26 July 2012

In another top-two result nationally, UQ has maintained its stellar record in the Australian Research Council Future Fellowships scheme.

UQ applicants will receive a total of $14.7 million in new Future Fellowship grants, building on the $50.69 million awarded to UQ research projects in the scheme’s previous three rounds.

The Future Fellowships scheme is a Commonwealth initiative designed to attract the nation’s best and brightest mid-career researchers.

The largest grant among UQ’s 19 successful Future Fellowships announced yesterday was to Professor Gita Mishra, whose work will receive $927,168 over four years.

Professor Mishra will analyse data from more than 150,000 women in a large-scale study of reproductive health.

Professor Mishra, from the UQ School of Population Health, said her findings would support a more tailored approach to women’s health policy and strategies for healthy ageing.

“The project — titled Trajectories and turning points for women’s reproductive health — will take an integrated, whole-life perspective,” she said.

“It will use data from 10 cohort studies across six nations.”

Professor Max Lu, UQ Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said UQ’s other new Future Fellows were investigating topics as varied as invasive pests, treatments for language impairment, anti-cancer drugs, mobile video technology and aluminium toxicity in acid soil.

“I congratulate all our new Fellows, and thank them for their high-quality work that has received this recognition from the ARC,” he said.

Professor Lu noted that among all universities, UQ received the second highest amount of funding.

“The Future Fellowships scheme has been running for four years, and in that time 87 UQ researchers have been named as Fellows and undertaken projects that are having real impact, both academically and in the community,” he said.

“It is a fantastic scheme that aims to support mid-career researchers and academics, many of whom otherwise might seek opportunities with international competitors.

“The Fellowships are playing a key role in UQ’s continued development as a top-tier University globally.”

The Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, announced a total of 209 Future Fellowships this week, valued at a total $151 million, to “provide research opportunities to some of the world’s best mid-career researchers”.

“This round of fellowships will bring 12 Australian researchers back home to undertake their research in Australia,” Senator Evans said.

“It also brings 23 international researchers to our shores to experience the great research opportunities we offer here and to share their knowledge with Australian researchers.

“All 209 researchers will use their fellowships to solve problems and make discoveries that may improve the lives of all Australians.”

In addition to Professor Mishra (above) UQ’s 2012 Future Fellows are:

Associate Professor Jennifer Corrin, School of Law, Developing a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to law reform and development in plural legal regimes, $902,505

Professor Jochen Mueller, UQ National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, Understanding changes in chemical exposure through integrative sampling and systematic archiving, $901,268

Professor John Zhu, School of Chemical Engineering, Fundamentals and practical applications of hierarchically structured bulk materials, $882,568

Dr Jeffrey Harmer, joining the UQ Centre for Advanced Imaging from the University of Oxford, Elucidation of structure-function relationships in biological systems utilising advanced electron spin resonance, $822,766

Associate Professor Gerhard Schenk, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Metals in biocatalysis, $821,856

Professor Lianzhou Wang, School of Chemical Engineering, Designing new layered materials for efficient solar energy conversion, $820,106

Dr Salit Kark, joining the School of Biological Sciences from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Systematic prioritisation of action for confronting invasive vertebrates in Australia, $818,856

Associate Professor Zhi Ping Xu, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Engineering layered double hydroxide nanoparticles toward an efficient targeted clinical delivery system, $787,936

Professor Heng Tao Shen, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Realising the value of mobile videos with context awareness, $778,976

Dr Michelle Hill, UQ Diamantina Institute, A biological model to understand caveolin-1 and lipid raft function in health and disease, $714,528

Dr Nicole Cloonan, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Decoding miRNA regulated genetic circuits, $714,528

Dr Paul E. Dux, School of Psychology, The multitasking brain: training and individual differences, $714,502

Dr Marcus Meinzer, joining the UQ Centre for Clinical Research from Charite University Medicine (Berlin), Harnessing non-invasive brain stimulation to improve language function in healthy and pathological ageing, $714,188

Dr Peter Kopittke, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Understanding why aluminium and other trace metals are toxic to plants - the key to improving crop yield in degraded soils, $702,828

Dr Timothy Carroll, School of Human Movement Studies, Revealing how the human brain coordinates body movements for applications in health and technology, $701,527

Dr Michael Piper, School of Biomedical Sciences, Transcriptional control of neural stem cell differentiation during development and disease, $684,422

Dr Richard Fuller, School of Biological Sciences, Optimising the ecological performance of cities, $670,064

Dr Elizabeth Krenske, joining the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences from the University of Melbourne, Theoretical modelling and design of safe covalent anti-cancer drugs, $622,868

The list of all 2012 Future Fellows and more detail on their research projects is available on the ARC website.
Media: Fiona Cameron, UQ Communications, ph 07 3846 7086