About the School

The Australian School of Petroleum is Australia's pre-eminent centre for education, training and research in petroleum geoscience, engineering and management.

The School was created at the University of Adelaide in July 2003 by the merger of the National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (NCPGG) and the School of Petroleum Engineering and Management (SPEM). The NCPGG, founded in 1985, had established a reputation for research in petroleum geoscience and its degrees were widely recognised as giving graduates an excellent grounding for careers in the industry. SPEM was founded in 2001 as a result of a very generous donation from Santos Ltd to the University of Adelaide to establish a world-class petroleum engineering school.

Recognition of the benefits to be gained in bringing together all the disciplines in the upstream petroleum industry led to the merger, and resulted in a school having a structure unique in Australia and Southeast Asia. This structure ensures a focus on the practical needs of the international petroleum industry through the close integration of geoscience, engineering and management in both education and research.

The School comprises of two disciplines; Geoscience, and Petroleum Engineering and Management. It is part of both the Faculty of Sciences, and the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Adelaide. The ASP is housed in new purpose-built premises on the University's North Terrace Campus. The building was a major component if the Santos donation. The quality of teaching and research makes the ASP internationally competitive, and it has a strong cohort of students from outside Australia.

The School has very strong links with the petroleum industry. Representatives on Advisory Boards at both Discipline and School level guide and oversee activities. Most of the staff have extensive industry experience, and maintain strong ties through consulting, applied research and presentation of short courses. Staff and students are active in professional societies, including SPE, AAPG and PESA.

Australian School of Petroleum at The University of Adelaide is now:

• The largest petroleum-focused university program in the Southern Hemisphere, with about 30 full-time staff, 100 undergraduate students and more than 50 postgraduate students.
• One of only a few institutions in the world offering fully integrated teaching and research programs covering petroleum geoscience, engineering and management.
• One of three universities in the world with its own research and teaching well located next to its building.
• One of 12 universities worldwide operating within a 'Master' agreement with Exxon/Mobil for the provision of research and training support.
• Exclusive holder of the NExT (Network of Excellence in Training) franchise for the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.
• The location of the Schlumberger/ASP Research and Training Suite.
• The site of the South Australian Virtual Reality Centre.
• One of four Australian university nodes of the CO2 Co-operative Research Centre.

ASP is unique within the University’s structure because of the need for its management arrangements to reflect the integration of its teaching and research goals.

• The two main discipline emphases - engineering and geoscience - involve two Executive Deans, one from the Faculty of Sciences and the other from the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, working with the Head of School in its overall management to ensure that academic requirements are fully met in each key discipline.
• On a daily basis, specific discipline matters within the ASP are supervised by two Discipline Leaders appointed as specialist academics in geosciences and in engineering and management.
• Links to the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences have been further strengthened by the appointment of the ASP's Geoscience Discipline Leader to the Mawson Chair in Geology.

Mission

• To provide high quality training for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and industry professionals
• To perform applied research, with the overall aim of understanding and reducing risk for the petroleum industry
• To foster cooperation between the petroleum industry, academia and government, for mutual benefit, and of the society at large

Key Links

• Santos Ltd
• Society of Petroleum Engineers