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Transforming Tasmania
A long history of Tasmanian self-sufficiency has left its mark on UTAS, which now offers the full spectrum of disciplines – no mean feat for a small university in a small state. UTAS is open for business. Open for collaboration. As it grows it takes the State with it – transforming and nurturing cultural and intellectual growth. Not just creating enterprise but shaping the attitudes that will lead others to invest in this shared vision for the State’s future. And UTAS takes this open attitude into the wider world.
We celebrate our University, which continues to make far-reaching educational, cultural and economic contributions to Tasmania and beyond. We are open for business. Open for collaboration.
Nature and human nature
Revolutionising our thinking and changing that of those around us
Tasmania’s renowned environment is not only a wilderness study haven, but an ongoing display of the interactions between nature and human nature. The beautiful State of Tasmania is the smallest and the most southerly of the Australian states. The island state is around the same size as Sri Lanka or Ireland with a population of around 500,000. Separated from the mainland by the 320-kilometre width of Bass Strait, Tasmania’s native flora and fauna have evolved in interestingly different ways from their mainland counterparts, leaving it with many distinctive aspects.
Today, the island geography has become a symbol of independent thought rather than the isolation it once represented. With a diverse landscape and large areas designated as World Heritage or national park, Tasmania is an exciting place for teaching and research on the environment. Some research focuses on the unusual Tasmanian environment, but other aspects have a national or international dimension, especially in comparative studies.
Tasmania offers a wide variety of terrain, from the rugged and mountainous west coast, to the lake-studded highlands of the central plateau, through the green fields of the agricultural midlands, and the clean, sparkling beaches of the eastern coastline.
Forestry research includes seeding and contributing to global projects such as sequencing the eucalypt genome.
Its cities are small and beautiful, combining a strong sense of history with all the conveniences of a modern city.
• Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry
• Centre for Environment
Our heritage and our future The University of Tasmania is one of Australia’s original ‘sandstone’ universities. It is the fourth oldest in the country, and remains the only university in Tasmania. The original University was born on 1 January 1890 – founded by an Act of the Tasmanian Parliament. On 1 January 1991, the Hobart-based University merged with its northerly neighbour, the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology, to form a new University of Tasmania. In its formative years the campus was located on Hobart’s Domain, above the city centre. In the early 1940s it moved to its current home in the suburb of Sandy Bay. The southern campus now encompasses a 100-hectare site in Sandy Bay, about 10 minutes from the city centre. This Hobart campus overlooks the estuary of the River Derwent and has the majestic Mount Wellington as its backdrop. The Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and the Centre for the Arts lie in the heart of Hobart’s cultural precinct. Also in downtown Hobart is the Clinical School of the School of Medicine and the Menzies Research Institute, part of and a new education and research complex that encompasses health sciences. The northern campus is in the suburb of Newnham, looking down to the River Tamar, about 10 minutes from the centre of Tasmania’s second largest city, Launceston. The Academy of the Arts and the School of Architecture are housed in the Inveresk Arts Precinct, an award-winning, 17-hectare inner city site comprising arts studios, galleries, performance spaces, a museum and specialist workshops. Established in 1995, the vibrant Cradle Coast campus in Burnie is the newest campus and caters for researchers and students in the State’s north-west. Also in Burnie is the University’s state-ofthe-art Rural Clinical School.
UTAS advances understanding of the dynamic character of different communities of place and communities of interest. Collaborators appreciate the need to enhance community wellbeing; enable consultation, participation and communication; and promote community action and interaction in the quest to create and maintain sustainable communities. Building on its future and looking to its past...Tasmania has more convict buildings and ruins than anywhere else in Australia . Working on the frontier line of human ethics...dealing with the legal data dilemmas in this age of data collection. • Centre for Colonialism and its Aftermath • Tasmania Law Reform Institute • Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies
• Centre for Law and Genetics • Centre for Aboriginal Education
The duty of a university is to shape attitudes and help reform the society in which we live.
A distinctive institution Microbiology on the macro scale...finding million-year-old organisms encased in ice, measuring air bubbles breathed in Shakespeare’s time. The University of Tasmania is committed to the creation, preservation, communication and application of knowledge. It will express this commitment through scholarship which is international in scope but which also reflects the distinctiveness of Tasmania and serves the needs of its community. UTAS is committed to excellence in all its teaching, research and scholarly activities, and to maintaining an exemplary working, learning and community environment. It also provides professional support and lifelong learning opportunities for its graduates, and seeks to promote the cultural and intellectual enrichment of the wider society. The University remains a highly regarded tertiary institution across national and international benchmarks. UTAS supports, enhances and rewards excellence in teaching. It has been commended for its commitment to assuring quality teaching and learning as well as for the suite of activities designed to support student access, participation and transition.
The hub for the International Antarctic Institute, UTAS is also the gateway to the Antarctic. It provides the infrastructure necessary for research and collaboration on the great Southern continent, as well as providing much of the ideological impetus. UTAS is a leader in oceanic policy and maritime security issues...research that touches every nation with a coastline. UTAS also continues to be an innovator in aquaculture – hatching the first baby rock lobster in the world. • Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute • Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies • Centre for Marine Science • Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC
Connected and contemporary in technology Local research with global significance
Research is an integral part of UTAS, contributing to its identity and sense of purpose. It is one of the top 10 research universities in Australia, a ranking that enhances links with national and international partners.
The future is in our sights ...our research into frontier technologies embraces the innovative sciences and technologies that stimulate growth in world-class Australian industries. UTAS stands on the cutting-edge of nanotechnology, biotechnology and communications.
Growth in the University’s research activities not only boosts the Tasmanian economy, it also increases the State’s ‘stock of knowledge’. UTAS is steadily increasing the percentage of Tasmania’s population who are university graduates, a trend which boosts salaries, spending and quality of life in Tasmania.
Smart data use...delving into innovation and its uptake as well as the use of digital technologies... the technology underpinning everything from effective data management to the use of digital media in the generation of creative works.
Its quality research findings not only influence other researchers but also have a direct and material influence on the lives of local, national and international communities. UTAS honours such significant research. A the same time it is not so utilitarian as to demand that all of its explorations have immediate relevance and applicability. Undertaking fundamental research, where the frontiers of knowledge are advanced purely for the sake of knowledge, has always been a vital role for universities and should remain so. It is this knowledge and its growth that takes us, as a society, into the future. The challenges we face are far from simple. Yet for those who are excited by the search for the unknown, the joy of discovery and insight is their reward.
The emerging world of microfluidics is a visionary one...mastering and manipulating materials on the microscopic level, this is research that will revolutionise forensic testing, biological examinations, pharmaceutical research and security. UTAS astronomers are our planet hunters and stargazers, looking above to give us knowledge of our own history. • Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science • Australian Innovation Research Centre
Never say never, the possibilities are endless
UTAS is dedicated to creating a flexible and innovative learning environment. Its encouragement of deep learning encompasses all its students as well as supporting continual professional development for staff. The University offers a flexible learning and teaching environment across its three campuses. As the students of today combine study with work and family commitments, this approach gives students more choice about where, how and when they learn and gives them more control over their learning. Flexible approaches also cater for different learning styles, facilitate workplace learning, professional practice and other off-campus experiences, and they encourage independent and lifelong learning. UTAS has a strong commitment to developing a range of generic attributes in its graduates, irrespective of the course they complete. Communication and problem-solving skills combined with a global perspective, intercultural competence and a strong sense of social responsibility are all hallmarks of a UTAS graduate. 10
Creating life-changing, life-shaping experiences that last our students a lifetime 11
An international focus UTAS is truly an international university working out of Tasmania. While it maintains a strongly Tasmanian identity, its programs and research are genuinely international in vision and standards.
An international university working out of Tasmania 12
The trend towards globalisation has largely defeated the isolation traditionally associated with an antipodean location. UTAS now plays a major role in helping Tasmania meet the challenge of internationalisation, maintaining a vision set on international rather than regional horizons. At UTAS there are staff and students from more than 70 countries. The University values the presence of its international students and is proud of the services it is able to offer them. Special academic and English-language support is available, along with extensive social assistance, including help in finding accommodation and information about Australian society. Formal links with other universities outside Australia bear witness to the University of Tasmania’s international standard and reputation. The University now has a large number of links and associations in Asia, as well as North America, the UK and Europe. 13
A local commitment Providing and protecting the sustenance for a nation... integrating new ideas with farming methods as old as humankind
As the State’s only university, UTAS makes its responsibilities towards the Tasmanian community a high priority and works with local and national providers to improve health, education and public policy. It thrives on developing positive relationships and partnerships – business, intellectual and cultural.
Australia’s primary industries are a mainstay of its economy and its culture. UTAS researchers develop and promote agribusiness, agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, forestry and mining.
The University of Tasmania’s partnership with the Tasmanian State Government fosters growth, and is a unique collaboration that has become a model for other states in Australia.
UTAS geologists delve deep into the heart of the world to discover and manage its resources.
Its award-winning development of University activity in the north-west, through the Cradle Coast campus, has been achieved through involvement with the Cradle Coast Authority, an authority created to drive and coordinate regional development. The structure that defines UTAS is also inextricably linked with the local community. The University Council, the governing body for UTAS, is made up of highly regarded Tasmanian professionals.
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Pioneers in food safety and security... following the logistics along the journey from the paddock to the plate. Intense industry partnerships thrive in this area, as business and research move towards creating energy-efficient opportunities. • Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits • Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research • Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence
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Our family Our family includes around 50,000 graduates who are now scattered all over the globe. They are linked by the education and experiences at the University of Tasmania that provided a foundation on which to build careers and lives.
Alumni The University of Tasmania Alumni is an organisation that enables graduates to network, to strengthen links to their University, and to further the relationship between the University and the wider community. The UTAS Alumni has a deep commitment towards our State’s most valuable resource – an educated and skilled community. It is this shared vision that helps UTAS continue to grow and support excellence.
Tasmania Scholarships The Tasmania Scholarships program supports the University’s commitment to offer students an exemplary learning environment. It attracts talented students, both locally, nationally and internationally. Industry contributions now make up the backbone of the Tasmania Scholarships program. The development and growth of this initiative into one of the most successful sponsored programs in the country is exceptional by any standard. Around 10 per cent of all domestic students at UTAS receive some sort of scholarship or financial assistance.
University of Tasmania Foundation The success of the scholarships program mirrors the success of the University of Tasmania Foundation. The significant number of scholarships offered under the program are available because of generous endowments and sponsorships provided through the UTAS Foundation, which works with alumni, business and governments to encourage financial support for our students. The UTAS Foundation has now become an important cornerstone of the University. Its success is best demonstrated in the growth over the past 10 years of the scholarship funds it manages, from virtually nothing in 1994 to more than $20 million by the end of 2006.
Health and population research thrives in the model microcosm that is our island state. UTAS research and teaching programs utilise the advantages of working with the Tasmanian population, which has unique characteristics from being dispersed in a rural island environment. Everything from the study of human experience and behaviour, the examination of continued nutrition and fitness to the logistics of rural health fall under the microscope at UTAS. Healthy living through education... health promotion and the social and economic factors that determine human health and wellbeing. Collaborating with our community in world-class, ground-breaking population health research. • The Menzies Research Institute
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We have a symbiotic relationship with our community...and our community takes our story to the world. 17
Burnie Launceston
Ta s m a n i a Hobart
www.utas.edu.au University of Tasmania Telephone +61 3 6226 2521 Facsimile: +61 3 6226 2018
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Private Bag 40, Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Australia