Research projects, centres and facilities
Our research centres and facilities are at the forefront of scientific and innovative research in Western Australia. Find out about research that is currently being undertaken.
Page index
- Types of research centres and facilities
- Environment and sustainability related research
- Farming related research
- Health related research
- Gravitational research
- Nanotechnology research
- Spatial information research
- Resources industry (oil, gas, mining) related research
- Sustainable tourism
- Supercomputing
Types of research centres and facilities
Centres of Excellence
Centres of Excellence are research centres, conducting or supporting science and innovation activities which have tangible benefits for Western Australia (WA). The centres receive investment and support from the State Government under the Centres of Excellence Program.Cooperative Research Centres
The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program was established by the Federal Government in the early 1990s to bring together researchers and research users. The aim was to strengthen collaborative linkages between Australian industry and the Australian research community.
CRCs undertake research driven by the needs of industry and then transfer the resulting knowledge and technology to industry.
CRCs are joint ventures between universities, other research organisations, government agencies and industry. The particular research areas pursued by each of the current CRCs are wide ranging and the industries they serve are varied.
The CRCs also have a significant role in postgraduate research training and education for industry personnel. They produce graduates in tune with industry needs, and those graduates who move into industry careers are an effective means of transferring the science and technology of their CRC.
Major Research Facilities
Major Research Facilities are expensive, large equipment items or highly specialised laboratories that are vital for conducting leading-edge research in science, engineering and technology. By adding strategic capability to Australia’s research infrastructure, these facilities enhance the scope and opportunity to exploit Australian science and technology innovations
Environment and sustainability related research
Centres of Excellence
Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Forest and Woodland Health
http://www.foresthealth.com.au/
The Centre aims to provide up-to-date and scientifically sound science and information required to combat and ameliorate the decline of woodlands and forests in Western Australian landscapes in the face of climate change and other perturbations. This will be achieved by building multi-disciplinary teams of highly skilled people, through collaboration with other research and land management agencies and through partnerships with the broader community.
Centre of Excellence in Ecohydrology
http://www.ecohydrology.uwa.edu.au
The Centre will become a world class research centre for understanding and managing the effects of climate change on threatened industry and natural (biodiversity and water) resource assets. The research will focus on development and application of adaptive management strategies that seek to balance environment and human needs for water and mitigate downstream impacts of extensive and intensive agricultural activities.
Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport
The principle aim of CREST is to be a leader in the field of sustainable transport energy, coordinating research and development to assist WA in its transition to a sustainable transport system. CREST will promote the adoption of sustainable transport systems through its involvement in a range of activities including research, testing, analysis and education.
CREST’s program of activities is designed to provide the local knowledge and information that will be required to develop new transport energy systems for WA. The activities cover a broad spectrum of alternative fuels and include research on production of fuels, demonstration programs of alternative fuelled vehicles, training programs and public education.
Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence
The Centre will investigate the potential to utilise the low-heat geothermal energy present in the Perth sedimentary basin for air-conditioning, desalination, and clean power generation.
Cooperative Research Centres
Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC-CARE)
CRC-CARE is a partnership of scientific, industry and government organisations set up to develop new ways of dealing with and preventing contamination of soil, water and air. Partners include Alcoa World Alumina Australia, Department of the Environment and Conservation (WA), Environment Protection Authority (SA) and Environment Protection Authority (Vic).
The aim is to focus Australia's foremost expertise and resources on environmental remediation and to develop close links with research partners at the cutting-edge in this field around the world.
Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre (formerly the Pest Animal Control CRC)
http://www.invasiveanimals.com/
The centre aims to counteract the impact of invasive animals through the development and application of new technologies and by integrating approaches across agencies and jurisdictions.
In the context of the CRC, 'invasive' refers to terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates, including overabundant natives. The centre’s key objectives are to:
- Develop new tools and strategies to control invasive animals (including birds and freshwater fish).
- Develop new services and remove impediments to empower communities to take greater and more effective action against invasive animals
- Advance understanding of the nature and behaviour of Australasia’s invasive animals to maximise delivery from the above objectives
- Provide partners with mechanisms for national and international business collaboration, to facilitate route to market for products and services
- Build greater capacity to anticipate, detect, prevent, limit or manage the impacts of existing or new invasive animals.
Major research facilities
Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI)
WAMSI is a collaborative joint venture, with major partners being the Government of Western Australia, CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, the University of Western Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Chemistry Centre of WA.
Funding is provided to pursue world-class marine science practices to support the conservation, sustainable management and utilisation of WA’s unique marine environment.
WAMSI will undertake research into six interlinking research nodes:
- Strategic Research on WA’s Marine Ecosystems
- Climate Processes Predictability and Impacts in a Warming Ocean
- Managing and Conserving WA’s Marine Environment
- Sustainable Marine Ecosystems
- Marine Biotechnology, Biodiversity and Aquaculture
- Ocean Science for Offshore and Coasting Engineering.
Farming related research
Centres of Excellence
Australian Research Council in Plant Energy Biology - Centre of Excellence in Computational Systems Biology
http://www.plantenergy.uwa.edu.au/
The principle aim of the Centre is to discover and characterise molecular components and control mechanisms that drive energy metabolism in plants. This will provide resources and knowledge to improve crop plant performance in WA, particularly in marginal environments and in response to climate change.
Research Centre in Plant Metabolomics (COE-PM)
http://www.plantmetabolomics.net.au/
The Centre is headed by Federation Fellow Professor Steven Smith and is affiliated with The University of WA. COE-PM is a world-leading centre for research in understanding the regulation of carbon partitioning and in discovering genes that direct partitioning. The discoveries made can be applied in crop improvement programs, to enhance yield potential and product quality in crops of socio-economic importance to Australia.
Cooperative Research Centres
Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Sheep Industry Innovation
The Sheep CRC supports industry to transform wool, meat and the sheep that produce them in an exciting seven-year program of research, development, extension and education, running from 2007 to 2014.
The Sheep CRC provides innovative new technologies, practices and products to advance the profitability and sustainability of the Australian sheep industry.
Future Farms Industries Cooperative Research Centre
http://www.futurefarmonline.com.au/
FFI-CRC aims to develop innovative farming systems and regional industries, based largely on perennial plants, to transform dryland agriculture across southern Australia. These perennial plant-based systems will provide profit advantage over existing systems, substantial natural resource benefits both within and beyond the boundaries of farms, and greater adaptability to Australian conditions. The research will be conducted in partnership with producers and will deliver new perennial plant species and cultivars
Gravitational research
Centres of Excellence
Australian International Gravitational Research Centre (AIGRC) – recently completed
http://www.gravity.uwa.edu.au/
ACIGA aimed to become an integrated centre for pure and applied gravitational research linked to WA science education. COE funding is also being utilised to leverage the multimillion dollar Australian International Gravitational Observatory Southern Hemisphere Laboratory to WA.
Health and human services related research
Centres of Excellence
Centre of Excellence for Child Health Research (CCHR)
The Centre’s mission is to improve the health of children, adolescents and their families by undertaking research in the prevention and treatment of disease. CCHR undertakes research in eight areas related to child, adolescent and maternal health: Aboriginal child health; asthma, allergies and respiratory diseases; birth defects; cancer and leukaemia; developmental disorders; infectious diseases; mental health; and perinatal epidemiology.
Centre for Evolutionary Biology (CEB)
CEB aimed to develop an understanding of the evolutionary processes that impact male and female reproductive biology. COE funding supports research of the ARC Federation Fellow Professor Leigh Simmons.
Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (IIID)
http://www.genesiis.murdoch.edu.au/
The Institute seeks to assemble a unique multi-disciplinary team integrated with clinical care and routine diagnostic medicine and the necessary physical resources to apply the full power of contemporary scientific knowledge and methods with an emphasis on genetics, mathematics, computing, and clinical and laboratory research. The Institute has five programs: HIV-host interaction; hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection; drug hypersensitivity reactions; antiretroviral drug toxicity; and biostatistical methods.
Centre of Excellence for Science, Seafood and Health
COE-Seafood is the Western Australian node of the Australian Seafood CRC (AS-CRC). The Centre seeks to develop a collaborative, scientific research framework to study the linkages between science, seafood, and nutrition, and evaluate seafood supply chain performance.
Data Linkage Australia (DLA)
http://www.datalinkage-wa.org/
DLA aims to enable internationally significant science and innovation in the health and human services sector through the creation and sustainable development of unique infrastructure, based on data linkage and population health databases.
Cooperative Reseach Centres
Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Emerging and Infectious DiseasesThe Australian Biosecurity CRC’s mission is to protect Australia’s public health, livestock, wildlife and economic resources through research and education that strengthens the national capability to detect, diagnose, identify, monitor, assess, predict and respond to emerging infectious disease threats which impact on national and regional biosecurity.
Its objectives are to:
- Develop more cost-effective tools and systems for disease detection and surveillance, and to expand our knowledge of the potential for emerging infectious disease threats to establish and spread within Australia
- Transfer knowledge and technologies to the livestock, public health, environment and community sectors by enhancing national and international collaborative linkages and networks across research, government and industry sectors, contributing to more effective surveillance and response systems within Australia and the Asia-Pacific region
- Equip researchers, professionals and members of the community within Australia and the Asia-Pacific region with appropriate knowledge and skills for responding to emerging infectious disease threats, in accordance with community and industry needs and expectations
- Exploit the commercial potential of tools and systems for disease detection and surveillance, and education and training products.
Major Research Facilities
Australian Genome Research Facility
The Australian Genome Research Facility is an efficient state-of-the-art facility for the collection of molecular genetic information covering large-scale DNA sequencing, genotyping, micro-arraying, agricultural genomic services and other resources for the genetic and physical mapping of chromosomes, mutation detection and associated bioinformatic analysis.
Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine
The Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine (CFGM), a Centre of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, is a world-class research cluster established to tackle the twin epidemics of diabetes and obesity, also known as ‘diabesity’.
The CFGM is a unique blend of scientific, clinical, agricultural and food technology researchers from WA-based Federal and State Government bodies, universities, hospitals and medical research institutes.
Nanotechnology
Centres of Excellence
Western Australian Nanochemistry Research Institute (WANRI)
http://nanochemistry.curtin.edu.au/
WANRI brings together all the major strengths in nanochemistry in the State. It creates a critical mass of expertise, equipment and facilities, and establishes a cohesive and coherent research focus to facilitate the development of nano-based research and industries. Capability in nanochemistry will be integral to future scientific endeavour and industry development, and WANRI will support the development and introduction of nano-scale technologies into the State's industrial base.
Major Research Facilities
Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility
The Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF) is an initiative of the Australian Government as part of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is a joint venture between university partners, funded by the Commonwealth through DEST and the State Governments of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The AMMRF has formal links to smaller units or specialist facilities through Linked Laboratory and Linked Centre relationships.
The facility provides access to a vast array of instrumentation. These include widely used optical, electron, x-ray and ion beam techniques and importantly, state-of-the-art flagship platforms that form world leading capabilities. Such capabilities include pulsed-laser local electrode atom probe, high-throughput cryo-electron tomography, high-resolution SEM and spectroscopy, high-precision ion microprobe and ultra-high resolution TEM platforms.
Resources industry (oil, gas, mining) related research
Centres of Excellence
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS)
COFS seeks to conduct research into mechanics of seabed sediments and of offshore foundation systems and use its expertise to service the offshore petroleum industry at state, national and international level.
John De Laeter Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Stage II (JdLCMSII)
The Centre is an expansion and continuation of the original JDL centre and also seeks to facilitate and promote world-class research and development with an industry focus in WA using advanced methods and techniques in mass spectrometry which will be of benefit to the minerals and petroleum industry and the environmental and health sectors.
The Centre for 3D Mineral Mapping
The Centre will develop the use of hyperspectral sensing as a tool to generate low-cost, highly-specific 3D maps of mineral systems for the next generation of WA mineral exploration.
Centre for High Definition Geophysics – recently completed
http://www.geophysics.curtin.edu.au/Consortia/CHDG/chdg.asp
The objective of the Centre was to use seismic methods for gold exploration in the Goldfields and provides research opportunities in innovative seismic and other techniques for oil and mineral exploration.
Cooperative Research Centres
Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing
The objective of the Centre for Sustainable Processing is to find technological solutions for progressively and systematically eliminating waste and emissions in the minerals cycle, while at the same time enhancing business performance and meeting community expectations.
Key themes are effective resource utilisation and materials efficiency, minimising energy consumption and Greenhouse gas emissions, reducing process waste and enhancing co-product values, reducing water consumption and impacts, and improving the control of minor elements and their dispersion.
This Cooperative Research Centre is supported by the State Government.
Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions
http://www.parkercentre.com.au/
The Parker Centre has made important research advances in many aspects of hydrometallurgy. The outputs of the centre’s work have been applied widely throughout Australia and overseas.
The centre brings together a world-class team of researchers with diverse yet complementary skills, talents and backgrounds who carry out fundamental and applied research on behalf of the minerals industry, at laboratory and pilot scales and also at operating sites.
Predictive Mineral Discovery Cooperative Research Centre
The purpose of the predictive mineral discovery CRC is to generate a fundamental shift in exploration practice and cost-effectiveness by developing a vastly improved understanding of mineralising processes and a four dimensional understanding of the evolution of the geology of mineralised terrains.
The objectives of the CRC are to:
- Contribute to the resolution of the key areas of uncertainty in current models for the formation of major economic mineral deposit types within mineralised terrains that have a high exploration priority
- Build 3D and 4D images and histories of well known mineralised systems
- Create a computational environment to simulate the 4D evolution of mineral systems with the goal of developing predictive capabilities for the location and quality of superior ore deposits
- Create a commercial computational, visualisation and communications environment to allow companies to manage exploration and operational activities more efficiently
- Transfer these concepts, skills and technologies into the mineral exploration industry to assure a long-term competitive advantage to the industry.
Major Research Facilities
Western Australian Energy Research Alliance (WA:ERA)
The funding provided to WA:ERA is to support and assist the major research facility to:- Maximise Australia’s self sufficiency of petroleum liquid over the next 30 years
- Develop economically feasible solutions for gas and condensate reserves
- Develop technologies for exploration and production and
- Education and training.
The other partners are Curtin University of Technology, The University of Western Australia and CSIRO. The strategic alliances are with Chevron Australia Pty Ltd and Woodside Energy.
Spatial information
Cooperative Research Centre
Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial information (CRCSI)
The Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) undertakes world-class research leading to new applications of spatial information and enabling technologies. The purpose of the Centre is to develop spatial information technologies and capabilities within WA. Spatial information describes the physical location of objects and the metric relationships between objects. It has diverse applications from ambulance dispatch services to bushfire management and commercial asset mapping.
This Cooperative Research Centre is supported by the State Government.
Sustainable Tourism
Cooperative Research Centres
Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre
http://www.crctourism.com.au/default.aspx
The Sustainable Tourism CRC was established to underpin the development of a dynamic, internationally competitive and sustainable tourism industry. Its vision is innovation driving a dynamic, internationally competitive and sustainable tourism industry.
The mission of the CRC is the development and management of intellectual property (IP) to deliver innovation to business, community and government, enhancing environmental, economic and social sustainability of tourism – one of the world’s largest, fastest growing industries.
This Cooperative Research Centre is supported by the State Government.
Supercomputing
Major Research Facilities
iVEC
iVEC is Western Australia's hub for advanced computing, located at Technology Park, Bentley. This initiative is a joint venture between CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology, The University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University and is supported by the Western Australian Government.
iVEC provides access to cutting edge high performance computing (HPC) and visualisation laboratories to researchers and industry. It also holds seminars and conferences on computational science and HPC, as well as provides support to students, industry personnel, researchers, academics and scientists through training, scholarships and seminars on advanced computing, research and development opportunities.
iVEC has three facilities hosting considerable high-performance computing infrastructure:
- The Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC) – iVEC's central location, the ARRC facility manages the Pawsey Centre, one of Australia's most powerful supercomputing facilities, a petascale system of international significance. It also hosts a petabyte-scale scientific data store and a range of visualisation technologies.
- iVEC@UWA – iVEC@UWA houses 'Fornax', a GPU-based supercomputer designed especially to support the needs of radio astronomy research, and a range of world-class visualisation technologies.
- iVEC@Murdoch – iVEC@Murdoch manages 'Epic', a supercomputer housed within a custom-designed shipping container that provides a low-impact 'plug and play' high performance computing solution.