Education Portfolio: About Education at ANU

The Australian National University (ANU) is Australia’s most research-intensive university, with an outstanding international research reputation, attracting many international visitors and engaging in a wide range of collaborative arrangements with universities in Australia and overseas. In education, our undergraduate students and students in postgraduate coursework and research degrees benefit from the teaching which is embedded in, and exploits this, research culture. The University's primary educational objective is to become the university of educational choice for the top students locally, nationally and internationally, by offering a unique range of research-led degree programs through learning environments based on interactive enquiry.

As a research-intensive university, ANU offers the following educational opportunities:

• Opportunities to learn through inquiry and discovery rather than simple transmission of knowledge.
• Training in the skills necessary for oral and written communication at a level that will serve the student both within the University and in professional and personal life.
• Appreciation of arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, and the opportunity to experience them at any intensity and depth the student can accommodate.
• Careful and comprehensive preparation for whatever may lie beyond graduation, whether it is graduate study, professional development, or first employment professional experience.

But as a research-intensive university it can offer more to its undergraduate and postgraduate students, including:

• the expectation of, and opportunity for, work with talented senior researchers
• access to first-class facilities in which to pursue research, such as laboratories, libraries, studios, communication and information systems, and concert halls
• the choice of many options among fields of study and directions to move within those fields, including areas and choices not found in other kinds of institutions
• opportunities to interact with people at every level of accomplishment, from first year students to senior research staff.

In addition, education at ANU promotes the development of discovery-led thinking through all courses, positioning ANU as an ideal University for those wanting an education informed by recent research.

Degrees are offered by coursework and research. Principle educational offerings are: 

• Bachelor (with or without Honours). Graduates will be characterised by the attributes acquired through their exposure to a learning environment based on discovery. They will, therefore, understand the detail of a least one discipline, and understand how knowledge is developed through scholarship. They will have developed, and attested, communication skills, team-working skills, problem-solving skills, and an understanding of research methods.
• Bachelor Honours. Honours graduates will have conducted a substantial research project as part of their undergraduate studies.
• Master degrees by coursework take students to the advanced levels of knowledge in their particular area of interest, or introduce graduates in one field of study to knowledge in another.
• Research Higher Degrees (including Master and Doctorate) allow candidates to research an area in depth, making a contribution to knowledge as well as developing and extending their skills as researchers.

The University also offers certificate, diploma and professional doctoral coursework.

Education at ANU is characterised by the view that research-based knowledge provides a fundamental basis for national and international citizenry. ANU graduates will be prepared to contribute to their societies as skilled and knowledgeable individuals.

Educational Objectives

Building on these foundations, objectives have been set for Education in ANU by 2010. These objectives are:

• to challenge and extend students in a supportive environment
• to guide students’ self-directed learning
• to encourage learning through personal interactions in formal and informal settings
• to prepare reflective, analytical and questioning graduates
• to educate the leaders of the future.