About Australian National University

The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Located in the suburb of Acton, the main campus encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national institutes.

Founded in 1946, it is the only university to have been created by the Parliament of Australia. Originally a postgraduate research university, ANU commenced undergraduate teaching in 1960 when it integrated the Canberra University College, which had been established in 1929 as a campus of the University of Melbourne. ANU enrolls 10,052 undergraduate and 10,840 postgraduate students and employs 3,753 staff. The university's endowment stood at A$1.13 billion in 2012.

ANU is consistently ranked among the world's top universities. ANU is ranked co-equal 19th in the world (first in Australia) with King's College London by the 2015/16 QS World University Rankings, and 45th in the world (second in Australia) by the 2014/15 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In the 2014 Times Higher Education Global Employability University Ranking, an annual ranking of university graduates' employability, ANU was ranked 20th in the world (first in Australia). ANU is ranked 89th (first in Australia) in the 2015 Leiden ranking. ANU is ranked first in the 4 Palmes category in the Eduniversal ranking. ANU is positioned in the Top 10% in teaching, Top 10% in international outlook and Top 10% in research in the world in 2016.

ANU counts six Nobel laureates among its faculty and alumni. 94% of ANU research is rated as 'above world standard' by Australian Government's Excellence in Research for Australia Report 2012. Students entering ANU in 2013 had a median Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 93, the equal-highest among Australian universities. ANU was named the world's 7th most international university in a 2014 study by Times Higher Education.

History of ANU. 

Post War Origins.

Calls for the establishment of a national university in Australia began as early as 1900. After the location of the nation's capital, Canberra, was determined in 1908, land was set aside for the university at the foot Black Mountain in the city designs by Walter Burley Griffin. Planning for the university was disrupted by World War II but resumed with the creation of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction in 1942, ultimately leading to the passage of the Australian National University Act 1946 by the Parliament of Australia on 1 August 1946.

A group of eminent Australian scholars returned from overseas to join the university, including Sir Howard Florey (co-developer of medicinal penicillin), Sir Mark Oliphant (a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project), Sir Keith Hancock (the Chichele Professor of Economic History at Oxford) and Sir Raymond Firth (a professor of anthropology at LSE). Economist Sir Douglas Copland was appointed as ANU's first Vice-Chancellor and former Prime Minister Stanley Bruce served as the first Chancellor. ANU was originally organised into four centres—the Research Schools of Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Pacific Studies and the John Curtin School of Medical Research.

The first resident's hall, University House, was opened in 1954 for faculty members and postgraduate students. Mount Stromlo Observatory, established by the federal government in 1924, became part of ANU in 1957. The first locations of the ANU Library, the Menzies and Chifley buildings, opened in 1963. The Australian Forestry School, located in Canberra since 1927, was amalgamated by ANU in 1965.

Canberra University College.

Canberra University College (CUC) was the first institution of higher education in the national capital, having been established in 1929 and enrolling its first undergraduate pupils in 1930.Its founding was led by Sir Robert Garran, one of the drafters of the Australian Constitution and the first Solicitor-General of Australia. CUC was affiliated with the University of Melbourne and its degrees were granted by that university. Academic leaders at CUC included historian Manning Clark, political scientist Finlay Crisp, poet A. D. Hope and economist Heinz Arndt.

In 1960, CUC was integrated into ANU as the School of General Studies, initially with faculties in arts, economics, law and science.[3] Faculties in Oriental studies and engineering were introduced later. Bruce Hall, the first residential college for undergraduates, opened in 1961.