News Archive

Recent events reflect our University’s commitment to Western Australia and our mission to serve all West Australians whether they live in metropolitan or rural and remote areas. One of our students, David Sherwood , was named as WA’s 2013 Rhodes Scholar. A former Bunbury Senior High School Student, David has won many scholarships and grants including the UWA Fogarty Foundation Regional Scholarship .

Twenty-one-year old David is the 48th UWA student in 50 years to be named a Rhodes Scholar. A science honours student with a passion for volunteering, he co-founded the not-for-profit organisation Teach Learn Grow Inc., a volunteer group which sends university students to primary schools in remote and regional areas to help boost literacy and maths skills.

David’s UWA Fogarty scholarship is one of a range of scholarships we award to support young people from around the State to access the transformative power of education.

Aspire UWA is another program which encourages young people with academic potential, who would not normally consider university to see the benefits and opportunities that a tertiary education can offer.

In the past fortnight we officially opened the $6.2 million UWA Albany Science Building , built with State and federal Government support. The Great Southern region now has a world-class hub for rural medicine and natural resource management.

This is a significant milestone in the advancement of world-class teaching and scientific research in regional Western Australia. We are very excited about the new Albany Building and the possibilities it opens for teaching and researching rural health and medicine, as well as scientific research in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Another of UWA’s contributions to regional WA, and one that continues to generate much excitement, is our role in the Square Kilometre Array project to be built in the Murchison by 2020. This big science, big business project has raised Australia’s international profile scientifically and technically while opening possibilities for new global collaborations.

While the SKA points skywards, our University also provides vital on-theground support to health workers throughout the State and is dedicated to training doctors, dentists and health workers through the School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care , the Rural Clinical School , the Centre for Rural and Remote Oral Health and the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health .

We have a proud record of recruiting and retaining young people from the regions, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and enabling them to return to practise in the health sector throughout the State.

From the Great Southern students and researchers at the UWA Albany Sciences building to the Murchison-based SKA research to the medical students in the Kimberley, our research and teaching is making an impact right across this State.

During our Centenary Year, we will recognise and reinforce these Statewide connections with visits to the regions and events that will bring UWA students and staff from Crawley into the remote, rural and regional areas of WA.

Our students and our researchers, wherever they are, represent the State’s most valuable resource: intellectual capital.

Paul Johnson

Vice-Chancellor

Published in UWA News , 12 November 2012