Institution Profile

Institution Description:

The University of Canterbury was established in 1873. Based in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand, the University of Canterbury (UC) has an impressive international profile in research, learning and advanced scholarship in the disciplines of science, engineering, arts, education, business and Law. In 2011 UC became the first New Zealand university to receive a 5-star rating in the newly-established international QS Stars rating system (QS World University Rankings 2011) which evaluates universities against eight criteria including research quality, teaching quality and graduate employability, and is ranked in the top three per cent of universities worldwide (QS World University Rankings, 2015/2016).

UC produces graduates for more than 40 professions, and offers more than 2000 courses and 100 programmes of study. It has more than 20 research centres and three national research institutes, and an extensive network of field stations, more than any other university in New Zealand — at Kaikoura, Cass, Westport, Harihari, the sub-Antarctic Snares Islands and Antarctica, and New Zealand’s premier astronomical research facility at Mount John, Tekapo. In addition, UC operates a field station in Nigeria as part of the Nigerian Montane Forest Project.

UC has been committed to producing leaders for 140 years, and has as a vision statement of “People Prepared to Make a Difference” where staff and students work together, to create, critique, disseminate and protect knowledge, and where research, teaching and learning take place in ways that are both innovative and inspirational. Our graduates have the skills to make an informed and genuine contribution to local, national and international communities. You’ll have opportunities to work alongside a diverse academic community and enrich your own professional and personal development.