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UWA hosted the Science for our Future Festival in Singapore in late July, with more than 1,000 students, teachers, and alumni attending the three-day event.

The festival aims to support schools to promote science and help students understand the role of science in helping shape our societies and the future.

This year, the festival focused on the world-wide need for scientifically literate graduates, a message taken up by four UWA academic leaders who each pursued a different theme:

• Nobel Prize winner, Professor Barry Marshall stressed the need for graduates to become involved in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases;
• Former WA Premier, Professor Carmen Lawrence explained how science graduates could restore and maintain a balance within natural environments;
• The Director of UWA’s Institute of Agriculture, Professor Kadambot Siddique, pointed out that science held the key to ensuring the sustainability of the world’s food supplies; and
• Professor Tim St Pierre, the winner of the 2010 ATSE Clunies Ross Award, emphasised the need for graduates to discover new knowledge about the physical world and apply it in ways that serve humanity.

Professor Tony O’Donnell, the Dean of the Faculties of Science, brought all these ideas together and stressed the interdisciplinary nature of modern science and the opportunities for students and their careers.

In addition, professional science communicator Sarah Lau and her team of presenters brought the stage to life with experiments involving flames and hydrogen explosions which reinforced the scientific ideas in an exciting, theatrical and visual way.

The event was supported by the Australian High Commission Singapore, Perth Education City (PEC), IDP Education and Taylors College, as well as many members of the UWA community.