From the Vice Chancellor: 2025 is the year of firsts – and lasts
INSIDE UNISADo you remember the last time you moved house?
Amid the busyness and boxes, the packing and wrapping (and the tedium of disconnecting your internet and energy supply), an odd mix of emotions tends to settle over us: nostalgia and melancholy, anxiety and overwhelm, anticipation and excitement. Moving house almost always comes with this jumble of feelings, and it’s remarkable how easily we can hold such contrasting thoughts at one time.
I liken the creation of Adelaide University to moving house – not simply because of the logistics of transitioning into a new entity, but because of the feelings stirred by such a change. It’s the memory of our life as UniSA mingled with the thrill of our emerging identity as a new university.
Our current, competing emotions are underscored by another push and pull: we are witnessing the final moments of UniSA’s existence while simultaneously celebrating Adelaide University’s very first achievements.
And so, before we tape up the last box, take one final look around, and close the door behind us, I’d like to mark a few of the more recent UniSA milestones, which are, ultimately, UniSA’s lasts.
We’ve held our last-ever UniSA International Student Welcome Reception, receiving 680 students from around the world and celebrating our diversity, accessibility and global appeal.
We saw the Director-General of Security and leader of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess AM, deliver the annual Hawke Lecture — the 26th in the series and the last to be hosted by UniSA.
In a few weeks, our PhD students will participate, for the final time, in UniSA’s Three Minute Thesis, sharing the real-world impact and application of their research.
December then marks our penultimate UniSA graduations, with the last-ever ceremony taking place in early 2026. More than 5000 awards are estimated to be conferred during this period, building on more than 200,000 presented over UniSA’s history.
And perhaps our most momentous “last”: our UniSA wingding in November! We’ll celebrate 35 years of our institution’s achievements and legacy, acknowledging you and your invaluable contributions to UniSA’s success.
Of course, running in parallel with all these lasts are Adelaide University’s premier accomplishments …
June was a landmark month for Adelaide University, kicking off with the announcement of the University’s new Vice Chancellor, Professor Nicola Phillips, and the institution’s debut in the 2026 QS World University Rankings global top 100 – claiming 82nd position in the world and 8th nationally.
In July, the Kaurna People – who represent more than 65,000 years of continuous knowledge and discovery – gifted Adelaide University an Aboriginal name: Tirkangkaku, meaning Place of Learning. The bestowal of this Kaurna name is also a first for our country, as the institution is the first university in Australia to have provision for an Aboriginal name in its founding Act.
Adelaide University’s first-ever Open Days have been a resounding success, with more than 14,000 people visiting our city campuses alone, joined by more than 1500 staff and student volunteers. With additional events at Magill, Roseworthy, Mount Gambier and Whyalla, momentum continues to build as we welcome more future students and their families into the growing Adelaide University community.
The University’s first Research Strategy and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Strategy were released at the end of July, marking a major milestone for the institution after more than 12 months of collaboration and co-design. These five-year strategies will be spearheaded by more than 5000 talented researchers and will focus on addressing nation-critical and globally relevant research and advancing First Nations knowledges and outcomes.
At the beginning of August, SATAC and direct applications opened and the first official application to Adelaide University was received! Additionally, admissions went live for study abroad and exchange and, that same day, the University recorded an impressive influx of student enquiries!
Over the coming weeks and months, as we load our belongings into the moving truck (figuratively, if not literally) and prepare to move to our new house, we will encounter more of these lasts – moments that honour UniSA – and more of these firsts, which set the foundations for Adelaide University’s future.
Amid it all, we’ll carry forward the memories and values that made the old house a home, even as we begin to make this new one our own.
Professor David Lloyd
Vice Chancellor and President
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