Joining a club when you start uni is something you will never regret. But don't take our word for it. Science Union President April Htun says it’s the perfect opportunity to make new lifelong friends, get involved with making the student experience a positive one and further develop your interpersonal skills and self-growth.
"Being part of a club immerses you in the campus culture of UWA, which is the most vibrant one found at any WA university, and opens your eyes to all the possibilities your time at UWA can offer. To put it simply, student clubs help you get more than just a degree."
So, whatever you're into, let's get to know some of the 150+ clubs at UWA and see where you could be joining next!
UWA Photography Club
President Sam Lloyd
One of the oldest clubs on campus, the UWA Photography Club caters to all photographers, no matter their skill level or equipment. We run several events throughout the year that include interactive and instructive photo walks, social gatherings, exhibitions and workshops.
Our workshops and photowalks consist of location-based experiences (like Gwelup’s secret garden, Fremantle and Kings Park), giving members the opportunity to explore new places and ideas with the assistance of more experienced members to help out or gain ideas.
We also run monthly themed competitions with the chance to win a voucher and showcase members' photography on the Yagan Square digital tower. In addition, we run end of semester exhibitions, just recently collaborating with the newly refurbished Shenton House and having some of our members' photography chosen to be printed large on canvas as artwork for the new space.
We recently started our Work Experience Initiative, connecting members looking for photography work with those in search of photographers for events, functions and projects. Similarly, we collaborated with Guild Volunteering with its Photographers for Good project, connecting members with events that need volunteer photographers and, in return, our members get volunteer hours on their academic transcript.
UWAPC is a friendly and inclusive club. No matter your skill level or experience or camera gear (phones included), we want you to get the most out of our club. To get involved, come see us at O-Day or Club Carnival and sign up there!
UWA Chess Association (UCA)
President Erick Ng
UCA is primarily for UWA students who are interested in chess, but anyone is welcome to join us! By fostering a community of people interested in chess, we aim to provide a space for people of similar interests to come together, get to know each other and improve in their chess ability.
We host many fun events throughout the year where you can learn, get experience and win prizes! We host both online and offline tournaments, workshops, chess mentoring and 'chess and chill'. While our tournaments lean towards the more competitive aspects of the game, our popular 'chess and chill' weekly sessions are more laidback, setting up a friendly atmosphere where anyone is able to come by, socialise and play games with one another.
More recently, we had an advanced workshop hosted by our ex-president Patrick Gong, the current chess state champion of WA. This is the first of our advanced workshop with many more to follow.
It doesn't matter whether you are an avid chess player, wanting to reignite the passion you had for chess when you were a kid or know nothing about the game – UCA is welcoming to all.
Science Union
President April Htun
With a renowned events calendar, Science Union allows students to network with their peers, get a sense of belonging in their degrees, gain study assistance and wellbeing support, establish professional connections and, most importantly, have a great time! The club has four portfolios that focus on different aspects of the student experience.
The Education portfolio prioritises high-quality education. It runs popular study nights to help students prepare for assessments and exams, research skills workshops, school outreach programs and an annual National Science Week Festival.
The External Affairs portfolio focuses on careers, professionalism and networking. It runs panel discussions with experts, science communication and job-ready workshops, career expos and an annual STEM Networking Evening.
The Welfare portfolio runs wholesome events to help students de-stress (DIY tie dye and bath bomb workshops, to name a few), including SafeTalk, an accredited suicide awareness course, Relay for Life, fundraisers, educational workshops, volunteering initiatives and our annual Women in Science Breakfast.
The Social portfolio runs a sundowner each semester to welcome all students back to university, pub crawls, end of semester and exams events, and our biggest and most popular event – the annual ball.
If you want to be involved in a fun, inclusive club that will help you make lots of new friends and memories, give back to the community and make your time at UWA unlike any other, Science Union is waiting for you! Don’t be a stranger – follow our social media to stay in the loop: Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Health Students Society (HSS)
President Phoebe Sun
HSS represents students studying under the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Population Health. We run welfare, networking, academic and social events and initiatives throughout the year. We also relay information, suggestions and feedback to and from relevant parties, and advocate on behalf of our students.
Our two big events in 2020 were our Panel Night and our Cocktail Night. Our Panel Night is a three-part event involving presentations, a panel discussion and then a networking session with health professionals from a range of backgrounds. This year, we had a pharmacist, health economist and a biomedical engineer among others. Our Cocktail Night is a chance for people to relax and get to know other people studying the same degree.
We run lots of other events like the Womens’ Health Brunch, quiz nights, karaoke nights, networking events, student-priced first aid, and collaborations with other clubs and societies. I’d recommend keeping an eye on our Facebook page because our events vary from year to year based on feedback and ideas from the community.
There are literally no downsides to joining and the benefits you get are endless. You get to meet fantastic like-minded people through our events and have the opportunity to network with industry leaders. HSS is such a welcoming, friendly club – you’re bound to make many great memories and many new friendships.
Western Australian Medical Students’ Society (WAMSS)
President Oliver Dearsley
WAMSS is the peak representative body for medical students at UWA, as well as anyone with an interest in studying medicine. Comprising more than 100 members, the society advocates for medical students and runs events from lecture nights and career workshops, to charity fundraisers and social events.
Our social events are some of the biggest and best at UWA and are attended by hundreds of people, including many non-medicine students and non-UWA students. They are a great way to network and unwind from the stresses and business of medical school life.
Our academic events are also extremely popular, such as our mock clinical exams that we run in collaboration with the Medical School to help students get more hands-on experience and practice with exams prior to sitting their real ones. We have great ties with the Medical School and external academics who are always happy to talk at our events or help us with the running of any events.
Perhaps our biggest event for 2020 was our Annual Gala Ball held at Optus Stadium. This was an incredible event with more than 600 people in attendance. It was truly a magical night and the culmination of all our efforts and successes for 2020.
Even if you aren’t a medical student, you can join WAMSS as a member of WAMSS Connect. This gets you access to all our events and a weekly bulletin written by our Undergraduate Communications Officer. Check out our website or visit us at our next event!
UWA Undergraduate Philosophy Society (UPhilSoc)
President Jack Stewart
UPhilSoc endeavours to establish an inclusive community of thinkers in Western Australia. We don’t require our members to study philosophy or have any previous exposure to philosophy prior to joining. Instead, we only hope that people seeking to join have an interest in social issues and the ‘big questions’ on existence.
UPhilSoc ran events almost every week of both semesters, both social and academic. During the first semester of 2020, social events were held online via Zoom. Together we discussed resource allocation, consumer culture and how to distinguish well-founded from ill-conceived conspiracy theories. During the second semester of 2020, we held several in-person events, including a sundowner, a panel discussion with UWA lecturers, an AI discussion, and student lectures.
UPhilSoc was very proud to host the first Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) panel event concerning COVID-19. The prompt for the panel was ‘who should pay for COVID-19?’ where we hosted expert panellists from the three disciplines. This event was a standout for us because, we believe, it was the university’s first PPE event and was organised entirely by students.
To the best of our knowledge, UPhilSoc is the only university philosophy club in Perth and one of few philosophy communities in WA. In 2021, we will continue to promote non-adversarial, robust conversation on bioethics, political theory and aesthetics, to name a few. If you have any further questions, feel free to check out our Facebook page and send us a message!
UWA Psychology Society
President Tahlia Irving
The UWA Psychology Society, AKA PsySoc, exists to create a more wholesome university experience for UWA students, particularly those studying psychology.
We support psychology students with a range of social and educational events to enhance their time spent at uni by making friends and alleviating stress around studying and career pathways.
Our educational events include study sessions, our annual Psychology Fair and information nights for psychology pathways with the Australian Psychological Society.
We also love to host social events such as quiz nights and our annual gala, and we are renowned for our Murder Mystery nights. 2020 might have been a rocky year for social events but we still managed to have a fabulous time at our '80s themed murder mystery cocktail party.
We also had so much fun meeting all the new faces at O-Day and Club Carnival – these are some of the best opportunities for students to meet the PsySoc committee, for us to support you with any university or psychology-specific queries, or just have a friendly chat.
We love to see new faces, make new friends and support you with your studies and potential career in psychology. If you want to get in touch, check out our Facebook or Instagram, or email us at [email protected].
Unigames
President Alistair Langton
Unigames is a club for people to meet up and play traditional games. This ranges anywhere from our vast selection of board games, to card games like Magic: the Gathering and pen-and-paper roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons. We also run occasional war gaming events, with systems like Warhammer 40K, and a small LARP (live action roleplaying) event in the holidays.
If it's a game you don't need a computer to play, you can find someone else in Unigames who likes it. We have a clubroom in Cameron Hall, which is open most days of the week, where our members hang out, play games and take advantage of our large library. We also run campaigns to teach new members how to play games and integrate them into the club culture, setting them up with a group of 3 to 4 other new members to make it easier to make friends.
We typically run a small event every week, alternating between a board game night and taster sessions for different RPG systems. We also have several yearly events that we run, often in conjunction with the other clubs in Cameron Hall. Standouts include our camp, quiz night and vigil events to raise money for charity or invest in the club. Roleplay for Life is our fundraising event for the Cancer Council that we run every year before the Relay at UWA. This year we had two dozen dedicated members show up for nearly 24 hours to play and stream RPGs, raising $2,500.
If you’re interested, come to our clubroom or email us at [email protected]. For info on our events, check out our Discord and Facebook pages.
