Dear staff,
With UQ’s 2023 Research and Innovation Week currently underway, I hope you’ve had a chance to participate in some of the forums, seminars, and events that the University has been hosting throughout this week.
In the lead up to R&I Week, last Thursday, I attended the 2023 Research Partnerships and Translation Awards – and then on Tuesday night I had the privilege of attending the 2023 Research and Innovation Awards for Excellence. On top of those two events, we staged the inaugural UQ Research Culture Awards on Wednesday.
My sincere congratulations to everyone who was recognised with awards at those three events – and thank you for your considerable contributions to UQ’s thriving research and innovation culture.
2024 DECRA grants announced
I am delighted to report that UQ topped the nation for both the number of research projects and total grant funding awarded in the ARC’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme for 2024.
In total, 24 emerging UQ researchers were awarded DECRA grants, and they collectively secured more than $10 million of funding from the ARC. Congratulations to all of our researchers who received these grants and I wish them all the best as they further their research across a range of really important areas, ranging from health and energy to environmental management.
Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing launch
On Wednesday night, we officially launched the Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing, a joint initiative of UQ and the Springfield City Group. The project led by Chair of Community Health and Wellbeing, Professor Lauren Ball, will assess the effectiveness of community-level preventative health and wellbeing initiatives over time in Australia’s largest master-planned community.
Recent award winners
We also received the wonderful news on Wednesday that UQ alum Sarah Holland-Batt received the top award at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards for her poetry anthology, The Jaguar. Published by UQ Press, The Jaguar was awarded the Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance, as well as $25,000 prize money.
Three individuals from UQ and two UQ teams were recently named as finalists in the 2023 Queensland Women in Technology Awards. Congratulations to Susan Beetson, Salomé Bowman and Dr Jessica Korte, as well as the ‘Wonder of Science’ team (Dr Kaylene Cooper, Alexandra McKelvey and Lenore Irvine), and the ‘Let’s Yarn About Sleep’ team (Associate Professor Yaqoot Fatima, Roslyn Von Senden and Karen Chong) – and best of luck at the Awards Dinner later this month.
My congratulations also to Dr Maggy Lord from UQ’s Faculty of Science, who was recently recognised as a Diversity and Inclusion Champion in the 2023 Multicultural Queensland Awards. Maggy was recognised for her work as the co-founder of the Mshauri STEM Mentorship program, which provides support to students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Further to the news I shared in late July that Professor Brian Lovell was part of a team that won an award at the Queensland iAwards, I’m delighted to say that the same team has now taken out a national iAward. The awards are presented by the Australian Information Industry Association. Congratulations to Brian and our partners at Sullivan Nicolaides on this important recognition for the development and implementation of an innovative new diagnostic system.
Brisbane Festival
The Brisbane Festival kicked-off last weekend with a spectacular pyrotechnic display for Riverfire.
UQ and the IMB are sponsoring the Festival once again this year – and we look forward to welcoming the community to our St Lucia campus this Saturday 9 September as part of the vibrant Brisbane Serenades program. Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy free performances by UQ’s School of Music, followed by Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.
The IMB is also partnering with internationally renowned artist Hiromi Tango to present YU KA (Dream Flower), a work of rainbow-coloured giant peony flowers, and the IMB-inspired work Nature Étude. You can visit these installations for free at South Bank until 23 September.
And lastly, just a reminder that today we will host the final staff information session on the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. There’s still time to register for this event and you have the option of attending in person, at St Lucia, or watching via the livestream.
I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.
With best wishes
Debbie
