The UNSW School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is part of the UNSW Faculty of Engineering and was founded in 1991 out of the former Department of Computer Science within the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.Hampton, B., Allen, B., Loeffel, R. The History of the UNSW Faculty of Engineering 1949-2009. UNSW Press 2009. It is the highest ranked and largest School of its kind in Australia. It offers degrees of Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Software Engineering), Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours), Double degrees, Master of Information Technology, Graduate Certificate in Computing, Graduate Diploma in Information Technology, Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The academic staff have research focus in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical Image Computing, Data Knowledge, Embedded Systems, Networked Systems and Security, Programming Languages and Compilers, Service Oriented Computing, Theoretical Computer Science and Trustworthy Systems.
UNSW was a founding member of National ICT Australia (NICTA), which merged with CSIRO in 2015 to form Data61. CSE maintains strong ties with Data61.
The school has a number of notable alumni and former staff, including Associate Professor John Lions the author of the commentary on the UNIX operating system, a two-volume book entitled, a Source Code and Commentary on Unix Level 6) (A Commentary on the UNIX Operating System) who died in 1998.
Excellence in Research for Australia
Australian Research Council's Excellence in Research for Australia initiative results for World-Class Research in Information Technology 2020/21: Ranked first in Australia in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018/19: Shared first with ANU for Computer Software 2018/19: Maintained a rating of 5 for broad research fields of Engineering and Information and Computing Sciences 2013: Only Australian University to achieve a rank of 5 (the highest ranking) in Computer Software 2011: Broadest range (5 areas, the next highest was only in 2 areas) in Australia
Rankings World Rankings20262025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010Leiden Rankings 54 (1st in Australia) 47 (1st in Australia) 47 (1st in Australia) 52 (1st in Australia) 50 (1st in Australia)414352QS World University Rankings in Computer Science & Information Systems 54th (5th in Australia)46th (4th in Australia) 59th (4th in Australia) 57th (3rd in Australia)58th (3rd in Australia)59th (4th in Australia) 51-10051-10041st42nd35th35th29th29th10th42nd -ARWU for Computer Science and Engineering49th 51-7551-75 51-75 (4th in Australia)51-75 (4th in Australia)51-7576-100101-15040th4251-7551-7552-7552-75Times Higher Education World University Rankings78th (4th in Australia)84 (6th in Australia)83 (6th in Australia)70 (6th in Australia)65 (3rd in Australia)54 79126-150101-12551Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities - Computer Science27th37th29th38th39th42nd42nd64th62nd55th53rd65th67th86th105th124th105th
School Achievements
School Achievements YearProject/Achievement2026Professor Salil Kanhere - Fellow of the IEEEScientia Professor Toby Walsh - Book "The Shortest History of AI" shortlisted for the Cosmos Book PrizeProfessor Sanjay Jha - ACM Distinguished Member (top 10% of ACM members worldwide)Professor Salil Kanhere - IEEE Communications Society IoT, Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks Technical Committee Outstanding Technical Achievement and Recognition AwardProfessor Wenjie Zhang - Member of the CORE Academy Emeritus Professor Carroll Morgan - Book "Formal Methods, Informally" published by Cambridge University Press, based on former UNSW course CS67212025Professor Wenjie Zhang - Fellow of the Royal Society of New South WalesScientia Professor Gernot Heiser - IEEE Technical Committee on Real-Time Systems (TCRTS) Outstanding Technical Achievement and Leadership AwardAssociate Professor Sushmita Ruj - Australian Women in Security Award, Best Quantum in CyberSenior Lecturer Hasindu Gamaarachchi - Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher2024Scientia Professor Toby Walsh - Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)Professor Wenjie Zhang - Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (ACS)2023Professor Jingling Xue - Fellow of the IEEEScientia Professor Toby Walsh - Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science for his work on artificial intelligenceProfessor Arcot Sowmya - 2023 Telstra Brilliant Women in Digital Health Award for ResearchScientia Professor Gernot Heiser - Member of the German National Academy of Sciences LeopoldinaAssociate Professor Lina Yao - CORE Award for Outstanding Research ContributionScientia Associate Professor Yang Song - Women in AI Award for AI in Health and AI Innovation2022Professor Boualem Benatallah - Fellow of the IEEEACM Software System Award presented to the seL4 FoundationProfessor Flora Salim - Women in AI Award for AI in Defence and IntelligenceScientia Professor Gernot Heiser - Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales2021Toby Walsh - Fellow of the Association for Computing MachineryAssociate Professor Kevin Elphinstone - Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding AustraliaKen Robinson remembered in BCS FACS Facts Newsletter (2021-1)2020Scientia Professor Toby Walsh awarded Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research CouncilScientia Professor Toby Walsh - Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Smartsparrow (Adaptive eLearning startup by Dr Dror Ben-Naim) sold to PearsonCSE Alumna Hannah Beder wins NSW Harvey Norman Young Woman of the YearCarroll Morgan – Book "The Science of Quantitative Information Flow" (Springer 2020, with co-authors)Gernot Heiser – Chair of seL4 Foundation2019Erik Meijering - Fellow of the IEEEAustralia’s first Cybersecurity Education SummitHost to RoboCup 2019 in the Sydney International Convention Centre, chaired by Claude SammutGernot Heiser – Winner of ACM SIGOPS Hall of Fame award 2018Guinness World Record with car "VIolet" - Lowest Energy Consumption Driving Trans-Australia (Perth to Sydney) - Electric CarGernot Heiser -Chief Scientist Software, HENSOLDT Cyber GmbH2016, 2016 ICT Researcher of the Year - Gernot HeiserGernot Heiser - Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)Gernot Heiser - Fellow of the IEEEXuemin Lin - Fellow of the IEEE2015Carroll Morgan - Winner (with 5 co-authors) of The USA's National Security Agency (NSA) Annual Cybersecurity Research Paper CompetitionGernot Heiser - Australian Computer Society ICT Researcher of the YearToby Walsh - Association for Constraint Programming (ACP) Research Excellence Award2014Humboldt Research, prize Toby WalshrUNSWift placed 1st in the RoboCup Standard Platform LeagueGernot Heiser was awarded Fellow of the ACM and Engineers Australia Entrepreneur of the Year 2013Most number of Tech Startups for any Australian University2011Excellence in Research for Australia Only Australian University to achieve a rank of 5 (the highest ranking) in Computer SoftwareExcellence in Research for Australia Broadest range (5 areas) of research in Information and Computing SciencesSmartsparrow founded by CSE Alumna, Dr Dror Ben-Naim2010ARWU Ranked 1st in Australia for Computer Science2009HS1917 establishedL4.verifiedOK L4 Deployment reaches 500 million2008ARTEMIS Orchestra Contest, world champions with the Robot ClarinetJohn Lions Chair in Computer Science EstablishedToby Walsh - Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial IntelligenceOKL4 Deployment reaches 100 million2007Freescale Technical Innovation AwardNICTA L4 Deployment reaches 10 millionRobotics Workshops established2006Happy Feet - Christian So, Lead Animator for "Mumble"UNSW L4 Deployment reaches 1 millionOrion Search Engine, written by Ori Allon, bought by Google2005Fastest-ever IPC (Itanium)2003Establishment of NICTA (National ICT Australia, Ltd)Establishment of CAS (the ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems)2001Establishment of the Smart Internet Technology CRCCSE Revue established1999PLEB designedPrimary School Workshops Established1997Fastest-ever IPC on single-issue CPU (MIPS)U4600 Board designedUNSW ProgComp Established1996Cane Toad Tracking Project begins1995UNSW L4 Project begins1991The School of Computer Science and Engineering was established1990First clinical use of RDR1976Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code1975First non-US UNIX site (Version 6 Unix)1956UTECOM became the first digital computer in Sydney
Student projects
Students of the School are involved in a number of high-profile projects, including: rUNSWift, the University's team in the international RoboCup Standard Platform League competition, is the most successful team in the world, with wins in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2014 and 2015, as well as coming second in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2010.
RoboCup Standard Platform LeagueYearResultFinalWinnersScoreRunners-up 2015 (Nao) 1st rUNSWift (UNSW) 3-1 HTWK 2014 (Nao)1strUNSWift (UNSW) 5-1HTWK 2010 (Nao)2ndB-Human 6-1rUNSWift (UNSW) 2006 (AIBO)2ndNUBots 7-3rUNSWift (UNSW) 2003 (AIBO)1strUNSWift (UNSW) 4-3UPennalizers 2002 (AIBO)2ndCM United 3-3rUNSWift (UNSW) 2001 (AIBO)1stUNSW United (UNSW) 9-2CM United 2000 (AIBO)1stUNSW United (UNSW) 10-0LRP 1999 (AIBO)2ndLRP 4-1UNSW United (UNSW)
Sunswift Solar Cars 2018: Guinness World Record with car "VIolet" - Lowest Energy Consumption Driving Trans-Australia (Perth to Sydney) - Electric Car. 2014: FIA Land Speed Record with car "Sunswift eVe" - Sunswift eVe breaks the record for the fastest electric car over 500 kilometres (310 mi), with an average speed of 107 kilometres per hour (66 mph). The previous record of 73 kilometres per hour (45 mph) was set in 1988. 2011: Guinness World Record with car "Sunswift IVy" - Fastest Solar Powered Vehicle: 88.8 kilometres per hour (55.2 mph). 2009: Winner of the Silicon Challenge Class at the Global Green Challenge with the car "Sunswift IVy". BLUEsat Satellite 2018: 8th in the European Rover Challenge (ERC)
RoboCup Rescue Robot LeagueYearHostRank2011Istanbul1st in Autonomy2010Singapore1st Autonomy 1st mobility2009Graz - Austria1st Autonomy 2nd Mobility Innovative Operator Interface2006Bremen - Germany2nd in Autonomy2005Osaka - Japan3rd Overall
Student competitions ACM International Collegiate Programming ContestYearRegional FinalsWorld Champions20211st, 2nd, 3rd Oct 202120201st No event20198th, 9th Honorable mention20181st6th Silver Medal20171st, 2nd13th20161st, 2nd69th20151st51st20142nd19th20131st, 2nd60th2012 1st 36th2011 1st Honourable Mention2007 - 44th2005 1st Honourable Mention2003 1st 21st2002 1st 11th2001 1st 11th
Other ContestsYearContestAustralian RankWorld Rank2018Cyber Security Challenge Australia1st, 2ndN/A2017Cyber Security Challenge Australia1stN/A2015Cyber Security Challenge Australia1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4thN/A2015DEF CON CTF Qualification1st3rd2014DEF CON CTF Qualification1st3rd2014Cyber Security Challenge Australia1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5thN/A2013DEF CON1st10th2013SECUINSIDE1st4th2013Cyber Security Challenge Australia1st, 2nd, 3rdN/A2013Imagine Cup1st3rd2013Codehire Cup2nd (Students)N/A2013Appathon2ndN/A2013CiSRA Extreme Imaging2ndN/A2012Cyber Security Challenge Australia1stN/A
Computing facilities The School has computer laboratories for coursework teaching and student projects, including a number of specialist laboratories. The network supports well in excess of 1000 computers for teaching, research and administration.
300+ Intel-based computers running Linux in 13 generic teaching laboratories; Microsoft Windows is available 'virtualized' in all Linux labs 20 AppleOS computers reserved in a specialized teaching laboratory 40 Linux computers in laboratories reserved for thesis students 1200+ computing sessions available in a 'virtualized' lab environment