griffith university griffith university griffith university is a public research university in south east queensland on the east coast of australia. formally founded in 1971, griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing australia's first degrees in environmental science and asian studies. the university has five campuses across the region: gold coast, nathan, logan, south bank, and mt gravatt. griffith universitytypepublic research universityestablished1971 (1971)accreditationteqsaacademic affiliationsacuasaihliruchancellorthe hon andrew fraservice-chancellorprof. carolyn evansacademic staff4,000 (fte)students49,269 (2021)undergraduates36,614 (2021)postgraduates12,191 (2021)locationqueensland, australiacampusgold coast nathan mount gravatt south bank logancolours redsporting affiliationsunisportwebsitegriffith.edu.au the university is named after sir samuel walker griffith, who was twice premier of queensland and the first chief justice of the high court of australia. sir samuel griffith played a major role in the federation of australia and was the principal author of the australian constitution. griffith university is one of australia's leading universities and is ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide. the university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs across a range of disciplines, including business, law, science, health, education, engineering, and the arts. opening at nathan as a single campus of 451 students, the university now has five campuses spanning three cities, the largest of which is the gold coast campus at southport and the nathan campus in brisbane. the mount gravatt and south bank campuses are also located in brisbane, while the logan campus is at meadowbrook. griffith university, with about 50,000 students enrolled from more than 130 countries, is a verdant university and a member of the iru. according to the 2021 student experience survey, it has the ninth-highest student satisfaction rating among all australian universities and, since 2012, has received more australian awards for university teaching than any other australian university. it's alumni and academic staff includes distinguished figures such as 2017 australian of the year emeritus professor alan mackay-sim and the 2021 queensland australian of the year dinesh palipana. history beginnings in 1965, 174 hectares (430 acres) of natural bushland at nathan was set aside for a new university campus. initially, the site was to be part of the university of queensland, which was experiencing strong demand in humanities and social sciences. by 1970, a new tertiary institution was being mooted, and theodor bray (later sir theodor bray) was asked by the queensland government to establish a second for brisbane and the third for the state. after several months of discussion, the government announced on 24 december 1970 that bray would head a committee charged with establishing griffith university. on 30 september 1971, the queensland government officially created and recognized griffith university with the passing of the assent to griffith university act 1971. on 5 march 1975, griffith university began teaching 451 students in four schools: australian environmental studies, humanities, modern asian studies, and science. the university was distinguished by its "problem-based", rather than disciplinary, approach to course design and research. expansion in the 1990s, the dawkins revolution saw several tertiary education reforms in australia, resulting in a series of amalgamations of colleges and universities. in 1990, the mount gravatt teacher's college (est. 1969) and gold coast college of advanced education (est. 1987) became official campuses of griffith university, remaining in the same location today. the queensland conservatorium of music continued the higher education mergers and became an official part of griffith university in 1991. originally established in 1957, the new entity became known as queensland conservatorium griffith university. in 1992, griffith's amalgamations were completed with the queensland college of art (qca), established in 1881 and recognized as the oldest continuously operating art training institution in australia, officially becoming part of the university. griffith's fifth campus, logan, opened in 1998. located in the suburb of meadowbrook, on an area of green fields south of brisbane, the logan campus was established to specifically address the interests and needs of the logan city area. griffith university was an official partner of the gold coast 2018 commonwealth games. over 500 students and staff were closely involved in the planning and delivery of the event. campuses griffith university's campuses are distinctive for their nature-based settings within urban environments. library at the griffith university gold coast campus. griffith university (nathan campus) from stadium path gold coast campus the gold coast campus is located in the gold coast suburb of southport. set in native bushland, on the land of the aboriginal yugambeh and kombumerri peoples, this campus hosts over 19,000 students from all over australia and the world. it is griffith university's largest campus. the campus has seen significant growth and development over the last few years, with the opening of the $150 million griffith health centre and the neighboring gold coast university hospital in 2013, and the launch of the $38 million griffith business school building in 2014. the campus is serviced by two gold coast light rail (g: link) stations and is a major interchange for bus routes. logan campus logan is griffith university's community-focused campus. hosting almost 2500 students, the campus offers degrees in human services and social work, nursing and midwifery, business and commerce, education, and information technology. the campus has strong connections with the local community, hosting numerous sporting and cultural events throughout the year. nathan campus nathan, griffith's foundation campus, is situated in tranquil, native bushland on the edge of toohey forest and less than 10 kilometers from the brisbane cbd. nathan hosts over 13,000 students and offers degrees in business and government, engineering and information technology, environment, humanities and languages, law, and science and aviation. the buildings at the nathan campus were designed to fit into the environment by roger kirk johnson, the founding architectural designer of the campus, following the slope of the land and using architectural means of cooling. the library building was designed by robin gibson and won the first national award for library design. the clusters of buildings, sports facilities, bushland reserves, and recreational areas are connected by integrated networks of walking paths. on the northern edge of the campus lies the dunn memorial. in 2013, the six-star, green-rated sir samuel griffith centre was opened on the nathan campus. the building operates off the grid and is powered by a combination of photovoltaics and hydrogen. the campus has two residential colleges for students and a range of sporting facilities. mount gravatt campus queensland conservatorium of music the mount gravatt campus, adjacent to the nathan campus, hosts 4,400 students. it is the university's social sciences and humanities hub and the base for research into crucial social issues, including education and suicide prevention. like nathan, the campus is situated on the edge of toohey forest. the campus features a recently upgraded aquatic and fitness center, with a heated pool and indoor and outdoor recreation areas, co-located with a 16-court tennis center, a training oval, and basketball and netball courts. on-campus student accommodation is also available. south bank campus located in brisbane's cultural precinct, the south bank campus is griffith university's creative hub. it encompasses griffith's queensland college of art and queensland conservatorium, and the griffith film school and griffith graduate centre. as of 2020, enrolment for all four units is about 3400 students. organisation griffith university is structured in four academic groups, with teaching offered through a range of schools, colleges, and departments. arts, education, and law school of criminology and criminal justice school of education and professional studies school of humanities, languages and social science griffith law school queensland college of art griffith film school queensland conservatorium griffith business school department of accounting, finance, and economics department of employment relations and human resources department of business strategy and innovation department of marketing department of tourism, sport and hotel management school of government and international relations griffith health school of applied psychology school of health sciences and social work school of medicine and dentistry school of nursing and midwifery school of pharmacy and medical sciences griffith sciences school of engineering and built environment school of environment and science school of information and communication technology academic profile rankings university rankingsgriffith universityqs world300=the world201-250arwu world201-300us news world201cwts leiden world312australian rankingsqs national19the national13=arwu national11us news national12cwts leiden national10era national12= in australia, griffith university ranks 18th out of 37 universities. griffith is in the top 300 universities worldwide in four major world rankings; academic ranking of world universities (arwu), qs world university rankings (qs), times higher education world university rankings (the-wur), and university rankings by academic performance (urap). griffith also ranks highly as a young university, ranking 33rd in the 2021 qs university rankings top 50 under 50 and 33rd in the 2022 times higher education young university rankings. griffith has several top-ranking subjects according to the shanghairanking global ranking of academic subjects 2022: top 10 hospitality and tourism management (third globally, first in australia) nursing and midwifery (second globally, first in australia) top 40-100 computer science and engineering dentistry and oral sciences (second in australia) education energy science and engineering law (first in australia) marine/ocean engineering (third in australia) water resources top 101-150 chemical engineering civil engineering environmental science and engineering geography materials science and engineering nanoscience and nanotechnology public administration according to excellence in research for australia (2018), griffith was rated ‘well above world standard’ in 24 fields of research, including chemical sciences, dentistry, political science, and technology. mba the griffith mba is ranked among australia's leading mba programs in ceo magazine and its 2022 mba rankings. the rankings are compiled by the international graduate forum and are designed to present a 360-degree view of the world's leading business schools. the griffith mba is placed fourth in the top tier of australian programs. it also features in the magazine's top 20 global mba rankings. the mba is also the highest-ranking australian mba in the aspen institute's centre for business education's most recent beyond grey pinstripes global top 100, ranked at number 26. griffith university was awarded this ranking for its focus on responsible leadership, sustainable business practices and the asia-pacific. it was also acknowledged as one of australia's best, ranking fifth in australia in the 2019 financial review boss magazine mba survey. teaching awards griffith features prominently in australia's national teaching awards and citations. since 2012, griffith has won 10 awards for teaching excellence, 7 awards for programs that enhance learning, 46 citations for outstanding contributions to student learning, and 7 national teaching fellowships. three griffith staff have been named the prime minister's australian teacher of the year. research griffith researchers work in 38 centers and institutes, investigating areas such as water science, climate change adaptation, criminology and crime prevention, sustainable tourism, and health and chronic disease. the university's major research institutes include: advanced design and prototyping technologies institute (adapt) australian rivers institute cities research institute environmental futures research institute griffith asia institute griffith criminology institute griffith institute for educational research griffith institute for tourism institute for glycomics institute for integrated and intelligent systems menzies health institute queensland (formerly the griffith health institute) griffith institute for drug discovery (gridd) additionally, griffith hosts several externally supported centers and facilities, including: australian institute for suicide research and prevention national climate change adaptation research facility smart water research centre nhmrc centre of research excellence in nursing research commercialization griffith offers research commercialization and services for business, industry, and government through griffith enterprise. other centres as well as research centers and institutes, griffith has several cultural and community-focused organizations. these include the ecocentre, which provides a space for environmental education activities, exhibitions, seminars, and workshops; and the centre for interfaith & cultural dialogue (formerly the multi-faith centre). recognised research in 2021, a research team led by the university discovered a new type of tree frog in new guinea which is commonly known as the "chocolate frog". student life student organisations griffith university has a wide array of cultural, intellectual, sporting, and social groups. its student guild takes care of these clubs on the gold coast campus, as well as student issues, accommodation, employment, publication, events, sport, and recreation. on the nathan campus, campus life supports many clubs including the long-running grubs (griffith university bushwalking club), the karate and kickboxing club and the griffith university aikido club. uniquely, griffith university students are represented by two statutory embedded student organizations. the griffith university student representative council (gusrc) represents undergraduate students and the griffith university postgraduate students association (gupsa) represents post-graduate students in all campuses apart from the gold coast. gupsa