As part of the agreement, the campus facilities at the university, located in Queensland, will be used in the lead-up to and during the Games.

Around 250 internships within the Gold Coast Organising Committee will be offered across a range of areas and the educational institution could have involvement in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the event as they will contribute to the creative arts programme.

They will also become the official university partner of the Australian team for their home Commonwealth Games and students from across the country will be eligible for the new Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games scholarships.

“The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be the biggest event in Australia this decade and Griffith University students will have a front-row seat,” Minister for the Commonwealth Games Kate Jones said.

“It means students from Griffith University have the opportunity to graduate with more than just a piece of paper but with the first line of their resume already completed.”

Griffith University, which ranks in the top five per cent of worldwide universities and has 44,000 students enrolled across five campuses, has a history with the Commonwealth Games after its Nathan campus housed athletes during the 1982 event in Brisbane.

The campus is located near to the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, which staged the Opening Ceremony for the Games.

"Innovation, collaboration, community development and citizen impact are all central to the Commonwealth Games Federation’s new strategic direction, Transformation 2022, so we welcome and commend this first-class partnership between Gold Coast 2018 and Griffith University," Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg said.

"This places a groundbreaking educational legacy at the heart of the next Commonwealth Games, benefiting Games organisers and the students of Queensland and Australia."

The announcement follows Jupiters Hotel and Casino signing up as the first sponsor of the event in three years’ time, due to be held from April 4 to 18.

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