About us

Location	Adelaide, Australia	Funding Type	Public
No of Students	22716	Establishment	University
Founded In	1874	Estimated Cost of Living	24505 AUD
Address	Adelaide, South Australia 5005 Australia

By every measure, the University of Adelaide—a member of Australia’s prestigious Group of Eight research-intensive universities—stands tall among the world’s leading institutions of learning and innovation.

The clearest indication of this is our consistently high rating by the most respected international assessment bodies: QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong’s Academic Rankings of World Universities (ARWU). All consider us one of the top 1% of Universities worldwide, and the top university in our state.

We’re equally proud of the fact that the vast majority of our research is rated ‘above or well above world standard’ by the Australian Research Council’s Excellence in Research Australia program.

We count among our distinguished alumni: five Nobel Laureates; over 100 Rhodes Scholars, including Australia’s first Indigenous recipient; and Australia’s first female prime minister and Supreme Court judge. Many of our staff and teachers are internationally recognised leaders in their fields. And we attract a diverse student body of over 27,000 from more than 90 countries.

History Happens Here

At the University of Adelaide, we’ve made a habit of breaking new ground. We were our state’s first university. The first in Australia to admit women to all our degree courses on an equal basis to men. The first to offer degrees in science and business. And the first to establish a conservatorium of music.

In recent times, that spirit of innovation has only grown stronger. For example:

• we were one of only three universities in the world to be involved in each of the following major scientific discoveries: gravitational waves; the Higgs boson elementary particle; and a celestial source of high-energy neutrinos
• we’re currently co-leading creation of the world’s first definitive legal text on conflict in space
• our photonics and advanced sensing researchers have created the world’s most precise timepiece, known as the Sapphire Clock
• in each of the past two years, we’ve had a young researcher recognised in MIT Technology Review’s prestigious Innovators Under 35 list for the Asia Pacific; we were the only Australian university represented in 2020, and in 2019 we were one of just two.

By making history we shape the future. And we’ve only just begun.

Fulfilling a progressive vision

The University of Adelaide was founded in 1874 with two complementary goals: to prepare new generations of leaders who were distinguished and shaped by education, not birth or wealth; and to challenge societal norms that hindered progress or reinforced inequality. We soon succeeded.

• 1881: First Australian university to admit women to all our degree courses on an equal basis to men. 
• 1882: First Australian university to offer science degrees.
• 1900: First Australian university to establish a music conservatorium, Chair of Music, and Doctor of Music postgraduate qualification.
• 1902: First Australian university to offer tertiary education in business.

Developing generations of history makers

Our alumni have also embodied our spirit of history making. We proudly count among them:

• five Nobel Laureates, accounting for almost a third of Australia’s 16 total recipients
• over 100 Rhodes Scholars, including our country’s first Indigenous Australian recipient
• one of Australia’s most revered Antarctic explorers, Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, who was a Professor of Geology and Mineralogy here for 31 years
• Australia’s first female prime minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, AC
• professional astronaut and first Australian to walk in space, Andy Thomas, AO.

Another of our alumni, the remarkable Dame Roma Mitchell, AC, DBE, CVO, QC became Australia’s first female Queen's Counsel, Supreme Court judge, university chancellor and state governor.

The University of Adelaide archives

The University of Adelaide Library's Special Collections and Archives preserves the historical records of the University from the time of its establishment. If you would like to access the records, please contact the University Library Special Collections team for assistance.

Adelaide connect

The University of Adelaide's special collections play a vital role in research, teaching, learning, and community engagement. Delve into the collections and uncover archival records, museum objects, personal papers, cultural & scientific artefacts, photographs, rare books and visual art.