Research investments yield rewards

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Tags: discovery, Vice-Chancellor, winter-2009

by Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield AO

Fostering outstanding performances from higher degree, postdoctoral and early career researchers is a key UQ objective that meshes with other discovery-related aims, including building and sustaining excellent infrastructure.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield

More than 8000 people have received a UQ PhD since the program began six decades ago, and research higher degree candidates set a new 12-month benchmark in 2008 when UQ awarded a record 599 Doctors of Philosophy and Masters of Philosophy.

Each has been a deposit in humanity’s bank of knowledge, with the potential to influence other endeavours and contribute to life-altering breakthroughs. Research higher degree projects can also generate economic wealth, and augment societal and workforce qualities such as analysis and problem solving.

Fostering outstanding performances from higher degree, postdoctoral and early career researchers is a key UQ objective that meshes with other discovery-related aims, including building and sustaining excellent infrastructure.

In some areas it takes tens – even hundreds – of millions of dollars to establish the facilities needed for entry to the global league, followed by large ongoing outlays to maintain the position. Given heavy reliance on imports for necessities ranging from medical imaging equipment to library books, the challenge escalates when the Australian dollar slides.

The right infrastructure sets off a virtuous cycle, helping the University recruit and retain exceptional people who in turn make UQ more attractive to other high achievers. Large research infrastructure grants from government, industry and philanthropists are harbingers of a strong, sustainable academic community.

A striking 2009 example of this is a genomics program targeting pancreatic and ovarian cancers, bringing in $27.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council and $5 million from the Queensland Government.

Genomics is a “watch this space” field, potentially allowing treatments for serious illnesses to be individualised for patients. Its pace of development is rapid because new generations of the enabling sequencing technology are continuously being released to – and mastered by – specialist scientists.  It is fortunate – but not accidental – that UQ has a cadre of world leaders on staff.

They can sequence a human genome in a matter of months for $US100,000, whereas the initial sequencing was a worldwide 13-year effort that cost $US3 billion. Some impressive young UQ researchers are already at the candidacy or post-doctoral stage, and the advent of the international cancer program will fuel interest.

Another recent Australian Government grant with vast implications is $47 million for the School of Veterinary Science’s new headquarters at Gatton. It supports stage two of a plan to assert UQ as a world force in teaching, research and technology transfer related to animals and plants, and will impact on areas including food security, biosecurity and animal welfare. The completed first stage is the Centre for Advanced Animal Science at Gatton (strongly backed by the Queensland Government), and the next step will involve plant sciences.

Engineering was a pillar discipline when UQ began almost 100 years ago, but it will take major investments to maintain international esteem in the second century. A new $50 million Australian Government commitment for the Advanced Engineering Building, along with $15 million from the State Government for the Queensland Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing, seeds the rejuvenation of the engineering precinct at St Lucia.

At our Herston Campus, $104 million from Canberra will build the Oral Health Centre, the most advanced facility of its type in Australia and a long-overdue new home for the UQ School of Dentistry. It will, among other things, speed the translation of research findings into high quality clinical care, enable UQ to educate more dentists and oral health therapists, and treat about 17,000 dental and cancer patients per year.

The signature of our newly-retired Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor David Siddle, is a consistent feature of our strategic research successes. David could secure deals with corporate boards and policy units, and at the same time reward early career researchers and recruit ascendant stars. I thank him for his immeasurable legacy.

For enduring focus on the individual and personal as well as the corporate, I doubt anyone will out-perform our former Chancellor, Sir Llew Edwards AC. Sir Llew unassumingly announced his retirement late in 2008, after almost 16 years as Chancellor. He is missed, but the University is fortunate that John Story agreed to succeed him. It is a pleasure to welcome John as UQ’s 13th Chancellor.

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