What We Offer
Page Contents
Includes: Premier biomedical research faculty | First-rate location | Learning opportunities | Commercial services | Academic and Research staff
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Melbourne is one of the largest in Australia. The department provides high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate coursework and a breadth of research programs covering areas of bacteriology, virology, immunology and biotechnology.
Australia's Premier Biomedical Research Faculty
The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences is Australia's premier biomedical research faculty, attracting more national peer-reviewed medical research funding than any other medical and health sciences faculty in the country. Within the faculty, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology has emerged as an area of particular strength with international recognition and substantial external funding support.
A First-rate Location
The department, part of the University's Parkville campus, is in the centre of the most densely packed research precinct in Australia. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Ludwig Institute, Howard Florey Institute and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital, Royal Women's Hospital, Royal Dental Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Science and CSIRO Divisions of Animal Health and Bioengineering, Bio21 and the Gene Technology Access Centre are all within easy walking distance along what is known in scientific research circles as "the Parkville Strip".
Learning Opportunities
The outstanding learning opportunities offered by the department are underpinned by our world class research and links with leading research institutes and hospitals. The department provides teaching programs for undergraduate science, medicine, dentistry and optometry students as well as postgraduate programs including the Graduate Diploma of Biotechnology. There is also a strong emphasis on training Honours, Masters and PhD students.
Commercial Services
Housed within the department are the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) and the Media Preparation Unit (MPU), VacTX and ImmunoID.
The MDU is a public health laboratory focusing on microbiological diagnosis and surveillance including community health and preventative activities. The MPU is a microbiological culture media production facility providing a comprehensive range of media for medical, food, water, dairy, meat, industrial, agricultural and veterinary activities.
VacTX, a start-up company of the Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology, is aimed at the incubation of commercially promising vaccine technologies.
ImmunoID is an infrastructure facility with two core divisions, Immunoproteomics and Immunoprofiling. The purpose of ImmunoID is to provide open access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, develop novel research and development programs, increase collaboration and generate commercial outcomes from research into infection, immunity and vaccine development.
Academic and Research Staff
The Department has thirteen full time Academic staff, and around twelve Research Fellows. At any time, the department's research programs are supported by about sixteen Research Officers, fifteen Research Assistants, seventy graduate students, and twenty three BSc Honours students. Many of our research staff are leaders in their fields, among them Laureate Professor Peter Doherty.
Research students and part time external demonstrators assist with teaching. Technical, secretarial and professional staff number about twenty eight.