Macquarie University ( ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. Established as a verdant university, Macquarie has four faculties, as well as the

Macquarie University Hospital The Macquarie University Hospital (abbreviated MUH) is a private teaching hospital owned by Macquarie University. The hospital is located within Macquarie University and is the first private hospital to be located on a university campus in Austr ...

, which are on the university's mai
Wallumattagal campus
in the suburb of

Macquarie Park Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government ...

. The university is the first in Australia to fully align its degree system with the

Bologna Accord 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements between European countries to ensure comparability in ...

History

20th century

The idea of founding a third university in Sydney was flagged in the early 1960s when the

formed a committee of enquiry into higher education to deal with a perceived emergency in university enrolments in

. During this enquiry, the Senate of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

put in a submission which highlighted 'the immediate need to establish a third university in the metropolitan area'. After much debate a future campus location was selected in what was then a semi-rural part of

North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde. One of ...

, and it was decided that the future university be named after

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Gove ...

, an important early governor of the colony of New South Wales. Macquarie University was formally established in 1964 with the passage of the Macquarie University Act 1964 by the New South Wales parliament. The initial concept of the campus was to create a new high-technology corridor, similar to the area surrounding

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, the goal being to provide for interaction between industry and the new university. The academic core was designed in the

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

style and developed by the town planner Walter Abraham who also oversaw the next 20 years of planning and development for the university. A committee appointed to advise the state government on the establishment of the new university at North Ryde nominated Abraham as the architect-planner. The fledgling Macquarie University Council decided that planning for the campus would be done within the university, rather than by consultants, and this led to the establishment of the architect-planners office. The first vice-chancellor of Macquarie University, Alexander George Mitchell, was selected by the University Council which met for the first time on 17 June 1964. Members of the first university council included: Colonel Sir Edward Ford OBE, David Paver Mellor, Rae Else-Mitchell QC and Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. The university first opened to students on 6 March 1967 with more students than anticipated. The Australian Universities Commission had allowed for 510 effective full-time students (EFTS) but Macquarie had 956 enrolments and 622 EFTS. Between 1968 and 1969, enrolment at Macquarie increased dramatically with an extra 1200 EFTS, with 100 new academic staff employed. 1969 also saw the establishment of the

Macquarie Graduate School of Management Macquarie Business School (MQBS) is a constituent body of Macquarie University, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. MQBS is a business school originally established as the Faculty of Business and Economics. The School is the focal point for ...

(MGSM).

Macquarie grew during the seventies and eighties with rapid expansion in courses offered, student numbers and development of the site. In 1972, the university established the

Macquarie Law School Macquarie Law School (Macquarie Law or MQ Law) is the law school of Macquarie University and was established in 1972 as Sydney's third law school. Established as a foundational discipline of Macquarie University, Macquarie Law School is one of A ...

, the third law school in Sydney. In their book ''Liberality of Opportunity'', Bruce Mansfield and Mark Hutchinson describe the founding of Macquarie University as 'an act of faith and a great experiment'. An additional topic considered in this book is the science reform movement of the late 1970s that resulted in the introduction of a named science degree, thus facilitating the subsequent inclusion of other named degrees in addition to the traditional BA. An alternative view on this topic is given by theoretical physicist John Ward. In 1973, the student union (

MUSC The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a Public university, public medical school in Charleston, South Carolina. It opened in 1824 as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medic ...

) worked with the

Builders Labourers Federation The Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1911 until 1972, and from 1976 until 1986, when it was permanently deregistered in various Australian states by the federal Hawke Labor government and som ...

(BLF) to organise one of the first "pink bans". Similar in tactic to the

green ban A green ban is a form of strike action, usually taken by a trade union or other organised labour group, which is conducted for environmentalist or conservationist purposes. They mainly took place in Australia during the 1970s, led by the Bui ...

, the pink ban was recommended when one of the residential colleges at Macquarie University, Robert Menzies College, ordered a student to lead a

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied on ...

life and undertake therapy and confession to cure himself of his homosexuality. The BLF decided to stop all construction work at the college until the university and the College

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

made statements committing to a non-discriminatory university environment. MUSC was successful in engaging with the BLF again in 1974 when a woman at Macquarie University had her NSW Department of Education scholarship cancelled on the basis that she was a lesbian and therefore unfit to be a teacher. After over a decade of service, the first vice-chancellor Mitchell was succeeded by Edwin C. Webb in December 1975. Webb was required to steer the university through one of its most difficult periods as the value of universities were debated and the governments introduced significant funding cuts. Webb left the university in 1986 and was succeeded by

Di Yerbury Dianne Yerbury (born 25 March 1941) is an Australian university administrator and company director. She was the Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia from 1987 to 2005. She was Australia's first female Vice-Chancellor, an ...

, the first female vice-chancellor in Australia. Yerbury would go on to hold the position of vice-chancellor for nearly 20 years. In 1990, the university absorbed the Institute of Early Childhood Studies of the

Sydney College of Advanced Education The Sydney College of Advanced Education was a tertiary education institution in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It existed from 1982 to 1989.

, under the terms of the Higher Education (Amalgamation) Act 1989.

21st century

Steven Schwartz replaced Di Yerbury as vice-chancellor at the beginning of 2006. Yerbury's departure was attended with much controversy, including a "bitter dispute" with Schwartz, disputed ownership of university artworks worth $13 million and Yerbury's salary package. In August 2006, Schwartz expressed concern about the actions of Yerbury in a letter to university auditors. Yerbury strongly denied any wrongdoing and claimed the artworks were hers. During 2007, Macquarie University restructured its student organisation after an audit raised questions about management of hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds by student organisations At the centre of the investigation was Victor Ma, president of the Macquarie University Students' Council, who was previously involved in a high-profile case of student election fixing at the

. The university Council resolved to immediately remove Ma from his position. Vice-chancellor Schwartz cited an urgent need to reform Macquarie's main student bodies. However, Ma strongly denied any wrongdoing and labelled the controversy a case of 'character assassination'. The Federal Court ordered on 23 May 2007 that Macquarie University Union Ltd be wound up. Following the dissolution of Macquarie University Union Ltd, the outgoing student organisation was replaced with a new wholly owned subsidiary company of the university, known as U@MQ Ltd. The new student organisation originally lacked a true student representative union; however, following a complete review and authorisation from the university Council, a new student union known as Macquarie University Students Association (MUSRA) was established in 2009. Mquarie

Within the first few hundred days of Schwartz's instatement as vice-chancellor, the 'Macquarie@50' strategic plan was launched, which positioned the university to enhance research, teaching, infrastructure and academic rankings by the university's 50th anniversary in 2014. Included in the university's plans for the future was the establishment of a sustainability office in order to more effectively manage environmental and social development at Macquarie. As part of this campaign, in 2009 Macquarie became the first Fair Trade accredited university in Australia. The beginning of 2009 also saw the introduction of a new logo for the university which retained the Sirius Star, present on both the old logo and the university crest, but now 'embedded in a stylised lotus flower'. In accordance with the university by-law, the crest continues to be used for formal purposes and is displayed on university testamurs. The by-law also prescribes the university's motto, taken from Chaucer: 'And gladly teche'. In 2013, the university became the first in Australia to fully align its degree system with the

Campuses and buildings

Macquarie University's main campus is about north-west of the

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

and is set on 126 hectares of rolling lawns and natural bushland. Macquarie's location within the high-technology corridor of Sydney's north-west, in close proximity to

and its surrounding industries, has been crucial in its development as a relatively research intensive university. The demographics of the location it is situated in, is known by Sydney locals as the bible-belt. Which Include

The Hills Shire The Hills Shire (known until 2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Greater Western Sydney, Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The area is north-west of the Sydney ...

, The Hornsby Shire,

Ku-ring-gai Council Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney ( Upper North Shore), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is named after a fictional Aboriginal language group. Major transport routes through the area include th ...

, and Ryde Council, then extending to the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

of Sydney through Chatswood/Willoughby. Before the development of the campus, most of the site was cultivated with peach orchards, market gardens and poultry farms. The university's first architect-planner was Walter Abraham, one of the first six administrators appointed to Macquarie University. As the site adapted from its former rural use to a busy collegiate environment, he implemented carefully designed planting programs across the campus. Abraham established a grid design comprising lots of running north–south, with the aim of creating a compact academic core. The measure of was seen as one minute's walk, and grid design reflected the aim of having a maximum walk of 10 minutes between any two parts of the university. The main east–west walkway that runs from the Macquarie University Research Park to the arts faculty buildings was named Wally's Walk in recognition of Abraham's contribution. Apart from its centres of learning, the campus features the Macquarie University Research Park, museums, art galleries, a sculpture park, an observatory, a sport and aquatic centre and the private

. The campus has its own postcode, 2109.

Macquarie University Hospital

Macquarie became the first university in Australia to own and operate a private medical facility in 2010 when it opened a $300 million hospital on its campus. The hospital is the first and only private not-for-profit teaching hospital on an Australian university campus. The Macquarie University Hospital is north of the main campus area towards the university sports grounds. It comprises 183 beds, 13 operating theatres, 2 cardiac and vascular angiography suites. The hospital is co-located with the university's Australian School of Advanced Medicine.

Commercial use

The university hosts a number of high-technology companies on its campus. Primarily designed to encourage interaction between the university and industry, commercialisation of its campus has also given the institution an additional revenue stream. Tenants are selected based on their potential to collaborate with the university's researches or their ability to provide opportunities for its students and graduates. Cochlear has its headquarters in close proximity to the Australian Hearing Hub on the southern edge of campus. Other companies that have office space at the campus include

Dow Corning Dow Corning Corporation, was an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States, and was originally established as a joint venture between The Dow Chemical Company and Corning Inc., Corning Incorporated. In 20 ...

Goodman Fielder Goodman Fielder is an Australian manufacturer, marketer and distributor of bread, smallgoods, dairy products, margarine, oil, dressings and various food ingredients. Its main operations are in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, ...

Nortel Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It was founded in ...

OPSM OPSM (Optical Prescription Spectacle Makers) is a retailer of eye glasses in Australia and New Zealand, with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. It is owned by Luxottica, EssilorLuxottica, a French-Italian eyewear conglomerate. OPS ...

, and

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

. The Macquarie University Observatory was originally constructed in 1978 as a research facility but since 1997 has been accessible to the public through its Public Observing Program.

Governance and structure

University Council

The university is governed by a 17-member Council. The University Council is the governing authority of the university under the ''Macquarie University Act 1989''. The Council takes primary responsibility for the control and management of the affairs of the university, and is empowered to make by-laws and rules relating to how the university is managed. Members of the Council include the university vice-chancellor, academic and non-academic staff, the vice president of the Academic Senate and a student representative. The Council is chaired by the chancellor of the university. The Academic Senate is the primary academic body of the university. It has certain powers delegated to it by Council, such as the approving of examination results and the completion of requirements for the award of degrees. At the same time, it makes recommendations to the Council concerning all changes to degree rules, and all proposals for new awards. While the Academic Senate is an independent body, it is required to make recommendations to the university Council in relation to matters outside its delegated authority.

Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor

Macquarie's current vice-chancellor, Bruce Dowton, took over from Schwartz in September 2012. Prior to his appointment Dowton served as a senior medical executive having held a range of positions in university, healthcare and consulting organisations. He also served as a pediatrician at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. There have been five vice-chancellors in the university's history.

Faculties and departments

The university currently comprises 35 departments within four faculties: *

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

Macquarie Business School Macquarie Business School (MQBS) is a constituent body of Macquarie University, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. MQBS is a business school originally established as the Faculty of Business and Economics. The School is the focal point for ...

* Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences * Faculty of Science and Engineering

Heraldry and insignia

Coat of arms

Macquarie University's coat of arms (often erroneously referred to as a ' crest') was assumed through a 1967 amendment of the ''Macquarie University Act, 1964'' (Confirmed by Letters patent of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

, 16 August 1969), and the

Grant of arms A grant of arms or a governmental issuance of arms is an instrument issued by a lawful authority, such as an officer of arms or State Herald, which confers on a person and his or her descendants the right to bear a particular coat of arms or a ...

reads: :''Vert, the Macquarie lighthouse tower, masoned proper, in Chief the star Sirius, Or.'' The

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

(in green taken from the

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

Clan MacQuarrie Clan MacQuarrie (also Quarrie, MacQuarie, McQueary, McQuary, MacQuaire, Macquarie) is an ancient Highland Scottish clan which owned the islands of Ulva, Staffa and Gometra as well as large tracts of land on the Isle of Mull, which are all ...

) displays the

Macquarie Lighthouse The Macquarie Lighthouse, also known as South Head Upper Light, is the first, and is the longest serving, lighthouse site in Australia. It is located on Dunbar Head, on Old South Head Road, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local gover ...

tower, the first major public building in the colony when completed in 1816, as well as the Sirius star (in gold), which was also the name of the flagship of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

. The motto chosen for the university, which following the rules of

English heraldry English heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in England. It lies within the so-called Gallo-British tradition. Coats of arms in England are regulated and granted to individuals by the English kings ...

does not form part of the original grant of arms, was ''And Gladly Teche'', a phrase taken from the general prologue of ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'' by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

(circa 1400), and symbolises the university's commitment to both learning and teaching. The university's founders originally wanted to base the university's arms on Lachlan Macquarie's family arms, but they decided to go for a more conceptual approach that represented Lachlan Macquarie as a builder and administrator. They did however identify that the arms used by Governor Macquarie had never been formally granted by the

Court of the Lord Lyon The Court of the Lord Lyon, or Lyon Court, is a standing court of law, based in New Register House in Edinburgh, which regulates heraldry in Scotland. The Lyon Court maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All ...

in Scotland, and was successful in having a grant of arms issued for Macquarie by the

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

, as well as the right to display his arms. These arms, along with the new arms of the university, were formally unveiled on 31 May 1967 by the chancellor, Sir Garfield Barwick. The coat of arms and the motto are used in a very limited number of formal communications.

Branding

Macquarie has had a number of logos in its history. In 2014, the university launched a new logo as part of its Shared Identity Project. The logo reintroduced the Macquarie Lighthouse, a popular symbol of the university within the university community and maintained the Sirus Star.

Academic profile

Research and publications

The university positions itself as being research intensive. In 2012, 85% of Macquarie's broad fields of research was rated 'at or above world standard' in the

Excellence in Research for Australia Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) is Australia's national research evaluation framework, developed and administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The first full round of ERA occurred in 2010, and subsequent rounds followed ...

2012 National report. The university is within the top 3 universities in Australia for the number of peer-reviewed publications produced per academic staff member. Researchers at Macquarie University, David Skellern and

Neil Weste Neil H. E. Weste (born 1951), is an Australian inventor and engineer, noted for having designed a 2-chip wireless LAN implementation and for authoring the textbook ''Principles of CMOS VLSI Design''. He has worked in many aspects of integrated-cir ...

, and the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

helped develop

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. David Skellern has been a major donor to the university through the Skellern Family Trust. Macquarie physicists Frank Duarte and

Jim Piper Jim Alan Piper (born 13 August 1981) is a former Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Australia. He swam for Australia at the: *Olympics: 2004 *World Championships: 2003, 2005, 2007 *Commonwealth Games: 2002, 2006 *Pan Pacific Championships: 2002 ...

pioneered the laser designs adopted by researchers worldwide, in various major national programs, for

atomic vapor laser isotope separation Atomic vapor laser isotope separation, or AVLIS, is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions. A similar technology, using molecules instead of atoms, i ...

. Macquarie University's linguistics department developed the

Macquarie Dictionary The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' () is a dictionary of Australian English. It is considered by many to be the standard reference on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing proje ...

. The dictionary is regarded as the standard reference on

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language. While Australia has no of ...

. Macquarie University has a research partnership with the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

in Germany and

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

in China. They offer dual and joint degree programs and engage in joint research. Access Macquarie Limited was established in 1989 as the commercial arm of the university. It facilitates and supports the commercial needs of industry, business and government organisations seeking to utilise the academic expertise of the broader university community.

Research divisions

Research centres, schools and institutes that are affiliated with the university: * The

Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (ARIES) is an Australian not-for-profit research centre at Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South W ...

* The

* The Australian Hearing Hub AHH MQ Uni

Macquarie University's Australian Hearing Hub is partnered with Cochlear. Cochlear Headquarters are on campus. The Australian Hearing Hub includes the head office of

Australian Hearing Hearing Australia is a statutory authority constituted under the ''Australian Hearing Services Act 1991''. Hearing Australia is the largest provider of government-funded hearing services in Australia. One of their areas of interest is hearing tes ...

. The Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability is a research centre that promotes change for

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, is affiliated with the university and is located on its campus.

Library and archives

The library houses over 1.8 million items and uses the

Library of Congress Classification The Library of Congress Classification (LCC) is a system of library classification developed by the Library of Congress in the United States, which can be used for shelving books in a library. LCC is mainly used by large research and academic li ...

System. It has several collections, including a Rare Book Collection, a Palaeontology Collection and the Brunner Collection of Egyptological materials. Macquarie University operated two libraries during the transition. The old library in building C7A (which has since been repurposed as a student support and study space) closed in July 2011, and the new library in building C3C became fully operational on 1 August 2011. The new library was Australia's first university library to possess an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS). The ASRS consists of an environmentally controlled vault with metal bins storing the items; robotic cranes retrieve an item on request and deliver it to the service desk for collection.

Museums and collections

The museums and collections of Macquarie University are extensive and include nine museums and galleries. Each collection focuses on various historical, scientific or artistic interests. The most visible collection on campus is the sculpture park, which is exhibited across the entire campus. At close to 100 sculptures on display, it is the largest park of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. All museums and galleries are open to the public and offer educational programs for students at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Other sub-units

Start-up incubator

The Macquarie University Incubator is a space to research and develop ideas that can be commercialised. It was established in 2017 as a part of the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) project. Macquarie University received a $1 million grant from the

government to build the incubator. The university has also committed about $7 million to the incubator with financial support of the big businesses and the New South Wales government. It was officially opened by

Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger bro ...

on 25 September 2017.

Academic reputation

In the 2024 ''Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities'', which measures aggregate performance across the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, the university attained a position of #168 (10th nationally). ; National publications In the ''Australian Financial Review'' Best Universities Ranking 2024, the university was ranked #12 amongst Australian universities. ; Global publications In the 2025 ''

Quacquarelli Symonds Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a higher education analyst and a for-profit services provider headquartered in London with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. History The company was founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990 to provide informati ...

World University Rankings College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

(published 2024), the university attained a tied position of #133 (11th nationally). In the ''Times Higher Education'' World University Rankings 2025 (published 2024), the university attained a position of #178 (10th nationally). In the 2024 ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'', the university attained a position of #201–300 (9–15th nationally). In the 2024–2025 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global Universities, the university attained a position of #192 (14th nationally). In the ''CWTS Leiden Ranking'' 2024, the university attained a position of #291 (14th nationally).

Student outcomes

The Australian Government's QILT conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment. These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts. In the 2023 Employer Satisfaction Survey, graduates of the university had an overall employer satisfaction rate of 83.5%. In the 2023 Graduate Outcomes Survey, graduates of the university had a full-time employment rate of 78.7% for undergraduates and 87.3% for postgraduates. The initial full-time salary was for undergraduates and for postgraduates. In the 2023 Student Experience Survey, undergraduates at the university rated the quality of their entire educational experience at 76.4% meanwhile postgraduates rated their overall education experience at 78.2%.

Admissions

International

The Macquarie University International College offers Foundation Studies (Pre-University) and University-level Diplomas. Upon successful completion of a MUIC Diploma, students enter the appropriate bachelor's degree as a second year student. The Centre for Macquarie English is the English-language centre that offers a range of specialised, direct entry English programs that are approved by Macquarie University.

Student life

Campus Life manages the university's non-academic services: food and retail, sport and recreation, student groups, child care, and entertainment. From late 2017 onward its Campus Hub facility has been closed for reconstruction; a 'pop-up'-style replacement, the Campus Common, has been opened for the duration.

Student demographics

Macquarie is the fourth largest university in Sydney (38,753 students in 2013). The university has the largest student exchange program in Australia. In 2012, 9,802 students from Asia were enrolled at Macquarie University (Sydney campuses and offshore programs in China, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore).

Student media and radio

Macquarie University has its own community radio station on campus, 2SER FM. The station is jointly owned by Macquarie University and the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

Campus traditions

Macquarie University students celebrate Conception Day each year since 1969 to – according to legend – commemorate the date of conception of Lachlan Macquarie, as his birthday fell at the wrong time of year for a celebration. Conception Day is traditionally held on the last day of classes before the September mid-semester break.

Sports and athletics

On the western side of the campus is the Macquarie University Sport and Aquatic Centre. Previously a sports hall facility, the complex was renovated and reopened in 2007 with the addition of the new gym and aquatic centre. It houses a 50-metre FINA-compliant outdoor pool and a 25-metre indoor pool. The complex also contains a gymnasium and squash, badminton, basketball, volleyball and netball courts. Macquarie also has seven hectares of high-quality playing fields for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Just north of the campus, the fields are used by the university as well as a number of elite sporting teams, such as

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

and the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

Residential colleges

Macquarie University has two residential colleges on its campus,

Dunmore Lang College Dunmore Lang College is a residential college of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The college is a non-profit organisation, affiliated with the university. Established in 1972, it was named after John Dunmore Lang, the first Presby ...

and

Robert Menzies College Robert Menzies College (RMC) is an Anglican residential college of Macquarie University. Established in 1972, the college was named after former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. Its Latin motto is ''Vera Cogitate'', and the college's stated mi ...

, both founded in 1972. The colleges both offer academic support as well as a range of social and sporting activities in a communal environment. Separate to the colleges is Student Village North Ryde in

Marsfield, New South Wales Marsfield is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marsfield is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of the City of R ...

. The village was developed by the university in 2001 for the purpose of housing students adjacent to the university campus and also housed Olympians for the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. As of 2006, the village is now operated by Campus Living Villages, a company operating University Villages across Australia. It has over 900 rooms in mostly

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

-style buildings north of the campus. The village encourages its students to interact in its communal spaces and has a number of social events throughout the year.

Leadership and development

The Global Leadership Program (GLP) is a university-funded co-curricular program that is open to all students and can be undertaken alongside any degree at Macquarie University. The GLP aims to instil leadership and innovation skills, cross-cultural understanding and a sense of global citizenship in its graduates. Upon successful completion of the GLP, students receive a formal notation on their academic transcript and a certificate. Macquarie's GLP was the first of its kind when it launched in the Australian university sector in 2005 and is the country's flagship tertiary global leadership program with more than 4000 active participants in more than 200 academic disciplines. GLP is a co-curricular learning and engagement program that students design according to their own interests and complete at their own pace. Students are required to complete a workshop series, attend tailored keynote speaker and networking events and complete an experiential credit component. This ranges from short-term study abroad, volunteering (domestic and/or international), internships (domestic and/or international), learning a new language or attending internationally themed seminars and study tours. The GLP won the Institute for International Education's 2017 Heiskell award for Innovation in International Education - Internationalising the Campus. Macquarie University is the first Southern Hemisphere university to receive the award in its 17-year history. The GLP was awarded the 2018 NSW International Student Community Engagement Award (Joint Winner) in the Education Provider category. This award recognises the innovative way in which the GLP facilitates connection and engagement with community for Macquarie University International GLP Students, and also recognises the contribution that the GLP makes to the International Student experience in New South Wales. In 2019, the GLP won the Global PIEoneer Award for International Education in the category of 'Progressive Education Delivery' in Guildhall, London. The PIEoneer Awards are the only global awards that celebrate innovation and achievement across the whole of the international education industry.

Transportation

Macquarie University is served by

Macquarie University railway station Macquarie University railway station is a Sydney Metro station located on the Metro North West & Bankstown Line, serving the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park including the nearby Macquarie University and Macquarie Centre, as well as parts of the ...

on the Sydney Metro Northwest. Macquarie is Australia's only university with a railway station on campus. There is also a major bus interchange on the campus that provides close to 800 bus services daily. The M2 Motorway (Sydney), M2 Motorway runs parallel to the campus's northern boundary and is accessible to traffic from the university.

Notable people

Notable alumni

Alumni include Rhodes Scholar, Rhodes and John Monash Scholars and several FulbFulbright Scholars. Notable alumni include: Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek; Australian politician and former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Jim Soorley; New South Wales Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard; Australian politician, Harini Amarasuriya; 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, prime minister of Sri Lanka, Mike Kelly (Australian politician), Mike Kelly; Australian basketball player, Lauren Jackson; Australian swimmer, Ian Thorpe; Australian water polo player, Holly Lincoln-Smith; three founding members of the Australian children's musical group The Wiggles, Murray Cook, Anthony Field, and Greg Page (musician), Greg Page; former director-general of the National Library of Australia, Anne-Marie Schwirtlich AM; New Zealand conservationist, Pete Bethune; Miss Universe Australia 2008, Laura Dundovic; Australian Journalist, Hugh Riminton and BBC Presenter, Yalda Hakim. Notable alumni in science include: Australian scientist Barry Brook (scientist), Barry Brook, American physicist Frank Duarte, and Australian physicist Cathy Foley. Alumni notable in the business world include: Australian hedge fund manager Greg Coffey, Australian businesswoman Catherine Livingstone, founder of Freelancer.com Matt Barrie (businessman), Matt Barrie, businessman Napoleon Perdis; Australian venture capitalist Larry R. Marshall; former CEO of Seven West Media, David Leckie; Australian economist, Sean Turnell; former CEO of Commonwealth Bank and former chairman of the Future Fund, Australian Government Future Fund Board of Guardians, David Murray (Australian businessman), David Murray.

Academics and staff

Notable faculty members include: Indian neurosurgeon B. K. Misra Australian writer and four time Miles Franklin Award winner, Thea Astley; Hungarian Australian mathematician, Esther Szekeres; Australian mathematician, Neil Trudinger; Australian environmentalist and activist, Tim Flannery; British physicist and author, Paul Davies; British-Australian physicist, John Clive Ward; Israeli-Australian mathematician, José Enrique Moyal; Australian linguist, Geoffrey Hull; Australian geologist, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, John Veevers; Australian climatologist, Ann Henderson-Sellers; Australian breakdancer and Olympian, Rachael Gunn; Australian sociologist, Raewyn Connell. Four Macquarie University academics were included in The World's Most Influential Minds 2014 report by Thomson Reuters, which identified the most highly cited researchers of the last 11 years.

Gallery

File:E4A at Entrance to MQ.JPG, E4A Building at Entrance to University File:E4A Courtyard mq.JPG, E4A courtyard File:Central Courtyard MQ.JPG, Central Courtyard File:Frederick Chong Courtyard Macquarie University.jpg, The Frederick Chong Courtyard File:MQ Science Faculty Dusk.JPG, E7A Mitchell building File:E6b Building, Macquarie University.JPG, E6B building File:Lane Cove Rd Building MQ.JPG, Lane Cove Rd building File:Macqurie observatory 2014 05 16.JPG, Macquarie University Observatory File:Outsidelibmq.JPG, Building C7A File:Arts buildingmq.JPG, Former Faculty of Arts building

Footnotes

References

External links

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Map of the Main Campus
{{Authority control Macquarie University, Universities in Sydney Universities and colleges established in 1964 1964 establishments in Australia Chiropractic schools in Australia City of Ryde Green bans Defunct real tennis venues