Research Rumble

Research Rumble is a year-long program of events inviting you to discover how Curtin researchers are helping to solve the world’s next big challenges.

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Research Rumble connects Curtin researchers with industry and the wider public to ensure our research is relevant and addresses the important challenges in industry and community to drive impact for future generations.

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Future Science Talks - Perth Comedy Festival

2-3 May 2026

Future Science Talks – Perth Comedy Festival

The Rechabite

Perth Comedy Festival have teamed up with brilliant scientists from Curtin University to deliver hilarious, high-energy science talks like you’ve never seen before. Yes, these are real scientists doing stand-up comedy.

Early intervention, lifelong impact: Rethinking youth mental health

Wednesday 6 May 2026

Early intervention, lifelong impact: Rethinking youth mental health

The Lantern, TL Robertson Library

Join John Curtin Distinguished Professor Penelope Hasking from the Curtin enAble Institute for a conversation on new approaches to youth mental health. Learn about Checking on Mental Health Providing Alternatives to Suicide (COMPAS), a program that’s transforming how universities are better supporting students.

Past events

Explore a range of thought-provoking presentations from our previous Research Rumble events.

2025 Research Rumble

It’s time to prioritise musculoskeletal health in WA

It’s time to prioritise musculoskeletal health in WA

Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre – The Middle Years

Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre - The Middle Years

Cracking the code: How genetics transforms stuttering

Cracking the code: How genetics transforms stuttering

Can ChatGPT be trusted with our kids?

Can ChatGPT be trusted with our kids?

Beyond the breakthroughs: From discovery to impact

Beyond the breakthroughs: From discovery to impact

Cosmos on Campus

Cosmos on Campus

PhDs for the Planet: Meet the future leaders in sustainability research

PhDs for the Planet: Meet the future leaders in sustainability research

Next up in gender research…

Next up in gender research…

2024 Research Rumble

Curtin EMCR Research Symposium

Curtin EMCR Research Symposium

2024 Audio Description Symposium

2024 Audio Description Symposium

Old bones and spider webs: A peer through the past with Professor Morten Allentoft

Old bones and spider webs: A peer through the past with Professor Morten Allentoft

Beyond the buzz: What can we really expect from a future with AI?

Beyond the buzz: What can we really expect from a future with AI?

Helping autistic students thrive at school

Helping autistic students thrive at school

FBL Research – How does AI affect the future of education and work?

FBL Research – How does AI affect the future of education and work?

Why don’t people volunteer: Strengthening Australia’s volunteer ecosystem

Why don’t people volunteer: Strengthening Australia’s volunteer ecosystem

Guiding Voices: Co-designing pathways to success in Indigenous health research

Guiding Voices: Co-designing pathways to success in Indigenous health research

‘Walk Together’ – Humanities Professoriate Lecture

‘Walk Together’ – Humanities Professoriate Lecture

2023 Research Rumble

Positive Pathways for Indigenous At-Risk Youth

Positive Pathways for Indigenous At-Risk Youth

Powering the Future: Advancing the Energy Transition with Critical Minerals

Powering the Future: Advancing the Energy Transition with Critical Minerals

Housing Research for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Housing Research for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Delving into AI for Better Health

Delving into AI for Better Health

2021 Research Rumble

Can democracy and good government thrive in a digital media age?

Hands in the air holding mobile phones with red background

Impact beyond the night sky: a VR experience

On location at venue to explore night sky

The Future of VR series – VR in Education

The Future of VR series - VR in Education

Promises and pitfalls of the influencer industry

Malen and female students filming outside using a cell phone

Research in the Curtin Medical School

Research in the Curtin Medical School

Changing the age conversation: it’s time to rethink getting old

Changing the age conversation: it’s time to rethink getting old

The botanist history forgot

The botanist history forgot

The Future of VR series – VR in Maritime Archaeology

The Future of VR series - VR in Maritime Archaeology

The Future of VR series – VR in Health Sciences

The Future of VR series - VR in Health Sciences

Re-presenting Aboriginal Country: issues of ownership, trespassing and authenticity

Re-presenting Aboriginal Country: issues of ownership, trespassing and authenticity

How is big data changing the game in healthcare?

How is big data changing the game in healthcare?

The Future of VR series – VR in Economics

The Future of VR series - VR in Economics

The Future of VR series – VR in Planetary Exploration

The Future of VR series - VR in Planetary Exploration

Using the internet to deliver world-wide mental health programs

Using the internet to deliver world-wide mental health programs

Restoration Economy: Looking at restoration through an Indigenous lens

Restoration Economy: Looking at restoration through an Indigenous lens

Pitch Perfect: Curtin Innovation Start-ups

Pitch Perfect: Curtin Innovation Start-ups

Molecules to save endangered species

Molecules to save endangered species

Will robots steal my job?

Will robots steal my job?

RACE for 2030: How Australia can transition to clean energy

RACE for 2030: How Australia can transition to clean energy

The Legacy Living Lab: the future of sustainable neighbourhoods

The Legacy Living Lab: the future of sustainable neighbourhoods

Contact us

To find out more about Research Rumble, contact the Research Engagement and Impact (EI) team.

Get in touch

Recent US election have demonstrated how politics and the media have become rife with disinformation and alternative facts. This event discussed what role digital journalism and social media play in today’s political sphere, both at home and abroad can journalism play a role in keeping politicians accountable.

Speakers: Hon. Colin Barnett, Professor John Phillimore, Dr Kathryn Shine and Glynn Greensmith

View presentation recording

This VR immersive movie explores impacts and collisions between bodies in the solar system, shedding light on the origins of our cosmic backyard. The video is inspired by the work of Dr Katarina Miljkovic, a planetary scientist who specialises in planetary geoscience and space exploration at the Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre.

Speakers: Dr Kath Dooley and Dr Katarina Miljkovic

Imagine yourself being immersed in a molecular world, dragging and rotating a chemical in an enzyme to achieve a desired reaction? Virtual reality is not just visual illusions, it offers a unique, exciting and interactive learning opportunity for participants.

Associate Professor Mihye Won discussed the application of immersive VR to improve students’ learning outcomes, increase their motivations to learn, and create constructive learning outcomes.

Speaker: Associate Professor Mihye Won

Many young people are now vocationally pursuing celebrity on the internet as commercial, cross-platform, and highly relatable Influencers. Influencers today draw in millions of dollars, work with reputable companies, establish their own brands, and influence the development of opinions and decision-making in society. But alongside these promises and potentials are also some pitfalls of the Influencer industry.

Our researchers discussed the socio-cultural, marketing, and legal aspects of the Influencer industry in the Asia Pacific region, in a lunch time moderated dialogue.

Speakers: Associate Professor Crystal Abidin, Dr Mingming Cheng and Dr Cheryl Foong

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This event explored the established and emerging research at the Curtin Medical School.

Speakers: Professor Sandra Eades, Professor Shirley Jansen, Professor Krish Ragunath and Professor Fraser Brims

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Globally, the population aged 65 and over is growing faster than any other age group. As a society, we need to shift from our traditional approaches and attitudes towards ‘ageing’ and pivot towards a focus on ‘longevity’.

Curtin researchers from the areas of health, economics, marketing and culture discussed issues surrounding ageism, the shifting attitudes towards ageing and the need for a new, inclusive aged care model that enables our populations to live better for longer.

Speakers: Professor Katie Ellis, Dr Graham Ferguson, Professor Anne-Marie Hill and Dr Amity James

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It is not widely appreciated that many colonial natural history collections are held in European museums and herbaria.

German botanist Dr Johann August Ludwig Preiss, who roamed Australia’s South West from 1838–1842, is not well-known today, but his collections of local flora and fauna were pivotal in introducing this globally significant biodiverse region to Europe in the 19th century.

In this presentation, Professor Anna Haebich shared her journey of research, here and in Germany, into the evolving story of Dr Preiss’s life and his collections.

Speaker: Professor Anna Haebich

Shipwrecks provide a fascinating insight into the past. New VR and 3D image processing technologies are offering innovative ways of interpreting, communicating and visualising the stories of these rich historical sites.

This presentation provided an insight into the technologies and techniques used in these projects and provided attendees with a big-screen VR experience on the Curtin HIVE’s Cylinder display.

Speakers: Mr Jeremy Green and Dr Andrew Woods

Virtual reality is emerging as a viable rehabilitation tool for people with incomplete spinal cord injury. Interactive virtual activities and games provide a safe environment for daily practice of desired movements. Gamification and setting a ‘just right’ challenge create motivation in this adjunct to traditional rehabilitation therapies. Associate Professor Marina Ciccarelli and Dr Susan Morris discussed the impact of virtual reality on rehabilitation.

Speakers: Associate Professor Marina Ciccarelli and Dr Susan Morris

Professor Reena Tiwari raised questions of ownership, trespassing and authenticity in the virtual re-presentation of land that belongs to the First Nations People.

A partnership project between Curtin University and Bringing Them Home WA, this presentation was directed by the views of Stolen Generations survivors and their families.

Speaker: Professor Reena Tiwari

Big data is enabling us to tackle a range of health challenges, including assisting countries to manage and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Epidemiology and disease modelling experts from Curtin and the Telethon Kids Institute, in a panel led by Professor Peter Gething, explored how the big data and public health sectors can work together to address both long-standing diseases like malaria, and novel infections like COVID-19.

Speakers: Professor Peter Gething, Dr Liz Dallimore, Dr Daniel Weiss, Professor Archie Clements and Associate Professor Ewan Cameron

Virtual reality offers us a way to provide an immersive experience to users, one that can be modified in very specific ways. In this session Dr Thomas discussed the use of virtual reality as an environment for conducting studies of economic decision making, as well as outlining the use of experimental methodologies for behavioural research more generally.

Speaker: Dr Stephanie Thomas

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Professor Gretchen Benedix discussed how Machine Learning and Virtual Reality can explore the surface of Mars. Attendees flew through a crater on Mars that no lander has visited and took a look at the surface of Mars in a whole new way – visualising millions of impact craters.

Speakers: Professor Gretchen Benedix and Mr Wesley Lamont

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Mass open online courses (MOOCS) are an innovative, accessible and novel approach to delivering mental health knowledge and skill building to young adults.

Curtin researchers discussed how Curtin’s online edX course, “‘Talk to Me”’ is improving mental health in young adults.

“Talk to me” was developed in collaboration with mental health practitioners from the German National Suicide Prevention Program, university students, and people with lived experience of mental illness. The course and has reached over 40,000 registrants to-date.

Speakers: Dr Ben Milbourn, Professor Sonya Girdler, Mr Ben Horgan, Dr Viktor Kacic, Mrs Trish Tran, Mr Michael Joboy and Mr Timothy Wei Yang Teong

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The Restoration Economy provides a unique opportunity to improve the way we approach ecological restoration in regional and remote Australia.

This event explored how this innovative approach to restoring land can sustainably reconnect natural, and socioeconomic environments, to support the customary activities, traditional practices and commercial enterprise aspirations of Indigenous Australians.

Speakers: Professor Stephen van Leeuwen, Ms Vivienne Hansen, Mr Oral McGuire, Ms Heidi Mippy, Professor Kingsley Dixon, Dr. Renee Young, Dr Simone Pedrini and Dr. Adam Cross

This presentation was recorded as part of our The Future Of podcast series.

Listen to episode

At this event, some of Curtin’s most promising entrepreneurs pitched their start-up ideas to Perth’s business community.

Working in teams, the entrepreneurs have been developing their business plans as part of Curtin’s 10-week intensive Accelerate program, which is designed to help kick-start and commercialise clever business ideas.

Each team showcased their work to gain important feedback before they graduate from the program and move on to the next stage of their entrepreneurial journey.

View presentation recording

This 3D immersive presentation showed how cutting-edge molecular simulation methods are being used to advance cryogenic freezing for the conservation of endangered species.

Speaker: Professor Ricardo Mancera

What will your job look like 10 years from now?

Our expert panel discussed the capabilities and potential of robots at work, imagine a future where robots and humans work together and debunk some common myths about robots.

Speakers: Dr Giverny De Boeck, Associate Professor Jonathan Paxman and Dr Eleanor Sandry

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RACE (Reliable, Affordable, Clean Energy) for 2030 is a national, industry-led collaborative research centre that is driving innovation for a clean energy future. This event gave first-hand insight into how the centre’s programs will reduce the state’s energy costs, cut carbon emissions and enable a customer-centric approach.

Speakers: Tracy Deveugle-Frink, David Edwards, Brian Innes, Rod Hayes and Professor Greg Morrison

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The future of construction is here, and it’s local! The Legacy Living Lab (L3), located in the East Village at Knutsford in Fremantle, is an exemplar of modular housing and the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ principles of the circular economy.

Curtin researchers who designed and managed its build hosted a tour of L3.

Speakers: Professor Greg Morrison, Dr Roberto Minunno and Mr Timothy O’Grady

Positive Pathways for Indigenous At-Risk Youth

Youth justice is a complex area and continues to be a controversial topic in Western Australia. Watch Curtin researchers from the areas of law, education, health and human rights in a discussion of issues across Aboriginal youth justice, health-service needs in the prison system, and the crucial need for strengthening cultural identity, wellbeing, and resilience for at-risk youth.

Speakers: Dr Jocelyn Jones, Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker AM, Professor Stuart Kinner, Associate Professor Hannah McGlade, Dr Stephen Monterosso, Dr Raewyn Mutch and Dr Robyn Williams

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Powering the Future: Advancing the Energy Transition with Critical Minerals

The world desperately needs efficient supply of critical minerals to deliver new technologies for energy transition. Watch researchers from Australia’s leading School of Mines and the Curtin Institute for Energy Transition as they explore the way forward for sustainable practices in critical minerals exploration, extraction, processing and supply, and what the concept of a ‘social licence to operate’ means for mining companies and regional communities.

Speakers: Professor Jacques Eksteen, Professor Katy Evans, Dr Richard Alorro, Associate Professor Elsayed Oraby, Dr Lina Hockaday, Associate Professor Eric Lilford, Professor Peta Ashworth OAM and Andrew Bell

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Delving into AI for Better Health

Watch our researchers explore the potential for artificial intelligence to transform healthcare. Discover how AI and telehealth are reshaping patient engagement, monitoring, support and healthcare outcomes. Learn about the challenges of using AI in healthcare, from decision-making to data security and patient privacy.

Speakers: Professor Tom Gedeon, Dr Mahbuba Afrin, Ms Kaylie Toll, Mr Alex Jenkins, Professor Blossom Stephan, Associate Professor Vidy Potdar, Dr Ashu Gupta

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Housing Research for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Curtin researchers shared their latest housing research and explored the challenges of delivering safe, healthy, affordable and sustainable homes for Western Australians. This dynamic session included presentations on research spanning many housing-related issues such as sustainability, housing supply, affordable housing.

Speakers: Associate Professor Amity James, Professor Josh Byrne, Ms Emma Colombera, Dr Gemma Crawford, Professor Steven Rowley and Mr Ammar Shemery

‘Walk Together’ – Humanities Professoriate Lecture featuring Professor Reena Tiwari

John Curtin Distinguished Professor Reena Tiwari and Marribank Stolen Generations Survivors, Tony Hanson and Tim Flowers provide a nuanced perspective on the complexities of merging research and practice, especially when addressing sensitive cultural issues and incorporating innovative technologies, such as the Missions Connect project.

Research Rumble EOI