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, Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius. 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 October 2017 - 30 September 2018

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Curtin University published between 1 October 2017 - 30 September 2018 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC 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
128	30.54

Outputs by subject (FC)

Subject	AC	FC
Chemistry	21	7.18
Earth & Environmental Sciences	53	15.73
Life Sciences	17	2.13
Physical Sciences	52	8.59

Highlight of the month

Unearthing Australia’s prehistoric connection to Canada

Similarities between rocks on both sides of the planet give new clues to the makeup of the ancient supercontinent Nuna.

Recent analysis of the Earth’s magnetic field has led geologists to postulate that nearly all of the continents were fused together roughly two billion years ago. Now, a team based at Curtin University has identified a rock formation once shared by Australia and North America in this supercontinent.

The Georgetown Inlier, located along a peninsula in northern Queensland, Australia, is a zone of very old sedimentary deposits. Using radioactive isotope data, the researchers discovered that the Georgetown rocks had magma exposure signatures similar to those found along the coast of Canada’s Yukon Territory.

These radioisotope measurements, together with an analysis of ancient water flow, led the team to conjecture that the Georgetown Inlier broke away from Nuna 1.7 billion years ago and crashed into Australia 100 million years later.

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