Early 1970's
An idea manifests
As the Sunshine Coast starts to boom; the community first calls for a local university to help shape the region’s future.
1984-94
The dream takes shape
A 10-year campaign gets underway to gain support and raise funds for a local university. It gains momentum when the Federal Government lifts its embargo on new higher education institutions in 1988.
1994
“No staff, no office, and a tiny budget”
Professor Paul Thomas takes on the daunting challenge of making the dream a reality – using his car as an office and sometimes even a bed, and its boot as a filing system.
1995
“A swamp in the middle of nowhere”
The builders’ shocked reaction on seeing the 100 acres of low-lying former sugarcane land on the edge of the Mooloolah River National Park chosen as the site for the new university. They will go on to transform it into an award-winning masterclass in sustainability and design.
1996
Uni opens, learning begins
The Sunshine Coast University College officially opens, with around 500 students, 48 staff and Professor Paul Thomas as Vice-Chancellor. President of the Queensland Court of Appeal, the Honourable Tony Fitzgerald, is inaugural Chancellor.
1997
Winning style
Our library opens to great acclaim, winning the prestigious Sir Zelman Cowen Award for the best public building in Australia. Ditching traditional, closed-in library designs, its sweeping roof skillions, grand Queensland verandah, and trailblazing passive light and ventilation lets the outside in. It was designed by John Mainwaring and Associates (in association with Lawrence Nield and Partners.
1998
New chancellor
Former Deputy Chancellor, business leader and grazier Ian Kennedy AM becomes our second Chancellor.
1999
Getting rid of ‘that awful college name’
Our first students graduate.
At the same time, we gain full university status, much to the relief of Vice-Chancellor Professor Thomas. No longer under the governance of Queensland University of Technology, the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) is born.
Media hit: Nation’s youngest uni student
Among the first cohort of graduates is Mel Myers, who was featured in media across Australia as the nation’s youngest ever uni student when he enrolled in 1996, aged just 14. He goes on to become CEO and co-founder of BoxBrownie.com.
2000
Going for gold
Our $1.5 million athletics track, and sports centre opens and is immediately booked by four teams for pre-Olympic training.
It goes on to serve as a key training hub for hundreds of local schools and athletes and para-athletes preparing for national and world titles, Olympic and Commonwealth Games – the latest is the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Crikey!
Australia Zoo founder (the late) Steve Irwin is named an Honorary Fellow in 2000. His wife Terri Irwin later receives the honour in 2007 for her services to wildlife. Other well-known honourees include British comedian Bill Bailey, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Nobel Peace Prize Co-laureate, Jose Ramos Horta.
As a new century dawns, we grow rapidly with growing demand from students outside the region and from overseas. We now have 2,500 students, close to 450 staff and offer 40 plus undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
2002
Innovation incubator
We become a pioneer incubator for some of Queensland’s most innovative products, services and businesses with the opening of the Innovation Centre. We’ve since helped launch more than 300 companies and generate $34 million in investments.
2003
Nature’s classroom
We are one of the first universities in the world to operate on a World-Heritage listed island, transforming a former mining camp on the eastern side of K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) into a research station.
2004
Fusing art, ideas and community
We purchase our first artwork in 1995 and grow our collection to over 800 works – the largest public collection of art in the Sunshine Coast region. It’s displayed in our stunning art gallery which opens in 2004 and is later redeveloped in 2020.
2005
Celebrating our alumni heroes
Paralympic swimmer Marakye Jonkers is the first recipient of our outstanding Alumni of the Year award, the same year she is named Queensland Young Achiever of the Year.
We introduce several new degrees, including the Bachelor of Nursing Science, which races straight to the top of the university’s most sought-after degree list. It has stayed there ever since.
The Buranga Centre opens. The dedicated Indigenous student services and cultural hub at the Sunshine Coast campus provides a welcoming space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Other Buranga centres later open at Moreton Bay, Caboolture and Fraser Coast campuses.
2006
The power of 10
We celebrate our 10th year by recording a 30 percent jump in first preference applications to reach 6,.000 enrolments.
We receive our first five-star rating from students, who also rank us second in Australia for overall educational experience.
Our new state-of-the-art nursing ward, Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE), and Sport and Health Clinic sport science centre opens.
We become the first university in Australia to be accredited by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
We put university in reach of many by introducing our award-winning free bridging program, Tertiary Preparation Pathway.
2007
Flying high
Professor Thomas announces a new focus on research of international significance as exercise science researcher Chris Askew takes the directive to new heights. He defies gravity in a global collaboration investigating weightlessness on fine motor skills and brain activity.
Our $10million indoor sports stadium opens.
We sign an agreement to provide the first accredited climate change training for business and government professionals in Australia.
Caloundra’s Catholic parish priest and Dean of the North Coast Deanery of the Archdiocese of Brisbane John Dobson OAM becomes our third Chancellor.
2008
‘Eco-versity focus’
We take a leading role across the sector to position ourselves as an emerging “ecoversity”, embedding sustainability across teaching and research, campus planning and building design, and business and innovation activities. This includes providing the first accredited climate change training for business and government professionals in Australia.
Prominent Australian Sir Clem Renouf funds the Renouf Family Scholarships – the largest privately funded undergraduate scholarships on offer at the time. Our scholarship programs will grow from providing around 300 scholarships in our first decade to more than 23,000 across 30 years.
2009
Working for a sustainable future
We establish a Sustainability Research Centre to boost the expertise of researchers working across coastal management, climate change, water management, natural and cultural heritage, innovation, adaptive growth and community well-being.
Four graduates become the first in the world to receive a Master of Climate Change Adaptation.
Media hit: “Invention of the year”
Professor in Aquaculture Biotechnology Abigail Elizur is part of a team that creates aquaculture history through the world-first spawning of captive southern bluefin tuna. Time Magazine lists it as the world’s second-most important invention that year.
2010
“A labour of love”
Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Paul Thomas AM, calls time after 16 years.
“This, for me, has been a labour of love – and it all emanates from the initial hopes and feelings conveyed to me early in 1994 by a community sick of talk, and just wanting a university for their children and grandchildren, and even themselves. Decades of waiting had been too long.”
Current Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill AO is appointed our second VC.
2011
It's all going swimmingly
The student population swells to more than 8,000.
We open a number of new facilities including a 50-metre Olympic-standard swimming pool and a state-of-the-art Engineering and Science Training Facility.
2012
10,000 and growing
We celebrate as we reach the milestone of 10,000 graduates.
We gain a $24million Commonwealth grant for regional expansion – the largest single funding boost to our development since we began.
Three research centres and three research clusters are announced to expand research in sustainability, genecology, forest industries, health and digital technologies.
2013
Growing fast, changing lives
We enter one of our busiest periods of campus expansion, with $60 million in construction that includes a new campus at Gympie, which opens in August.
Business graduate Chelsea Wallis, 18, who becomes one of our youngest Chancellor’s medallists. Chelsea returned in 2014 to be one of our first Law students and wins another university medal. She is now teaching at Oxford.
Media hit: Top dog at graduation
Guide dog Nev steals the show at our Semester 2 Graduation.
Wearing a cap and gown, he shakes hands with the Chancellor as he accompanies blind graduate Nicole Damarra across the stage to receive her Bachelor of Social Science.
2014
Improving health through clinical trials
USC Clinical Trials is launched, with a dedicated centre later opening at Sippy Downs in 2016. In just over a decade, we have undertaken more than 230 clinical trials targeting more than 50 diseases, conditions and therapeutic areas.
We open a new Learning and Teaching Hub that goes one to win two major design awards.
Our first law students begin their studies.
Clinical Exercise Science student Blake Cochrane is awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contributions to sport in the 2012 London Paralympics. He also becomes the first back-to-back winner of our Sportsperson of the Year, after winning four gold medals at the 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships.
2015
‘Court’ is now in session
President of the Queensland Court of Appeal Justice Margaret McMurdo AC opens a purpose-built moot court on campus.
We become a world leader in immersive learning with the opening of a $37.2 million Engineering Learning Hub (ELH) that houses cutting-edge 3D and virtual reality facilities, the first of its kind used in the education sector.
In response to a rapidly changing jobs market, we introduce 18 new degrees to cater for industry demand, including five new degrees in health.
We award our first Thompson Excellence Scholarships, valued at $32,000, to four high-achieving students. These prestigious scholarships, funded through a generous $5 million gift to the University by Roy and Nola Thompson in 2014.
2016
20 years of success
We celebrate our 20th year with more than 1,000 staff, 12,600 students, 120 degrees, 23 buildings and more than 15,000 graduates.
We add a campus at Fraser Coast (previously operated by the University of Southern Queensland) and announce plans to build a new campus at Moreton Bay.
We partner with Sunshine Coast University Hospital – the first new tertiary teaching hospital in Australia in 20 years.
Sunshine Coast Lightning begins as a joint venture between UniSC and NRL club Melbourne Storm. We continue to support the national netball club as a Foundation Principal Partner.
The Graduate Walk is unveiled, featuring the names of 400 alumni etched into pavers and representing every graduation year since 1999.
2017
New Chancellor
Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret’d) becomes our fourth Chancellor.
The UniSC 1996 Society is formed – a philanthropic club named to recognise the visionaries who worked hard to create the University which opened in 1996.
2018
Hub for world-class mental health research
The Thompson Institute officially opens, bringing together experts in neurobiology, psychology and psychiatry to research solutions to youth mental health, suicide prevention, healthy brain ageing, and PTSD challenges.
We expand our footprint to the Moreton Bay region, with a campus in Caboolture (previously operated by QUT).
2019
Sustainability that’s ‘Out of the Box’
We are the first university in Australia to install a water battery powered by the sun to help cool the Sunshine Coast campus, with partners Veolia. In its first year, it saves more than 4,232 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions - believed to be the equivalent of planting almost 70,000 trees and growing them for 10 years. It wins an Out of the Box award at the Global District Energy Climate Awards.
The Thompson Institute launches the Alliance for Suicide Prevention program to improve mental health resiliency to suicide. It’s grown to encompass 180 member organisations, train more than 3100 in suicide alertness and intervention skills and deliver mental health webinars to more than 10,000 people across Australia.
Media hit: “A Disney movie must be made”
UniSC’s detection dog Bear becomes a viral sensation after helping find and save scores of injured or trapped koalas following devastating bushfires. He captures the attention of Hollywood starTom Hanks, who tweets his thanks and calls for a movie to be made.
2020
COVID lockdowns, a new campus and a new VC
In February, we officially open our new Moreton Bay campus in one of Australia’s fastest growing regions, exceeding all enrolment expectations.
Just days later, we close all campuses and quickly pivot to online learning as the nation goes into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After ten years as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Greg Hill retires. “It has been the best part of my working life in academia to have walked with you, and to have made the tertiary education impact we have achieved on our now broad region.”
Professor Helen Bartlett is appointed our new Vice-Chancellor and President.
2021
Defying the odds
International borders remain closed due to COVID-19, but strong domestic demand helps us outperform national trends, enrolling around 18,000 students across our campuses.
In the space of a week, USC Spartans swimmer Kaylee McKeown goes from making her Olympic debut to becoming one of Australia’s most successful Olympians, claiming three gold medals and a bronze in the pool at the Tokyo Games.
Media hit: Green eggs, hold the ham
Our research on sex determination in the cassowary goes viral after viewers are fascinated to discover that the rarely seen, and closely guarded eggs of the one of the world’s most dangerous bird are a vivid green.
2022
Creating a better tomorrow
USC is now known as UniSC as part of a refresh to build a stronger, more distinctive global brand. We adopt a new vision – “to create a better tomorrow” with our purpose to transform lives through learning and knowledge.
With the declaration of the Sunshine Coast Biosphere Reserve, we become the world’s only university to operate across three UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Media hit: Magpies 1, Scientists 0
Clever magpies outwit our researchers by helping each other remove their tracking devices, creating a worldwide media sensation, from the BBC to the New York Times.
2023
Phins up!
We team up with the Dolphins NRL as an education partner as the club prepared to enter the National Rugby League. UniSC students gain hands‑on experience and career opportunities while the Dolphins benefit from our research expertise and community engagement.
We are ranked among the world’s top two per cent of universities in the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which assess performance against the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Thompson Institute’s Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study achieves a world-first: tracking the same group of adolescents for five years, regularly recording brain development and its links to mental health. The milestone coincides with a research breakthrough – identifying a way to predict mental health outcomes in young people.
2024
Moreton Bay expands
Our Moreton Bay campus doubles in size with the opening of three new buildings. Planning gets underway for the third stage of the campus expansion.
UniSC launches an $18.5million national PTSD Research Centre – the first of its kind in Australia – with plans to understand, educate, advocate and treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
UniSC Adelaide campus is launched.
We doubled our clinical trials capacity, backed by $11.5 million from the State Government and University. This includes an expanded Moreton Bay Health Hub and plans for a new 24‑bed clinical trials facility within the Maroochydore Private Hospital.
Our Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre opens – a values-led research community established to improve the lives of First Nations, migrant, refugee, and culturally diverse communities.
Media hits: “I finally did it!”
The story of one of our oldest-ever graduates, 83-year-old great-grandmother of 10, Francesca Davies-Graham, captures the hearts of the nation.
2025
‘Game-changing vaccine’
A koala vaccine developed by Professor Peter Timms and his research team to protect the marsupial from chlamydial disease receives world-first approval for distribution.
We reach the milestones of more than 20,000 student enrolments and 42,000 graduates.
We launch our Indigenous Visual Identity – recognising our connection to the Butchulla and Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi peoples – the traditional owners of the lands on which our campuses are located.
Media Hit: Leopard shark sex tape
The internet is abuzz as a rare and risqué world-first scientific recording by our researchers of leopard sharks mating in the wild reveals a surprising ‘threesome’.
You made it!
You’ve reached the end of our story so far, and the beginning of our celebrations.
Join us at one of our 30th anniversary events.