Perth tops liveability list once again
It’s official once again. Perth has again been judged one of the world's most liveable cities. Western Australia’s capital was this year ranked the 8th most liveable city in the world by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit. 140 cities across the world were studied and then ranked based on their stability, health care system, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Overall, four Australian cities (Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne) ranked in the top ten. The final ten were rounded out by Canadian cities as well as Vienna and Helsinki.
The Agent General Kerry Sanderson said the ranking proves something already widely known by Western Australians and the tens of thousands of tourists who travel there each year.
“Western Australia really has it all. 3000 hours of sunshine a year, a strong economy with hundreds of billions of dollars of resources projects in the pipeline and a growing international reputation for excellence in the fields of science and innovation,” she said.
One example of a Western Australian innovation was launched recently at Curtin University. theSkyNet is a community science initiative sponsored by the WA Department of Commerce which will allow members of the public to contribute their spare computing power to the processing of radio astronomy data. It’s hoped the program will raise awareness of the Square Kilometre Array project, which Australia and New Zealand hope to host.
Curtin University’s Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graeme Wright, said theSkyNet project has brought several agencies and institutions together in the name of innovation.
“Radio astronomy is a clear focal point in Curtin’s commitment to research in ICT and emerging technologies and it’s great to see people from across the University, in collaboration with our partners at the Department of Commerce, The University of Western Australia and ICRAR, bringing this project to life,” he said.
The European Office will also be hosting an event entitled ‘Roundtable on Climate Change, Food Security and Bio diversity’ next month. Speakers at the event will include Professor Alan Robson AM, Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia and Professor Steve Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The event aims to produce a report that lists the conclusions made from the roundtable discussions and provide a list of recommendations to expand research outcomes in the areas of food security and biodiversity. The final report will be reviewed by Professor Lyn Beazley AO, Chief Scientist of Western Australia.
Meanwhile, students taking part in exchanges between Western Australia and Europe are invited to apply for this year’s Gerald Frank Brown Memorial Trust Scholarship. European students taking part in student exchanges at a Western Australian University are encouraged to apply. Western Australian students travelling to Europe and taking part in a student exchange are also welcome to apply. The scholarship entitles students to A$2000. There are no restrictions on where or how the money be spent.
The scholarship is named after the late Gerald Frank Brown of Derbyshire, England, who passed away in September 1995. He was an occasional visitor at the WA Government’s European Trade Office in London, and on his passing, just over £98,000 was left to the Western Australian Government. It was decided the money should be used to provide scholarships to assist in fostering educational exchange between Western Australia and the European Union.
The first scholarships were awarded in 1999 and since then 25 have been awarded to inbound students, and two to WA students studying in Europe.
For more information, or if you are interested in applying for the Gerald Frank Brown Scholarship, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
