Seven promising University of Queensland researchers have been honoured with awards totalling $505,000 at the 2007 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards held at Brisbane Customs House tonight (Tuesday, September 18).
In addition, three UQ academics were honoured with Awards for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision, each worth $10,000.
Presentation of the UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards and Awards for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision form a key event of UQ Research Week (September 17 to 21).
The UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award researchers are conducting studies in areas as diverse as rural GP perceptions of alternative medicine to the best ways to give and receive personal criticism.
UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor David Siddle, congratulated the winners and commended the diversity of their research.
Professor Siddle said the UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards were among a range of initiatives created by the University to foster and nurture exciting research projects.
He said the University's research and research-training performance consistently ranked in the top two among Australian universities on widely accepted measures. UQ researchers competed favourably with the world's best in many areas.
He said as part of UQ's research strategy, the University had invested significant sums in key projects and had been able to attract matching financial support from government and external donors.
"UQ's research enriches lives. Whether through developing superior methods of health care, environmental initiatives, or smarter technology that underpins a brighter future, we seek knowledge both for its own sake and to measurably improve the communities in which we live," Professor Siddle said.
"The University understands that excellence in research underpins both excellence in teaching and the ability to develop depth in its community partnerships."
Funding for the winning researchers was provided by the UQ Foundation, UQ's research-only budget, and the Vice-Chancellor's Strategic Initiatives Fund.
The 2007 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award winners are:
- Dr Melissa Gregg, of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, who has won $55,000 to investigate the extent to which internet and mobile technologies are blurring our public and private lives and creating real benefits.
- Dr Matthew Hornsey, of the School of Psychology, who has won $75,000 to fill an information vacuum surrounding the best ways and circumstances in which to give and receive personal criticism.
- Dr Jon Adams, of the School of Population Health, who has been awarded $85,000 to examine the practices and perspectives of regional general practitioners (GPs) in relation to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM treatments include therapies such as acupuncture, naturopathy and herbal medicine.
- Dr John Zhu, of the School of Engineering, who has received $85,000 to develop a carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane for gas separation that will work like a sieve to separate high volumes of methane or carbon dioxide from other gases.
- Dr Gary Schenk, from the School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences, who has been awarded $85,000 to study a group of enzymes including one linked to osteoporosis, a damaging bone disease.
- Dr Derek Arnold, of the School of Psychology, who has won $60,000 to show how our own brain activity can influence our sense of timing. His research goes against a widely held belief that activity in the cortex of the human brain does not influence how we perceive time.
- Dr Matthew Davis, from the School of Physical Sciences, who has been awarded $60,000 to investigate a new state of matter, a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), to further understand the nature of the universe. His particular interest is how BECs, and especially quantum whirlpools called vortices, form.
The winners of the Awards for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision are:
- Associate Professor Richard Baldauf, from the School of Education
- Professor David Craik, from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Centre for Protein Research, and
- Dr Sarah Roberts-Thomson, from the School of Pharmacy.
Listen to Research awards night speeches.
Media inquiries: Andrew Dunne (3365 2802 or 0433 364 181). High-resolution images of all winners are available by contacting Diana Lilley (3365 2753 or email d.lilley@uq.edu.au).
