At Monash, the desire to make a difference informs everything we do. But we go beyond good intentions. We make an impact, both locally and internationally. We are a global university with a presence on four continents. And our plans for the future are ambitious. Optimism Making a difference takes energy and idealism as well as experience and wisdom. As a young university, our outlook is progressive and optimistic. We aren't mired in cynicism, tradition or convention. We attract the best scholars, but we're not elitist. We open our doors to anyone who is prepared to work hard to make a difference. We have seen the good achieved by Monash people in areas like green chemistry, sustainability, and accident and trauma. We are encouraged by their successes and the role we have played in them. Culture We have five local campuses throughout Victoria, two international locations in Malaysia and in South Africa, and centres in the People's Republic of China, Italy and India. Each provides an environment that identifies and nurtures talent – and turns that talent into ability. We believe the best way to help our people meet the challenges they face is to provide a supportive environment. We champion and support our students so they have a memorable university experience. It's a friendly university – no matter which campus you attend. Collaboration From collaborative research opportunities, to building community relationships, our focus is always on how we can empower our people to make a positive impact on the world. Things like the bionic eye and the anti-flu drug Relenza. Shared ambitions move us forward, faster. The more relevant, useful and powerful connections we can make, the greater our impact will be. Still learning Our motto Ancora Imparo ("I am still learning") reminds us that the search for knowledge never ends. We are fired with a restless ambition that pushes us to do things better, to set new benchmarks and to break new ground. In order for our students and staff to positively impact their communities and the world, we must equip them and inspire them – so they can be agents of change. Our history Named after engineer, military leader and public administrator Sir John Monash, Monash University was established by an Act of Parliament in 1958. When our first students began their studies at our foundation campus in Clayton in 1961, we became the first university established in the state of Victoria in over 100 years. Early years The early vision was to create a research-focused tertiary institution with an emphasis on science and technology. As Monash has always done, though, we quickly moved beyond the bounds of expectation. Free from tradition and convention, we were within just a few years of our first intake of a mere 347 students, offering courses in arts, economics, education, engineering, law, medicine, politics and science. Creativity, innovation and activism The focus on research excellence remained, but what grew around it was a culture of creativity, innovation and irreverence. In the 1970s the foundation campus at Clayton became the centre for student protest in Australia, and this philosophy of challenging the status quo permeated the University. It remains to this day, although where once it was the Vietnam war and second-wave feminism that occupied activists' attention, today it is global poverty and sustainability, among many other causes. This position of leadership was not only confined to campaigning and advocacy, however, and Monash had soon become the model for a new generation of Australian universities. Growth The growth from technology/science specialists to general university was rapid. It was accelerated by a merger with Chisholm Institute in 1990, which saw the Caulfield and Peninsula campuses become a part of the University. A year later the Victorian College of Pharmacy entered into a partnership with Monash that allowed us to bring Parkville into our portfolio of campuses. The growth continued apace with the establishment of a new campus within the south-eastern growth corridor of Melbourne in 1994 - our Berwick campus. In 1998, the Malaysian Ministry of Education invited Monash to set up a campus in Malaysia in collaboration with the Sunway Group. Monash University Malaysia was established in the same year, the first Monash campus outside Australia and the first "foreign" university in Malaysia. A second off-shore campus was opened in South Africa in 2001. Since 2014, Monash South Africa has not operated as a full campus of Monash University but remains a location where Monash University degrees are delivered, along with qualifications unique to this location. To underscore the reputation that the University had earned, in 1999 we were invited to be a founding member of the Group of Eight, the coalition of Australia's most prestigious research-intensive universities. Monash had been around for just four decades, and yet was demonstrably holding its own against universities that had had well over a century to establish themselves. Today From a single campus at Clayton with fewer than 400 students, Monash has grown into a network of campuses, education centres and partnerships spanning the globe. With approximately 60,000 students (and 350,000 almuni) from over 170 countries, we are today Australia's largest university. The New Horizons initiative is a platform for excellence in future manufacturing research and teaching. The University now offers a broad selection of courses within 10 faculties: Art, Design and Architecture; Arts; Business and Economic; Education; Engineering; Information Technology; Law; Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Science.