University of Queensland researchers will be pushing the boundaries of science even further thanks to more than $43 million in funding announced today.
UQ has topped the state and come third overall in the nation in new Australian Research Council (ARC) research funding for projects as diverse as new products to fight disease and pests, to better understand how our economy functions, to improve the understanding of how babies develop social skills, and to assist the development of talking robots.
UQ researchers will share in almost $36 million in funding for 93 projects funded through the ARC’s Discovery Projects scheme, which is a Federal Government initiative aimed at fostering excellence in fundamental research.
A further $7 million will come from the Linkage Projects scheme, together with almost $13 million in partner funding, which is aimed at encouraging collaborative research between universities, industry and other organisations.
UQ’s largest Discovery grant went to Professor David Craik from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, who received $1.28 million to investigate circular proteins, as well as an Australian Professorial Fellowship. These ultra-stable proteins have the potential to be used in new products to target diseases and pests.
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Keniger said the breadth and scope of projects funded confirmed UQ’s reputation as one of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities.
“UQ’s achievements in this round of funding has seen a marked increase in both the number of projects and the overall amount of funding received, which is a reflection of the strength of UQ’s focus on its research priorities,” Professor Keniger said.
“Compared to 2007, we have garnered an extra $7 million in Discovery grants as well as increasing the number of funded projects by 22.
“UQ’s success in Linkage grants is also testament to our strong links to industry and highlights the relevance of our research to the commercial sector.”
Some of UQ’s Discovery projects include:
Professor Prasada Rao, from the School of Economics, is developing a new way to analyse economic data that can be used in assessing Australia's economic performance and role in a global context, a subject of special use and relevance in the current economic climate.
Associate Professor Virginia Slaughter, from the School of Psychology, will examine how babies develop social skills through imitation.
Dr Gordon Wyeth, from the School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering, is working on a project to give robots the ability to more effectively speak, understand and comprehend language. This project represents a major advance for Australia in the new and fast growing personal robot industry.
Professor Bernie Degnan, from the School of Integrative Biology, is seeking to find the evolutionary foundation as to how our bodies recognise foreign cells and reject them, as can occur following organ transplants. He will do this through studying the humble sea sponge as a model.
Professor Paul Burn, from the School of Molecular & Microbial Sciences, is looking at developing new portable sensors capable of detecting trace amounts of explosives to combat the threat of terrorism.
Dr Derek Arnold, from UQ’s School of Psychology, is to investigate how we perceive time with implications for disorders associated with impaired time perception, such as autism, dyslexia and schizophrenia.
Some of UQ’s successful Linkage projects include:
Professor Rob Capon, from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, together with ParaCo is looking at producing a new class of antiparasitic treatment for livestock that could potentially save producers money as well as being more environmentally friendly.
Dr Bo Feng, from the School of Engineering, will work with Ambre Energy to study an innovative clean fuel produced from coal or natural gas that can be used as a diesel substitute and reduce emissions by 90 percent.
Associate Professor Joanne Meers, from the School of Veterinary Science, will work on a project with Australia Zoo and Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service looking at the spread of a retrovirus linked to cancer in koalas.
UQ also received seven ARC International Fellowships out of 31 awarded nationally, the best result of any Australian university. The seven fellowships are worth a total of $470,230 and will see UQ researchers collaborate with colleagues from countries such as Canada, Japan, Sweden, the USA and China.
Media: Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802 or 0433 364 181).
