In the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, Oxford has extensive collaborative scientific ties with major Australian universities. Oxford chemists are collaborating with University of Sydney’s School of Chemistry, particularly in the field of sustainable chemistry and processes (or ‘Green Chemistry’).
Physicists in the Oxford Terahertz Photonics Group, a research group within the sub-department of Condensed Matter Physics, are working with colleagues at the department of Electronic Materials Engineering in the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the Australian National University. There are collaborations in astrophysics through the University’s participation in the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), a joint research centre for broad astrophysics which aims to answer the most fundamental questions about the universe’s inception and its nature.
CAASTRO is led by the University of Sydney, and other participating Australian institutions include the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Swinburne University of Technology. Other global collaborating partners include the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie. Collaboration between Oxford University and researchers from the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility at the University of Western Australia resulted in the discovery of what is thought to be the earliest known life on earth. Using microscopy and microanalysis, the team discovered 3.4 billion year-old fossilised bacteria in rocks from the Pilbara region.