Postgraduate research travel awards

Viviene Brown is a Masters student in Archaeology. She was awarded a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2012, and used the funds to bring together members of the Wajarri community for a consultative workshop.

"Moving into the future, I'd really like to do a PhD, and the Convocation Research Travel Award has helped to make that a possibility," she said.

"I need to maintain the collaborative partnership that I've developed with the Wajarri traditional owners, and that's what the Convocation Travel Award has given me."

Zarin Salter, having completed a Marine Science (Honours) degree at UWA in 2006 followed by a PhD at UWA in 2012, first appreciated the significance of Convocation when she won a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2011.

"It was an incredibly valuable experience receiving the Award from Convocation," she said.

So impressed was she with Convocation's role at UWA, Zarin decided to stand for Convocation Council and was elected a Councillor in March 2013.

Foteini Hassiotou won a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2011 which allowed her to travel to the University of North Carolina, where she spent a few months working on different aspects of breast milk stem cells and breast cancer, expanding her research at UWA.

"That was a great experience, a really enriching experience, so I am really grateful to Convocation that I was able to do that through this Award," she said.

Miaojia  Huang

Customer service workers are frequent targets of verbal abuse from rude and angry customers. This phenomenon is referred to as “customer mistreatment”. It is the most commonly occurring form of workplace mistreatment. My research examines how service workers cope with customer mistreatment using an innovative event-based approach that captures characteristics of negative service events (such as the social status of abusive customers).

 

Md Babul Hossain

In my PhD project, Iron Man Gypsum (a By-product of titanium ore processing) will be applied for enhancing soil carbon sequestration through plant biomass production using atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as improving soil health and functions in degraded mining areas. The PhD research is being conducted using batch adsorption experiments, incubation experiments, glasshouse experiments, and field-based experiments. The program offers an environmental solution to carbon emissions from contaminated mine soil by investigating the carbon sequestration potential of mining by-products.

 

Dao Anh Thien Tran

Developing strong restorer-of-fertility (Rf) genes for hybrid wheat breeding.

 

Fraser Windsor

My PhD focuses on increasing understanding of Polyketides synthases using in vitro studies of enzyme function and structural biology techniques.

 

Molly Goldacre

My research is in exploring a multi-disciplinary approach to improving movement analysis best practices through analysing technical, legal, and data governance practices.

 

Gilang Bintang Fajar Suhono

My studies aim to improve the binding affinity of Rf1 and Rf3 to orf279. I will analyse the binding site of Rf1 and Rf3 and design synthetic Rf proteins with the best amino acid combination for each nucleotide target. The synthetic proteins will be tested in vivo using transient transformation of wheat protoplasts. This project will be beneficial to hybrid wheat breeding programs using CMS-Rf system.

 

Amber Brown

Interpersonal Coordination and Mental Health: Exploring the Role of Complexity Matching

 

Nicole  Hodgson

 

Md Shahin Iqbal

My research project focuses on exploring the genetic variation, physiological mechanism and genetic basis of salinity tolerance for improving salinity tolerance in mungbean.

 

Naomi  Preston

This Environmental Humanities research focuses on the life of Sarah Brooks (1850-1928), a prolific botanical collector from the remote south-east of Western Australia for Baron von Mueller (preeminent Australian botanist between 1850s and 1890s). Part ecobiography and part environmental history, the narrative will be woven together by more-than-human life writing that links present and past. The research will utilise the botanical specimens collected by Sarah as an innovative primary archive, along with more conventional documentary archival sources.

 

Manu  Magar

My research aims to i) identify, characterize, and analyse the expression of TF family genes in the wheat genome; ii) investigate the expression of TF genes at seedling and reproductive stage of wheat; and iii) compare the expression profile of different TF gene families and develop functional markers for marker-assisted breeding.

Ben Parmenter

School of Biomedical Sciences

Geoffrey Kennedy Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Ben is a PhD candidate in the school of Biomedical Sciences with numerous published papers and awards, with the ambition to work as a research academic in nutrition sciences. His PhD is to investigate whether an increase in the consumption of flavonoid- rich foods can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. He will utilise the PGRTA by staying in Denmark for 4 weeks working at the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, analysing data in regards to dietary information, and visiting the Queen’s University with face-to-face meetings with collaborators. His travel and research will form dietary strategies to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in our community.

 

Amira Allahham

School of Biological Sciences

Alexander Cohen Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Amira is a PhD candidate in the school of Biomedical Sciences. Her PhD project is investigating the effect of burn injuries on mental health.
She intends to attend the European Burns Association (EBA) 2022 Congress and to visit the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she will present project findings through an oral presentation. Being a researcher in the Fiona Wood Foundation she will be able to communicate findings world wide.

 

Michael Vernon

School of Sciences

Ken and Julie Michael Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

As a Bachelor of Science and Master of Professional Engineering (Mechanical) graduate Michael has taken his optical and biomedical engineering thesis to his PhD project of Tissue Engineered Heart Valves, which is a replacement of defective heart valve that grows with the patient (especially children). He plans to attend and present his PhD research at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) EU chapter, held in Manchester, UK in March 2023. He will be able to build upon the current WA tissue engineering capacity by developing new advanced fabrication technologies that lend themselves to tissue engineering.

 

Christian Haakansson

School of Biological Sciences

Sue Baker Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Christian completed Bachelor of Science with Honours and received the Dead's excellence in science PhD scholarship and was awarded the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. His research project has centered largely on halide complexes with formic acid and sulfur dioxide, with latter stages of the project also including carbon disulfide and carbonyl sulfide in the scope of complex partners with halide anions.

Christian plans to travel to attend the Gordon Research Seminar and Conference on Molecular and Ionic Clusters, Italy, and complete spectroscopic work with the research group of Professor Stuart Mackenzie at Magdalen College of Oxford University. The visit to Oxford University will also afford a wide exposure to other research groups such as those of Professor Claire Vallance and Professor Mark Brouard, as well as allow him to present key findings from his UWA research work to the entire physical chemistry department of Oxford University.

 

Junrey Amas

School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Junrey is passionate about plant diseases and enhancing food security. His PhD project aims to identify novel blackleg resistance genes in a wide array of plant materials to dissect further the complex mechanisms involved in blackleg resistance and reinforce breeding efforts to accelerate the development of resistant varieties. He will look to utilise the funding to expand his phenotyping experiments to identify more blackleg resistance genes in Dr. Thierry Rouxel's group at INRAE, BIOGER, Thiverval-Grignon, France.

 

Alicia Brunet

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Alicia is completing her PhD in the Retinal Genomics and Therapy lab at the Lions Eye Institute. She has been awarded an Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend and Fees Offset Scholarship(2020-2023) and a 10X Millennium Science Single Cell and Spatial Pioneers Fellowship (2021). Her project identifies the underlying mechanisms of cone degeneration in different inherited retinal diseases and the development of a common treatment to restore vision loss independent of the disease causing mutation, thereby foregoing the expensive endeavour of gene therapy development. She plans to attend and present at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, USA in April 2023.

 

Golam Taki

School of Agriculture and Environment

Michael Chaney Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Golam is currently completing his PhD in Environmental Science. His research focus is the remediation of environmental contaminants and mine tailings management. He has developed a new, sustainable management strategy for bauxite residue management, a tailing produced from aluminium production. He received the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Fees Offset scholarship, University Postgraduate Award (UPA) from The University of Western Australia, and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering(AINSE) for Postgraduate Research Award (AINSE- PGRA) to support his study. Golam plans to travel to London, Oxford and Leeds at various institutes to collaborate and then attend the World Soil Congress in Glasgow UK and Mine Closure Conference in Brisbane QLD.

 

Qi Shen

School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Qi's project is to understand the P-acquisition strategies and P-use efficiency of a range of Adenanthos species in south-western Australia.

Qi plans to attend the 19th International Plant Nutrition Colloquium (IPNC) from August 22 to 27, 2022 in Iguassu Falls, State of Paraná, Brazil, to receive the prestigious and highly competitive Marschner Young Scientist Award in person.

 

Tanushree Halder

School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Tanushree is a PhD student in the School of Agriculture and Environment, and the Institute of Agriculture. Her PhD research is "Genetics and molecular studies of root traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)" investigating the genomic regions, genes, and proteins associated with different root traits of bread wheat. She will attend the "International Conference: Agriculture & Food" in Burgas, Bulgaria, and present (oral) a paper and visit different laboratories of the “Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology” (CPSBB), in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and discuss the advanced genetic and proteomic research approaches and tools. She plans to visit Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany, and have short-term training in “Root microscopy and image analysis with MorphoGraphX” and visit the Laboratory of Plant Physiology, and Centre for Crop Systems Analysis at Wageningen University & Research to interact with Professor Christa Testerink and Dr Hannah Schneider who are working on crop root genetics and proteomics.

 

Muhammad Ibrahim

School of Computer Science

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Muhammad is pursuing his PhD in Computer Science and Software Engineering and his research includes Semantic segmentation of 3D point cloud, intelligent transportation, autonomous driving, High Definition 3D point cloud mapping, smart urban planning, machine learning, object detection, localization, and tracking.

He will attend as a visiting student the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Data61, Sydney NSW for two weeks joint research activities.

 

Penny York

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

JAfter 15 years working for in the not-for-profit industry, Penny is completing her PhD with the Not-for-profits UWA Research Group. Her PhD explores the nature of power in institutional governance structures of aged care and disability human service in Australia.

Her plan is to travel to Montreal and participate in two International Society of Third Sector Research (ISTR) events over 7 days, between July 9-16, 2022 at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University and McGill University.

 

Yu Heng Tao

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Yu’s research aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between terahertz radiation and biomolecules in solution. Such understanding would enable research towards the possibility of using terahertz radiation in cancer diagnosis and therapy, as well as other diseases involving dysfunctional biomolecules (such as proteins) in the case of Alzheimer's.

Yu plans to attend the International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz) to connect with researcher to interpret his latest experimental results.

 

Molly Moustaka

School of Marine Science

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Molly completed her undergraduate degree in marine science at UWA in 2016, worked as a research assistant in the Marine Science Program at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, working on the Pluto environmental offset program. Her PhD project focuses on investigating the effects of seascape configuration on secondary productivity in coastal ecosystems, how the surrounding seascape configuration influences the nursery function of coastal habitats for juvenile fish. She plans to travel to the University of Rhode Island, for six weeks to conduct research activities.

 

Joon Soo Park

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Joon Soo is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate in Dental Public Health and a Senior Lecturer in General Dental Practice / Pharmacology at the UWA Dental School / School of Allied Health. He is also an editorial board member of the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice.

Joon Soo’s doctoral research is to assess the knowledge of dental medications in an Australian context. Joon Soo plans to undertake a fellowship for one month at the University of Aberdeen and also attend the 19th World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology 2023.

 

Ainslie Gatt

School of Design

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Ainslie is a Fine Art Candidate at the School of Design. Her dissertation explores the art and art market of contemporary star artist Cecily Brown (b.1969).

Her PhD aims to offer a roadmap to a prosperous livelihood for female artists. She plans to meet and interview artist Cecily Brown and view her original artwork in New York, USA.

 

Sofina Maharjan

School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Sofina is doing a PhD in agriculture economics. Her research is examine the impact of the government of India's water-saving technologies (Laser Land Leveller). The findings of this study will help frame appropriate agricultural policies and interventions to reduce farmers' technical inefficiency and output expansion by reducing input use and increasing the speed of technology adoption. She will participate in the European Workshop on Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (EWEPA) hosted by the Católica Porto Business School, Portugal, on June 27-29, 2022.

Renee Ng

School of Biomedical Sciences

Geoffrey Kennedy Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Renee’s project explores the potential and safety of bacteriophage therapy for bacterial lungs infections in Cystic Fibrosis. To date, Renee has successfully isolated 369 bacteriophages from environmental and wastewater samples. Host range assessment was performed to select the top candidates for whole genome sequencing. Ultimately, her project aims to establish a screening tool for high throughput phage assessment and develop a potential therapeutic pipeline to treat affected children.

 

Celina Burkholz

School of Biological Sciences

Alexander Cohen Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Celina’s PhD study aims to evaluate intraspecific variation in the ecophysiological processes of Ecklonia radiata, and to test the potential of a novel restoration approach, Green Gravel, to act as a vector to translocate resilient individuals to degraded kelp populations.

The funding will be used for travel to Hobart, Tasmania, to attend the International Seaweed Symposium (13-18 February 2022), and conduct a 1-month research stay at the University of Tasmania. During the symposium, Celina will also organise a workshop for the Green Gravel Action Group, which will help participants exchange results, achievements, and challenges, which provides a perfect opportunity to discuss the next steps moving forward in kelp restoration.

 

William Thomas

School of Biological Sciences

Ken and Julie Michael Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

The funding will be used to assist William in expanding the scope of his resistance gene identification by supporting a two-month internship to Prof. Dilantha Fernando’s lab at The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada (tentatively June/July 2022). Professor Fernando specializes in plant-pathogen interactions and has considerable expertise in the genetic mechanisms of blackleg disease and the identification and characterization of R genes. While in Canada, Williams also plans to attend Brassica 2022: The 22nd International Crucifer Genetics Conference held in Saskatoon, the capital city of neighbouring state Saskatchewan.

 

Jessica King

School of Biological Sciences

Sue Baker Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Jessica’s dissertation research involves developing a cell hashing multiplexed method for single cell RNA sequencing via the transient transfection of a barcoded DNA oligonucleotide. The preliminary results revealed that the house-made delivery agent is more efficient than the commercially available equivalent. The development of this innovative technique will greatly benefit the broader research community by providing means to multiplex samples greatly reducing the cost of sequencing while still maintaining high efficiency and cell recovery.

This travel grant will provide Jessica with the chance to attend the International Conference on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (July 26-27 2022) in London, UK as well as to University College London (UCL) and the University of Cambridge.

 

Gereltsetseg Enkhbat

School of Agriculture and Environment

Postgraduate Students’ Association Convocation Research Travel Award

Gerelsetseg’s research aims to quantify genetic diversity within the collection of subspecies legumes for a range of important agronomic traits affecting pasture productivity and resilience, in particular, both early season waterlogging tolerance and late-season drought tolerance. Greater knowledge of adaptation in subspecies legumes and the mechanisms of tolerance will provide invaluable guidance to future subclover breeding programs.

This travel grant will be used to visit PGG Wrightson Seeds (PGW Seeds) pasture breeding programs, field trials and seed distribution operations in Victoria (November 2021) and Christchurch, New Zealand (February 2022).  PGW Seeds is the largest pasture seed company in the southern hemisphere, with international breeding programs for several key pasture species.

Cameron Gilchrist

Faculty of Science - School of Molecular Sciences

Geoffrey Kennedy Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Cameron's undergraduate studies in Science lead to genetics. His research is developing bioinformatic software tools facilitating the identification, characterisation and comparative analyses of the genetic codes underlying the biosynthesis of bio-active molecules.

The award will be to fund short-term research exchanges in a couple of natural product, bioinformatics-focused laboratories in Europe, specifically Denmark Technical University (DTU) Biosustain, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, and Medema Laboratory, Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Through the travel, Cameron will able to use the expertise available at DTU and WUR to extend further the functionality of the open-source software tools he has developed to analyse large genomic datasets, to provide a greater service to the broader research community.

 

Sang Huynh

Faculty of Science - School of Molecular Science

Alexander Cohen Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Sang obtained a BSc in Biotechnology in 2011 at Nong Lam University, Vietnam, after which he worked for five years as a Research Assistant at Nong Lam University. Sang then undertook a Master of Agricultural Science in Genetics and Breeding at UWA. His PhD study is trying to determine how Restorer-of- Fertility proteins block the expression of mitochondrial transcripts causing cytoplasmic male sterility. The award will fund the following:

1. Attendance at the 12th International Conference for Plant Mitochondrial Biology (ICPMB) that is planned to take place from 23rd – 28th of May, 2021, at the Lund University.
2. Travel to VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium. Here, Sang will visit the laboratory of Professor Geert De Jaeger from 31st May – 1st June,2021.
3. Participate in a two-day training course on mass spectrometry (MS) data processing that will be organised from 2nd to 3rd of June, 2021, at the VIB-Centre.

The travel will bring benefits to the Plant Energy Biology (PEB) Centre and UWA, and the world- wide research community on several levels. Also, the skills obtained from the mass spectrometry training course at VIB, Belgium will help Sang to analyse proteomic data

 

Leanne Jiang

Faculty of Science – School of Biological Sciences

Ken and Julie Michael Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Leanne is a UWA BSc (Hon) graduate and is currently a PhD BioZone student undertaking a mitochondria and genetics project in motor neuron disease.

The award will fund travel to the University of Queensland for approximately 6-7 months, departing early November and returning in May, 2021. Leanne's research activities will be under the guidance of Dr Shyuan Ngo.

The research activities conducted will allow for functional results of mitochondria dysfunction in MND; to link her data and be sequencing the MND cell lines to search for genetic variants.

 

Shutong Liu

Faculty of Science – School of Biological Sciences

Sue Baker Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Shutong is a full-time PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences. Her PhD project is "Phosphorus-Use and Nitrogen-Use Strategies of Native Plants in South-Western Australia".

The Award funding will go towards 3 months (February 2021 to May 2021) as a visiting researcher at the State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University and the Guangxi Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Nanning, China.The visit will deepen the research communication between UWA and Guangxi University.

The skills that will be acquired are directly relevant and valuable to understanding the underlying mechanisms of plant nutritional strategies that allow plants to live in nutrient-poor environments. The travel will also allow for conducting nitrate restraint experiments on more diverse species and to learn the skills of transcriptome analysis.

 

Maria Purnamasari

Faculty of Science - School of Agriculture and Environment

Postgraduate Students' Association Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Maria obtained an MAgSc in Genetics and Breeding from UWA, and a BSc in Biotechnology from Atma Jaya Catholic University, Indonesia. She is currently completing her PhD research on determining the Camelina Sativa response to biotic, abiotic and combined stresses to develop predictive models for the crop, especially under current climatic conditions when plant-pathogen interactions and light resources are changing rapidly. This would, in turn, be important for adoption of this crop in Australia for oil seed production.

Funding will be for the following:

1. 9th to 13th January, 2021: Attendance at The Plant and Animal Genome Conference(PAG) XXIX in San Diego,California, USA, to present a paper.
2. 14th to 16th January, 2021: Visit to UC Davis Bioinformatics core, California, USA, to attend their bioinformatics training program and discuss the analysis of Maria's data.

The proposed visit, with in-person support and guidance of UC Davis bioinformatics, will assist every step of the process of the digital candidate gene approach, starting from choosing appropriate strategies and software that will be suitable for identification of the potential candidate genes.

 

Salvador Zarco Perello

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Postgraduate Students' Association Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Salvador graduated as a Marine Biologist from the National University of Mexico. He obtained a Diploma of Research Methods from James Cook University,Townsville, and completed his Master's research on the tropicalisation of fish communities and its implications for the herbivory processes on the temperate reefs of South-Western Australia. His PhD research is about the invasion, persistence,and impact that tropical herbivorous fish can have on temperate marine ecosystems.

The funds of this award will be used to organise and attend three international workshops with experts on the invasion of tropical herbivores in temperate Eastern Australia (Dr Adriana Verges, University of New South Wales; Rebecca Fox, The Australian National University; and Valentin Depot, Southern Cross University), Japan (Dr. Nakamura, Kochi University) and the Mediterranean Sea (Dr. Ernesto Azzurro, Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies; Dr. Julia Santana Garcon and Dr. Scott Bennet, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, and Gil Rilov, National Institute of Oceanography, Israel). Travel will be to Sydney, followed by Kochi (Japan), and finally Barcelona (Spain). The workshops are planned to occur early next year.

The workshops will synthesise and analyse the current state of knowledge and critical research steps to follow in the future, to understand and forecast the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of the range expansion of tropical herbivores to temperate regions - information that will be highly relevant for ecologists and resource managers worldwide.

 

Behzad Heidari Shiroud

Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences - School of Engineering

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Behzad graduated with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology in 2012, and received a Master's degree in Polymer Engineering from the University of Tehran in 2014. He is a PhD student at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia (UWA). His research is focused on developing different biodegradable scaffolds for tendon tissue engineering.

The funding will be used to attend and present at the 6th World Congress of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS 2021), that will take place 31st May-4th June, 2021, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and for a three-day visit of the Moroni Laboratory (led by Prof. Lorenzo Moroni) at the MELRN Institute of Maastricht University.

Visiting the Moroni Laboratory will allow Behzad to explore and to establish a new collaboration between biomedical engineering groups at UWA, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth, and MELRN institute of Maastricht University. The feedback from experts will help Behzad to align his research to world-wide best practice.

 

Paige Maroni

Faculty of Science – School of Biological Sciences

Michael Chaney Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Paige's PhD is on the study of the diversification and chemical ecology of marine radiation of molluscs using phylogenomics.

The funding will be used to attend and present at the Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR) Biology Symposium, held in Christchurch, New Zealand in July 2021.

The benefit will be to inform the audience of nudibranch diversity (and benthic diversity, more broadly), metabolomic evolution and diversity, and the links between the two fields.

 

Pratikshya Kandel

Faculty of Science – School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Pratikshya completed her Master's degree in "Biodiversity and Environmental Management" from the University of Bergen, Norway and Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Her PhD research is titled, "Evaluating the Socio-economic and Environmental Impacts of Protected Areas Policy (Buffer Zone Policy) in Nepal."

Funding will be for the following:

1. To participate in pre-conference workshops and present at the 65th Annual Conference of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) in Sydney, Australia, that is going to be held on February 8-12, 2021.
2. For four-month long fieldwork in Nepal from February to June 2021.

The fieldwork in Nepal will bring the local context and perspectives from Nepal, relating to conservation and its socio-economic outcomes, to UWA seminars and meeting discussions. The focus group discussions will enhance awareness regarding best practices and lessons learnt through the sharing of experience.

 

Sofie Vranken

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Sofie graduated with a Master in Ecology and Evolution in 2012 at UGhent (Belgium) and is currently pursuing a PhD at UWA in seaweed population genomics.

Funding will be for the following:

1. Attendance and presenting at the International Psychological Congress (IPC21), to be held between the 21st - 26th of March, 2021 in Puerto Varas, Chile.
2. Attendance at the Macroalgae trait workshop, to be held from the 28th – 31st of March, 2021, in Puerto Varas, Chile.

Ecosystem degradation, linked to anthropogenic disturbances and global change, is a major concern in current ecological research. Presenting at the IPC21 will communicate UWA research to a wider audience, and attendance at the workshop will assist Sofie to connect with collaborators and to experience new network opportunities.

Gabrielle Beca

Geoffrey Kennedy Postgraduate Research Travel Award

A wildlife ecologist and is currently researching to foster criticalthinking, global awareness, and be involved in a community that is inclusive and engaged, giving rise to a new generation of informed and passionate young people.

The requested funds from the PGRTA will be used to attend X Brazilian Mammals conference, visit the Institute of Conservation of Wild Animals, in the Pantanal, and a leading researcher (Dr Arnaud Desbiez) in the field of digging mammals and initiate a collaborative research.

Contribution will be promoting direct connection between UWA and Brazillian researchers, which research will address the lack of information to make a meaningful contribution in the field. Interacting with these researchers will allow Gabrielle to expand her vision and acquire insights about ecological systems worldwide.

Kai Chen

Alexander Cohen Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

A doctor of medicine and orthopaedic surgeon that is enrolled in the School of Biomedical Sciences. His research interests focus on deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal diseases including osteoporosis and osteonecrosis, and thus providing novel solutions.

The funding will be used to visit The Greenblatt Skeletal Biology Lab at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA. The aim of the visit is EGFL6 project discussion and collaboration, bringing new techniques back to UWA and preclinical observations of animal models for assessing and validating the efficacy of drugs or proteins.

With the increasing aging population there is an increase fractures and the techniques learnt will be established a new research program at UWA lab.

Kevin Trentino

Rachael Zemek

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Biomedical Sciences

Geoffrey Kennedy Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My project aims to identify the immunological mechanisms responsible for a successful anti-tumour immune response, and then target these pathways to improve response rates".

Funds will be used to attend the 5th European Conference of Immunology in The Netherlands, and to give an oral presentation of her research in the cancer immunology session to an audience of scientists from interdisciplinary fields.

Arman Siahvashi

Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, School of Engineering

Alexander Cohen Award

"My research aims to generate accurate experimental data on freeze-out of complex hydrocarbon systems to better predict impurity blockages and provide a more reliable risk assessment".

Funds will be used to visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) – California Institute of Technology, and give an oral presentation at North American Calorimetry Conference (CALCON) and International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics (ICCT) in California.

Belinda Martin

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Ken and Julie Michael Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research aims to shed some light on the seagrass rhizosphere by characterizing root released organic matter and oxygen, and determining its role in microbial dynamics and seagrass ecosystem functioning".

Funds will be used to attend the 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME) in Leipzig, Germany and to visit a leading researcher in microbial ecology, Hannes Schmidt, at the University of Vienna, Austria.

Albert Pessarrodona Silvestre

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Sue Baker Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research aims to explore novel approaches to increase the resilience of kelp to future stress, and improve our understanding of the mechanisms hindering their recovery once they have collapsed.".

Funds will be used to attend a workshop of KELPEX international working group in Barcelona, and  conduct additional research in the Mediterranean Sea before giving a presentation at the 12th International Temperate Reefs Symposium (ITRS) in Hong Kong.

Fiona Hook

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education - School of Social Sciences

Postgraduate Students' Association Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on long-term marine adaptations from the northern Carnarvon bioregion of north-west Australia and is part of the larger ARC Barrow Island Archaeology Project (BIAP)".

Funds will be used to attend a European archaeological conference; and to visit three museums in the United Kingdom to analyse shell bead necklaces collected in the late 1800s from the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Fangning Zhang

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Postgraduate Students' Association Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on identification of novel resistant genes towards Leptospaeria maculans across the wild Brassicaceae species".

Funds will be used to spend 3 months as a visiting researcher in the Department of Plant Breeding in Justus Liebig University, Germany.

Aida Carolina Borges Carneiro

Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences - School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Engineering

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on methodologies for quantifying environmental impacts of disposing tailings".

Funds will be used to travel to Melbourne (Australia) for a training at the Life Cycle Strategies Pty Ltd office in July 2018, and then to travel to Cape Town (South Africa) to present a peer-reviewed paper at the 2019 International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings (P&TT) in May 2019.

Bryony Palmer

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research aims to improve management of reintroduced populations of digging mammals through an increased understanding of their ecosystem interactions".

Funds will be used to attending the Training for Effective Translocations (TET) workshop and International Wildlife Reintroduction (IWR) conference in Chicago,  United States, and attend the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) conference in Brisbane as part of a combined trip in late 2018.

Kak Ming Ling

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - Centre for Child Health Research

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My reseach aims to investigate the anti-viral responses of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) airways at the gene network level, and to identify and test new treatment possibilities against the damage and inflammation caused by respiratory viral infections".

Funds will be used to further enhance her skill set by visiting the laboratories of two world renowned Cystic Fibrosis researchers in Paris (INSERM, French Institute of Health and Medical Research) and Dr Patrick Harrison in Ireland (University College of Cork) to obtain specialized training in ncRNA transcriptional analysis and CRISPR/cas9 techniques.

Md Sultan Mia

Faculty of Science - School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research aims  to understand  the  mechanism  of  tolerance  in  the  wheat  genotypes   under   early   seedling stage drought and post-anthesis drought using genetic, genomic  and transcriptomic  tools".

Funds will be used to attend a  training  workshop  on  Bioinformatics  for  Plant  Biology  at  European   Bioinformatics   Institute,   United   Kingdom   which   will   cover latest  bioinformatics  tools  and  resources  for   robust   data   analysis   of   next   generation sequence data.

Aria Dolatabadian

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on the association of genomic structural variation (copy number variation or CNV) with phenotypic traits to characterise the relationship between CNV and resistance to Leptosphaeria  maculans in canola".

Funds will be used to travel to Poland in October 2018 to visit the Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences and also visit four research institutes in Poznan, Poland including: The Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR), Institute of Plant Genetics, (IGRPAN), The Institute of Plant Protection (IORPIB) and Research Centre for Cultivar Testing (COBORU)to improve his skills and develop new methods in Leptosphaeria maculans population studies.

Alicea Garcia

Faculty of Science - School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on social and political aspects of adaptation that can work to empower, inhibit, or limit farmers’ capacities to adapt to climate change".

Funds will be used to travel to Ghana's Central Region for a second fieldwork trip to conduct a new research activity (story telling) that will facilitate the final phase of her data collection in Ghana.

Jeanette Jensen

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education - UWA Law School

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on 'How to Regulate Diffuse Source Water Pollution from Agricultural Sources? A Comparative Analysis of the Australian and European Union Regulatory Strategies".

Funds will be used to travel to Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory to conduct a series of focus group interviews to obtain data on the main stakeholders involved with management of diffuse source pollution.

Penelope Strauss

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Population and Global Health

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on access to medical and mental health care for trans (transgender) young people in Australia".

Funds will be used to attend the 2018 World Professional Association for Transgender Health Symposium and also attend the "Ethical Considerations in Trans Health" workshop.

Buddhi Ram Chaudhary Tharu

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education - School of Social Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on 'The use of Indigenous knowledge for climate change adaptation in agriculture: A case study of the Tharu in Western Nepal'".

Funds will be used to participate and give a presentation at an International Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, and then to travel to Nepal to conduct fieldwork.

Samuel Montgomery

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Medicine

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on investigating whether inflammation evident in the lungs of very young children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) in the absence of infection is associated with the interleukin (IL)-1 pathway".

Funds will be used to further enhance his skill set, namely a cutting-edge novel assay that measures neutrophil elastase (NE), by the laboratory of Professor Marcus Mall  at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Arnold van Rooijen

Faculty of Science - School of Earth Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research investigates how aquatic vegetation affects coastal physical processes, such as waves and currents".

Funds will be used to attend the 36th International Conference on Coastal Engineering which will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and to present results obtained with the SWASH model. It will also allow him to attend a short course on 'Natural and nature-based features for coastal resilience', which will help him further develop in connecting the fields of ecology and coastal engineering.

David Jago

Faculty of Science - School of Molecular Science

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research project centres on the development of metal containing molecules for application in molecular electronics".

Funds will be used to travel to the University of Liverpool to continue to acquire specialised skills in scanning probe microscopy and the measurement and assessment of molecular electronic properties.

Yueqi Zhang

Faculty of Science - School of Biological Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research focusses on the study of crops and pathogens through applying a range of genetic and genomic techniques".

Funds will be used to take up an internship in Professor Jaroslav Dolezel's lab in the Czech Republic in order to master a pioneering technique for isolating single chromosomes of B. napus.

James Wong

School of Human Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"My research is twofold: to provide evidence that motional forces of kangaroos are indeed sufficient to generate airflow during hopping; and secondly to examine whether there are physiological adaptations that allow the animal to breathe in this manner".

Funds will be used to visit Dr Graham Donovan's Laboratory at The University of Auckland to be trained in methods of mathematical modelling and to transfer this knowledge to our Perth Laboratory.

Keelan O'Neill

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

"To develop a multiphase flow metering system which applies Earth's Field nuclear magnetic resonance".

Funds will be used to visit the Magnetic Resonance Research Centre (Cambridge, UK)  to expand his knowledge and understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance,  and to attend the International Conference on Magnetic Resonance Microscopy in Canada where hopes to deliver an oral presentation.

Nicola Bondonno

School of Biomedical Sciences

Alexander Cohen Award

"The cardiovascular health benefits of apples and specific apple polyphenols".

Funds will be used to conduct data analysis from the dietary intake, death and hospitalization in adults with end-stage kidney disease at the Centre for Kidney Research in Sydney, as well as to conduct a systematic review of exercise in patients with chronic kidney disease. Nicola will also be presenting results from her recent clinical trial at the 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Clinical Nutrition in Adelaide.

Ting Xiang Neik

School of Biological Sciences

Ken & Julie Michael Award

"Identification and characterisation of the single major blackleg resistance gene, Rlm9, in Brassica napus (canola) against the fungal pathogen leptosphaeria maculans".

Funds will be used to travel to France to extend her research project and to conduct further data collection.

Michael Montalto

Law School

Sue Baker Award

"To determine how personality variables can be used to target rehabilitation programs for offenders".

Funds will be used to obtain Hexaco Personality Inventory  data from the prison population within the Czech Republic and to attend relevant conferences or research events which are on at that time.

Muhammad Rafay Muzamil

School of Agriculture and Environment

PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Climate change adaptation in the context of conflict and its implications".

Funds will be used to conduct participatory scenario building at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) and PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, to conduct interviews and undertake a 2 day workshop at UAF.

Md Shahin Uz Zaman

School of Genetics and Plant Breeding

PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Waterlogging tolerance of germination in pea".

Funds will be used to visit INRA Centre de Dijon, France to liaise with experts, understand their equipment and discuss methodologies for cooperation and to present a paper at the 8th International Conference on Legume Genetics and Genomics in Hungary.

Samantha Andrzejaczek

School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, Physical Oceanography

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Investigating the drivers of vertical movement patterns of sharks".

Funds will be used to tag basking sharks off the west coast of Scotland with UK based collaborators to contextualise movement patterns then to travel to 6th International Bio-Logging Science Symposium in Constance, Germany for a presentation of material.

Laura Skates

School of Biological Sciences

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"How hungry are carnivorous plants? Investigating nutrition and plant-insect interactions of native carnivorous flora".

Funds will be used to present a talk at the International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China and to visit botanists at various botanic gardens and research institutions in Asia and Singapore.

Maria Kuznetsova

School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, Rock Mechanics

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Wave propagation in bimodular geomaterials".

Funds will be used to visit the University of Queensland to acquire necessary skills to work in the finite element software MOOSE and to simulate several 3D cylindrical models with the intention to publish an extensive article on wave propagation in bimodular media.

Juliana Mendes Monteiro

School of Agriculture and Environment

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Research to assess the water quality and characterise the microbial mat communities from salt lakes on Rottnest Island in order to better understand the ecological role of these unique ecosystem asset and support the Rottnest Island Authority elaborating".

Funds will be used to attend the Microbial Genome and Metagenomics workshop in California, USA.

Muhammad Dan Suleiman

School of Social Sciences, Political Science and Int Relations

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Investigating the causes of religious terrorism and new approaches for effective response".

Funds will be used to attend a summer school on Decoloniality  at the University of South Africa and conduct some fieldwork.

Ben McAllister

School of Physics

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Developing new techniques to detect dark matter particles, known as axions, which are theorized to comprise over 80% of the matter in the universe, but which have never been directly observed".

Funds will be used to research new axion detection techniques at the Paris Observatory.

Lucia Clayton

School of Social Sciences, Centre for Rock Art Research and Management

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Archaeological analysis of how people use landscape over time, and how this changes, in the volcanic Tablelands, California".

Funds will be used to travel to Bishop, California, to undertake fieldwork for the PhD project.

Hsueh-en Stacey Hong

School of Medical Sciences, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of ribotype 251 strains of clostridium difficile causing severe disease in Australia".

Funds will be used to attend the 10th International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of the Clostridia, and to present a poster of the epidemiology of C.difficile RT251 - a strain with no published data

Claudia Franca De Abreu

School of Agriculture and Environment Human Geography

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Researching the cultural revitalisation movement of the Guarani people of Brazil as a means of enabling resilience and wellbeing of the community".

Funds will be used to travel to Brazil to conduct further research and to visit the Cultural Revitalization research Centre of the University of South of Santa Catarina, as well as to attend a lecture in the Indigenous Graduate program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Maxim Khudyakov

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Mechanics and dynamics of topological interlocking structures".

Funds will be used to attend the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna to present his research to  specialists in fragmented structures area and to attend scientific sessions for acquiring cutting-edge methods of numerical modelling of fragmented structures.

Manuel Herduin

The Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Novel anchoring systems for offshore renewable energies".

Funds will be used to attend the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference in Ireland.

Nicola Ferreira

School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Investigating the role of RNA-binding proteins in regulating mitochondrial gene expression and disease".

Funds will be used to attend a Gene Expression conference in Sweden (oral presentation) and AussieMit conference in November 2018.

Karen Paiva Henrique

School of Earth and Environment, Geography

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

"Research of flood adaptation projects in Sao Paulo, Brazil, examining how they are conceived, implemented, and contested by multiple stakeholders in a context of uneven power relations".

Funds will be used to travel to Brazil to conduct fieldwork, interviews, observations and to visit the National Institute for Space Research to present research and to attend a course on Spatial Analysis of Geographic Data.

Yue Ming Sun

Plant Energy Biology, ARC Centre of Excellence

Alexander Cohen Award

"Study of plant RNA editing factors for the development of precise gene modification tools with agricultural and therapeutic applications".

Funds will be used to attend the Gordon Research Conference on RNA Editing in California; Visiting the Barkan Laboratory at University of Oregon.

Rebecca Bennett

Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery

Ken & Julie Michael Award

"Development of a clinical survey evaluating hearing aid handling and management will facilitate identification of deficits in hearing aid skills, leading to improved training programs and higher rates of hearing aid success".

Funds will be used travel to Vancouver to present her work at the World Congress of Audiology and to meet with and to further develop her relationship with one of her PhD collaborators.

Manal R Shehabi

Business School ? Economics Discipline

Sue Baker Award

"To examine economic policies that reduce the negative impacts of petroleum price volatility in oil exporting economies through economy-wide modelling".

Funds will be used to attend two conferences and to present two papers. Also to visit other institutions in UK and Kuwait.

Tasmiah Masih

School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health

PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"The role of stress and relaxation in the regulation of appetite, and the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor food".

Funds will be used to attend teacher training programs in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (9-day intensive Practicum in MBSR) held in New York and Massachusetts.

Jelena Rakovic

Graduate School of Education

PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award

"Research of primary school leadership in the Republic of Serbia as a society undergoing democratization with a particular reference to the historical background, recent developments and current concerns of primary school principals".

Funds will be used to conduct fieldwork in the Republic of Serbia and collect data in the form of documents and interviews. Also to take part in the biennial conference hosted by the European School Heads Association in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Michelle Walker

School of Earth and Environment, Geography

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

The importance of indigenous knowledge and practice in managing freshwater resources and freshwater ecosystems; 2 case studies from the Dampier Peninsula, Northern Western Australia.

Felix McKenzie-Rae

School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Atmospheric Chemistry

Alexander Cohen Award

a-phellandrene indoor smog chamber measurements and modelling.

Nurul Izza Taib

School of Physics

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Studying magnetically activated drug release.

Gundula Winter

School of Earth and Environment

Sue Baker Award

Investigating the physical drivers of water exchange in reefs

Sophie Sneddon

School of Medicine and Pharmacology, National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases.

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

The identification of tumour neo-antigens in malignant mesothelioma using next generation sequencing.

David Gozzard

School of Physics

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Stabilised transmission of high-precision reference signals for use in high-precision space-science and fundamental physics research.

Thomas Iosifidis

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Award

Defective cell migration as a mechanism of dysregulated asthmatic airway repair.

Christopher Brennan-Jones

School of Surgery, Ear Science Centre

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Using new automated technology to improve access to hearing services in rural and remote areas of WA.

Rachel Jones

School of Surgery and Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Verification of genetic risk factors for sarcoma.

Albina Ilyasova

School of Plant Biology

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

To explore the physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of delayed leaf greening in a phosphorus-use efficient plant Hakea prostrate, in order to increase the sustainability of farming systems.

Caroline Alexander

School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Assessment of musculoskeletal properties in children with cerebral palsy and the impact of botulinum toxin type A.

Carly Herbison

School of Women?s and Infants? Health

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

How do your genetics and your experience of stressful life events impact, your stress response and chance of depression/anxiety in later life?.

Polina Zhbanova

School of Earth and Environment, Marine Science.

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Governance of marine protected areas and prospects of marine ecosystem-based management in the Arctic.

Noorazrul Azmie Bin Yahya

School of Physics, Medical Physics

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Modelling urinary toxicity following external beam radiotherapy of the prostate.

Stephen Andrews

School of Physics

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Project aims to measure and model the energy output of the universe over the last 7 billion years.

Natalia Forrest

School of Medicine

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Novel pharmacological therapy for pleural infection.

Shane Chambers

School of Physics

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Observations of acoustic reflections in an ultra shallow water environment of depth less than 2 M using a compact phased array.

Gracie Verde Selva

School of Earth and Environment

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

Payment for eco-systems services and the Brazilian ICMS-E: an exploration of environmental policy outcomes.

Craig McCormack

School of Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts

Postgraduate Research Travel Award

The feedback loop between the space industry and popular culture through a study of relevant institutional and private archives, to articulate the cultural role that space exploration has played upon modern culture, spawning new fields of research, such as space architecture.

Paola Magni

Centre for Forensic Science, Molecular Forensic Entomology

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Applying next generation DNA methodologies to the discipline of forensic entomology which  will aid in the crime solving ability of law enforcement agencies.

Stephanie Wade

School of Psychology

Alexander Cohen Award

The transdiagnostic theory of eating disorders and associated enhanced cognitive behavioural treatment.

Mao Li

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Registration of whole-body CT images using the non-linear patient-specific biomechanical modelling.

Sarah Bruzzese

School of Physics, Astrophysics

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Study of star formation in different environments of nearby galaxies, specifically low stellar-density regions, to gain a better understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Gabriella Flacke

School of Animal Biology

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Investigating population genetic structure and health husbandry of the pygmy hippopotamus and reproductive issues faced by this endangered species in captivity.

James Hales

School of Computer Science & Software Engineering

Computational methods for determining how agents (e.g. people, computer systems, etc) can reach desired knowledge through the communication of information.

Rajesh Thomas

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

How to optimize the role of indwelling pleural catheters in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion.

Jessica Reynolds

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health: Motor control and Learning

Exploring the potential neurological mechanisms of developmental coordination disorder and more specifically, a behavioural and fMRI investigation of mirror neuron system activation.

Kalina Makowiecki

School of Animal Biology

Investigating how pulsed magnetic field stimulation affects the brain and the mechanisms underlying its clinical effects as a treatment for various neurological disorders.

Luqman Abdul Aziz

School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health

Upper limb function in Parkinson's Disease after neuromodulation.

Md Prodhan

School of Plant Biology

How Hakea Prostrata metabolically adapted to extremely low phosphorus availability.

Crystal Abidin

School of Social Sciences

Analyses how success is constituted in Singaporean women's commercial lifestyle blogging through persona, femininity projects and intimacy.

Mercedes Belica

School of Earth and Environment, Geology

Investigating the late Permian in Eastern Australia; a magnetostratigraphic profile across the Permian-Triassic boundary and implications for global correlation.

Anna Amir

School of Animal Biology

Effects of plant secondary compounds on reproduction in female sheep.

Tegan Davies

School of Plant Biology

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Investigating carbon cycling dynamics in mangrove sediments and how they might respond to climate change and coastal development.

Stephanie Stevens

School of Psychology

Alexander Cohen Award

Implementing cognitive bias modification training procedures at the onset of heightened anxiety as a means of reducing symptoms.

Muhammad Munir Iqbal

Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Studying the genetic adaptation of Yellow Lupin to dryland conditions.

Victoria Reynolds

School of Paediatrics & Child Health

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Identifying, describing and treating voice abnormalities in preterm children at school age.

Alicia Annamalay

School of Paediatrics & Child Health

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Determining the relative roles of viruses and bacteria in acute lower respiratory infections in young African children.

Yongjuan Guan

School of Animal Biology

Examining the cellular and molecular aspects of the testes in underfed rams.

Emma Nicoletti

School of English & Cultural Studies

Examining the science fiction novels of Jeff Noon from an edocritical (environmental) perspective.

Kanthi Perera

School of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience

Investigating how ambiguous loss associated with mental ill health is perceived and managed by those affected.

Alex Veen

UWA Business School

Deriving the consequences of the removal of the statutory individual bargaining stream, like the Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), for those in the Western Australian context.

Melanie Walls

School of Women's & Infants' Health

Identifying predictive markers of human ooctyte developmental competence, by comparing treatment outcomes between in vitro maturation and traditional in vitro fertilisation, for women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

Gillian Weir

School of Sport Science, Exercise & Health

Investigating trunk and hip neuromuscular control during change of direction sporting tasks and their implications for knee loading and injury prevention.

Jingbin Zheng

Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems

Developing robust design approaches for spudcans (foundations for mobile drilling rigs) directly from cone penetration test data in multi-layer soils.

Michelle Marneweck

School of Psychology

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Investigating the ability of those with Parkinson's disease to understand the facial expressions of others.

Alexander Christ

School of Earth and Environment

Alexander Cohen Award

Developing a novel geothermal or waste heat-driven desalination technology for an economic freshwater production.

Rachel Foong

Centre for Child Health Research

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Investigating the effects of Vitamin D deficiency on airway remodeling in asthma.

Sachin Shrestha

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

BankWest Award

Modeling brain tumour growth using hybrid cellular automata and its effect on the surrounding brain tissue.

Asha De Vos

School of Environmental Systems Engineering

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Studying the effects of salinity on the distribution of blue whales and the prey off southern Sri Lanka.

Vivienne Brown

School of Social Sciences

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Investigating the strategies employed by the Wajarri people to manage resource availability in the Weld Range, Murchison WA.

Kelsey Kennedy

School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering

Developing an optical imaging technique that creates high-resolution images based on the mechanical properties of tissues.

Scott Bennett

School of Plant Biology

Identifying the community effects of climate change on coastal reef ecosystems.

Cesar Rosales Nieto

School of Animal Biology

Determining the effect of muscle accretion on the reproductive performance of merino ewe lambs.

Michelle Jongenelis

School of Psychology

Examining the role of objectification in the development of body shame and eating disorder symptoms in young children.

Jordan Goetze

School of Plant Biology

Assessing the effectiveness of periodically-harvested marine reserves in Fiji to conserve local fish stocks, with particular focus on how the duration of harvests impact on this effectiveness.

Yiming Guo

School of Plant Biology

Developing a drought-tolerance screening test of Brassica rapa seedlings at reproductive stage.

Natalie Rosser

School of Animal Biology

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Investigating the evolutionary history and population connectivity of coral reefs in WA to provide reef managers with the scientific information necessary to plan the placement of Marine Protected Areas.

Christian Pitcher

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Alexander Cohen Award

Developing quantitative muscle ultrasonography for assessment of muscle pathology in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Johnny (Yang) Zhang

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Developing a process of efficient computational model generation for image-guided brain surgery.

Shari Gallop

School of Environmental Systems Engineering

BankWest Award

Investigating how rocky structures on beaches can protect and/or make coasts more vulnerable to climate change over a range of spatial and temporal scales.

Al-Eitan Laith

Centre for Forensic Science

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Elucidating the association between the responsiveness to therapy and genetic variations in gene families (e.g. dopamine genes) that are involved in the reward mechanisms or metabolising pathways in patients addicted to illicit drugs (e.g. heroin) with different ethnicity.

Jason Sharbanee

School of Psychology

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Assessing and modifying biases in cognitive processes that underlie addictive behaviour.

William Blakeney

School of Surgery

Researching techniques for achieving limb alignment in total knee replacement surgery, comparing conventional techniques with computer-assisted surgery.

Timm Dobert

School of Animal Biology

Investigating the direct and indirect consequences of landscape modification and alien plant invasions on ecosystem processes and biodiversity across the increasingly blurred interface of managed landscapes and natural forest fragments.

Stephanie Fehr

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Defining the natural history and clinical management of the CDKL5 disorder.

Shaun Frost

School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

Investigating ocular imaging as a potential technique for early detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's Disease.

Foteini Hassiotou

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences

Examining the properties of stem cells isolated from human milk and their potential to be used in regenerative medicine and treatment of neonate diseases.

Zarin Salter

Graduate School of Education

Investigating the impact of whole school sustainability education on the attitudes, behaviours and environmental knowledge of upper-primary student.

Annemieke van der Goot

School of Animal Biology

Investigating reproductive physiology in the white rhinoceros, towards new insights for enhanced breeding success in captivity.

Stephen Parker

School of Physics

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Testing Einstein's theory of relativity using microwave frequency standards.

James Smith

School of Humanities, Discipline of History

Alexander Cohen Award

Performing a study of medieval intellectual history, namely the symbolism of water in medieval thought.

Ann-Maree Vallence

School of Psychology

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Investigating the reorganisation of motor areas of the brain associated with the restriction of sensory input to the brain.

Stephan Karl

School of Physics, Biophysics Research Group

BankWest Award

Developing a highly sensitive, quantitative and cost-effective method to detect malaria-transmitting cells in human blood.

Marco Cuevas-Hewitt

School of Social and Cultural Studies

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Researching Post-Cold War politics in the Asia-Pacific and the rise of globalisation: an ethnographic exploration of Filipino transnational activism.

Xiangling Fang

School of Plant Biology

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Characterising and managing fungal pathogens associated with crown and root diseases of strawberries in Western Australia.

Baca Chan

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences

Understanding how the herpes virus persists within the host.

Santiram Chatterjee

Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems

Performing numerical modeling of pipeline seabed interactions.

Evelyne Deplazes

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences

Investigating the structure and function of mechanosensitive ion channels using spectroscopy and simulations.

Edward Fysh

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

Improving treatments for patients with malignant pleural effusions.

Nilimesh Halder

School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Evaluating public health containment strategies for control, prevention and surveillance of infectious diseases using an individual-based simulation model.

Tristan Kewe

School of Humanities

Performing semiologic analysis of geographical markers in popular songs as representation of national identity.

Jay-Lee Longbottom

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Conducting an integrated study of personality dispositions' motivation processes in exercise with the goal to develop more effective exercise interventions.

Shannan Maisey

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences

Studying indoor reactive chemistry through computer modeling using the MCM protocol adapted by inputs from field study observations.

Margaret Mohring

School of Plant Biology

Visiting California to learn state-of-the-art techniques for studying the reproductive ecology of kelps.

Priyakumari Parmar

School of Women's and Infants' Health

Investigating the influence of genetic and environmental effects in the developmental origins of health and disease with respect to the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway.

Gabrielle Reid

School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care

Developing and validating a family history screening instrument to support chronic disease prevention in primary care.

Rebecca Rey

School of Social and Cultural Studies

Exploring the theatrical works of Don Delillo.

Ai Ling Tan

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

Investigating the potential role of fibroblast growth factor (FGF-9) in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Talitha Santini

School of Earth and Environment

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Identifying mechanisms underlying treatment efficacy for remediation of bauxite residue deposits with a view to improving environmental outcomes.

Cyril Donnelly

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Alexander Cohen Award

Integrating optimisation methods with empirically validated knee modelling techniques to estimate risk of ACL injury at the subject level.

Evelyne Deplazes

School of Biomolecular, Biomedical and Chemical Sciences

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Investigating the structure and function of mechanosensitive ion channels using spectroscopy and computer simulations.

Mohammad Behdad

School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

BankWest Award

Devising an adaptive approach for electronic fraud detection in highly dynamic environments.

Rachael Hains-Wesson

School of Social and Cultural Studies

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Researching children's theatre and the role of the imagination.

J. Florian Wellmann

School of Earth and Environment

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Combining geological and geophysical modelling tools to improve understanding of geothermal systems.

Joelene Bizzintino

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Investigating the immunogenetics of asthma exacerbations in children.

Gemma Cadby

School of Population Health

Identifying prognostic features of melanoma in the Western Australian melanoma health study.

James Dunne

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Using computational modelling to estimate muscle forces and joint loads to predict risk of injury.

David Erceg-Hurn

School of Psychology

Investigating the effects of advertising prescription antidepressant medications direct to the public.

Marcal Gusmao

School of Plant Biology

Identifying adaptation mechanisms of grass peas to water-deficit conditions.

Kamel Hammani

School of Biomedical and Chemical Sciences

Investigating the role of pentatricoptide repeat proteins in organelle gene expression in plants.

Paula Hooper

School of Population Health

Evaluating the implementation and health impacts of the Western Australian Government's "Liveable Neighbourhoods Community Design Code".

Amy Lampard

School of Psychology

Investigating the psychological factors that maintain eating disorders.

Marcus Lee

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Creating realistic 3-dimensional visual environments for accurate assessments of how visual cueing affects movement patterns and knee injury risk.

Karina Price

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

Investigating the role of micro-RNAs in the progression and metastatic spread of colorectal cancer, using both cell-like and human tissue models.

Kathryn Ramsey

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Investigating the link between early life exposure to arsenic via drinking water and non-malignant lung disease.

Elizabeth Newnham

School of Psychology

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Evaluating the effectiveness of a system for monitoring wellbeing in inpatient psychiatric care.

Sanna Peden

School of History

Alexander Cohen Award

Investigating the representation of changes to Finnish national identity in the films of Aki Kaurismaki.

Sharron Perks

School of Animal Biology

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Investigating sperm competition and the evolution of sperm storage organs in male anurans.

Blake Klyen

School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering

BankWest Award

Assessing muscle pathology using optical coherence tomography.

Annette Tyler

School of Physics

BankWest Award

Developing magnetic fluids for the treatment of retinal detachment.

Holly Clifford

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Investigating the immunogenetic determinants of impaired measles vaccine responses in young children.

Jennifer Armstrong

School of English and Cultural Studies

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Exploring shamanistic elements in the works of Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera.

Lauren Banting

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Developing an exercise program which incorporates goal-setting techniques and motivational interviewing to increase physical activity levels.

Stephanie Bell

School of Microbiology and Immunology

Investigating the interaction of Neisseria meningitidis with host cells, focusing on the role of the lipooligosaccharide of the bacteria and receptors found on the human nasopharyngeal epithelium.

Tsun-Thai Chai

School of Plant Biology

Investigating the roles of alternative oxidase in plant growth and development.

Natalie Dell

School of Physics & School of Music

Investigating the effect that auditory feedback has on the horn player?s production of sound.

Cyril Donnelly

School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health

Developing a full body kinematic model that can empirically test and determine if and how upper body biomechanics influence knee loading and risk of ACL injury.

Denise Jackson

Graduate School of Education

Examining the management competencies required by employers of business undergraduates in Australia and UK, how these align, if at all, with the views of tertiary educators, and the extent to which graduates typically possess the required levels of these attributes.

Jerome Mardon

School of Chemistry

Investigating the evolution and ecological importance of olfaction (i.e. smell) in seabirds and its implications for conservation.

Annaliese Mason

School of Plant Biology

Investigating abnormal meiosis in Brassica-interspecific hybrids.

Colleen O'Leary

School of Population Health

Investigating the impact of timing, dose and pattern of prenatal alcohol exposure on fetal development and health.

Sarah Rich

School of Plant Biology

Investigating the function and significance of the growth of aquatic adventitious roots in response to inundation for plant survival during flooding.

Erika Zardin

School of Chemistry

Performing baseline chamical measurement of atmospheric composition and air quality in WA.

Katie Lewis

School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences

Geoffrey Kennedy Award

Synthesising novel analogues of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for evaluation as drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and Burkitt's lymphoma.

Tobias Strunk

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Alexander Cohen Award

Studying innate immune responses of preterm infants to coagulate-negative staphylococci and related Toll-like receptor agonists.

Han Eng Low

School of Civil and Resource Engineering

Ken & Julie Michael Award

Investigating the application of penetrometers in characterization of deep water soft soils.

Parwinder Kaur

School of Plant Biology

BankWest Award

Studying white rust disease of Brassica juncea caused by Albugo candida in Australia

Matthew Hodder

Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Accurately modeling riser-seabed interaction and subsequently safely predicting the fatigue lives of steel catenary risers.

Merrilee Needham

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

Postgraduate Students' Association Award

Undertaking an in-depth study of Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis (SIBM), attempting to deepen our understanding of susceptibility genes, genotype-phenotype correlations and ultimately, the pathogenesis of disease.

Hugo Acosta-Martinez

School of Civil and Resource Engineering

Studying responses of skirted shallow foundations under combined transient and sustained uplift loading for offshore applications.

Jane Dundas

Centre for Neuromuscular and Neurological Disorders

Investigating the effects of the clinical use of a method of brain stimulation (tDCS) that has therapeutic potential for enhancing rehabilitation of patients following brain injury, with movement disorders and/or neurological deficits.

Matthew Landers

School of Earth and Geographical Sciences

Investigating the location and distribution of nickel and other metals in the structures of iron oxides, and the effects of heating on the location and distribution of nickel.

Wai Mun Loke

School of Medicine and Pharmacology

Investigating the protective roles of dietary polyphenols and their metabolites against atherosclerosis in both human and animal models.

John McCabe-Dansted

School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Examining properties of our new logic ROTCL*, such as its computational complexity.

Serena O'Neil

Centre for Child Health Research

Discovering unrecognized cat allergens to accurately define the full spectrum of cat allergens and determine their clinical significance in order to improve the diagnosis of cat allergy and subsequent immunotherapy.

Michael Smith

School of Paediatrics and Child Health

Investigating the effect of glucose on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents.

Diana Tan

School of Plant Biology

Isolating and chemically elucidating mycotoxins produced by toxigenic Western Australian Fusarium species associated with cereal and pasture species.

Renee Tuckett

School of Plant Biology

Examining seed ecology and biogeography of vernal pool ecosystems in Western Australia.

Inge Tvede

School of Plant Biology

Identifying the causal agent and conditions conducive towards strawberry root and crown disease in Western Australia.

Sasha Voss

Centre for Forensic Science

Studying parasitic wasps associated with decomposing remains in Western Australia and their potential as indicators of post-mortem interval in forensic investigations.