Achievements
UniSA has a proud history of achievement. These are some recent highlights.
- Our students and graduates
- Our Research
- Institutional Awards and Rankings
- Our Staff
- Our infrastructure
Our students and graduates
In 2011, we graduated more than 9,100 students with qualifications that are designed with strong professional emphasis, and in close partnership with industry
In 2011, 79 per cent of the University of South Australia's graduates were in full-time employment, which rates above the national average (77 per cent), and more than 90 per cent of our graduates now in full-time work are employed in professional occupations (compared to 81 per cent nationally).
More than 20 past and present University of South Australia students received awards in the 2012 Australia Day Honours.
UniSA graduate Julian Burton was named South Australia's Australian of the Year for 2010 by the Australia Day Council.
UniSA student Tessa Henwood-Mitchell was the 2010 City of Adelaide Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year.
Our Research
In the inaugural Excellence in Research for Australia assessment conducted by the Federal Government and released in 2011:
- Seventy per cent of UniSA's assessed research was judged to be of world-class standard, or above
- UniSA was one of only two universities in Australia to receive the highest rating (well above world standard) in chemical sciences, and one of only five to achieve that result in physical chemistry
- There were strong outcomes recorded across all of UniSA's divisions and discipline clusters
In the highly-competitive Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) scheme, the University of South Australia was ranked number two in Australia (behind the University of Melbourne) for income received from the Commonwealth Government.
The University of South Australia has been named an Essential Partner in the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre. The CRC will invest $2m over four years to advance research into the effects of online social marketing on the safety and wellbeing of young people.
University of South Australia researchers have been granted $2.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council to support research targeted at ensuring both medicines and medical implants are used more safely in the Australian community.
The five-year research project to be led by
Associate Professor Libby Roughhead from UniSA’s Sansom Institute for
Health Research, will tackle the costly problems of adverse events of
medicines and failures, or adverse effects from medical implants and
devices.
Science Excellence Awards – Three of the University of
South Australia’s researchers have been recognised in the
2012 South
Australian Science Excellence Awards:
• Dr Stephanie Reuter Lange won the PhD
Research Excellence Award for Health and Medical Sciences for her work
investigating the importance of the amino acid carnitine for kidney dialysis
patients and people with chronic fatigue syndrome
• Dr Christopher Raymond won the PhD Research Excellence
Award for Life and Environmental Sciences for his work in natural resource
management planning with rural landholders
• Dr Drew Evans won the People’s Choice Award for his
advanced materials research and expertise in thin film coatings for
commercial applications
2012 Tall Poppy Science Awards – Three University of South Australia researchers were named as winners at the 2012 Tall Poppy Science Awards:
• Dr Russell Brinkworth (Mechatronics) – biologically
inspired cameras
• Dr Hannah Keage – (Cognitive Neuroscience) early life
prevention and physiological symptoms of dementia
• Dr Grant Tomkinson (Children’s Health) – obesity
treatment in children
Institutional Awards and Rankings
In the 2011 QS World University Rankings, the University of South Australia ranked 11th in Australia and equal 256th (in the top three per cent) out of more than 10,000 universities worldwide. It also achieved the fastest rise in the Rankings of any Australian university for the second consecutive year, and was rated in the world's top 100 universities on the QS Rankings' employer reputation index.
It is ranked 14th in Australia for research income, and 13th in Discovery Grants funding in terms of number of projects (14th in dollars awarded).
In 2011, 69 per cent of the University’s academic staff held a doctoral qualification, compared to 64 per cent nationally. UniSA is ranked 7th in the nation on the proportion of academic staff with this qualification.
In 2012, our MBA program was again awarded five stars by the Graduate Management Association of Australia, making it one of only three MBAs in Australia to be awarded five stars for five consecutive years.
Among global institutions aged 50 years or less, UniSA sits 23rd in the QS World Rankings and 65th in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings.
For the tenth consecutive year, the University of South Australia has been acknowledged as an Employer of Choice for Women by the Commonwealth Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. UniSA was one of only three organisations in South Australia to receive the award in 2012.
Our Staff
Professor Robyn Layton, Adjunct Professor at our School of Law, was appointed an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2012 Australia Day Honours for her service to the law, and to the judiciary. She was also South Australia's nominee for 2012 Australian of the Year.
Three UniSA academics were awarded the Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2012 Australia Day Honours - Emeritus Professor Alan Reid (School of Education), Adjunct Professor Rhonda Sharp (Hawke Research Institute), and Adjunct Associate Professor Patricia Trott (School of Health Sciences).
Ms Elizabeth Ho, Director of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division (OAM) in the 2012 Honours for her service to education, and to women.
Emeritus Professor Mary Barton, a staff member at the University of South Australia for more than 15 years, was awarded an AO in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours for distinguished service to veterinary science and public health as a research and diagnostic microbiologist, and to education through academic and administrative roles.
Dr Craig Priest, a microfluidic and interfacial chemistry expert at UniSA's Ian Wark Research Institute, was named 2011 SA Young Tall Poppy of the Year for scientific excellence. In 2010, the SA Young Tall Poppy of the Year award was won by Dr Gabrielle Todd (School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences).
Professor Andrew Gilbert (School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences) was honoured as the 2011 Recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia's Excellence Awards.
Our infrastructure
The University of South Australia is investing more than $1 billion over coming years in new physical and virtual infrastructure to ensure our students and staff have access to the most up-to-date facilities and services.
These projects include:
- The new $50 million Materials and Minerals Science Learning and Research facility at our Mawson Lakes campus, completed in 2011 and formally opened by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans on August 6, 2012
- The new $85 million City West Student Learning Centre and associated projects, work on which has begun in Hindley Street and is due to be operational by 2014
- Development and delivery of a new $11 million Personal Learning Environment on-line student and staff resource, which represents the largest IT project undertaken in the University's history
- Establishment in 2011 of UniSA College in Currie Street, which is providing a pathway to learning for people who have not traditionally accessed university education
We have also invested more than $6 million to ensure that all of our undergraduate programs include exposure to research, practice-based learning, or service to the community.