University of Western Australia
UWA’s early career science researchers showcased their frontier-forging research at the recent 2021 Rising Stars competition, where 14 of UWA’s brightest scientific minds presented their research on various topics to an audience of curious spectators.
From physics and dark matter to microbiology, sea-grass to soil science, archaeology to nano-particles, mathematics to mental health, sleep study to deep space and human psychology to geographic change, each researcher took the audience on a journey through their workings.
Congratulations to the three winners, Dr Ben McAllister, Dr Khalil Kariman and Dr David Gozzard, and to all the researchers who shared their fascinating work.
This year’s top prize was awarded to Dr Ben McAllister, whose areas of expertise include Physics and Science Communication. Dr McAllister’s presentation focused on one of the greatest mysteries in the Universe, dark matter. Dr McAllister is one of the key researchers behind The Oscillating Resonant Group AxioN (ORGAN) experiment. The experiment is described as a ‘haloscope search for high mass axions’.
“We know now that 5/6 of the matter in the Universe is made of some mysterious, invisible stuff which we call ‘dark matter’, but we don’t know what it is. UWA is the home of The ORGAN Experiment - Australia’s first dark matter detector - which searches for a tiny particle called an ‘axion’, which could explain the nature of the mysterious missing matter,” Dr McAllister said.
Having completed his PhD in 2019, Dr McAllister is currently undertaking a project on the development of new quantum tools and devices, both for applications in future quantum technology, and in tests of fundamental physics. He plans to use his prize money to travel to conferences and engage with international experts in his field of research.
“The Rising Stars competition was a great experience. I’m grateful for the opportunity that it presented and grateful to the audience for choosing me as the first prize winner. Science is cool these days and there seemed to an interest in physics in the audience, which was great. The prize money will be very helpful over the next couple of years. I hope to use it to travel, both to attend conferences and to visit other research institutions.”
Rising Stars is an annual competition showcasing early career science research projects. Since its inception in 2015, the competition has presented a unique opportunity for early career researchers to present their research impact within a three-minute time frame.
UWA thanks the generous donors who support these prizes and through them early career researchers and their projects. To date, Rising Stars prizes have provided support for 18 gifted researchers to accelerate their research and establish themselves as leaders in their respective fields.
If you’re interested in supporting this research or the Rising Stars program, please contact Laura Burton, Development Manager at [email protected] or (08) 6488 4222.