Innovating to shape the future
The University of Adelaide is one of the most research-intensive
of all Australian universities. This research-intensiveness is
the absolute bedrock of the University's educational excellence,
its innovation and its impact on society.
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
The University of Adelaide is the site of the southern hemisphere's
largest concentration of expertise in sustainable agriculture, cereal
breeding, plant and animal biotechnology, dryland farming, and wine
research.
Plant breeding and biotechnology are at the leading edge of world
research, with more than 35% of southern Australian wheat and barley
plantings dedicated to University varieties.
Adelaide is Australia's pre-eminent wine industry educator and
has produced many of the country's greatest winemakers. Today, it
is also producing expert graduates in the business and marketing
sides of the wine industry.
Significant horticultural research programs include development
of Australian native flora for ornamental horticulture, collaboration
with the Almond Board of Australia on a long-term almond breeding
program, with the olive oil industry on improving cultivars for
Australian conditions, and with Spain's Institut de Recerca y Technologia
Agroalimentaries on almond gene mapping.
The University has more staff engaged in pest science and management
research than any faculty of agriculture or science in Australia.
Through the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management,
University researchers contribute to the sustainability of farming
systems and the conservation of natural ecosystems across Australia.
At Roseworthy Campus, the Livestock Systems Alliance is the largest
gathering of livestock researchers in Australia. Dryland farming
and animal science research at Roseworthy have international impact;
for example, a University-led research project to improve productivity
and sustainability of rainfed farming systems in Gansu province,
China. A new sheep genomics program aims to increase the long-term
profitability of the sheep industry.
Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
The University has a proud tradition of cutting-edge research and
development work, both fundamental and applied, in the fields of
Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences.
Adelaide is home to Australia's leading research group in the area
of turbulence, energy and combustion. A practical example of Adelaide
research in this field was the technical design of the Sydney Olympic
torch and cauldron; the same team was involved in the flames for
the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Adelaide is the world leader in the use of active systems for the
control of excessive noise and vibrations. Recent projects include
the installation of an active noise control system in the Osaka
Subway in Japan.
A long history of world-leading automotive safety research underpinned
the establishment of the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
at the University, with $10 million of South Australian Government
funding. Research at CASR has helped influence major developments
throughout Australia, such as the introduction of 50km/h speed limits
aimed at saving lives, and adds to worldwide knowledge of road safety.
The $5.3 million South Australian Virtual Reality Centre at the
University supports research in engineering, petroleum exploration,
space sciences, architecture, surgery, archaeology and the arts.
State-of-the-art laboratories in biomedical engineering and laser
diagnostics underpin the infrastructure base of Adelaide's engineering
research, and the University is developing cutting-edge research
in bio-informatics at the intersection of the biological and computational
sciences.
The University of Adelaide has a strong reputation for its research
in scientific and engineering applications of high-performance computing
with emphasis on cutting-edge cluster-based computing.
South Australia has a dynamic electronics industry renowned for
innovation and design excellence, while Adelaide was the first city
in Australia to launch a third generation (3G) advanced telecommunications
network. University of Adelaide researchers are leaders in the design
of new generation Internet-based networks.
Environmental Sciences
Research and teaching in environmental sciences crosses all faculties
in areas as diverse as coastal management, marine ecology, remote
sensing, biodiversity, ecology, global environmental change, land
rehabilitation, environmental law, environmental engineering and
water quality.
The University's expertise in marine ecology and sea-level change
not only benefits industries such as fisheries, but is directly
relevant to the 80% of Australians who live within the coastal zone.
A new ancient DNA laboratory to be established at Adelaide is set
to make Adelaide an international centre for genetic palaeoenvironmental
research; understanding Australia's evolutionary past will make
it possible to manage its future.
Health Sciences
The Faculty of Health Sciences comprises the Medical School and
the Dental School. Research in health science also extends across
faculties.
From its inception in 1885, Adelaide's Medical School has become
one of Australia's most prestigious medical schools, with many of
its graduates making a significant impact on world health through
medical practice and research in Australia and overseas.
Adelaide research in obstetrics, gynaecology and physiology is
internationally recognised in the areas of maternal-foetal physiology,
reproductive immunology, embryology, advanced reproductive technology
and perinatology. Close commercial ties with entities such as Repromed
facilitate the transfer of research findings into new treatments.
Repromed's clinical fertility treatments are ranked among the best
in the world and are underpinned by groundbreaking research in reproductive
medicine/technology.
The Colgate Clinical Dental Research Centre is the most advanced
dental research and clinical facility of its kind in the southern
hemisphere. It encourages practising dentists to participate in
research on dental materials, with an emphasis on periodontics and
minimal intervention dentistry.
The University's strong capabilities in the neurosciences extend
across four faculties, with expertise ranging from mental disorders
to brain/head injury to human motor control. The University's psychiatrists
are internationally recognised for their work on post-traumatic
stress disorder.
Other areas of research strength include paediatrics, primary health
care, internal medicine, anaesthesia, rural health, dentistry, population
health, and addiction studies. The Faculty of Health Sciences remains
the lead site in Australia for many multi-centre international clinical
trials.
Humanities and Social Sciences
In a rapidly changing world, industry, government and the community
need creative thinkers and researchers who can provide an understanding
of the past and present to underpin new visions of the future.
The Australian Institute of Social Research was established at
the University in 2004 and is one of Australia's largest social
science research centres. Thought-provoking social research at the
University addresses the impact of globalism, workplace change,
generational changes in Western feminism, reproductive politics,
human rights and creative industries.
Adelaide is a major Australian site for geographical information
systems (GIS) and remote sensing technology with expertise located
in GISCA — the National Key Centre for Social Applications
of Geographical Information Systems. GISCA enhances Australia's
capacity to use spatially referenced social data for planning, such
as in the Commonwealth's Rural Retention program to retain general
practitioners in rural and remote communities.
The University has one of the leading groups analysing population
trends and their implications within Australia and the South East
Asian region. They are sought after by major international agencies,
including the World Bank and the United Nations Population Division,
for research and training programs and policy formulation and development
in the population area.
The study of Indigenous communities has a long and multidisciplinary
history within the University of Adelaide. In recent years this
interest has shifted from Aboriginal people being the subject of
research to being active participants in the process.
The diversity of economics research at the University includes
work on macro/monetary economics, environmental economics, industrial
organisation and relations, and international economics. Complementing
the University's strengths in agriculture, Adelaide's economists
are recognised for their research on agricultural economics and
wine industry economics, and sought after by government and business
organisations in Australia and overseas to undertake contract research
and consulting.
Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology
The University of Adelaide is a major centre of innovation in human,
agricultural and industrial molecular biology and biotechnology.
Adelaide has enjoyed a reputation for over a quarter of a century
as the birthplace of molecular biosciences in Australia, pioneering
recombinant DNA technology in this country and establishing Australia's
first biotechnology company. Research in the 1980s on enteric pathogens
led to the development of a candidate oral vaccine against cholera.
Innovative vaccine research continues, with candidate vaccines against
pneumoccal under trial.
Today, the University's School of Molecular and Biomedical Science
encompasses more than 30 research teams engaged in cutting edge
work in stem cell research, developmental biology, somatic cell
nuclear transfer, developmental physiology, and the molecular basis
of a range of diseases. A project to identify genes that predispose
people to stroke has enormous worldwide implications for the prevention
of stroke, which affects 40,000 Australians annually.
The School is home to the ARC Special Research Centre for the Molecular
Genetics of Development, which is a focus for developmental biology,
microscopy and genome analysis in Australia. The Australian Research
Council noted the Centre's "ability to recruit post-doctoral
researchers of a very high calibre from a variety of blue-ribbon
international research institutes and universities". Adelaide
is also a key participant in the National Stem Cell Centre, linking
leading stem cell researchers across the nation and the world.
Physical, Chemical and Geological Sciences
The disciplines of Physics and Mathematical Physics at the University
have major programs in atmospheric physics, high-energy astrophysics,
laser and non-linear optics and topics in theoretical and mathematical
physics ranging from nuclear and particle physics to cosmology,
strings and statistical mechanics.
The Special Research Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter
at Adelaide is viewed internationally as one of the three centres
in the world for nuclear theory.
Adelaide scientists are leading world research into black holes
and their influence over the evolution of galaxies. The high-energy
astrophysics group is closely associated with the Pierre Auger Observatory
project and their collaboration with the Institute for Cosmic Ray
Research of the University of Tokyo led to construction of a 10m
gamma ray telescope at Woomera as part of the CANGAROO project.
Adelaide's Optics group is at the forefront of research in gravitational
radiation and part of the Australian Consortium for Interferometric
Gravitational Astronomy, which collaborates with many international
large-scale interferometric detector projects.
The Defence Science and Technology Organisation has sponsored two
Chairs in Photonics and Microwave Radar at the University to build
further expertise in areas such as defence and industrial applications
of fibre-optic photonics, signal processing, communications, and
design and implementation of microwave radar systems.
Research within the field of Chemical Sciences has international
distinction in the areas of ion chemistry (one of the leading facilities
in the southern hemisphere), molecular recognition and new materials.
Molecular design and nanoscience research at the University incorporates
fundamental scientific advances. Adelaide's spectroscopic facilities
are unsurpassed in Australia.
Adelaide is known for its advanced studies in geology and geophysics.
In 2003, the Australian School of Petroleum was created at the University,
following a $25 million commitment from Australian petroleum exploration
and production giant, Santos Ltd. It is the first school of its
kind in the southern hemisphere to combine engineering and geoscience
disciplines into a single entity. Research focuses on underground
engineering management of petroleum liquid and gas reservoirs.
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