The University of Melbourne is a leading global research university renowned for its teaching and research achievements, and its social, economic and cultural contributions. It aims for global excellence, relevance and impact. In particular, building on its long history of research and teaching engagement in Asia, the University aims to be the outstanding university in Australia for Asia-relevant research, tackling the grand challenges posed by the unprecedented scale and pace of modernisation in the region.  

Promoting links between countries and cross-cultural understanding

The University is home to some of Australia’s leading outreach education bodies which actively promote links between countries and enhance cross-cultural understanding through seminars, exhibitions, short-courses, international internships and leadership programs.

	Asialink is Australia's leading centre for the promotion of public understanding of the countries of Asia and of Australia's role in the region. As a non-academic centre of the University of Melbourne and an initiative of the Myer Foundation, Asialink is a key provider of information, training and professional networks.
	Operated in partnership with Nanjing University (China), The Confucius Institute is a centre of education excellence for Australian companies wishing to do business in China, Chinese companies wanting to do business in Australia and the general public who have an interest in Chinese language and culture.
	Operated in partnership with the University of NSW, La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne, The Australia India Institute plays a key role in strengthening ties between Australia and India. It hosts a number of corporate and public programs to support the Australia- India relationship through research, professional links and cooperation.

In addition to these institutes, the University of Melbourne maintains over 200 agreements for academic cooperation and exchange with leading universities around the globe.  It is a member of two prestigious international networks: Universitas 21 and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.  These networks facilitate collaboration and cooperation between the member universities and create opportunities for staff and students.

Participation in United Nations Academic Impact

In 2012, The University of Melbourne became of member of the United Nations Academic Impact. This global initiative aligns institutions of higher education with the United Nations in actively supporting ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, literacy, sustainability and conflict resolution. Academic Impact asks each participating college or university to actively demonstrate support of at least one of those principles each year.

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An outstanding international research record

Research is central to the mission of the University of Melbourne, linking us with the great centres of scholarship around the world. 

Our researchers are at the forefront of international scholarship in diverse fields, including engineering, science and technology, medical and health sciences, business and economics, history, law, politics and the creative and performing arts.  They guide our graduate research candidates to achieve scholarly excellence in emerging and traditional academic fields. 

Interdisciplinary institutes – a global research powerhouse

 In addition to this discipline-focused and investigator driven research agenda, the University has a number of interdisciplinary research initiatives that seek to solve some of the most difficult problems facing our world in this century. 

• Melbourne Energy Institute
• Melbourne Materials Institute
• Melbourne Neuroscience Institute
• Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
• Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society

Research partnerships

With over 3,400 staff and an annual research expenditure of $844 million, we are Australia's leading research university.  Excellence in Research for Australia results emphasise the University's national pre-eminence and global standing. Partnerships with external organisations extend the University's research capability and impact. For example:

• IBM Partnership: In 2011 a partnership with IBM saw the historic opening at the University of IBM's first Australian Global Research and Development Laboratory.  Our researchers work alongside IBM in the laboratory on smarter resource and natural disaster management. Read More
• Genetic Blueprint Discovery: A collaboration between the University's Aaron Jex and Robin Gasser along with scientists in China, Eurpoe and America has unlocked the genetic blueprint of a parasitic roundworm which causes an often fatal disease, Ascariasis, which affects one billion people worldwide. Read More
• Exploring the Origins of the Universe: A $25 million centre of excellence in Particle Physics at the Terascale (CoEPP) was established at the University in 2012 to explore the origins of mass after the big bang. Coordinating research efforts across a number of international institutions, CoEPP conducts research using a giant particle detector attached to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (Switzerland). Read morez
  
  

Research takes place throughout the University’s main Parkville campus and surrounding specialist entities. These include a biomedical, ICT and life sciences research hub known as the Parkville Precinct.

Read more about our research collaborations

International opportunities for students

The University of Melbourne offers exceptional international opportunities for students to experience challenging and cross-cultural learning environments, in Melbourne and overseas. The university has the largest inbound and outbound student exchange program in Australia, with over 140 exchange partners from 37 countries. Plus further scope available through scholarships, volunteering opportunities and international internships.

Learn more about international opportunities for students