What's On at UWA

The 2012 Joseph Gentilli Lecture by Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History and Science Studies University of California & 2012 UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Professor-at-Large.

This event has reached capacity, no more registrations can be taken.

Glowing plants, drug-delivering artificial cells, smell-changing bacteria, propelling mouse tissues… Today, new kinds of biological designs are increasingly gaining public awareness and shifting biological imagination towards new horizons. Next to scientists and engineers, do-it-yourself biologists are claiming crucial roles as the hackers, artists, designers, cultural theorists, and entrepreneurs of the biophilic era. As Synthetic Biology is becoming the go-to-discipline to those who are interested in the biochemical design space, engineering principles become the driving force behind designed biologies.

But what do we mean by “design” when we talk about biological design?

In this two-part talk, Orkan Telhan will trace the long history of biological design rather quickly through a series of designed and commercialized biological artifacts and offer a more discursive view on the evolution of the biologically designable beyond specific disciplinary agendas. Secondly, Telhan will reflect on the outcomes of his research residency at SymbioticA and briefly discuss his current project on “Biosynthesis and the Futures of Sandalwood.”

Current SymbioticA resident Orkan Telhan is an interdisciplinary artist, designer and researcher whose investigations focus on the design of interrogative objects, interfaces, and media, engaging with critical issues in social, cultural, and environmental responsibility. Telhan is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts - Emerging Design Practices at University of Pennsylvania, School of Design. Telhan is working towards his PhD in Design and Computation at MIT School of Architecture and Planning. He was part of the Sociable Media Group at the MIT Media Laboratory. He studied Media Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo and theories of media and representation, visual studies and graphic design at Bilkent University, Ankara. Telhan's individual and collaborative work has been exhibited in a number of venues including Ars Electronica, ISEA, LABoral, Archilab, Architectural Association, Architectural League/ NYC, and the MIT Museum.

National Science Week is an annual celebration of science in Australia, an opportunity to join together to enjoy and explore the wonders and benefits of science. The Faculties of Science at The University of Western Australia will be hosting a number of special events for schools and for the community.

The Chanelle Carter Memorial Fund, sponsored by Alcoa Australia, was established at The University of Western Australia in 2011. Chanelle was a UWA chemistry graduate who worked at Alcoa Australia. Her life was tragically cut short in 2010. Alcoa Australia established the Chanelle Carter Memorial Fund to honour her zest, energy and passion. Chanelle’s parents, Yve and Mike Carter in particular were very keen that the fund was used to support young women in science. They wanted their daughter’s memorial to potentially make a difference. The Chanelle Carter Memorial Fund therefore offers six Year 10 girls from South West schools the opportunity to visit and participate in a range of science-focused activities at The University of Western Australia.

In 2011, the inaugural year of the fund, the project was coordinated by Associate Professor Jan Dook and Charmaine White from the SPICE project and Dr Joanne Castelli from the LPS faculty office. Three Year 10 girls from Newton Moore SHS and three from Pinjarra SHS, together with accompanying teachers were invited to be guests of the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences at The University of Western Australia, from Sunday 14 August to Thursday 18 August. These dates encompassed the UWA Expo and National Science Week. Teachers were able to attend SPICE PD sessions during the visit.

In 2012, visits to UWA will be from 12 to 18 August. Further details will be available shortly.

UWA opens up the whole campus to the public.

Come and find out about the courses on offer, career options, scholarship opportunities, our valuable research, community programs and facilities.

There's also residential college tours, hands-on activities, live music and entertainment, and plenty of fun activities for the whole family.

As part of National Science Week, the Science Library is once again hosting the SCINEMA Film Festival

Two collections of short films on selected topics will be screened in the Science Library Foyer during Open Day, and they are as follows:

11:00am - 12:45pm - ‘A Climate for change’

12:50pm - 3:00pm - ‘Space & Astronomy’

Entry to enjoy these two collections of films is free, so come along and enjoy!

The ‘science pipeline’ in Australia is under threat because not enough budding scientists are moving through from school to university to science-based jobs. The aim of this research was to retrospectively survey current Australian and New Zealand scientists to ascertain why they chose to study science. The quantitative data from 722 respondents showed that, unsurprisingly, the main reasons were that they were interested in science and they were good at science. Secondary school science classes and one particular science teacher also were found to be important factors. Of more interest are their anecdotes about the challenges of becoming a scientist, some of which will be shared in this presentation.

Due to illness Glenn Johnson's talk will be moved to a later date

Do you have difficulty recognising faces? Interested in participating in research to find out more?

Register at: https://www.maccs.mq.edu.au/research/projects/prosopagnosia/register/ or email [email protected] for more information.

Around 2% of people find it difficult to recognize people via the face and instead rely on other cues such as clothing, hairstyle or voice.

People with face blindness (or prosopagnosia) often find it difficult to recognise the faces of family, friends, and work colleagues. People also report that watching movies and TV can be tedious because it is hard to differentiate between characters who look similar.

Ethics Approval RA/4/1/5405

UWA’s Institute of Advanced Studies, Research Services and the Centre for Software Practice present the inaugural Inquiring Minds public lecture by Peter Quinn, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UWA and Director, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

Professor Professor Quinn will review the current status of the international SKA effort following the announcement of the site decision in May this year that saw the project shared between Southern Africa and Australia/NZ. He will outline some of the amazing scientific and technological challenges and opportunities before us in WA as we ramp up to explore the Universe to a depth that will revolutionize our understanding of space and time.

A public lecture by Professor Chris Rapley CBE, Professor of Climate Science, University College London.

In this public lecture Professor Chris Rapley CBE will present a brief overview of the Earth system, and the evidence that human activities, especially our use of fossil fuel energy, are forcing change in the climate system at the global level. He will discuss the risks that this presents to humanity and the current mismatch between the nature and scale of actions that would mitigate climate change and those actually being taken. He will discuss the prospects for adaptation and remediation and also say a few words about communicating climate science, using the London Science Museum’s new “atmosphere” exhibition as an example.

Professor Rapley is visiting Australia as a guest of the UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia, the university’s graduate school in Adelaide. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/australia/

This lecture is an Inspiring Australia initiative presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies at The University of Western Australia and Scitech.

Cost: Free, but seats are limited. RSVP to [email protected]

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

Join us for a live dinosaur dissection with Curtin University’s Associate Professor Kate Trinajstic. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops haven't walked the planet for 65 million years, but are dinosaurs all extinct? The 2010 Prime Minister’s prize winner will dissect a barbecue duck to show that avian dinosaurs are alive and well today, and discuss her own research on fossil fish. Kate is an ARC QEII fellow at the Department of Chemistry at Curtin University and an expert in vertebrate palaeontology and fossil fish. In 2005, she and her team discovered that fish living 380 million years ago in the Gogo Barrier Reef in the Kimberley Ranges actually gave birth to live young, with a preserved mother fish fossil showing an intact embryo and umbilical cord. In 2010 she was awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Award for Physical Science at the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes ceremony for her groundbreaking work on preserving fossilised fish.

This lecture is part of a series of public lectures in which local scientists will provide insight into some of the fascinating research in the world of palaeontology and extinct animals. The lecture series coincides with Scitech’s current feature exhibition Explore-a-saurus, and each lecture will include time before and after the lectures to step back in time and walk amongst the dinosaurs.

Time: Doors open 6.00pm, lecture 6.30-7.30pm Location: Lotterywest Science Theatre, Scitech Cost: $5 per person, or free to Scitrekker members. The fee includes time in Scitech’s Explore-a-saurus exhibition which will be open before and after the lecture (6pm-8pm). Bookings are essential by following the link.

In this one off very special event for Perth, Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt will describe the discovery that won him and his team the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and explain how astronomers have used observations to trace the Universe's history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.

Where: Octagon Theatre, UWA When: Wednesday September 5th, 7pm (doors open 6:45pm) Cost: Free! Tickets: www.expandinguniverse.eventbrite.com

In 1998 two teams traced back the expansion of the Universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that suggests that more than 70% of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of matter, called Dark Energy. In 2011 Professor Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, was named joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Brian and his team’s work on the expansion of the Universe fundamentally changed astrophysics – it opened up a whole new area of science and introduced the world to the concept of Dark Energy.

A public lecture by Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci, Division of Molecular Biosciences, Imperial College, London.

Cells from all domains of life are shrouded in a sugar-rich layer called the glycocalyx. Acting as “identity tags”, polymers of sugars (called glycans) within the glycocalyx help to control the social and anti-social behaviour of cells. They do this by engaging with glycan-binding proteins (lectins) on other cells to mediate adhesive and signalling events. Such recognition is central to all cell-cell communication.

This talk will focus on how the powerful analytical technique of mass spectrometry can help solve mysteries involving sugar-recognition. In partnership with collaborators worldwide, Professor Dell seeks to determine the biological functions which follow from the intimate molecular interactions of glycans and their lectin partners. She will exemplify the mass spectrometric technologies with accounts of some of these collaborations.

She will address questions such as: How does a parasite camouflage itself against its host immune system? Why are developing foetuses not detected and rejected as “foreign” by their mothers? What are the molecules on the surface of the human egg that engage with the sperm when fertilisation is triggered?

How do pathogens such as the influenza virus specifically infect a target cell? How do defensive white blood cells circulating in the bloodstream know when and where to enter diseased tissues to fight infection? What are the biomedical consequences of mutations in glyco-genes?

Cost: Free. RSVP to [email protected] .

The TwinsUK Cohort is one of the most phenotyped and genotyped cohorts in the world. The cohort is a major international bioresource with much data openly. Professor Chris Hammond, who leads the eye studies at St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London where the cohort is based, will illustrate the successes and challenges of identifying genes and pathways involved in complex traits using these modern “omics” technologies. He will discuss his work on Glaucoma, using data from the TwinsUK resource. Glaucoma, the most common untreatable cause of blindness in the world, is an optic neuropathy which affects 10% of the population over the age of 80, and recent genetic studies have identified important pathways in optic nerve susceptibility to damage by raised intraocular pressure.

An 'Inquiring Minds' lecture by Ian McArthur, Winthrop Professor and Head, School of Physics, The University of Western Australia.

This lecture is now at capacity and no more reservations can be taken.

In this talk, S. Thiru, from Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory (ISML), will discuss his research in reassembling robotics and the state of the art. His talk will address some key obstacles facing the realisation of such technology and its future implications. This open-ended talk will address some of the motivations for reassembling robotics and its relationship with artificial intelligence and the biological sciences.

UWA's Postgrad and Honours Expo provides an outstanding opportunity to explore the array of coursework and research programs we offer.

You will also have the chance to learn about admission requirements, scholarships and discuss your options with staff, honours and postgraduate students.

A series of information sessions detailing further postgraduate opportunities will also run alongside the Expo.

The ‘Industry Placement Scholarship’ program consists of a free five-day Residential Camp at UWA from the 3rd-7th December and five days of ‘Industry Placement’ in January, followed by the Reporting back Session on Friday evening the Friday 1st of February 2013.

This science scholarship connects tertiary-bound science students with primary industry scientists, university professionals and exciting career pathways. The Industry Placement forms a vital part of the PICSE scholarship program. It provides an opportunity for winning scholarship students to participate in the real world of research science in the primary industries.

The Industry Placement is organised to take place for one week in January, at a time that is convenient to the host organisation and the student. During this week, scholarship students work alongside research scientists to get a feel for what is happening at the cutting edge of science in the primary industries.

For more information, please contact Belinda Pope on 6488 1646.