The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. The University is a founding member of the national Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong "sandstone" universities committed to ensuring that Australia has higher education institutions which are genuinely world class. It belongs also to the global Universitas 21 alliance. This group aims to enhance the quality of university outcomes through international benchmarking and a joint venture e-learning project with The Thomson Corporation.

UQ is Queensland's foremost university. In 1998-99 it was named Australia's University of the Year and it continues to enjoy the highest overall rating for Queensland universities in the annual Good Universities Guide.

UQ remains the most successful Australian university in winning and being shortlisted for Australian Awards for University Teaching since they were established in 1997. On a variety of measures it is one of the top three or four research universities in the country.

UQ's strength in research is evident in the many joint and collaborative research centres associated with the university. The Queensland Bioscience Precinct on the St Lucia campus houses scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Institute for Molecular Biosciences to form one of the largest biomedical research clusters in Australia. In addition, UQ is involved in biomedical translational research at the Diamantina Institute of Cancer and Metabolic Medicine (DI) and the University of Queensland Centre of Clinical Research (UQCCR).