Monash University

Monash University  is a university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the State of  Victoria. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL, and is the only Australian member of the influential M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies. Monash is one of two Australian universities to be ranked in the The École des Mines de Paris (Mines ParisTech) ranking on the basis of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies. Monash is in the Top 20% in teaching, Top 10% in international outlook, Top 20% in industry income and Top 10% in research in the world in 2016. Monash enrolls approximately 45,000 undergraduate and 17,000 graduate students, making it the university with the largest student body in Australia. It also has more applicants than any university in the state of Victoria. 

Monash is home to major research facilities, including the Australian Synchrotron, the Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct (STRIP), the Australian Stem Cell Center, 100 research centres and 17 co-operative research centers. In 2011, its total revenue was over $1.5 billion, with external research income around $282 million.

The university has a number of centers, five of which are in Victoria (Clayton, Caulfield, Berwick, Peninsula, and Parkville), one in Malaysia. Monash also has a research and teaching centre in Prato, Italy, a graduate research school in Mumbai, India and a graduate school in Jiangsu Province, China. Since December 2011, Monash has had a global alliance with the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Monash University courses are also delivered at other locations, including at Monash South Africa.

History:

Monash was established by an Act of the State Parliament of Victoria in 1958 as a result of the Murray Report, which was commissioned in 1957 by then Prime Minister Robert Menzies to establish the second university in the state of Victoria. The university was named after the prominent Australian general Sir John Monash. This was the first university in Australia to be named after a person, rather than a city, region or state.

One of the lakes at the University's main campus, Clayton

The original campus was in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Clayton (in what is now the City of Monash). The first University Council, led by Monash's first Chancellor Sir Robert Blackwood, selected Sir Louis Matheson, to be the first Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, a position he held until 1976. The University was granted an expansive site of 100 hectares of open land in Clayton.The 100 hectares of land consists of the former Talbot Epileptic Colony.

From its first intake of 357 students at Clayton on 13 March 1961, the university grew rapidly in size and student numbers so that by 1967, it had enrolled more than 21,000 students since its establishment. In its early years, it offered undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in engineering, medicine, science, arts, economics, politics, education, and law. It was a major provider for international student places under the Colombo Plan, which saw the first Asian students enter the Australian education system.

In its early years of teaching, research and administration, Monash was not disadvantaged by entrenched traditional practices. Monash was able to adopt modern approaches without resistance from those who preferred the status quo. A modern administrative structure was set up; Australia's first research centres and scholarships devoted to Indigenous Australians were established.

1970s onwards From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Monash became the center of student radicalism in Australia. It was the site of many mass student demonstrations, particularly concerning Australia's role in Vietnam War and conscription. By the late 1960s, several student organisations, some of which were influenced by or supporters of communism, turned their focus to Vietnam, with numerous blockades and sit-ins In one extraordinary event that came to be known as the Monash Siege, students forced then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to hide in a basement at the Alexander Theatre, in a major protest over the Whitlam dismissal.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, some of Monash's most publicised research came through its pioneering of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Led by Professors Carl Wood and Alan Trounson, the Monash IVF Program achieved the world's first clinical IVF pregnancy in 1973. In 1980, they delivered the first IVF baby in Australia. This eventually became a massive source of revenue for the University at a time when university funding in Australia was beginning to slow down.

In the late 1980s, the Dawkins Reforms changed the landscape of higher education in Australia. Under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Mal Logan, Monash transformed dramatically. In 1988, Monash University had only one campus in Clayton, with around 15,000 students. Just over a decade later, it had 8 campuses (including 2 overseas), a European research and teaching center, and more than 50,000 students, making it the largest and most internationalized Australian university.

Expansion in the 1990s:

Expansion of the University began in 1990 with a series of mergers between Monash, the Chisholm Institute of Technology, and the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education. In 1991 a merger with the Victorian College of Pharmacy created a new faculty of the University. This continued in 1994, with the establishment of the Berwick campus.

In 1998, the University opened the Malaysia campus, its first overseas campus and the first foreign university in Malaysia. In 2001, Monash South Africa opened its doors in Johannesburg, making Monash the first foreign university in South Africa. The same year, the University secured an 18th Century Tuscan Palace to open a research and teaching center in Prato, Italy.

At the same time, Australian universities faced unprecedented demand for international student places, which Monash met on a larger scale than most. Today, around 30% of its students are from outside Australia. Monash students come from over 100 different countries, and speak over 90 different languages. The increase in international students, combined with the University's expansion, meant that Monash's income greatly increased throughout the 1990s, and it is now one of Australia's top 200 exporters.

2000 inwards:

In recent years, the University has been prominent in medical research. A highlight of this came in 2000, when Professor Alan Trounson led the team of scientists which announced to the world that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells, a discovery which led to a dramatic increase in interest in the potential of stem cells. It has also led to Monash being ranked in the top 20 universities in the world for bio medicine.

On 21 October 2002 Huan Yun "Allen" Xiang, shot two people dead and injured five others on the Clayton campus.

The former Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University was Professor Edward Byrne AC (from 6 July 2009 to September 2014).[36] The Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University is Professor Margaret Gardner. Gardner was named as the next Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University in December 2013. She is the first woman to hold the position and commenced in September 2014.

Campuses: Australia Clayton campus:

The Clayton campus covers an area over 1.1 km² and is the largest of the Monash campuses. Clayton is the flagship campus for Monash, demanding higher ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) scores than all the other campuses, with the exception of Parkville. Clayton is home to the faculties of Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Engineering, IT, Law, Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Science. The Clayton campus has its own suburb and postcode (3800).

Various major scientific research facilities are located on or adjacent to the campus. Chief among these are the Australian Synchrotron and CSIRO. The campus is also home to numerous restaurants and retail outlets, as well as student bars Sir John's (located in the Campus Center) and the Notting Hill Hotel (founded in 1891), both of which are hubs of social life on the campus.

The campus is also home to a number of halls of residence, colleges and other on-campus accommodation that house several thousand students. Six halls of residence are located at the Clayton campus in Clayton, Victoria. There is an additional private residential college affiliated with the University.

Australia Caulfield campus:

The Caulfield campus is Monash University's second largest. Its multifaceted nature is reflected in the range of programs it offers through the faculties of Arts, Art Design & Architecture (MADA), Business & Economics, Information Technology and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. A major building program has been announced, to expand teaching facilities, provide student accommodation and redevelop the shopping center.

Malaysia Malaysia campus:

The Monash University Malaysia campus opened in 1998 in Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia. The Sunway campus offers various undergraduate degrees through its faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, Information Technology, Business, and Arts and Sciences. It is currently home to almost 4,000 students. The new purpose-built campus opened in 2007, providing a high-tech home for Monash in Malaysia. In addition to a wide range of undergraduate degrees, the campus also offers both postgraduate Masters and PhD programs. Its degrees in Medicine and Surgery are the first medical degrees outside Australia and New Zealand to be accredited by the Australian Medical Council.

Australia The Alfred campus:

Located in The Alfred Hospital, Monash University's Alfred campus houses the Central Clinical School and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, which contains the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine  and the Department of Forensic Medicine.

Australia Parkville campus:

The Parkville campus is situated in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, around 2 km north of the Melbourne CBD on Royal Parade. The campus is the home of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The faculty specialists in the areas of formulation science and medicinal chemistry and offers the Bachelor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science undergraduate degrees, the latter replacing the Bachelor of Formulation Science in 2007 and the Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry in 2008. Double degrees are also offered including the Bachelor of Pharmacy/Commerce with the Business and Economics faculty at Clayton, and also the Bachelor of Engineering/Pharmaceutical Science with the Engineering faculty. It also offers postgraduate degrees.

Australia Peninsula campus:

The Peninsula campus has a teaching and research focus on health and well being, and is a hub of undergraduate and postgraduates studies in Nursing, Health Science, Physiotherapy and Psychology – and particularly in Emergency Health (Paramedic) courses.

The campus is located in the bayside suburb of Frankston on the edge of Melbourne. Peninsula campus also offers a range of courses including those from its historic roots with early childhood and primary education (during the 1960s and 1970s the campus was the State Teachers' College), and Business & Economics (since the merger of the State Teachers' College with the Caulfield Institute of Technology to create the Chisholm Institute of Technology in 1982). The campus was also home to the Peninsula School of Information Technology, which in 2006 was wound back with Information Technology units previously offered being relocated to the Caulfield campus.

Australia Berwick campus:

One of Monash's newest campuses, Berwick campus was built on the old Casey airfield in the south-eastern growth corridor of Victoria, Australia. The town of Berwick has experienced an influx of people and development in recent times, which includes the new campus of Monash University. With a presence in the area since 1994, the first Monash Berwick campus building was completed in 1996 and the third building in March 2004. It is situated on a 55-hectare site in the City of Casey, one of the three fastest growing municipalities in Australia.

South Africa South Africa:

In August 2013 Monash University announced it had entered a partnership that will enable its South African presence to grow and enhance its educational offering. The partnership is with Laureate International Universities.

European Union Prato, Italy, EU:

Prato Cathedral, in the town's main piazza, is about 100 metres from the Monash Prato Centre

The Palazzo Vaj, where the Monash University Prato Centre is located

The Monash University Prato Centre is located in the 18th Century Palace, Palazzo Vaj, in the historic centre of Prato, a city near Florence in Italy. Primarily, it hosts staff and students from Monash's other campuses for semesters in Law, Art Design & Architecture, History, Music, and Criminology as well as various international conferences. It was officially opened on 17 September 2001 as part of the University's vigorous internationalisation policy

India IITB-Monash Research Academy, India:

The IITB-Monash Research Academy opened in 2008 and is situated in Mumbai, India. It is a partnership between Monash and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. It aims to carry out high impact research in engineering and sciences, particularly clean energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Students undertake their research in both India and Australia, with supervisors from both Monash and IITB. Upon graduating, they receive a dual PhD from the two institutions. In the month following its official opening, 36 joint projects had commenced, with a further several hundred planned. Construction of a new $5m facility began in November 2008.

China Suzhou Joint Graduate School, China

In 2012, it was announced that Monash had won a licence to develop a joint graduate school with Southeast University in the Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province. The Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School is the first Australian university, and the third foreign university, to win a licence to operate in China. The school offers master's degrees and PhDs in science and engineering, with an initial cohort of 500 students, building up to 2000 in the years to come.

Former campuses:

Australia Gippsland campus

As part of the University's expansion in the 1990s, Monash took over the operations of the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in 1990. The commitment to regional higher education on the part of the University was a progressive and bold step, however, the operation of the Gippsland campus was always fraught with some tension between the priorities of the metropolitan-centred campuses at Clayton and Caulfield versus the needs and aspirations of the regional one.

The Gippsland campus of Monash University was the mainstay of the University's commitment to distance education, pioneering courses such as journalism, multimedia, fine arts, and outdoor sport and recreation. Between 2005 and 2010, many of these programs were transferred to city campuses, thus losing their distinctive regional flavour. At its peak enrolment in 2007, the campus was home to 2,000 on-campus students, 5,000 off-campus students and nearly 400 staff. The campus sits in the Latrobe Valley town of Churchill, 142 km east of Melbourne on 63 hectares of landscaped grounds. Until 2014 it was the only non-metropolitan campus of Monash University. The campus offered many undergraduate degrees, attracting students from the Latrobe Valley, East and West Gippsland.

Ballarat University joined with Monash University Gippsland campus to form a new regional university known as Federation University Australia from 1 January 2014. As of that date, Monash began the process of teaching out its courses at Gippsland with only a medical school presence to remain after the merger.

Academia:

Admissions

The Good Universities Guide places the Clayton, Caulfield, Parkville and Peninsula campuses of Monash in the category of universities which are most difficult to gain admission to in Australia, with each campus receiving an Entry Standards mark of 5/5. Monash has the highest demand for places among high school graduates of any university in Victoria. In 2009, one in four applicants put Monash as their first preference. This equates to more than 15,000 first preferences from Victorian high school leavers. Of the top 5% of high school graduates in Victoria, more choose Monash than any other institution. In 2010, almost half of the top 5% of high school leavers chose to attend Monash – the highest of any Victorian university by quite some margin. In 2009, among students with a "perfect" ENTER score of 99.95 (i.e. students in the top 0.05% of high school applicants), 63 made an application for Monash.

Faculties:

Monash is divided into 10 faculties. These incorporate the University's major departments of teaching and research centers.

The faculties are:

Faculty of Art Design & Architecture (MADA)

Faculty of Arts

Faculty of Business and Economics

Faculty of Education

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Information Technology

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Faculty of Science

Various other academic organisations exist alongside the faculties and research centers. Monash College provides students with an alternative point of entry to Monash University.The institution offers pathway studies for students who endeavor to undertake studies at one of Monash's campuses. The College's specialized undergraduate diplomas (Diploma Part 2 is equivalent to first-year university) provide an alternative entry point into more than 60 Monash University bachelor degrees, taught intensively in smaller classes and an environment overall similar to that offered by the university. Monash College offers programs in several countries throughout the world, with colleges located in Australia (Melbourne), China (Guangzhou), Indonesia (Jakarta), Singapore and Sri Lanka (Colombo).