Vice-Chancellor & President:Professor Sandra Hardingwww.jcu.edu.au |
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James Cook University is a University for the tropics -- our intent is a brighter future for life in the tropics worldwide, and our purpose is to produce graduates and discoveries that make a difference. Beginning as the University College of Townsville in 1961 as part of the University of Queensland, JCU became Queensland's second autonomous University in 1970. The Cairns campus was established in 1987, JCU Singapore in 2003 and JCU Brisbane in 2006. There are study centres in Mackay, Mt Isa and Thursday Island, and research stations at Horn Island, Mareeba, Orpheus Island, Paluma and Fletcherview. Strong links are held with institutions in China and Fiji. The major campuses in Cairns and Townsville are located within the tropics and immediately adjacent to two of the wonders of the natural world - the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforests. A medium-sized university with more than 17,000 students, including more than 5,200 international students, JCU has produced some 40,000 graduates. This is a comprehensive university, offering more than 140 undergraduate and more than 120 postgraduate courses spanning the arts, business, creative arts, dentistry, education, engineering, Indigenous Australian studies, information technology, health sciences, law, medicine, veterinary sciences, social sciences and science. In 2010 JCU added a Master of Development Practice through its Faculty of Science and Engineering. In 2012 the Bachelor of Sustainability was launched. JCU's academics are world leaders in areas as diverse as marine biology and tourism, and the quality of teaching has been recognised with academic staff winning 36 awards for teaching excellence from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council over the past five years. The 2012 edition of the Good Universities Guide awarded the University a five-star rating in the categories `getting a full-time job' and `positive graduate outcomes' categories. JCU is one of only three Queensland universities listed in the Top 500 in the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. JCU was the first university outside Europe to receive international recognition of its degrees in marine science from the International Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology. Home to more than 30 major research centres including the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The Cairns Institute, the University's research is grouped around four broad themes: tropical ecosystems, conservation and climate change; industries and economies in the tropics; peoples and societies in the tropics; and tropical health, medicine and biosecurity. JCU is a member of the select group of Innovative Research Universities in Australia and has firmly established itself as a world leader in environmental and ecological research in particular. In 2010 Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators (ESI) ranked JCU as one of only three Australian universities in the top 100 most frequently cited research institutions over the period January 1999 to October 2009 in the category of Environment / Ecology. |
