UQ has topped the state and finished amongst the top four universities nationally in the latest round of the Federal Government’s leading innovation and research grants.
UQ has received almost $29 million to fund 71 research projects from next year under the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects scheme.
UQ’s successful research projects span areas as diverse as memory, breast cancer, age-related degenerative disorders, mutations, optimising government structures and how the Papacy became powerful.
Other topics to receive UQ funding will investigate worker wellbeing, marine systems, Brisbane theatre, teacher competence, organic solar cells, hydrogen storage, clean coal technology, neuroscience, clean fuels and pulp fiction, attesting to the University’s breadth and depth in research.
The University of Melbourne received the highest ARC Discovery funding ($38 million) followed by The University of Sydney ($34.5 million) and The Australian National University ($30.8 million).
UQ received more funding than the combined value and number of all grants from all other universities in Queensland.
Minister for Education, Science and Training Julie Bishop announced more than $300 million for 878 new research projects under the Discovery scheme today.
UQ’s largest single grant was a $1.4 million award to Professor Stuart Crozier’s team in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, to improve medical imaging systems.
UQ's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle said he congratulated UQ researchers who had applied for grants under very competitive circumstances.
The University has received more than $46 million in ARC Federal Government funding this week for research projects during the next five years.
It received one of the highest numbers of ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grants out of 67 on offer nationally.
UQ’s nine grants were valued at a total $4.24 million, with partner contributions of about $5.6 million.
The University of Sydney and University of New South Wales had the highest number with 10 grants each.
UQ’s LIEF grants included $500,000 for phase 2 of the AustLit program, involving all works of Australian literature dating back to 1788.
The grant will enable the Bibliography of Australian Literature project to be completed in 2008.
Other ARC funds awarded to UQ researchers this week include:
• Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development scheme - $160,000 for a project describing the consequences of climate change on marine processes, harvested resources and ecosystems.
• Linkage International grant - $23,455 to apply a method for accurately mapping shallow coastal environments.
• Linkage International Fellowship - $131,306 for research in cell membranes and cellular calcium regulation in the peripheral nervous system.
More information on UQ ARC Discovery grant recipients can be found here.
MEDIA: Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (07 3365 2619, m.holland@uq.edu.au)
