University News

A new $100 million International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) was launched last month to spearhead national efforts to attract the world’s largest science project to Western Australia.

ICRAR will coordinate WA's radio astronomy research efforts, and will play a pivotal role in Australia's bid to secure the $2.5 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

At its official opening in early September, WA Premier Colin Barnett emphasised the significance of the centre in attracting the SKA project. He said it “… is absolutely critical for our bid to be the site for the SKA, one of the world’s greatest scientific endeavours, ranking up there with putting a man on the moon and the cyclotron project”.

These are exciting days for those of us in science teaching and research – even if the economic news is less than rosy. For instance, this year has seen record enrolments in science at UWA, as well as the launch of several major science projects throughout the State. President Obama’s inaugural speech captured this mood well, when he noted that science is going places: “We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.”

They might look like random poles in a gallery, but an art and science collaboration between UWA’s SymbioticA and a US neuro-engineering laboratory has drawn praise from one of the world’s foremost forums for digital media.

The ‘Silent Barrage’ installation has won an honorary mention for hybrid and transdisciplinary projects in Prix Ars Electronica (PAE).

PAE is one of the most important festivals for creativity and innovation in the field of digital media, with artists from more than 70 countries participating.

‘Silent Barrage’ recently went on show at the Exit Art Gallery in New York. It is the work of SymbioticA’s Guy Ben-Ary, fellow WA artist Phil Gamblen, and scientists from Steve Potter’s Laboratory for Neuro-engineering at Georgia Technical College, Atlanta, which investigates epilepsy treatments.

Ancient microscopic organisms could become the tools of the future when it comes to advancing material science in areas such as solar cell technology.

Furthermore, a 2008 Honours student has published his proof of the concept in the renowned Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Jeremiah Toster, who was in the first cohort of Bachelor of Science students to study nanotechnology, has successfully manipulated the silica shells of diatoms so they can be used as platforms for developing useful materials in areas of health, energy and the environment.

People who say that mosquitoes are inexplicably attracted to them might be interested in physicist Stephan Karl’s work.

The PhD candidate took out an award sponsored by Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall’s biotechnology company Ondek Pty Ltd at the recent Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Symposium. The award was given for Stephan’s work on the magnetic properties of malaria-infected cells and how to exploit them for diagnosis and treatment.

In early October, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson, officially launched the presence of UWA in the acclaimed interactive 3D virtual world of Second Life.

The dream to recreate the beautiful, picturesque grounds of the University of Western Australia in virtual 3-Dimensional glory began in May 2007 and resulted in creation of the UWA Virtual Universe & UWA’s triumph in the Google Earth ‘Build your Campus in 3D’ competition. This dream moves into a new dimension, as creators of the Virtual Universe, Dr Chris Thorne (School of Physics Honorary Research Associate) and Jay Jay Jegathesan (School Manager), have teamed up with 3D visualisation guru, Paul Bourke, Senior Research Fellow with UWA’s Western Australian Supercomputer Program (WASP) to bring UWA into Second Life, a virtual world accessible via the Internet which enables its users to interact with others through avatars and they are able to socialize and participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services or travel throughout the virtual world.

Almost a hundred high school science teachers went back to university in June, attending professional development workshops at UWA with the SPICE program – an experience they described as “inspiring, enlightening, stimulating and engaging”.

The teachers heard from leading UWA research scientists and participated in hands-on laboratory sessions as part of the annual SPICE Science Days.

As part of the activities, the science teachers learned how to use automatic pipettes, were covered in clay as part of a facial reconstruction workshop, tried new astronomy software, explored Perth Zoo, and studied soil fauna.

Dr Mark Wood’s hands-on puzzles have been the biggest sellers in a couple of Australia’s leading department store toy sections for the past five years and have won numerous awards here, in the US and the UK.

However, they are more than just a stimulating way to spend a Sunday afternoon; they’re helping create new research opportunities.

Dr Wood, who has a background in psychology and education, creates the puzzles with his research partner Frank Dyksterhuis, a mathematician and physicist.

As well as entertaining people, they can also open children’s and adults’ minds to logical and deductive thinking, enhance problem-solving strategies and encourage creativity.

UWA alumni also had the opportunity to hear from some of the faculty’s Rising Stars at a University Club lunch in February. The researchers featured included West Australian Young Scientist of the Year for 2008, Ben Corry; and Science Student of the Year, Jacinta Delhaize.

Ben and Jacinta are shining examples of the impact scholarships and fellowships can make on shaping an individual’s career and the resulting benefits that flow on to the community.

The event was hailed as a resounding success and the lively exchange of ideas and information generated demonstrates how the passion of science transcends generations.

The Science Futures Foundation is continuing to host public and industry-based events to showcase the groundbreaking research and world-class scientists housed within UWA’s schools and centres.

The foundation followed up the highly successful tours of the School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health; and the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences with a visit to the School of Anatomy and Human Biology.

Again, the univeristy’s “Rising Stars” took centre stage. Dr Thea Shavlakadze outlined her work in the area of skeletal muscle. Dr Stuart Hodgetts discussed spinal cord injury. Mr Oron Catts introduced guests to SymbioticA, the award-winning Centre of Excellence combining art and science. Dr Jennifer Walsh gave an insight into one of the newest areas of research – sleep science.

The official launch of the Zadko Telescope earlier this year was a stellar event.

Budding young scientists rubbed shoulders with some of Australia’s brightest academic minds, politicians, and distinguished alumni at the official launch of the telescope at the UWA Centre for Learning Technology on April 1.

Tim Perkins
Genetic Research Scientist, rows for Cambridge
BSc (majoring in Biophysics and Chemistry) 2001

I finished my biophysics degree at UWA in 2001 and headed for Europe where I took up a job as Research Assistant at Imperial College, London at the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection.

I now work at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Centre, famous for human genome research, with a world class Pathogen Biology team. The work is on gene expression in salmonella and recently deep sequenced bacterial mRNA which I believe to be a world first.

The university’s dream of a new research facility for sleep science was outlined at an industry seminar titled Night Vision: The Future of Sleep Science Research at UWA.

The event was hosted by the faculty and the Science Futures Foundation.

Over the past decade, UWA’s Sleep Science Centre has been funded via a range of competitive national and State-based grants, and conducted research in conjunction with the WA Sleep Disorders Research Institute (WASDRI) at the QEII Medical Centre.

Headed by world expert, Professor Peter Eastwood, the Centre has played a key role in researching sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea. It is also a leader in analysing the effects of travel and sleep quality on the performance of elite athletes, neuro-cognitive function and depression.

A new program offered by the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences is helping first year students adapt to the demands of life as a science student.

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program provides students enrolled in large core units an opportunity to work together in groups under the guidance of study group leaders who have already completed the unit.

PAL provides a nurturing environment for students making the transition from the smaller high school environment to university, where classmates can number in the hundreds. The study groups also give them the chance to meet and interact with fellow students.

Welcome to the latest edition of Science Matters. 2009 is the Chinese Year of the Ox. The Ox, sign symbolises prosperity through fortitude and hard work, and given the financial woes of the world, these characteristics may be in high demand.

The Faculty’s ox-like characteristics will see it take on the challenge of 2009 with the expectation of another successful year for our research and teaching.  I am writing this editorial not long after the inauguration of Barack Obama. His presidency is a cause for celebration and there is sense of expectation of great things to come.

UWA will host a prestigious new International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). The WA Government will fund the new centre and its director will be Premier’s Research Fellow Professor Peter Quinn.

The centre will be a joint venture with Curtin University of Technology and will be a key driver in Australia’s bid to be the site of the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The SKA project will be the world’s largest, ground-based telescope array, capable of seeing the early stages of the formation of galaxies, stars and planets.

The discovery of a family of compounds that stimulates seed germination in many plants has led to a new scientific name – karrikins – derived from the Noongar word ‘karrik’, meaning ‘smoke’. 

Western Australia is home of the discovery of a substance in smoke that stimulates seed germination and seedling growth in many plant species after bushfires.

Now, new research at UWA and Kings Park Botanic Garden has now shown that there are several such compounds in smoke, and that they can even stimulate seed germination in plant species that do not normally experience fire or smoke. This family of germination stimulants has now been named ‘karrikins’ from ‘karrik’, a Noongar word for smoke.

A number of high profile guests, including a number of distinguished Alumni attended the European Launch of the Science Futures Foundation the Royal Automobile Club London on October 22.

In his pre-dinner speech the Vice-Chancellor, Alan Robson, outlined his vision for the university and the role the Science Futures Foundation will play in enlisting high-performing academic staff and the brightest and best students, develop state-of-the-art facilities, encourage talent and reward outstanding achievement. Special guests at the launch included David MacKinlay, Chair of the Friends of UWA in the UK and Europe; Professor Geoff Laurent, Chair of the Science Futures Foundation UK and Professor Barry Marshall, Nobel Laureate, UWA graduate and staff member.

Professor George Stewart, Dean of Life and Physical Sciences, hosted a number of awareness raising events including in-house information sessions for faculty staff and a cocktail party for 100 of the University’s senior academics and administrators.  

Professor Stewart both applauded the achievements of existing academics, such as Professor Peter Hartmann; the worlds leading expert on human lactation, and highlighted the need to support those researchers commencing their science career at UWA.

“When I get applications for tenure and promotion from my young staff, I am in awe of their achievements,” said Professor Stewart. “I look back on my own career and ask myself: ‘How they can achieve so much in such a short time?’”

David Coall
Research Fellow, University of Western Australia
BPsych 1994; BSc (Hons) 1999; PhD 2005

My interest in research began with my Honours year where I applied evolutionary theory to understanding the factors that influence a woman's reproductive development and timing. An Australian Postgraduate Award gave me the opportunity to extend this research during my PhD and examine factors throughout a woman’s life that influence the birth weight and placental weight of her children.

Chancellor Michael Chaney, Vice-Chancellor Robson and Professor Marshall also met up with more than 100 Alumni and friends who turned out on a wintry October evening to attend the UWA Alumni London Reception.

The exhibition hall at Australia House provided a stunning venue, and it seems to be a favourite with Australians living in London.

Also present were the Dean of the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences Professor George Stewart; the Director of Development Campbell Thomson; and the Chair of the UWA Friends in the UK Group, David MacKinlay.

“I was particularly delighted to see so many of our younger alumni in attendance. Their enthusiasm about being associated with UWA is very positive and encouraging,” Professor Robson said.

In August, more than 160 UWA Alumni attended cocktail functions in Singapore (at the Singapore Cricket Club) and Kuala Lumpur (the Malaysian Petroleum Club).

The School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences celebrated several milestones involving its four teaching disciplines last October. The celebrations included the 95th anniversary of the establishment of Chemistry, and the 50th anniversaries of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Physiology. These four disciplines merged in 2002 to form the current School which commenced operations in 2003.

In every one of Freddie Timms’s hundreds of paintings, the 62-year-old Kununurra artist recreates the beloved country which he rode thorough as a young stockman. Swirls of colour – some produced from ochres from the land itself – represent the hills, black soil and hot springs he remembers from his days as a 14-year-old, being taught to ride on Mabel Downs Station by one of the elders of his Gidja language group.

A team of UWA astrophysicists has captured one hour of valuable video footage of the aftermath of a massive gamma ray explosion 11 billion years ago – just a few billion years after the Big Bang.

The ancient light was detected for the first time on Earth by a one-metre robotic telescope installed just last year at the Gingin gravitational wave observatory, 70 km north of Perth.

The Zadko Telescope near Gingin was the first to observe light from an 11-billion-year-old gamma ray explosion. The UWA researchers’ announcement coincides with the International Year of Astronomy in 2009 and marks the discovery of one of the most distant explosions observed from Australia.

The bizarre controversy over the existence of a dwarf ape-like creature dubbed the ‘hobbit’ of Flores has drawn attention to the very real tragedy of iodine deficiency which still affects millions of people.

The controversy surrounding the discovery of the fossilised remains on a remote Indonesian island in 2004 has led to one of the most heated anthropological debates in recent history.

Scientists at UWA were invited to join their colleagues at one of China’s most prestigious universities, the University of Science and Technology of China in a joint symposium to celebrate USTC’s 50th anniversary.

USTC is located in the city of Hefei in Anhui Province and attracts the top science students from all over China.

The symposium was organised by the College of Life Sciences with the theme of ‘Frontiers in the Life Sciences’.

A group of Year 11 students from Raffles Junior College in Singapore got a good taste of WA – and UWA – during their short-term study program in November-December last year.

The visit was also successful in broadening the horizons of the 38 students to the possibility of studying science or technology at UWA.

For decades, the School of Physics has been able to pride itself on its outstanding outreach program involving local Perth schools. Last year saw an incredible expansion of this program overseas, with 23 students from Jurong Junior College and 18 students form National University Singapore High School, visiting UWA. The students took part in week-long specialised research outreach programs held in November and December.

Funds are being sought to develop a centre for rehabilitation research at The University of Western Australia. UWA is in a unique position to host such a centre, as it has considerable expertise in rehabilitation research. The proposed centre would capitalise on existing expertise across the campus, build capacity and – through excellence in research – deliver significant benefits to Western Australia and beyond.

New scientific research has found another compelling reason for women to breastfeed their babies – the discovery of stem cells in human breast milk.

The Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences has been celebrating since the last issue of Science Matters with the opening of two new research centres.

On the 23rd of May Faculty staff gathered in the foyer of the MCS Building in May to celebrate the achievements of our undergraduate students in the annual Faculty Prize Giving Ceremony.

Four bright young students are being nurtured as research scientists under the guiding eye of Professor George Stewart.

Susan Hayes, a doctoral student with the School of Anatomy and Human Biology, ran a two day public workshop in April at the WA Museum called Art, Anatomy and the Skull.

One of the most exciting public events of the year was the Beyond Fibres exhibition hosted by the Faculty in March.

Good communicators make good teachers. So it makes good sense for UWA’s Science Communication program to be tailored for prospective students.

Western Australia is enjoying an unprecedented economic boom built on huge Chinese demand for iron ore and gas.

Members of the Faculty and the wider University community gathered in May for a special ceremony in Singapore to celebrate the launch of PSB Academy’s new branding identity and the formal opening

The Faculty will be hosting offshore alumni events in Malaysia and Singapore in August this year. On 12th August an alumni cocktail party will be held in Kuala Lumpur.

The School of Anatomy and Human Biology celebrated its 50th anniversary in November. The celebrations included tours of the building and its facilities and afternoon tea followed by a cocktail party in the Memorial Garden.

The School of Psychology issued its first edition of Psychology Alumni News in October 2007, a newsletter for psychology alumni and friends. To receive a copy, contact Elliot Wood at elliot@psy.uwa.edu.au.

The Human Movement and Exercise Science Alumni Committee have had a busy 12 months – hosting a well attended reunion for all graduates, a wine tasting, an industry dinner for those in the occupational health and safety workforce and a reunion for the 87ers - those who commenced undergraduate studies in 1985 and concluded in 1987 - or near to.

September 10 heralded the graduation of the first 28 students from the Master of Pharmacy course.

The fragile, translucent beauty of Chinese and Japanese porcelain has for centuries made it the target of professional forgers. With today’s rapid advances in technology, the marketing of fake antiquities is hugely profitable, and Chinese Ming and Japanese Imari porcelain forgeries change hands for vast sums.

“There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else.” (George Matthew Adams)

Take a moment to recall someone whose words of wisdom, inspiration or support have made all the difference to your career. Would you like to make that sort of difference to a UWA student?

The Office of Industry and Innovation (OII) at UWA has established a good relationship with the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences, working with early stage investors, venture capitalists and other commercial interests who are keen to commercialise UWA's research outcomes.

Kate Leeming
Deputy Head Professional, Royal Melbourne Tennis Club
Adventure cyclist
Author of Out There and Back; the story of the 25,000km Great Australian Cycle Expedition; BPE (1987); Dip Ed (1988)

Studying physical education at UWA seemed a natural progression after school, given my abilities as a sporting ”all-rounder”. After completing my degree in 1987, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do so I added a Dip Ed to my qualifications and taught for a year before heading to the UK on a UWA Hockey Club tour. I then spent a couple of years pedalling 15,000km from Spain to Turkey and up to the Nord Kapp in Norway. This was my personal discovery of Europe.