UWA to launch minerals institute

THE University of Western Australia is set to formalise its three-year thrust to position itself as the key tertiary player in the resources space with the launch of an Energy and Minerals Institute.

The university hierarchy briefed state cabinet on the initiative as part of a series of sweeping changes being introduced to the institution, including streamlining of undergraduate degrees it offers.

The new institute will have its own board and a policy role, though its key objective will be to provide a portal for the industry to access research and education across the various disciplines within UWA, which traditionally operate as vertical silos.

The new institute is one of three areas – the others being agriculture and oceans – that will form a bridge between UWA’s existing faculties and the outside world.

These are elements of a strategy to place UWA in the top 100 world universities by 2013 and the top 50 by 2050. It is currently ranked at 113.