The University of Queensland has shined a spotlight on its outstanding researchers at the 2019 Research Week Awards.

A gala event at Customs House last night celebrated a record number of UQ researchers and research supervisors for their exceptional work in a range of fields including volcanic activity forecasting, solar energy harvesting and crop gene editing.      

UQ Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Aidan Byrne presented the awards including the long-running UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards (UQFREA), Partners in Research Excellence Awards (PIREA) and Awards for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Supervision Awards.

UQ’s Deputy-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Bronwyn Harch said the awards recognised the passion and commitment of the University’s researchers and research supervisors.

“During Research Week we have the wonderful opportunity to celebrate their work and showcase the depth and breadth of research going on each and every day at UQ,” Professor Harch said. 

“People from all walks of life and from all around the world have, and will in the future, benefit from UQ innovation.

“I’m also excited that we can also recognise and highlight our research with industry collaborators.”

This year two new awards – the UniQuest Commercialisation Deal of the Year and the Indigenous Partnerships and Engagement in Research Award – were introduced.

“I’m thrilled that we have expanded the awards and are encouraging and supporting Indigenous engagement and partnerships.

“We also want to acknowledge UniQuest’s vital role in identifying and partnering UQ technologies with industry partners to help realise significant commercial potential and demonstrate UQ’s impact across economic, social, environmental and cultural benefits.”

A full list of 2019 UQ Research Week activities including the Research Capabilities Showcase, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Forum, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final and library events can be found here. Videos featuring the following awardees can be found here.

 

The UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards recognise excellence and the promise of future success for UQ’s early to mid-career researchers.

The 2019 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards winners are:

• Dr Hongzhi Yin – Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
• Dr Tom Rufford – Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, School of Chemical Engineering
• Dr Yang Bai – Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
• Dr Sarah Bennett – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Dr Lee Hickey – UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
• Dr Leanne Sakzewski – Faculty of Medicine
• Dr Teresa Ubide – Faculty of Science
   

The Partners in Research Excellence Awards recognise outstanding industry-UQ collaborations that have benefitted industry and the community.

The 2019 Partners in Research Excellence Awards winners are:

• Leading Healthy Lives – Professor Barbara Masser and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.
• Growing the bio-economy – Professor Neena Mitter, Dr Alice Hayward, Dr Jayeni Hiti Bandaralage, Mr Christopher O’Brien, Dr Madeleine Gleeson, Professor Christine Beveridge and Professor Bernard Carroll with Anderson Horticulture Pty Ltd, Jasper Farms, Delroy Orchards, Ausavo Corporation and the Donovan Family Investments Trust, MACKAYS and Collins farms.
• Achieving Resilient Environments and Livelihoods – Professor Longbin Huang with Rio Tinto and Queensland Alumina Limited.
• Designing Technology for Tomorrow – Professor Warwick Bowen, Dr Christopher Baker and Dr Rachpon Kalra with Lockheed Martin and NASA Glenn Research Centre.
• Transforming Societies – Professor Lorraine Mazerolle, Dr Sarah Bennett, Dr Emma Antrobus, Ms Elizabeth Eggins and Dr Stephanie Cardwell ­with the Queensland Department of Education and the Queensland Police Service.
• Indigenous Partnerships and Engagement in Research – Professor Darren Martin, Dr Nasim Amiralian, Dr Pratheep Kumar Annamalai, Dr Celine Chaleat and Dr Alireza Hosseinmardi and the Dugalunji Aboriginal Corporation.

 

UniQuest Commercialisation Deal of the Year Award inaugural winner is:

• Associate Professor James Vaughan and Dr William Hawker from EAIT's School of Chemical Engineering with Pure Battery Technologies Pty Ltd. (PBT). PBT has the potential to produce commercial quantities of very high quality, affordable and environmentally-friendly battery material, making it a vital part of the clean energy revolution and providing a cleaner and more affordable solution for battery producers.

 

The UQ Awards for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Supervision recognises outstanding performance in supervising, mentoring and training HDR candidates.

2019 Excellence in Higher Degree by Research Supervision Awards

• Dr Alexander Scheuermann – Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, School of Civil Engineering 
• Associate Professor Katie Makar – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Associate Professor Irina Vetter – Institute for Molecular Bioscience
• Professor Andrew Whittaker – Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and Faculty of Science
   

The 2019 Emerging Advisor Award winner is:  

• Associate Professor Michael Piper – Faculty of Medicine and the Queensland Brain Institute