Editing Flinders University (section)

==History==
===Origins and construction===
By the late 1950s, the University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus was approaching capacity. In 1960, Premier [[Thomas Playford IV|Thomas Playford]] announced that {{convert|150|ha|acres}} of state government-owned land in Burbank (now [[Bedford Park, South Australia|Bedford Park]]) would be allocated to the University of Adelaide for the establishment of a second campus.<ref name="history1">{{Cite web |title=1958 - 1965 From the ground up |url=http://www.flinders.edu.au/about/our-university/our-history/1958---1965-from-the-ground-up.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715023452/http://www.flinders.edu.au/about/our-university/our-history/1958---1965-from-the-ground-up.cfm |archive-date=15 July 2009 |website=Flinders University}}</ref>

Planning began in 1961. The principal-designate of the new campus, economist and professor [[Peter Karmel]], was adamant that the new campus should operate independently from the North Terrace campus. He hoped that the Bedford Park campus would be free to innovate and not be bound by tradition.<ref name=history1/>

Capital works began in 1962 with a grant of £3.8 million from the Australian Universities Commission. Architect Geoff Harrison, in conjunction with architectural firm [[HASSELL|Hassell, McConnell and Partners]], designed a new university that, with future expansions, could eventually accommodate up to 6000 students.<ref name=history1/>

===Independence and opening===
In 1965, the Australian Labor Party won the state election and [[Frank Walsh]] became premier. The ALP wished to break up the University of Adelaide's hegemony over tertiary education in the state, and announced that they intended the Bedford Park campus to be an independent institution.<ref name=history1/>

[[File:Flinders_University_Coat_of_Arms.png|thumb|Coat of arms adopted as the university's founding logo in 1966 and used until 2022]]
On 17 March 1966, a bill was passed by state parliament officially creating The Flinders University of South Australia.<ref name="history2">http://www.flinders.edu.au:80/about/our-university/our-history/1966---1971-the-first-students.cfm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801084725/http://www.flinders.edu.au/about/our-university/our-history/1966---1971-the-first-students.cfm |date=1 August 2010 }} Flinders University – 1966–1971: The first students</ref><ref>[https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/__legislation/lz/c/a/flinders%20university%20act%201966/current/1966.23.auth.pdf ''Flinders University Act 1966'', Version: 1.7.2021]</ref> Although the Labor Party had favoured the name "University of South Australia", academic staff wished that the university be named after a "distinguished but uncontroversial" person. They settled upon British navigator [[Matthew Flinders]], who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in 1802. Its original coat of arms, designed by a professor in the Fine Arts faculty, included a reproduction of Flinders' ship ''Investigator'' and his journal ''A Voyage to Terra Australis'', open to the page in which Flinders described the coast adjacent the campus site.<ref name=history1/>

Flinders University was opened by [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth]], the Queen Mother, on 25 March 1966.<ref name=history2/>

Originally created as an extension of the [[University of Adelaide]], the university council resolved in August 1965 that it would become a separate, independent institution, functioning under its own council from 1 July 1966. [[Peter Karmel]] was the first Vice-Chancellor, and teaching at "the University of Adelaide at Bedford Park" began in 1966 with 400 students.<ref name=id>{{cite web | title=Independence Day | website=Flinders University | date=1 July 1961 | url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/history/independence-day | access-date=25 August 2024}}</ref>

A significant early initiative was the decision to build the Flinders Medical Centre on land adjacent to the campus and to base the university's Medical School within this new public hospital – the first such integration in Australia. Flinders accepted undergraduate medical students in 1974, with the FMC opening the following year.<ref name=history2/>

===Expansion and restructuring===
[[Image:Flinders from hill 3.jpg|thumb|View of Flinders University main campus, with central plaza and lakeside area visible.]]

In 1990, the biggest building project on campus since the mid-1970s saw work commence on three new buildings – Law and Commerce; Engineering; and Information Science and Technology. Approval for the establishment of a School of Engineering was given in 1991 and degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/eee/|title=Electrical and Electronic Engineering|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=16 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716020854/http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/eee/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Biomedical Engineering<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/bme/|title=Biomedical Engineering|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=16 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716041959/http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/bme/|url-status=live}}</ref> were established shortly afterwards.

In 1991, as part of a restructuring of higher education in South Australia, Flinders merged with the adjacent Sturt Campus of the former South Australian College of Advanced Education.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antecedent History |url=https://unisa.edu.au/connect/alumni-network/antecedent-history/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Home |language=en}}</ref>

In 1992 a four-faculty structure was adopted.

In 1998, the Centre for Remote Health, a rural teaching hospital based in [[Alice Springs]], was established jointly with the [[Northern Territory University]] (now [[Charles Darwin University]]). This was expanded further in 2011 with the establishment of the Northern Territory Medical Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flinders.edu.au/medicine/sites/nt-clinical-school/nt-medical-program/|title=Opportunities for Northern Territory applicants|website=www.flinders.edu.au|access-date=5 February 2012|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118185434/http://www.flinders.edu.au/medicine/sites/nt-clinical-school/nt-medical-program/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2000 the university has established new disciplines in areas including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and more disciplines of Engineering.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/|title=Disciplines within the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics|website=www.flinders.edu.au|access-date=23 November 2012|archive-date=16 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216052723/http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/mecheng/|title=Mechanical Engineering|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=16 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716042143/http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/mecheng/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2011, the bacteria genus [[Flindersiella]] was named after the university after the strain was found on a tree on campus grounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lpsn.dsmz.de/genus/flindersiella|title=Flindersiella|last=Parte|first=A.C.|website=[[LPSN]]|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924124409/https://lpsn.dsmz.de/genus/flindersiella|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015, the university opened a new campus at Tonsley,<ref>{{Cite web|title = Flinders Future Focus|url = http://flindersfuturefocus.flinders.edu.au/major-projects/tonsley/about-tonsley/|website = Flinders Future Focus|access-date = 21 January 2016|language = en-US|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160115155130/http://flindersfuturefocus.flinders.edu.au/major-projects/tonsley/about-tonsley/|archive-date = 15 January 2016|df = dmy-all}}</ref> the former site of the [[Mitsubishi Motors Australia#Cessation of local production and corporate restructure|Mitsubishi Motors Australia plant]] in Southern Adelaide. This campus houses the university's School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem|title=Computer Science, Engineering & Mathematics|website=flinders.edu.au|access-date=5 February 2012|archive-date=15 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115235658/http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/|url-status=live}}</ref> along with the Medical Device Research Institute,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/research/mdri/|title=Medical Device Research Institute (MDRI) – Flinders University|website=www.flinders.edu.au|access-date=23 November 2012|archive-date=14 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114042317/http://flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/research/mdri/|url-status=live}}</ref> the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology (now known as the Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flinders.edu.au/nanoresearch/|title=Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology|website=www.flinders.edu.au|access-date=27 August 2018|archive-date=21 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821063421/https://www.flinders.edu.au/institute-nanoscale-science-technology.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and Flinders technology start-up company [[Re-Timer Pty Ltd|Re-Timer]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Flinders' Tonsley campus links students, research and business|url = http://minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/macfarlane/media-releases/flinders-tonsley-campus-links-students-research-and-business|website = Ministers for the Department of Industry and Science|access-date = 21 January 2016|language = en|first = Ian|last = Macfarlane|archive-date = 26 January 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160126055807/http://minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/macfarlane/media-releases/flinders-tonsley-campus-links-students-research-and-business|url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2016, the university celebrated its 50th anniversary with a calendar of public events,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/history/50th-anniversary|title=50th Anniversary – Flinders University|website=Flinders University|language=en-au|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017145528/https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/history/50th-anniversary|url-status=live}}</ref> and a publication<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/224198820|title=The Investigator transformed : 50 Years of Flinders University|last1=Winkler|first1=Tim|last2=Hedley|first2=Katea|date=2016|publisher=Flinders University|isbn=9780646950808|language=en|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=21 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821063429/https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/224198820|url-status=live}}</ref> summarising the highlights of the university's history, research, and alumni achievements over the last 50 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/investigator-transformed|title=The Investigator Transformed – Flinders University|website=Flinders University|language=en-au|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017145648/https://www.flinders.edu.au/about/investigator-transformed|url-status=live}}</ref> 2016 also saw the opening of the award-winning student hub and plaza, transforming the central campus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/campus/bedford-park/hub|title=The Plaza and Student Hub|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=26 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226211703/https://www.flinders.edu.au/campus/bedford-park/hub|url-status=live}}</ref>

The university's strategic plan ''Making a Difference - The 2025 Agenda'' released in 2016 set an ambitious vision for the coming decade for Flinders to reach the top ten of Australian Universities, and the top one per cent in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2016/05/18/flinders-ambitious-decade-of-making-a-difference/|title = Flinders' ambitious decade of making a difference|date = 18 May 2016|access-date = 27 May 2021|archive-date = 27 May 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210527050133/https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2016/05/18/flinders-ambitious-decade-of-making-a-difference/|url-status = live}}</ref>
[[File:Flinders from hill.jpg|thumb|View of Flinders University main campus and lake from hill.]]
On 1 July 2017, the university restructured from a two-tier academic system of four faculties and 14 schools, to a single-tier structure consisting of six colleges.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/flinders-edges-closer-to-restructure/news-story/2ea4c83925a3ae10c6d6613d32e15511|title=Flinders edges closer to restructure|date=24 November 2016|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129060914/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/flinders-edges-closer-to-restructure/news-story/2ea4c83925a3ae10c6d6613d32e15511|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019 the university announced an additional $100 million investment in research and a further $100 million in education over a five-year period to support it to meet its strategic goals.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2019/03/07/flinders-announces-100m-research-investment/|title = Flinders announces $100m research investment|date = 7 March 2019|access-date = 27 May 2021|archive-date = 27 May 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210527050131/https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2019/03/07/flinders-announces-100m-research-investment/|url-status = live}}</ref>

The university also in 2019 announced plans for a substantial development on a tract on land on the northern portion of the Bedford Park Campus adjacent to the Flinders hospitals precinct. Known as ''Flinders Village'' the decade-long development will deliver research facilities, student accommodation, commercial premises and amenities.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2019/06/03/flinders-village-to-transform-education-health-in-southern-adelaide/|title = Flinders Village to transform education, health in southern Adelaide|date = 2 June 2019|access-date = 27 May 2021|archive-date = 27 May 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210527050131/https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2019/06/03/flinders-village-to-transform-education-health-in-southern-adelaide/|url-status = live}}</ref> The catalyst for the initiative was the extension of the Clovelly Park rail line to the Flinders precinct. The $141m rail line and Flinders Station project began operation in December 2020.<ref>[[Flinders railway station]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/flinders-link-project/|title=Flinders Link Project, Australia|access-date=22 May 2023|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121015649/https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/flinders-link-project/|url-status=live}}</ref> Stage one of the ''Flinders Village'' development is the construction of a Health and Medical Research Building. Construction began in December 2021 and the building, which will be home to Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, is scheduled for completion in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/health-medical-research-institute|title=Flinders Health and Medical Research|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=27 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527050131/https://www.flinders.edu.au/health-medical-research-institute|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021 the university announced it would be expanding its Central Business District presence, establishing a vertical campus as the anchor tenant in Festival Tower, a major development scheduled for completion in 2024 adjacent to Parliament House and the Adelaide Railway Station on North Terrace.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.flinders.edu.au/festival-plaza | title=Flinders is moving on up - New City campus opening 2024 | access-date=18 July 2022 | archive-date=18 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718073447/https://www.flinders.edu.au/festival-plaza | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, the newly elected state Labor government led by [[Peter Malinauskas]] proposed setting up a commission to investigate the possibility of a merger of South Australia's three public universities: the [[University of South Australia]], the [[University of Adelaide]], and Flinders.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.petermalinauskas.com.au/policies/south-australian-university-merger | title=South Australian University Merger | access-date=18 July 2022 | archive-date=18 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718073447/https://www.petermalinauskas.com.au/policies/south-australian-university-merger | url-status=live }}</ref> The University of Adelaide and University of South Australia indicated their intention to merge. Flinders University chose to remain an independent entity.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2023/07/02/flinders-university-congratulates-the-university-of-adelaide-and-university-of-south-australia-on-historic-decision-to-merge/ | title=Flinders University congratulates the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia on historic decision to merge | date=2 July 2023 }}</ref>