Eight healthy marmosets, or small monkeys, became brain dead and were killed by an overdose of Nembutal during a Monash University study on brain injury.

Six greyhounds were given dental implants under general anaesthetic and kept alive for three months before being euthanised at Melbourne University's dental school.

Rats were placed under chronic stress for 15 weeks before they were decapitated in a study evaluating risk factors for psychiatric disorders at the University of New South Wales.

These experiments were carried out by reputable Australian universities over the past three years, and with a stated aim to drive medical and scientific advancement in Australia. The use of animals in all of these studies complied with state and national laws.

But science student Alexandra Sedgwick is putting these practices under the microscope, as she calls on Australian universities to follow universities overseas in their bid to become "cruelty free".

The Deakin University student is focusing her campaign on her own university, demanding that the science and medical faculties start using digital-dissection software and human simulators instead of dissecting real animals.

Animal cruelty activist group PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals) is supporting Ms Sedgwick, by offering to sponsor some of the software for Deakin.

But with the university rebuffing the offer, Ms Sedgwick is now launching a fight against Deakin.

She has organised a protest at the Geelong campus on Friday morning, which is expected to draw up to 200 activists, and will be live streamed by PETA.

And in a meeting with the university's executive dean of the faculty of science, engineering and environment, which will take place during the protest, she will demand a ban on the use of animals for research and teaching purposes.

"I will request the release of animals on campus … we want to get the animals out and let them live free from harm and help them get proper veterinarian care," said Ms Sedgwick, who is studying a double degree in cell biology and chemistry.

While the practice of using live animals to teach surgical skills is winding down in the US, it continues to occur in Australia.

A recent petition launched by PETA lobbied the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to stop using live animals in training courses, garnering nearly 104,000 signatures.

Australian government figures show that more than six million animals including baboons, dogs, cats and native mammals are being used every year in Australia for medical research, experiments and surgical skills training.

The 2013 figures revealed the biggest number of animals used was mice, with more than a million subjected to tests and experiments, while 6000 dogs and 1500 cats were also used.

Victoria was the second biggest user of animals in experiments and surgery training, using 1,084,507 animals. New South Wales used a total of 2,699,532 animals.

Helen Marston, chief executive of Humane Research Australia, said Australia was ranked the fourth highest user of animals for experiments in the world, behind China, Japan and the US.

She said this was because governments overseas were offering incentives to research institutions that used technology as opposed to live animals for research.

"We have not stopped using animals in surgical training, we are really behind the ball," she said.

PETA Australia's campaign co-ordinator Claire Fryer said Australian universities were lagging behind medical schools in the US including Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, which were choosing to invest in digital-dissection software and human simulators.

"In Australia, it is unconscionable that surgeons in training are encouraged to cut up live pigs and sheep and that dental schools have admitted to using live greyhounds for studies involving implants and then killing them."

Trevor Day, Deakin's executive dean of the faculty of science, engineering and built environment, said there was "very limited use of live animals in teaching and training". The university only invertebrates in laboratory teaching classes, he said.

"Outside the classroom, Deakin students also study wildlife by observation and receive instruction in handling."