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 2018 - 30 September 2019

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Curtin University published between 1 October 2018 - 30 September 2019 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.

Count	Share
142	33.46

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Earth & Environmental Sciences	68	19.71
Chemistry	23	8.26
Physical Sciences	41	5.30
Life Sciences	18	1.75

Highlight of the month

Fungi with a penchant for gold

A fungus that gathers gold from the soil to adorn its surface could help miners prospect for the precious metal.

Fungi help cycle many metals such as aluminium, iron and magnesium at the Earth’s surface through their influence on soil processes, but little is known about their interactions with chemically inactive gold.

A team that included researchers from Curtin University studied the pink fungus Fusarium oxysporum, gathered from a gold-mining region in Western Australia.

Electron microscopy images revealed that the fungus had gold particles spread across its surface. The fungus gathers gold flakes from its surroundings, oxidizes them, and then solidifies the tiny gold particles on its surface.

The team grew F. oxysporum in soils spiked with different quantities of gold and found that fungal diversity and size increased with increasing gold content.

This fungus could be a natural signpost to gold, reducing the cost and environmental impacts of prospecting through excessive drilling.

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