What's On at UWA

‘A day in the life of an Engineering Student’ gives year 10 and 11 students the opportunity to explore the different types of engineering currently available at UWA and to participate in a range of activities which will help to explain what engineering is and how it can be applied in the real world.

Students will have the opportunity to speak with UWA staff and current students to fi nd out more about life as a UWA student, what the campus has to offer, the new course structure to be implemented in 2012, study pathways and career options.

Participants must bring their own laptops.

Bayesian approaches to statistical modelling and analysis are being enthusiastically adopted in many disciplines. The course is structured as two mini-workshops each of two days: Introductory Bayesian analysis using WinBugs and Bayesian analysis using R. Topics covered in the introductory Bayes with WinBugs include an introduction to Bayesian models, Bayesian computation via MCMC, and Bayesian networks. Practical sessions will include the use ofWinBugs for Bayesian analysis and GeNie for Bayesian networks. The course is deliberately aimed at a beginner level and is strongly practical in nature. The Bayesian analysis using R workshop assumes at least some exposure to Bayesian methods, and looks both at how to undertake Bayesian analysis within the powerful R statistical computing and graphics environment, as well as linking the R software to WinBugs. Problems encountered in this second course are of a more challenging nature.

The Netherlands is situated in the delta of the Rhine-Meuse Estuary.What will be the effect of sea level rise due to climate change for a country that has been struggling for centuries against the forces of nature? Will it be able to maintain its safe and pleasant living conditions foanother century and at what expense? What are the research issues and ongoing developments in the Low Lands in the hydro-environment?

Is it true that Delft3D software is freely available as Open Source? How does it perform in lake studies in e.g. Korea? Can it simulate the flow resistance of vegetated chanels in tropical regions like Singapore? Are there ways to collaborate and on what topics? These (and other) aspects will be covered in the seminar.

**** All Welcome ****

The Business School is offering Year 11 and 12 students the chance to take part in a wide range of hands-on activities that will be interactive, fun, competitive and very rewarding.

You will work in teams with other students and interact with lecturers and current business students who will act as mentors and coaches throughout the day.

You will meet new people, learn more about the university and the Business School and leave us with a better understanding of what you want to study at university. You will also have the chance to win great prizes!

Please contact Alison Chan at [email protected] to receive an application form. Places are limited and you must submit an aplication to attend.

A free public lecture by by Professor Carlos Duarte, Director of UWA's Oceans Institute.

Professor Carlos Duarte was appointed Director of UWA’s Oceans Institute in March 2011. He is currently leading the Malaspina 2010 Expedition, a Spanish circumnavigation expedition that is sailing the world’s oceans to examine the impacts of global change on ocean ecosystems and explore their biodiversity. He is also co-leader of a large EU-funded project on Arctic Tipping Points.

Professor Duarte is also working closely with the United Nations (the United Nations Environment Programme and FAO) and the World Bank to develop strategies to increase the sustainable production of marine aquaculture, as well as the restoration and conservation of coastal habitats to mitigate climate change and protect coastlines.

RSVP: This event is free. RSVP is essential to [email protected] by 14 July.

A light reception will be held immediately after the event.

The 10 most engaging 3 Minute Thesis presenters selected at the UWA semi-finals on 21st July, will compete for prizes and the opportunity to represent UWA at the Australia-New Zealand 3MT competition in September. Please come along to support the presenters and vote for your "People's Choice".

Thinking of excelling in New HSK test? Then enrolling in these training courses will enhance your chances!

The New HSK test is China’s officially recognised language proficiency test. All HSK results are internationally recognised as proof of Chinese language proficiency, and it is popular for non-native Chinese speakers to take the test sometime during their language study. The New HSK test is offered at several different levels, namely Level 2, 3, 4 & 5 so a student may take the test as a beginner or as a proficient speaker.

These training course have been developed by the Chinese language staff at the Confucius Institute to familiarise students with the New HSK content, practice test taking skills and offer study guidance.

Our instructor, Mr Liyong Wang, is an experienced Chinese language instructor in the Confucius Institute at The University of Western Australia. He organised and coordinated WA first and Second HSK Tests in WA since 2008. He holds a postgraduate degree in Chinese Language and Culture Teaching from Beijing Language and Cultural University, internationally renowned for its teaching in Chinese as a second language. He started his Chinese teaching career shortly after graduating in 1988 and has taught in universities in China, Belgium and Australia. Mr Wang’s 21 year Chinese teaching career has enriched his experience and equipped him with skills in training students from different cultural and language backgrounds. He is enthusiastic about helping the HSK candidates to achieve their best results in HSK.

Artists operate within both the miniscule contexts of cells and molecules and the vastly larger macrocosm of human experience. While scientists ponder higher dimensions and the existence of multiple universes, the scope of knowledge encompasses once inconceivable reaches of space and time. Art is no longer confined to this world or even, to this universe.

For more than 30 years, Joe Davis, a research affiliate in the Department of Biology at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created art both physical and conceptual using diverse scientific and artistic practice.

His research and art includes areas of molecular biology, bioinformatics, "space art", sculpture, radios, prosthetics, magnetic fields, and genetic material.

As an educator Davis has worked in the MIT graduate architecture program (Master of Science in Visual Studies) and in undergraduate painting and mixed media at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Davis has exhibited in the United States, Canada and at Ars Electronica in Austria.

Presentations over this two-day event will cover comparisons of environments for the dawn of life on Earth and comparing with the possibility of life on the red Planet, Mars.

Written submissions from teachers, scientists, engineers, social theorists, managers, writers and artists are welcomed. Full papers will be reviewed and published in accordance with the DEEWR guidelines.

Topics include (but are not limited to):

Mars - Earth analogue comparisons, strategies and technologies for surface exploration, field science for exploration, recruiting the next generation of explorers, astronauts, scientists and engineers, educational needs for a spacefaring culture, the Mars Society as a culture, new concepts in project management, remote-area engineering, Mars as an inspiration to science students and artists.

Celebrate the best of Australian wine and food at the Wine Show by the Bay where over 30 of the nation’s best loved estates will be represented in a wine fair like no other.

Enhance your experience and expand your knowledge with master classes by Clairault, Henschke and Thompson Estates, or a Blue Cow Cheese appreciation class. Enjoy cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef's Kate Lamont and Emmanuel Mollois.

If that is not enough you will be able to wind down in the Café and Bar for our Jazz and Shiraz session where you can enjoy a glass of your favourite wine, grab a bite to eat and relax to some fabulous live jazz which will run throughout the afternoon.

General Entry - $15 includes entry to wine fair with over 25 tasting booths plus a monogrammed tasting glass. Bookings are essential.

Sue Murphy, one of the first female UWA engineering graduates and CEO of the Water Corporation will give us an insight into her time at university, her personal achievements and the challenges ahead.

The UWA Centenary Trust for Women (CTW) was established in 2002 by a group of UWA women graduates who recognise the value of their UWA education. It provides a vehicle by which people can give financial support for present and future generations of women at UWA through donations to CTW.

After 25 years of research Prof Commbe has an international reputation on the structure and function of a class of carbohydrates: GlycosAminoGlycans (GAGs). The biological activities of GAGs indicated that they may have important roles in a number of diseases and in recent years Prof Coombe’s research has concentrated on the respiratory, inflammatory diseases of asthma and allergic rhinitis in this regard.

A public lecture by Professor Terry Smith, FAHA, CIHA - Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.

The lecture is based on Terry Smith’s new book which argues that, in recent decades, a worldwide shift from modern to contemporary art has occurred. This has not, however, been a uniform change from one phase or style in the history of art to another. Rather, artists everywhere have embraced the contemporary world’s teeming multiplicity, its proliferating differences, and its challenging complexities. Diversity--the contemporaneity of difference--not a convergence towards sameness, Smith argues, is what makes today’s art contemporary.

It appears that the genetic programming of humans and other complex organisms has been fundamentally misunderstood for the past 50 years, because of the assumption that most genetic information is transacted by proteins. The human genome contains about 20,000 conventional protein-coding genes, surprisingly about the same number and with largely similar functions as those in tiny worms that have only 1000 cells. On the other hand, the extent of non-protein-coding DNA, traditionally thought to be junk, increases with increasing complexity, reaching over 98.8 percent in humans. Moreover, it is now evident that these non-coding sequences are transcribed in a dynamic manner, to produce tens, if not hundreds of thousands of noncoding RNAs, and that most complex genetic phenomena are RNA-directed, which suggests that there exists a vast hidden layer of regulatory RNAs that control human development and brain function. We have recently demonstrated that the majority of long noncoding RNAs are expressed in precise cellular and subcellular locations in the brain, that a subset of noncoding RNAs are dynamically regulated during the differentiation of embryonal stem cells, neural stem cells, immune cells and muscle, as well as in cancer, and that some of these RNAs are essential components of subnuclear structures or complexed with particular types of activated chromatin. We have also identified new classes of tiny RNAs associated with transcription start sites and splice sites, and shown that protein-coding sequences are preferentially located in nucleosomes, which provides a platform for epigenetic control of gene expression and transcript structure. We have also found that conventional protein-coding mRNAs can also be processed to produce regulatory RNAs, and that RNA is the plastic substrate for epigenome-environment interactions. The outcomes of our research will be to expand our understanding of human evolution, development, brain function and disease.

Recent media attention has focused on the comparative lack of philanthropy from Australia's highest earners. Our wealthy non-givers have been described as "morally bankrupt" and displaying "utter greed and selfishness". Are Australia's high net worth really that bad? Why aren't they giving? Should they give more? And what would encourage them to do so?

This lecture will present the findings of a 2010 study on giving among Australia's high and ultra-high net worth individuals, comparing them to their international counterparts and identifying strategies to encourage more of them to give - and the givers to give more.

Vanessa Meachen has been overseeing Philanthropy Australia's policy, research and training activities since 1998. Vanessa provides research and information services to Philanthropy Australia members and the wider community, including national and international trusts and foundations, politicians and policy makers, charities and the media.

To register visit www.business.uwa.edu.au/school/eventregistration

Amongst all the emotions, fear is the one with the highest impact upon human life. Safety is sought at all levels of societal organization: countries always have enemies to fear and fight; within each country, social groups differentiated by ethnicity, social class or other attributes have fluctuating approach/rejection behaviours towards other groups; and individuals show a wide range of fearful behaviours, as manifested by relatively relaxed lifestyles or lives full of fear and worries. I will examine the therapy of fear as instrumented by Greek philosophers.

An information evening to learn more about the new Juris Doctor (JD) and entry pathways into Law. Faculty of Law Dean and Deputy Dean will talk about the reasons for the change and the advantages of the JD. Law graduate and 2011 Rhodes Scholar Jackie McArthur will speak about her experience studying Law at UWA

Lecture title: The use of EEG-based neurofeedback of slow cortical potentials in the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents

Professor Dr Florian Zepf is Head of the Department for Translational Neuroscience in Psychiatry and Neurology at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. Professor Zepf also holds a joint professorship at RWTH Aachen University and the Jülich Research Centre within the Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA, Section JARA-Brain).

Professor Zepf has conducted extensive research in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, translational neuroscience and molecular medicine. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Young Minds in Psychiatry award donated by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), as well as the Donald J. Cohen Fellowship Award from the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP).

A public lecture by by Joel Bernstein, Professor of Chemistry, NYU Abu Dhabi and Ben Gurion University of the Negev and 2011 UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Professor-at-Large.

This talk will examine the developments leading to chemical microscopist Walter McCrone’s investigations, the scientific basis and experimental aspects of McCrone’s study, the conclusions drawn from that study, and the absence or presence of confirming evidence for those conclusions.This has led to perhaps the quintessential conflict between acceptance of the validity and veracity of the scientific method on the one hand, and religious belief and faith on the other hand, and some of these issues will also be discussed in the talk.

This public lecture is free, but please reserve a seat by visiting http://www.trybooking.com/8225.

Dr Lee is an Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. She is also a Senior Consultant at the National University Hospital. Dr Lee has an active interest in lung cancer, pleural disease, obstructive airway disease, bronchoscopy and pleuroscopy. She is the current President of Singapore Thoracic Society, and serves on international scientific committees in lung cancer and bronchology, as well as American College of Chest Physician Steering Committees.