The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni)

Australia

The University of Adelaide is a world-class research and teaching institution situated in the heart of one of the world’s most liveable cities. Founded in 1874, we are Australia’s third oldest university, South Australia’s clear research leader, and consistently rank inside the world’s top 140.

Our reputation for breaking new ground has been forged by a continuous stream of exceptional people. We count among our alumni five Nobel Laureates, over 140 Fulbright Scholars and more than 100 Rhodes Scholars, including Australia’s first female Indigenous recipient. The country’s first female prime minister and Supreme Court judge were also University of Adelaide graduates.

We currently have 14 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers (2020), and, since 2001 our academics have received 11 coveted Australian Research Council Federation and Laureate Fellowships.

Today, our high-achieving culture continues to attract the world’s best and brightest- discipline leaders from around the globe and close to 8,000 international students from more than 90 countries, representing around 29% of our near-27,000 total student body.

Research impact

The University of Adelaide is committed to conducting future-making research with global impact. A member of Australia’s prestigious Group of Eight (Go8) research-intensive universities, we address the world’s greatest challenges.

Our researchers work closely across multiple disciplines and in productive partnership with industry, government and leading institutions around the globe.

The resulting outputs are universally rated ‘world standard or above’ by the Australian Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia assessment (2018). This includes the highest possible rating in 41 distinct fields, spanning engineering, mathematics, science, medical and health sciences, agriculture and artificial intelligence.

Importantly, our work generates tangible community benefit. A London Economics report commissioned by the Go8 in 2018 valued our total contribution to South Australia’s economy at over AUS$4.23 billion.

* 2020 Times Higher Education world university rankings and the QS rankings

1 December 2019 - 30 November 2020

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni) published between 1 December 2019 - 30 November 2020 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

Count	Share
238	41.18

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Earth & Environmental Sciences	35	8.15
Physical Sciences	102	9.57
Life Sciences	75	7.79
Chemistry	47	19.15

Highlight of the month

Quantum particle in gravitational wave breaks classical principle

© MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

A key principle that undergirds classical mechanics doesn’t hold for a quantum particle experiencing a gravitational wave.

A clear principle in classical physics is that, regardless of their masses, all particles will follow the same path when falling under gravity. But things get much more murky in the domain of the very small, where the rules of quantum physics hold sway, and there has been much debate as to whether the principle holds there.

Now, a theoretical physicist at the University of Adelaide in Australia has calculated that the principled can be violated by a quantum particle, although only when it is bobbing in the ripples of a gravitational wave. First detected in 2015, gravitational waves are generated when massive objects such as neutron stars and black holes collide.

This finding could be used in the future to create gravitational-wave detectors that are more sensitive than today’s ones.

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