A new study will examine the impact of cumulative use of screen-based technologies such as the Internet, online video gaming, social media and social network sites on the mental health of children.

Graduates, staff members and students from The University of Western Australia have been recognised as finalists in this year's Australian of the Year Awards for WA, which will be announced on Saturday 24 November.

Three leading researchers from The University of Western Australia and its affiliates, the Lions Eye Institute and WA Institute for Medical Research, are among the winners of this year's WA Young Tall Poppy Awards.

Assistant Professor Chunbo Ma from the School of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UWA becomes one of the five Australian young economists who have won the Australian Research Council's Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in 2012. The research funding (A$372,000) will support Assistant Professor Chunbo Ma for the next three years to conduct his research project - Social learning: the Diffusion of Residential Rooftop Photovoltaic Panels in Australia.