine, science, engineering, economics, arts, education, and law. Its pioneering in vitro fertilization research through the seventies and eighties gave it a solid reputation in the global research scene.

Today, Monash is considered the most internationalized university in Australia. It has produced notable people in politics, science, and entertainment such as: Bill Shorten (leader of the opposition in Australia), Daniel Andrews (premiere of Victoria state), Alan Finkel (chief scientist in Australia), Ian Meredith (Global Chief Medical Officer of the Boston Scientific), David Williamson (playwright) and Doug Chappel (comedian, actor).

Monash University has faculties in engineering, law, business and economics, sciences, art design and architecture, arts, education, pharmaceutical sciences and information technology. It also offers alternative programs like the specialized undergraduate degrees, which provides students with an option to take an equivalent of a one-year bachelor course in smaller classes as an entry point to any of the university’s over 60 degree programs.

Renowned for its in vitro research, Monash has also produced more than 3,000 academic papers in a given year across 150 disciplines. In 2000, it gained another scientific recognition when a team from the university discovered the potential of harvesting nerve stem cells from embryonic stem cells.

The university houses major research facilities such as the Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct, the Australian Synchrotron, the Australian Stem Cell Centre, and a hundred other research centers. The university also has cooperation with 17 research institutes outside its campus.

Monash University is home to several libraries across its campuses hosting more than 3.2 million volumes of work. It also hosts the Monash University Museum of Art with an archive of more than 1,500 works from artists like Arthru Boyd, William Dobell, Howard Arkley, and John Perceval.