Dear staff,
We have received some wonderful news today with the Australian Research Council (ARC) announcing that all three of our short-listed applications in the 2023 Centres of Excellence (CoE) scheme have been successful.
This means we will be establishing an ARC CoE in Quantum Biotechnology (led by Professor Warwick Bowen); an ARC CoE for Indigenous Futures (co-led by Professors Brendan Hokowhitu, Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Bronwyn Fredericks, and James Ward); and an ARC CoE for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (led by Professor Xiwang Zhang).
Each of these Centres of Excellence is being established to help find solutions to intractable challenges – and they will each attract multi-million-dollar investments from the ARC, as well as from NGOs, industry, government, and university partners.
The ARC funding for the three Centres totals $105 million, and with today’s announcement UQ becomes the most awarded university since the inception of the CoE scheme. UQ was the only university to have received funding for three Centres in this round, and we are also the only university to have ever been awarded three CoEs in two consecutive rounds.
I’m particularly delighted that we will be hosting the first ever Indigenous-led CoE, and one with a focus on addressing the complex nature of intergenerational inequity among Indigenous Australians.
The awarding of these three ARC CoEs is brilliant news. I’d like to offer my warm congratulations to the successful teams and acknowledge the great work of Jodi Clyde-Smith and her colleagues in the Research Office, as well as the UQ CoE Strategy Panel in supporting their winning bids.
Awards and Accolades
In other breaking news, I’m pleased to share that UQ has been recognised in multiple categories in the Australian Financial Review’s Higher Education Awards, which have been announced today.
UniQuest received the ‘Research Commercialisation Award’ for its role in the commercial transfer of intellectual property developed in EAIT, which is now being used by a company called Pure Battery Technologies to bring greener, cost-effective battery technology to market. Congratulations to the UniQuest team – as well as the three other UQ teams who were finalists in the AFR’s Higher Education Awards.
I was also delighted to hear that Dr Felix Septianto from the UQ Business School has just been named as one of the four recipients, nationally, of the 2022 Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research, presented by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Dr Septianto was awarded for his research into the influence of feelings and emotions on consumer decision-making.
Last week, we also received the wonderful news that UQ alum Josephine Auer had been named as the 2023 Queensland Rhodes Scholar. Ms Auer, who won the University Medal in 2019, is planning to use her Rhodes Scholarship to study a Master of Philosophy (Economics) at Oxford University.
NHMRC grant recipients
Congratulations to Dr Catherine Franklin who was recently awarded a $1.5 million National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant to assess the most effective way of supporting general practice nurses to conduct health assessments for people with intellectual disabilities.
UQ researchers Professor Piers Dawes and Associate Professor Nerina Scarinci have also recently been awarded NHMRC grants (with a combined value of $1.34 million) to conduct research aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of people living with hearing loss.
Acting appointment in EAIT
Following the announcement of Professor Vicki Chen’s appointment as Provost and Senior Vice-President at UTS, I’m pleased to advise that Professor Aleksandar Rakic has been appointed as Acting Executive Dean of EAIT, while we undertake a recruitment process to fill this important leadership role. Aleks is currently Associate Dean (External Engagement) in the Faculty, and also holds a professorial appointment in the School of ITEE.
End-of-year staff events
On a final note, just a reminder that we are currently accepting registrations for a couple of important end-of-year staff events. I will be hosting an All Staff Forum next Tuesday – and the 2022 UQ Thanks You events will be held at Herston on 29 November; St Lucia on 2 December; and Gatton on 6 December. You can register for these events via the links provided.
I hope to see you there!
With best wishes
Debbie
