The James Cook University is a University for tropics — the basic 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 par t of the University of Queensland, JCU is the Queensland’s second autonomous University in the year 1970. The Cairns campus was established in 1987, JCU Singapore in the year 2003 and JCU Brisbane in 2006. There are study centers in Mackay, Mt Isa and Thursday Island, and research stations at Paluma, Horn Island, Mareeba, Fletcherview and Orpheus Island. Strong links are held with institutions in China and Fiji.
The main 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 over 5,200 international students, JCU has produced some 40,000 graduates. It is a comprehensive university, providing more than 140 undergraduate and more than 120 postgraduate courses spanning the business, education, arts, creative arts, Indigenous Australian studies, dentistry, engineering, information technology, health sciences, law, social sciences, medicine, veterinary sciences, and science.
In the year 2010 JCU added a Master of Development Practice through its Faculty of Science and Engineering. In the year 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 recognized with academic staff winning 36 awards for teaching excellence from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council over the past five years.
The edition of 2012 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 first university which was outside the 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 centers 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 the year2010 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.
CAMPUS LOCATION:
Townsville
Cairns
Brisbane
Singapore
Contact Details
Angus Smith Drive
Townsville QLD 4811
Majors Courses Offered
Computer and Information Sciences, Engineering, Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering, Humanities/Humanistic Studies, Biology/Biological Sciences, Mathematics, Computational Mathematics, Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Philosophy, Astrophysics, Planetary Astronomy and Science, Chemistry, Geology/Earth Science, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Seismology, Social Sciences, Economics, Political Science and Government, Philosophy of Science and Technology
Minors Courses Offered
Aerospace,Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Computer Engineering, Humanities/Humanistic Studies, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Technology