Picture this. World-class podcast studios. A 2000-hectare working farm. Simulation hospitals complete with lifelike mannequins. Hands-on learning at Charles Sturt isn’t just a concept, it’s how you’ll learn. From day one. So let’s take a tour of some of the facilities you could be using when you study with us at one of our regional campuses.

Health and medicine

Studying medicine at Charles Sturt isn’t just about closing the health gap in Australia; it’s also about practicing in our cutting-edge medical facilities. These include an anatomy teaching laboratory, simulation hospital wards and also an ultrasound room. Across our campuses, you’ll also find labs dedicated to occupational therapy, physiotherapy, exercise science, rehabilitation and nursing. If you’re aiming to serve your community as a pharmacist, our simulated dispensing pharmacy is where you’ll get a handle on the profession.

Want to be on the frontline? Our paramedicine simulation clinic is the ultimate preparation. You’ll develop advanced trauma and cardiac life support skills using everything from industry-standard emergency equipment to a simulation ambulance. By the time you graduate, you’ll know exactly what to do and when – skills that can save lives. Accurate diagnosis is just as critical, and that’s where our medical imaging labs come into play. You’ll work with the latest industry-standard equipment, from ultrasound and nuclear medicine scanners to 3D imaging software.

You’ll also engage directly with the public at our Community Engagement and Wellness Centres and Community Dental and Oral Health Clinics. Real patients. Real experience. And real impact.

Agricultural and veterinary sciences

In veterinary science, hands-on learning doesn’t get better than this. Our animal hospitals are equipped with surgical suites, imaging technologies and specialised recovery areas, where you’ll practice procedures under expert supervision. At our veterinary clinical centre – open to the public – you’ll gain experience with pets, livestock and even wildlife. And if equine care is your passion, our industry-standard equine centre has you covered.

Agriculture students, get ready to dig in. Our 2,000-hectare farm is your classroom, where you’ll work with livestock and crops while exploring how tech and data are transforming farming. Right next door is the National Life Sciences Hub. Here, you’ll explore food security and study human, plant and animal health. You’ll also have access to cutting-edge equipment, including phytotron plant growth chambers and the Southern Hemisphere’s most sophisticated underground root growth lab.

You’ll see how our strong research outputs make important contributions to the field. And for those with a taste for winemaking, our commercial winery combines state-of-the-art technology with traditional methods to produce consumer-loved wines.

IT and engineering

If you’re heading into IT, you’ll get hands-on time in high-performance computing labs where you can explore programming, cybersecurity and data analysis. You’ll train with the software and tools used across the tech industry so you’re building skills that actually matter. The labs are designed for problem solving and collaboration which means you’re not learning in isolation. You’re working the way real tech teams work.

Engineering has its own purpose built home. Our award-winning building is set up for learning by doing and gives you the space to design, test and build. Inside, you’ve got maker studios, project spaces, workshops, a collaborative learning zone, a gallery and a pitch zone where you can practise explaining your ideas in a clear and confident way. It’s a space that encourages teamwork and experimentation so you get a sense of how engineers approach real problems.

We also open our engineering facilities to the community through events like the Science and Engineering Challenge and Engfest which bring schools, families and industry onto campus.

Creative industries

If creative arts is your thing, you’re going to love our Communication Precinct at Bathurst. It’s the biggest media production studio in regional NSW and it was built with industry so you get the real thing from day one. Inside, you’ll work with an Infinity Wall, a green screen, robotic cameras and livestreaming tools. Students learn here every week and professionals hire the space too, so you’re learning in an environment people trust for commercial work.

You’ll also have studios that scale to whatever you’re making. Record something small or run an event with up to 50 guests and our technical team will help you pull it off. It’s a flexible place to learn your craft and try out ideas with people who know the industry inside out.

If you’re interested in screen or digital media, you’ll spend time in our TV studios and editing suites using software like Adobe Creative Cloud. You’ll also get inside the pace of our working newsroom and live streaming studio which suits journalism, filmmaking, social content and anything fast moving.

Plus, if audio is calling your name, our on-campus community radio station gives you real presenting experience. And if you’re more of a performer, the Riverina Playhouse in Wagga Wagga is your stage. It’s a purpose-built theatre where you can rehearse, perform and learn what it’s like to work in a real venue.

Environmental science

If the outdoors is your focus, you’re in the right place. As a regional uni, we’ve got some of Australia’s most incredible ecosystems right on our doorstep. National parks, rivers and coastal heathlands are close by which means fieldwork becomes part of how you learn.

But you don’t need to leave campus to get real experience. You can experiment in our state-of-the-art enviro labs, dig into our community gardens, explore the Aboriginal nature and bioscience park and study regional flora in the herbarium. If you’re at our Albury campus, you’ll also learn in the unique wetland ecosystem on site which is home to a wide range of native and endangered species.

We also have the Environmental Test Suite at Wagga which brings together everything from world-class laboratories to commercial farm environments in one precinct. It’s all designed to support research and hands-on learning.

Want to see more?

Then why not take a campus tour? A tour is the best way to get a feel for our hands-on spaces and the kind of experience you get when you study at Charles Sturt. You can book an in-person exploration, guided by a current university student. Or sit back, relax and enjoy a virtual tour from the comfort of your armchair. You’ll get to see all our hands-on learning facilities and everything else that makes student life at Charles Sturt a blast – from accommodation to recreation.