A leading UK scientist who helped map the bacterial ecosystems of British soil in a world-first study will join The University of Western Australia to lead an expert team in soil rehabilitation research.

Fans of the ABC TV series Time Team, in which presenter Tony Robinson urges British archaeologists to find out all they can about an historic site in three days, will be interested to know that Archaeology Week is being celebrated in Australia from today.

Two graduates from The University of Western Australia were among just six Australians to receive 2012 Gates Cambridge scholarships.

In an Australian first, surgeons at Fremantle Hospital and The University of Western Australia believe a new method of repairing perforated ear drums could be a major advance in ear health.

Two of The University of Western Australia's top mechanical engineers have been recognised by Engineers Australia with the Sir George Julius medal for their ground-breaking research into the use of engineering computations in image-guided surgery.

A new invention that tells European farmers when their olive groves and wheat crops need water is being used for the first time to find out how Australian trees cope with drought and climate change.

A superplume, or massive episode of volcanic eruptions that related to extensive melting of the Earth's mantle, could explain the puzzling reappearance of major iron formations long after the rise in atmospheric oxygen about 2.4 billion years ago, which should have prevented iron forming, according to a study published in Nature today.

A former associate of the late Palestinian leader and Nobel Laureate Yasser Arafat and four-time contender for the Nobel Poetry Prize will be honoured posthumously at The University of Western Australia with a competition at which speakers will recite his poems in Urdu and English.

The May issue of Information Services News features the long-awaited opening of the refurbished EDFAA Library.

Access the May issue in PDF (or RTF for screen readers) from the Information Services News page.

Photo by Ian Ferguson