The Australian National University is one of the world's foremost research universities. Distinguished by a relentless dedication to achieving excellence, ANU attracts leading academics and outstanding students from Australia and around the world. The University is located on a picturesque 145-hectare campus in the heart of Canberra, the nation's capital.

Created by an Act of Federal Parliament in 1946 to drive Australia's social, cultural and economic prosperity through high quality research, The Australian National University is consistently ranked as one of Australia's top universities. It has been ranked ahead of every university in the southern hemisphere three years in a row by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute of Higher Education and in 2005 was ranked 23rd in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement.

A recent independent quality review of the University found it ranked among the world's best research universities, with 77 per cent of external assessors ranking ANU as one of the top 50 universities in their field in the world - including 44 per cent who rated ANU in the world's top 25 universities.

Facilities at ANU include the most powerful computer in Australia, modern laboratories and lecture theatres and two million volumes on the shelves of several libraries. ANU has forged close links with government, business and research institutions in Australia and abroad and is involved in collaborative projects with organisations ranging from NASA to the European Union.

ANU is in the company of the world’s leading research universities as a founding member of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU). The IARU is an alliance of ten of the world's leading research universities - ANU, ETH Zürich, National University of Singapore, Peking University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, University of Oxford, the University of Tokyo and Yale University. It is a strategic drawing together of universities that share a similar vision and have a commitment to educating future leaders.

www.anu.edu.au