Graduate House

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Membership Details, Fees and Bursaries

Senior Members and
Academic Fellows

Married and Family Accommodation

Graduate House Handbook

Action Plan for Cultural Renewal

A community for postgraduates and academics of the University of Sydney, and other local universities.
Graduate House provides its members an enriching, scholarly life and
traditional College atmosphere in a unique setting.

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About Graduate House

Graduate House is part of St Paul’s College, the oldest university college in Australia, and its members and alumni are Paulines. The Graduate House community includes 120 postgraduate students and up to 20 academics. Graduate House is open to men and women.

In a beautiful physical environment inspired by the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, academics and postgraduate students live and work together in an enriching academic setting at the heart of the university. Members benefit from top quality communal meals, seminars with distinguished academics, recreational activities and facilities, and a thriving and welcoming community of peers.

The House has its own Refectory, Common Rooms, study spaces, garden, and a beautiful roof terrace with views over the University and the city. Members also have access to other facilities of St Paul’s College, including the Mansfield library, Chapel, oval, and gymnasium.

Graduate House offers accommodation of a very high standard, in en-suite studios and apartments, all with their own kitchen facilities.

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An Academic Community

Graduate House is a fundamentally academic community. The House admits both student members, who are postgraduates of the University of Sydney and other local universities, and Senior Members who are career academics at the University of Sydney, or working for its allied teaching hospitals. Senior Members are part of the Senior Common Room of the College and act as mentors and leaders in the intellectual life of the House.

The Common Meal

Though College does provide accommodation, perhaps its most important function is bringing members together over common meals. Breakfast and dinner in Graduate House are times for human connection, and foster lively and inspiring discussion on everything from the mundane to the sublime. We believe that eating together is good for the mind and soul, and that focusing on our fellow residents is how community is forged (which is why telephones are banned in the Refectory!)

Formal dinner on Monday evening is the crowning moment of the week. Aesthetically, this is a formal occasion, but it is also our family meal, a time for the whole community to come together at the same time to spend an hour or two relaxing over a good meal in good company.

Several times a year, a Feast is declared to celebrate an achievement in the House or a moment in our community’s history. These are some of the highlights of the year, and like all formal meals in the House, involve poetry, music, celebration, and sometimes dances or singing!

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Spiritual Life

The College is an Anglican Foundation. Faith is expressed formally through the weekly service held in the College’s beautiful 1960s chapel. The College is inclusive in its application procedures and welcomes members of all faith traditions. The wellbeing of the whole of the College and all its members is a microcosm of how religion can enliven a community in which people are at different stages of formal and informal commitment.

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Tutorials and Academic Support

St Paul’s College is academically selective and seeks the best and brightest for Graduate House. The College has a rich tradition of high-quality peer-to-peer tutorials in all subjects, and Graduate House members are a part of this tradition. Senior students have the opportunity to gain invaluable teaching experience, at both an undergraduate and post-graduate level, while providing a study and revision resource to members of the wider College. In 2021, there will be tutorials specifically for 1st & 2nd year MD and JD students and a programme for Honours students. Study and academic support groups in a wide variety of subjects are also available – including writing and study skills, workshops.

Learn more about Graduate House Tutorials and Academic Support

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Creative Life

The House abounds with art and music, and creative pursuits are a core element of the college experience. The House endeavours to produce two theatrical productions and a concert each year, as well as regular performances at Formal Dinner. Art competitions and gallery excursions give members the opportunity to experience and produce art, whether as amateurs or as developing serious artists. The annual Deans’ Writing Competition offers awards in prose and poetry. House members may also compete for St Paul’s in the inter-college cultural competition.

Sport and Recreation

Members can participate in both formal and informal sporting competitions. From tennis or golf practice on the oval to intramural netball, members may find daily opportunities for sporting recreation of all levels. The House competes annually with Sancta Sophia College’s Graduate House in the mixed-sex, all postgraduate Saints Cup. Graduate House women may also represent St Paul’s in the inter-college sporting competition.

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Social Life

College life means having a rhythm to days, weeks, semesters, and years. This includes everything from meals and tutorials to sport and events. The College organizes cooking classes, sporting activities, Feasts, and seminars, and there is always something happening in the House. The student members of the House elect the Middle Common Room (MCR) committee to represent them and to support the social atmosphere of the College. The MCR arranges regular social activities ranging from the annual Winter Ball to excursions and informal gatherings. Most members find that College comes to be the centre of their social lives, and life-long friendships form and are strengthened in our community.

Facilities and Rooms

Members of Graduate House live in the McMillan building. Opened in 2019, McMillan features rooms of the highest standard, and is perhaps the best student accommodation in Sydney. Several room types are available, with most rooms 29m2 or larger. All rooms have their own lavatory and kitchenette. Rooms are fully furnished. New student members draw rooms in the order of acceptance to the College.

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