University of Canterbury

University of Canterbury

Study at University of Canterbury, New Zealand - Explore Your Career

The University of Canterbury, is a public university based in Christchurch, New Zealand and was formerly known as Canterbury College, founded in 1873 the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand and is now, denoted as UC, is the second oldest university of New Zealand. Its original campus was in the Christchurch Central City, but in 1961 it became an independent university and began moving out of its original neo-gothic buildings, which were repurposed as the Christchurch Arts Centre. The move was completed on 1 May 1975, and the university now operates its main campus in the Christchurch suburb of Ilam. The university boasts 142,000 alumni from over 100 countries and 1,909 staff members with 50% international staff.

The university boasts 142,000 alumni from over 100 countries and 1,909 staff members with 50% international staff. In the 2017 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), UC was dropped completely from the world's top 500 universities. In the 2017 QS World University Rankings, UC was rated 214th overall in the world, and third highest among New Zealand universities. Its global faculty rankings for 2015/2016 were: 146th in Arts & Humanities, 161st in Engineering & IT, 211th in Natural Sciences, and 94th in Social Sciences and Management. In the 2016–2017 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, UC was ranked in the world's top 400 universities, up from being in just the world's top 500 universities in 2015. The university was the first in New Zealand to be granted five stars by QS Stars. Unlike the QS World University Rankings, QS Stars ratings are only given to universities that pay a fee; the programme is designed to give "those institutions that are not highly ranked or do not appear in the rankings an opportunity to reach out to their prospective students, to stand out and to be recognised for their excellence.

The university is well known for its Engineering and Science programmes – its Civil Engineering programme is ranked 9th in the world (Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2021). Although the university also offers a wide range of other courses including degrees in Arts, Commerce, Education (physical education), Fine Arts, Forestry, Health Sciences, Law, Criminal Justice, Antarctic Studies, Music, Social Work, Speech and Language Pathology, Sports Coaching and Teaching. With its innovative researchers and multidisciplinary professors, the university has been contributing to various industries. UC’s five colleges offer more than 2000 courses to international students. With over 120 degree programmes, the university allows aspirants to specialise in the following five most popular disciplines- Arts, Business and Law, Education, Health and Human Development, Engineering and Science. The university has over 35 research centres, groups, and institutes, where students and faculty members collaborate to conduct award-winning studies. With its world-class research facilities and assets worth NZD 1.5 billion, UC is known to extensively support the following laboratories:

• Astronomy and Physics facilities
• Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interactions
• Chemistry facilities
• Civil and Natural Resources Engineering facilities
• Electrical and Computer Engineering labs
• Field stations
• Forestry and Wood Science labs
• Geology and Geography labs
• Language, Brain, and Behaviour lab
• Mechanical Engineering labs
• Human-Computer Interaction labs
• Drone (UAV) lab

The global partnerships of UC allow the researchers to work with leading companies such as Astrolab, KiwiNet, WNT Ventures, Sparkbox, Powerhouse Ventures, Return on Science and ChristchurchNZ. 

The University of Canterbury has three campuses spread throughout the city of Christchurch:

• Ilam: The university has a main campus of 76 hectares (190 acres) at Ilam, a suburb of Christchurch about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the centre of the city. The Ilam campus maintains three libraries with the Central Library (Māori: Te Puna Mātauraka o Waitaha) housed in the tallest building on campus, the 11-storey Puaka-James Hight building. The Ilam campus is where the Colleges of Education, Health, Human Development, Science, Engineering, Business and Law and Arts are based. The University of Canterbury Students' Association is based there in the Haere Roa building. The Ilam Campus is home to cafes and restaurants as well as a pharmacy, bookshop, the UC rec centre and the UC Health centre.
• Dovedale: The Dovedale Campus is 11 hectares (27 acres) and became a part of the University of Canterbury when the Christchurch College of Education (a specialist teacher training institution) merged on 1 January 2007. The Dovedale campus is located adjacent to the Ilam campus and is off Dovedale avenue. The campus consists of the old Henry Field Library, The Christchurch College of English, Ilam Early Learning Center and Hayashi and Sonada student residences. The College of Education, Health, and Human Development also maintains a presence here
• City: The Christchurch City Campus is made up of the Christchurch Arts Center and the Manawa building. Music and classics are again taught from the Christchurch Arts Centre in the old chemistry building, and within the new Manawa building in Christchurch City health and education are taught. The city campus also includes the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities – home of the James Logie Memorial Collection.

The University also maintains additional small campuses in Nelson, Tauranga and Timaru, and teaching centres in Greymouth, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Timaru. The university has staff in regional information offices in Nelson, Timaru, and Auckland. The University of Canterbury has the most field stations of any New Zealand University. The Field Facilities Centre administers four of these field-stations:

• Cass Field Station – Provides a wide range of environments: montane grasslands, scrub, riverbed, scree, beech forest, swamp, bog, lake, stream and alpine habitats; all accessible by day-trips on foot
• Harihari Field Station – Access to native forests, streams
• Westport Field Station – for the study of the West Coast of New Zealand, particularly mining
• Kaikoura Field Station – Kaikoura represents an important transition zone for flora and fauna, particularly in the marine environment, with Kowhai bush and associated rich birdlife close by.

Some notable alumni of the university include- Rita Angus – painter, Michael Baigent – author and archaeologist, Rosemary Banks – Ambassador to the United Nations

David Beauchamp – civil engineer, Albert Bergstrom – academic and economist, Don Brash – Former Governor of the reserve bank of New Zealand and former leader of the opposition, Eleanor Catton – writer and Man Booker Prize winner 2013, Neil Cherry – environmental scientist, Mark Chignell – academic, Nathan Cohen – world champion and Olympic champion rower, Judith Collins – Politician, Michael P. Collins – academic, Helen Connon – educational pioneer, Michael Cullen – former deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Lianne Dalziel – 46th mayor of Christchurch and Rhys Darby – comedian.