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Four bright young students are being nurtured as research scientists under the guiding eye of Professor George Stewart. As well as his duties as Dean of Life and Physical Sciences and his active position as the University’s main link with China, Professor Stewart spends time every week with a handful of students who enrol each year in the Advanced Science program. To be considered for the course, students must have a TER of at least 98, with final scaled marks of 85 per cent or more in all science subjects, including at least one mathematics subject. The students complete a foundation package in their broad interest area of either physical, earth, biological, human and behavioural or mathematics and computer sciences - then specialise in at least two science majors. They also work in research teams, enriching their learning experiences and reporting directly to the Dean. They must get marks of at least 80 per cent at foundation level and 75 per cent at higher levels to continue the program.  Each year, they complete a research project and Honours is an integral and automatic part of the course.

Students can complete the enriched program in four years or an accelerated program - still including Honours - in 3½ years.

Between year two and three, they all go overseas and work in research laboratories during their summer break. In the 2005 cohort are four students: Jessica Hewitt, Campbell Mackenzie, Natalie Smith and Marco Brenna. Last summer, Jessica and Natalie went to the UK, Campbell to Canada and Marco to Japan. Jessica is still working with her host supervisor at Oxford University. The others returned to UWA with enthusiastic accounts of their experiences and wrote about them for UWA News .

Article courtesy of UWA News