Binance funds blockchain course, master’s and metaverse lab at UWA

Digital currency exchange Binance Australia has donated US$300,000 worth of cryptocurrency via Binance Charity to the University of Western Australia (UWA).

Prof. Dirk Baur, UWA Professor of Finance and Accounting; Assc. Prof. Doina Olaru, Head of the Department of Management and Organisations at the UWA Business School; Dr. Andrzej Gwizdalski, UWA Business School Lecturer; Charis Campbell, Corporate Pro

The donation is directed to fund the growth of a blockchain course, to build a master’s program and to develop a metaverse lab.

According to Dr Andrzej Gwizdalski, an educator from UWA’s Business School Blockchain Program, “We are seeing an increasing demand for a workforce with knowledge in blockchain and crypto, and there is no university better-positioned than UWA to educate them. Students completing the course will learn about the key disruptive technologies powering Web3, how to apply the innovation in business and what implication the technologies will have on work, economy and society.

“UWA has the world’s leading scholars and resources at the helm of this Australian-first offering as we enter the metaverse to provide the next evolution of immersive education,”

The metaverse labs, of which a third of the donation will be leveraged to build, will be researched and designed by UWA students according to Binance Australia’s CEO Leigh Travers.

“The Binance Australia team are incredibly excited to help accelerate the blockchain and crypto literacy of UWA students. With Web3 adoption within organisations at incredible levels, we’re encouraging university students to broaden their horizons and seek careers in emerging tech,” said Travers.

The initiative is designed to offer practical engagements with blockchain, delivering equal access opportunities. Participants will learn to develop and enhance the Web3 skills that are growing in demand by both emerging and established industries, according to the company.

According to a 2021 Master of Web3 Innovation in Theory and Practice student review of the unit Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in business, “Before enrolling in this unit, I only had heard about Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency. These 12 weeks have been an eye-opener. I am really glad that I took this unit and learnt about such an important, upcoming technology. I now feel confident about talking on the topic with my peers.”

UWA’s blockchain courses will commence in Semester two this year.