The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired into higher education in Papua New Guinea. The University of Papua New Guinea Act No. 18, 1983 bill repealing the old Ordinance was passed by the National Parliament in August 1983. The university has moved from a departmental to a school structure to foster interdisciplinary and inter-school relationships. The university's library is known as the Michael Somare Library, named after the country's first Prime Minister

Sir Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

. Multiple sources have included it among the best universities in Papua New Guinea.

Infrastructure

In recent times, the university has seen significant changes to its ageing infrastructure with the Government of Papua New Guinea handing over the

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

Village to the university for the purpose of becoming student dormitories. There are several other major infrastructure developments made in partnership with the Australian Government for a new and modern lecture theater, School of Business and Public Policy complex and a Student Services building. The Government of Papua New Guinea is also funding several projects such as School of Natural and Physical Sciences building and the newly completed School of Law complex.

Students

There are more than 15,000 students annually in Port Moresby campuses, five open campuses and 13 study centres. While the majority of the students are from Papua New Guinea, there are international students from other Pacific countries, especially from the Solomon Islands, who currently study at the university. The UPNG School of Law is currently the only law school in Papua New Guinea. The School of Business and Public Policy offers MBA and Masters in Economics and Public Policy programs.

Courses

There are programs in: Economics * Medicine *

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

Health Science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple acad ...

s *

Physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and

Natural Science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s * Law *

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

* Humanities * Social Sciences *

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

Problem-based learning (PBL) approaches are used.

Alumni

Yolarnie Amepou Yolarnie Amepou (born 1988) is a zoologist and conservationist from Papua New Guinea. She is known for her work to protect the Papuan softshell turtle ('' Carettochelys insculpta'') in Kikori. In 2017 she was a Youth Champion for the Sustainabl ...

, herpetologist and conservationist * Vincent Eri, The fifth Governor General of Papua New Guinea *

Salamo Injia Sir Salamo Injia is a retired Judge and former Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea. Injia was knighted in 2006 and appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea in 2008, succeeding Mari Kapi. In 2018, Sir Gibbs Salika replaced ...

, former Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea * Kalkot Mataskelekele, President of Vanuatu *

Mekere Morauta The Right Honourable Sir Mekere Morauta (12 June 1946 – 19 December 2020) was a Papua New Guinean politician and economist who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1999 to 2002. Inheriting a depressed economy and a fra ...

, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea * Hank Nelson, Australian historian *

Cecilia Nembou {{Infobox person , honorific_prefix = Dr. , name = Cecilia Nembou , image = Cecilia Nembou - NAIDOC Week (cropped).png , birth_date = , birth_place = , death_date = , death_place ...

, educator, women's rights activist, and first female vice-chancellor for a university in Papua New Guinea * Peter O'Neill, Former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea *

Powes Parkop Powes Parkop (born 18 February 1962) is a Papua New Guinean lawyer and politician, from Manus Province. A former lecturer in Law at the University of Papua New Guinea, he is the current governor of Port Moresby and the National Capital District s ...

, governor for National Capital District * Gibbs Salika, Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea * Paias Wingti, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

Affiliation

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...

References

External links

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papua New Guinea, University of 1965 establishments in Papua New Guinea Buildings and structures in Port Moresby Educational institutions established in 1965