News Archive

During 2011, staff in the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences have worked closely with their counterparts in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences to develop an integrated science presence at UWA. Under the guidance of the Dean of Sciences, Winthrop Professor Tony O’Donnell, staff from the two Faculties have come together to form a combined Science Student Office located close to the new Science Library. This revised structure will greatly improve the provision of academic and administrative support to our students, and will present a more integrated science identity to the community inside and outside UWA.

The new Science Student Office is timely given the imminent start of New Courses 2012. Under the new structure, all undergraduate students will take one of five degrees: Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design or Bachelor of Philosophy. All of the current professional degrees, including medicine and engineering will become graduate-entry programs. While effectively all of our current majors will remain available, changes to the degree structures will provide students with more training in research and communication skills, and the flexibility to study non-science disciplines. Ultimately, these changes will ensure our graduates are better prepared for a range of careers.

The new Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree is an especially exciting development, as it will provide students with a first-hand experience of research throughout their degree. BPhil students can choose to major in any discipline across the university and will work with a research mentor during their degree. This research experience will culminate with the completion of an Honours year. UWA prides itself on a strong teaching-research nexus and the BPhil will provide an ideal vehicle for students to make the most of such opportunities.

The Faculty continues to enjoy considerable success in relation to both research and teaching. The latest Shanghai Jiao Tong World University Rankings were announced in August and show that in the disciplines of Life and Agricultural Sciences, UWA improved its ranking to 33rd in the world and maintained its place at number 1 in Australia. Similarly, Chemistry maintained its number 2 ranking in Australia (and top 100 worldwide). Earlier in 2011 the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative results were announced, and UWA received the highest ranking of 5 (well above world average) in several fields of research to which our staff contribute. These include Psychology, Immunology, Medical and Health Sciences and Biological Sciences.

Individual staff in the Faculty continue to be recognised for their international research contributions at the highest level. Two staff in the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences were finalists in this year’s Australian Museum Eureka Prizes. Winthrop Professor Steven Smith was recognised for his studies of how plants grow in challenging environmental conditions. A key discovery made recently by Professor Smith and his colleagues was that a plant does not just succumb to whatever the weather serves up, it responds positively by putting energy into continued growth even under difficult circumstances. This finding opens a new door to find ways to identify or select plants that perform better in difficult conditions. Associate Professor Ben Corry was also a finalist in recognition of his development of a new material that could be used to make the desalination of seawater much cheaper. This research grew out of his initial work in biology and his focus on ion channels in nerve cells.

His technique works because the new semi-permeable membranes he creates have less water-resistance while still blocking the passage of charged salts.

Two early career researchers from the Faculty have received awards from UWA in recognition of their outstanding published work. Dr Megan Lloyd , from the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, was the winner in the medicine category for her paper entitled “Immunoglobulin to zona pellucida 3 mediates ovarian damage and infertility after contraceptive vaccination in mice” which was published in the Journal of Autoimmunity. The winner in the engineering and mathematics category was Assistant Professor Jonas Rubenson from the School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health. He won with his paper entitled “Adaptations for economical bipedal running: the effect of limb structure on three-dimensional joint mechanics” which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

On the teaching front, Professor Geoff Meyer from the School of Anatomy and Human Biology has been successful in the Australian Learning and Teaching Council’s final round of funding. Professor Meyer’s funding success will enable him to study the changing focus from microscopy to 3D reconstructions and animations in the teaching and learning of histology.