Faculty of Sciences

 

The School of Agriculture, Food and Wine represents a world-class concentration of scientific research, education and product conferring capability, with infrastructure and resources distributed across the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide with a number of research partners.

The School is the centrepiece of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest collection of expertise in plant genomics, crop improvement, sustainable agriculture, animal science, dryland farming, horticulture, viticulture, oenology and wine business.

Core research areas within the school are:

• Farming Systems
  
• Food & Nutrition
  
• Plant Breeding & Genetics
  
• Plant Protection
  
• Plant Physiology, Viticulture & Horticulture
  
• Soil Science
  
• Wine Science & Business

The School has well-established links with the cereals, wine, horticulture, livestock and other relevant agricultural and horticultural industries, and with the following co-located industry partners on the Waite campus.

AGRF Australian Genome Research Facility	AGT Australian Grain Technologies
APPF Australian Plant Phenomics Facility	AWRI Australian Wine Research Institute
CSIRO Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization	SARDI South Australian Research and Development Institute
WIC Wine Innovation Cluster	ACPFG Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics
DWLBC Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation

 

 

The School of Chemistry & Physics was formed in 2003 to consolidate the University of Adelaide’s broad-ranging and cutting-edge research in the fundamental disciplines of Chemistry and Physics. It is one of five schools in the Faculty of Sciences.

There are two disciplines, and several Research Centres within the School, all of which are located on the North Terrace Campus. The School has over 250 staff, comprising academic and professional staff, research staff, higher degree students, visitors and titleholders.

Research within the School is at the forefront of developments, generating high-profile media events and capturing international attention in the world's best research journals. The School's research groups receive extensive external funding and enjoy significant collaboration with researchers both nationally and internationally.

To conduct this research, the School has a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment, and IT infrastructure supported by technical and workshop staff. Supercomputing is supported by eResearch South Australia founded by academics within the School.

The School has a diverse program of research. 

Chemistry

• Energy & Environment,
• Functional Materials,
• Medicinal & Biological Chemistry,
• Molecular Photoscience & Ion Chemistry.

Physics

• Atmospheric Physics,
• Atomic & Molecular Physics,
• Geophysics, 
• High Energy Astrophysics,
• Medical Physics,
• Optics & Photonics,
• Theoretical Physics, 
• Particle & Nuclear theory, and
• Physical Archaeometry.  

Research Centres

The School accommodates

• the Centre of Expertise in Photonics (CoEP)
  lead by Professor Tanya Monro (Federation Fellow)
• the ARC Special Research Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter (CSSM)
  with Director, Professor Anthony Williams and
• the ARC Centre of Excellence for Antimatter-Matter Studies
  lead by Professor Birgit Lohmann.

The School has developed strong links with a variety of partner organisations including

• The South Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (SAPAC)
• DSTO
• CSIRO
• RAH

 

 

From the most specific and intimate aspects of rock, mineral, plant, marine and animal subjects to projects with a wider landscape, continent or species focus and environmental factors and patterns affecting the entire planet, the world-class research and teaching conducted in the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences (EES) covers a range of subject matter notable in its breadth and scale.

Established in 2002, EES brings together three main academic groups – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Geology & Geophysics and Landscape Science.

EES is one of five Schools in the Faculty of Sciences and consists of more than 500 people, including academic, research and professional staff, a large cohort of higher degree research students, and numerous titleholders and visitors.

The School has a world class concentration of scientific expertise and facilities and offers high quality research training at Honours, Masters and Doctorate levels. We host a large, vibrant group of graduate students and aim to prepare graduates for an exciting and diverse range of careers.

The School is a participant in two Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) – the recently formed Deep Exploration Technologies CRC and the South Australian Centre for Geothermal Energy Research, and is a key partner in the Arid Recovery ecosystem rehabilitation initiative and Marine Innovations SA (MISA).

The overarching aim of both teaching and research in the School is to better understand, manage and conserve our natural systems and resources - marine, freshwater, terrestrial, mineral – often with a multi-disciplinary approach that will assist in informing policy and decision making into the future. With biodiversity under pressure from excessive resource use, population growth, pollution and climate change, research in this area is more important than it has ever been.

A suite of strategically placed field stations on islands, on coasts and inland arid zones promote field research from early on in undergraduate teaching, and are regularly used by our postgraduates and research staff.

Core research areas within the school are:

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

• Marine biology, terrestrial and freshwater ecology and study of taxonomy and systematics of organisms and their evolution.

Geology & Geophysics

• Continental evolution, near surface geophysics, regolith geoscience and mineral exploration.

Landscape Science

• Spatial technology and natural resource systems. 

EES has a diverse program of research, which involves major collaborations with researchers nationally and internationally, and extensive external funding. The research interests in the discipline of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology are focussed on marine biology, terrestrial and freshwater ecology and study of taxonomy and systematics of organisms and their evolution. Landscape Science research has a focus on spatial technology and natural resource systems. The focus of research in Geology & Geophysics is in continental evolution, near surface geophysics, regolith geoscience and mineral exploration. The School has a wide range of equipment and facilities, including field stations, some of which are shared with partner organisations:

• South Australian Museum
• Royal Zoological Society of South Australia
• State Herbarium of South Australia
• CSIRO Land and Water
• SA Water

and South Australian Government Departments such as:

• Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA)
• Department for Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
• Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (SA DWLBC)
• South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Field Stations

The School of Earth & Environmental Sciences has interests in a range of properties and stations around the state of South Australia for use as research field bases. Many of the School’s academic and research staff are regular visitors to these sites, which are located in a variety of landscapes and offer camping and cooking facilities for staff and students on field trips undertaking teaching and research activities.

Maintaining and supplying these stations comes at a cost, and volunteers are an important part of the School’s field activities in remote locations. The field trips the School runs to these locations are often cited by undergraduate students as a highlight of their programs/time at University, and often pave the way for a higher degree and eventually a career in research.

The Field Stations owned/operated by the School are:

• Koonamore Vegetation Reserve
• Middleback Station
• Coobowie Marine Station
• Flinders-Baudin Centre, Kangaroo Island

Other locations (not owned/run by EES) used for field trips include Rennick and Fowlers Gap.

 

 

The School of Molecular and Biomedical Science was formed in June 2002 to coordinate and consolidate the University’s cutting edge and world-class research and teaching in Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology & Immunology. Approximately 400 people comprise the research, teaching and support staff, postgraduates and honours students of the School.

The School of Molecular and Biomedical Science is addressing a major paradigm shift to a functional systems biology by promoting an integrated research and teaching concept which focuses on how biological information is processed in the development of organisms from simple cells to complex, thinking individuals.

This is made possible by the combined energies and synergies between three disciplines:

Biochemistry is looking at how molecules store and process information in their structures, and how these in turn regulate pathways and metabolism in living cells.

Genetics studies how genomes and genes store, evolve and express their encoded information to generate complex organisms.

Microbiology & Immunology addresses the balance between health and disease by investigating the body’s natural defence systems and how pathogenic organisms have evolved strategies to evade these.

The Disciplines of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology & Immunology are housed in a purpose-built facility - the Molecular Life Sciences Building. The building's modern design incorporates two sizeable teaching laboratories and 39 research laboratories, with convenient shared instrument and central support areas, meeting rooms and seminar rooms. The laboratories house 'state-of-the-art' research equipment and a modern IT environment.

Industry Links

The School has a long and proud history of innovation in the Australian Biotechnology Industry.

The role of the School in fostering the Australian Biotechnology Industry through forming companies and strategic collaborations has been recognised by the presentation of a major award from the Business/Higher Education Round Table at its inaugural awards night in Melbourne. The links, which this school has forged with the Biotech companies and Venture Capitalists, provide important avenues for commercialisation of ongoing research as well as career opportunities for our graduates.

The successful biotechnology companies Bresagen, GeneWorks and Novozymes GroPep were established by members of the former Department of Biochemistry to commercialise their research in collaboration with other organisations such as the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, CSIRO and the Child Health Research Institute.

In recent years, the School has filed several international patents and actively encourages its research staff to consider the commercial implications of its fundamental research programs.

The School was/is a participant in Cooperative Research Centres; former CRC for Tissue Growth and Repair and the CRC for Biological Control of Pest Animals.

A wide range facilities are available to support research in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, including:

Microscope Users Group aims to bring together researchers within the School who share a common interest in microscopy, and to promote understanding of microscope equipment available in the School, including hardware capabilities, associated acquisition software and analysis software. The Users Group streamlines and facilitates proper microscope training and maintenance to identify microscope problems and provide solutions, and to share experimental expertise and techniques relevant to all aspects of microscopy.

The Technical Services Unit is located at the western end of the 4th floor of the Molecular Life Sciences building, and a related unit is located on the 5th floor of Medical School South. The following services are provided:

• cleaning and sterilisation of glassware and plastic ware
  
• autoclave sterilisation of solutions, media and equipment
  
• practical class cleanup assistance
  
• tissue culture, proteomics and microscopy support
  
• culture media and solutions supporting undergraduate teaching and common research

The purpose of this team is to:

• improve and sutain the quality of undergraduate students' practical class experience
  
• foster the skills of research students working throughout the labs
  
• assist in the correct use of balances and pH meters, centrifuges, microscopes, scanning and imaging equipment, etc
  
• assist with centrifugation techniques, antibody isolation, etc
  
• assist with cell line archival in Liquid Nitrogen, freezer maintenance and emergency freezer protocol, etc.

Monoclonal Antibodies SA (MAbSA) is a state-of-the-art facility for the development of hybridoma cell lines and the purification of monoclonal antibodies. MAbSA is the only facility of its kind in South Australia. Known for its cost-effective and high quality service, MAbSA has clients throughout Australia and overseas. MAbSA offers a wide variety of tissue culture services that are designed to produce an antibody product that is the perfect reagent for your applications. This includes antigenic peptide design, hybridoma production, antibody harvesting, affinity purification, conjugation, fragmentation and immunoassay development. We have made antibodies to large and small peptides, proteins, organic molecules, and bacterial as well as viral antigens.

Tissue Culture. Modern tissue/cell culture facilities are provided from a central support area on the 3rd floor of the Molecular Life Science building. Dedicated staff maintain the equipment and laboratory facilities. A localised store supplies tissue culture plastic ware. All liquid culture media, Foetal Calf Serum (FCS) stocks and other solutions are prepared under quality controlled conditions. The unit maintains Departmental cell culture stocks. Mycoplasma testing facilities are also available.

Biacore The School's Research Support team provides real-time biomolecular interaction analysis (BIA) using the Biacore 2000. BIA can be used to study the interactions of proteins, protein conjugates, nucleic acids, lipid micelles as well as larger particles such as viruses and whole cells.

Confocal Microscopy This facility has a confocal microscope which uses a krypton/argon laser and COMOS software. It is suitable for both single and double labelled fluorescent samples. The Olympus microscope is of the inverted type, and is equipped with phase contrast condensor, transmission detector, and a variety of apochromatic and achromatic objectives. Confocal Assistant software is available for handling of image files.

FACS Analysis The School has fluorescence-activated cell scanning capabilities. It is planning to upgrade our capacity in this area to include high-speed sorting and high throughput analysis. Expert assistance will be available and a small charge will be applied to cover costs and maintenance.

Mass Spectrometer Mass Spectrum Analysis of purified proteins and peptides is available with the Micromass Q-TOF hybrid quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer. Extremely accurate determinations of molecular mass can be made with this instrument. It is also capable of assisting with structural investigations, using the hexapole collision cell, between the two mass analysers.

Molecular Imager This facility is based on a BioRad FX Imager. This versatile instrument uses laser based technology and Quantity One software to scan, capture and quantify both radio-isotope and fluorophor labelled molecules. Imaging plates, gels, trays and plates, in a variety of formats, can be scanned. A variety of wavelengths are available to detect commonly used fluorescent molecules.

DNA Sequencing The School has a sizeable investment in DNA sequencing equipment housed in the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science buildings on Frome Road. Staff of this facility provide the necessary expertise for customers.

Adelaide Microarray Centre The Adelaide Microarray Centre is a core facility for microarray services located within the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science. The centre was jointly established by the University of Adelaide and the Hanson Institute in 2001 and has the instrumentation for performing Affymetrix, Agilent and spotted microarray experiments.

Protein Sequencing The School's Research Support team provides competitively priced N-terminal sequence analysis of purified proteins and peptides using the Applied Biosystems Procise Sequencer.

The Adelaide Proteomics Centre is a joint venture of the University of Adelaide and Hanson Institute, established with support from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation. It offers researchers on campus and elsewhere in Adelaide, a state-of-the-art Proteomics facility. The Proteomics centre has the latest mass spectrometry technology to identify proteins and characterize their post-translational modifications. The centre is equipped to quantify changes in protein expression levels using techniques such as 2-D Fluorescence Difference Gel Electrophoresis and isotopic labelling of complex protein mixtures.

The Adelaide Microarray Centre is a core facility for microarray services located within the IMVS Building on Frome Road. The centre was jointly established by University of Adelaide and the Hanson Institute in 2001 and has the instrumentation for performing Affymetrix, Agilent and spotted microarray experiments. The centre was the first in Australia to offer a service for microRNA profiling using microarrays and has a strong reputation for reliability, high quality, cost-effectiveness and customer loyalty.

The Adelaide Zebrafish Facility (AZF) is an advanced high capacity aquarium system developed for the maintenance of mutant and transgenic lines of Zebrafish (Danio rerio). The Facility is based within the University of Adelaide's Molecular Life Sciences Building on North Terrace Campus, with plans underway to develop a live stock storage Facility at the Waite Campus in the near future. Our aim is to provide a cost effective, high quality alternative model organism which will meet the needs of researchers throughout the Adelaide regional area. This includes the major research institutions that we are already working with such as the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, and the Institute for Medical and Veterinary Science.

 

The School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences is located on the historic Roseworthy Campus, 53 km north of Adelaide.

We continue to assemble a team of world-class animal and veterinary sciences academics and clinicians. The construction of leading-edge teaching facilities and veterinary hospital continue to invigorate the campus. Ultimately, the facilities will include Centres for Companion Animal Health, Production Animal Health, Equine Health and Rehabilitation of Companion Animals. The first two of these will open late in 2010 along with the Ambulatory services.

The School is developing partnerships with veterinary practices and State Government agencies to allow co-localisation of facilities to enhance the exposure of students to a wide range of veterinary skills and professional practice types.

Collocation partners on the Roseworthy campus include the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA), the Pig & Poultry Production Institute and TAFE SA. Research collaborations are already strong between these groups and the Roseworthy campus is the Animal and Veterinary Sciences hub for South Australian animal-focussed research.

The School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences hosts a range of vibrant research activities on the Roseworthy Campus of the University of Adelaide. The School provides an outstanding environment for research with high quality infrastructure and access to a variety of industry and research facilities. In addition, staff members are internationally recognised for their contributions to scientific and veterinary research.

The School is involved in various Cooperative Research Centres. The School also has well-established links with many partner organisations that add considerably to the research opportunities available. These include the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA), the Pig & Poultry Production Institute and Martindale Holdings (the Roseworthy farm management). In addition, the School is building partnerships with
ZoosSA, Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, Equine at Morphetville, TAFE SA and the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science.

The research interests of the School include areas of animal production and genetics, nutrition, wildlife ecology, laboratory animal science, animal welfare, musculoskeletal biology, epidemiology, physiology and anatomy. In addition, the research profile will expand over the next 24 months with appointments in the following areas: veterinary microbiology, virology, parasitology, toxicology, immunology and pharmacology as well as the clinical disciplines.

Research Groups

• Anatomy and Physiology Team
• Pathobiology Team
• Production Animal Health Team
• Reproduction and Genetics Team
• Companion Animal Health Team
• Public and Population Health Team
• Equine Health Team

Veterinary Health Centres (VHC)

The 5,500 metre square new building at the Roseworthy campus houses teaching and clinical areas including the Companion Animal Health Centre, a veterinary clinic and hospital, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL), housing diagnostic pathology, and the Production Animal Health Centre.

The west end of the building focuses on the learning needs of the students and the east end forms the Companion Animal Health Centre that is open to the public as a regular veterinary practice. The VDL makes up the northerly aspect of the building.

Also proposed is the Equine Health Centre. This will provide world class diagnostic, health and rehabilitation facilities for horses in South Australia. It will be open to both veterinary health professionals and private horse owners and will offer a broad range of services, many of them for the first time in South Australia. It will also serve as a teaching facility for the University's veterinary students.

The VHC building forms part of the new School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Roseworthy and will also serve as a continuing education venue for the veterinary profession and animal owners as well as continuing agricultural or animal science education.