Curtin University (formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945, and is the largest university in Western Australia, with 57,784 students in 2019.
Curtin was conferred university status after the Parliament of Western Australia passed legislation in 1986. Since then, the university has been expanding its presence and has campuses in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Mauritius. It has ties with 90 exchange universities in 20 countries. The University comprises five main faculties with over 95 specialist’s centers. It had a Sydney campus from 2005 to 2016; on 17 September 2015, Curtin University Council made a decision to close its Sydney campus by early 2017. Curtin University was established as Australia’s first university of technology and is a member of Australian Technology Network (ATN). Curtin University is active in research in a range of academic and practical fields, including Resources and Energy (e.g., petroleum gas), Information and Communication, Health, Ageing and Well-being (Public Health), Communities and Changing Environments, Growth and Prosperity and Creative Writing.
It is the only Western Australian University to produce a PhD recipient of the AINSE gold medal, which is the highest recognition for PhD-level research excellence in Australia and New Zealand. Curtin University was founded in 1966 as the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT). Its nucleus comprised the tertiary programs of the Perth Technical College, which opened in 1900. Curtin University's current site in Bentley was selected in 1962, and officially opened in 1966. In December 1986, the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT) was made a university, under provisions of the WA Institute of Technology Amendment Act 1986. Curtin University took its name from the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin. Curtin accepted its first students as a university in 1987.