About RSPAS

The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) is Australia's pre-eminent centre for research and postgraduate training on the Asia Pacific region.

Priority areas for the School's research are Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Southwest Pacific.

Research is focused on

• anthropology,
• archaeology,
• economics,
• history,
• human geography,
• international relations,
• linguistics,
• political science,
• resource management and
• strategic and defence studies.

These academic research disciplines are enhanced by a range of interdisciplinary centres and projects, all of which are administered within the School's four main divisions: Economics, Pacific and Asian History, Politics and International Relations, and Society and Environment.

With more than 100 academic staff, the School represents one of the largest concentrations of expertise on the Asia-Pacific region in the world.

The School has an enrolment of over 265 PhD students and 250 Masters students, with students representing about 90 different nationalities.

The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies constitutes a major component of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, and is located at the centre of the ANU campus in Australia's national capital, Canberra.

For more information, see our

• Annual Report
• Directory of Research

RSPAS Evolutionary Tree

The Research School of Pacific Studies, one of the founding schools of the Australian National University has grown and developed over the decades since the university's establishment in 1946. See the RSPAS Evolutionary Tree which describes the changes the Research School underwent over time and its recent manifestations.