The Vice-Chancellor's vision

The path towards 2025

No research-intensive university in the world has established a more significant international presence than Monash.

Why is that vital? Without its people, a university is nothing but clusters of buildings and equipment. For example, without our undergraduate engineering students at our Kuala Lumpur campus, Malaysia's future generation of industrial leaders would be diminished. Without our medical researchers in Melbourne, the world would have a slimmer chance to find a treatment for malaria. The community of more than 57,000 people that we call Monash University represents a kaleidoscope of opportunity and an immense mass of human potential.

In the midst of an era of great change and opportunity in higher education both in Australia and internationally, we need to better enunciate our vision to the world. As we look into the future, the students who will be graduating more and more will be spending their careers in a world where national boundaries will be less and less important. Monash is committed to engaging the world -- and delivering new solutions in research and education for the 21st century.

Monash has forged a true international learning community, delivering vital and relevant outcomes through research and also education. As the world progresses towards increasing globalisation, individuals, universities and nations can no longer afford to isolate themselves from the world.

Established with a mandate to pursue both excellence and equity, social justice and enlightenment, Monash will not sit back, refining its excellence, waiting for the world to notice.

The University already has a significant presence in the global context. Highly ranked in the top 50 universities in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement, Monash is uniquely characterised by its combination of prestige, scale, relevance and international presence. Its future lies in further enhancing these qualities. The path we must take is clear:

• Cross-disciplinary research institutes driving new solutions to the problems of the 21st Century
• Stronger global campuses and collaborative alliances
• A research-led curriculum that prepares undergraduates for the workplace; empowers postgraduate coursework students with rigorous programs of advanced thinking and specialisation; and creates a fresh, supportive environment allowing new horizons to be breached by those who take a higher degree by research

These strategies set Monash on the path clearly articulated in its 2025 vision: By 2025 we will be one of the best universities in the world, distinctive because our research-intensive international focus enables us to address important theoretical and practical challenges and developing graduates who will wish to do the same.

Professor Richard Larkins AO
Vice-Chancellor and President