The University of Melbourne, located in Melbourne, in Victoria, is the second oldest university in Australia (the University of Sydney is the oldest). The university was established by Hugh Childers in 1853 by an Act of the Victorian Parliament and classes commenced in 1855 with four professors and sixteen students. Women were first admitted as students in 1881. Today, the University has almost 40,000 students, who are supported by nearly 6,000 staff members (full or part-time).

It is one of Australia's "Group of Eight" leading universities and is generally regarded as one of Australia's finest universities. The oldest and main campus is in Parkville, an inner suburb of Melbourne. Other campuses in Melbourne and rural Victoria have been acquired through amalgamation with smaller colleges of advanced education.

The "Concrete Lawn" and the Old Commerce building, which shows the mix of 19th and 20th century architecture on campus.

Academia

Courses are offered from diploma to doctoral level in the faculties of architecture and building, arts, economics and commerce, education, engineering, law, medicine, music and science. Research is an important activity in all departments of the university. Its research activities are quite broad, though the medical sciences are probably most extensive and best resourced.

Notable alumni of the university include Germaine Greer, Peter Singer, Robert Menzies, amongst a substantial fraction of Australia's most prominent academics, politicians, industry leaders, lawyers, doctors, and artists.

A Nobel Laureate, Professor Peter Doherty, is also currently based in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Colleges

Since 1872, the affiliated residential colleges have been an important part of the university. Most of the colleges are situated in an arc around the cricket oval at the northern edge of the campus, with a few further afield. The colleges provide accommodation to about 3000 students, which is a small fraction of the university's total student population. In fact, a large proportion of school-leaver students at the university still live with their parents. As well as accommodation, the colleges provide tutorials for their students (although unlike the Oxbridge colleges, the tutorials are purely extra assistance and do not form a fundamental part of any university course).

The oldest college is Trinity College, although its stone and brick architecture is relatively modest compared with the spectacular gothic-style Ormond College next door. However, Newman College is possibly more significant architecturally as one of the only remaining buildings of Walter Burley Griffin.

Architecture

The Ian Potter Gallery.

Several of the original on-campus buildings, such as the old law and arts buildings, feature similarly beautiful period architecture.

Unfortunately, it is generally agreed around campus that the expansion during the post-World War Two period saw a departure of taste, with a number of incredibly ugly red-brick clad high-rise buildings. These include the Raymond Priestly building (used for administration), the Redmond Barry building, Wilson Hall (replacing the old Wilson Hall which was destroyed by fire), and some of the additions to the colleges; most hideous of all is unfortunately the architecture building itself.

A recent spate of expansions have included the Ian Potter Gallery (an art museum), and the Sydney Myer Asia Centre. The Potter Gallery in particular is highly regarded for its architecture, and won several awards when completed in 2000. The massive University Square development which has extended the campus far to the south, has been more contentiously received, with initial planning battles forcing the retention of 19th century residential townhouses as a facade.

Student activities

Student extracurricular activities generally come under the loose umbrella of the Melbourne University Student Union [1] (http://www.union.unimelb.edu.au), and student sporting activities under the Sports Union. Many student clubs are affiliated with MUSU, as well as student theatre and the "official" student newspaper, Farrago. The Student Union has, for at least the last decade, been a venue for vicious factional political battles (which sometimes sees the unusual alliance of Student Unity (Labor Right) and Liberal Students supporters to defeat left-wing candidates) and allegations of maladministration, and on February 6, 2004 was placed into liquidation by the Supreme Court of Victoria after a property deal went wrong. [2] (http://www.crikey.com.au/whistleblower/2004/02/11-0002.html)

See also

• List of universities in Australia

Books

• Macintyre, Stuart; & Selleck, Richard J.W. (2003). A short history of the University of Melbourne. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-85058-8.

External links

• University website (http://www.unimelb.edu.au)