Curtin University

Australia

Curtin University is Australia’s most collaborative higher education provider and a prominent name in the Nature Index. Established in 1986 in Western Australia, a state rich in land, minerals and biodiversity, the university has campuses across Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. It leads major international projects in astronomy, sustainability and interconnec-tivity, with a particular focus on solving real-world problems.

Curtin is renowned for minerals and energy research. Groups from across the university undertake fundamental and applied research into mining, materials, fuel technologies and mineral economics.

Curtin is a key partner in the world’s biggest astronomy projects. The Curtin-led Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a low-frequency radio telescope capable of reaching deep into space and far back through time, making the night sky visible with better resolution than ever before. The array is a precursor project to an even larger telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), to be built in Western Australia and in South Africa. When completed, the SKA will give scientists a better understanding of the nascent Universe.

Fast and effective communication is a major challenge for large data-intensive projects like the MWA. Together with the Cisco Internet of Everything Innovation Centre, a partnership between Cisco, Curtin University and Woodside Energy, Curtin is constructing a direct data-transmission line from the radio telescope’s remote location to central Perth. The partners are also building a long-range, low-power network of sensors that can provide farmers with essential information for improved crop management.

Agriculture and sustainable development are critical research programmes for Curtin University. In April 2016, Curtin joined an initiative to establish the world’s first zero-carbon solar-powered neighbourhood.

Committed to urban renewal, the university’s Greater Curtin Master Plan will transform its 114-hectare Perth campus into a major Asia-Pacific innovation precinct by 2030. The plan will drive collaboration and commercialisation, positioning Western Australia at the forefront of the knowledge economy.

As Curtin heads towards 2020, we will position ourselves as a leading global university. For more information on our Strategic Plan for 2017-2020, please visit our website.

1 February 2017 - 31 January 2018

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Curtin University published between 1 February 2017 - 31 January 2018 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the WFC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

AC	FC	WFC
321	36.17	19.73

Outputs by subject (WFC)

Subject	AC	FC	WFC
Physical Sciences	264	22.01	5.57
Earth & Environmental Sciences	30	7.39	7.39
Life Sciences	20	2.20	2.20
Chemistry	17	5.94	5.94

Highlight of the month

How budgies keep their cool

To keep cool on a hot day, humans sweat and dogs pant to the same extent whether it’s sticky or dry. And according to new research, this ability to actively control water loss no matter the ambient humidity is not unique to mammals.

A Curtin University–led team found that small desert birds also have a knack for managing water loss under varying and often extreme conditions.

The researchers showed that parakeets (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as budgies, maintain constant evaporation levels along the skin and respiratory tract regardless of the ambient humidity — evidence that water loss is under active physiological control to avoids swings in heat loss and body temperature, and not simply a passive physical process.

This ability seems to have evolved independently in birds and mammals, suggesting it may be a fundamental feature of warm-bloodedness in the animal kingdom.

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