Executive Dean’s Message - November 2021
Dear colleagues,
Another eventful and stimulating month with the outcomes of COP26 being announced, ongoing developments in the COVID-19 pandemic globally and ever-changing Australian border restrictions
Closer to home, it’s been a big few weeks of marking exams and other assessment, finalising grades, reviewing courses and programs, and working closely with current and prospective international students to find a path for them to come to UQ in 2022. A huge thank you from me and all of our Faculty leaders to all of the professional and academic staff involved in assessment, academic reviews, student recruitment and other activities for their hard work and resilience after a very challenging semester.
Thanks also to everyone who took part in the UQ Thank You Day events at St Lucia and Gatton. It was wonderful to catch up with many of you and to recognise your amazing contribution to The University of Queensland.
Thank you also to the more than 125 people who attended the Faculty of Science Semester 2 Board meeting on 12 November. This was a great opportunity to respond to questions from staff, provide an update on past, current and future happenings across the Faculty and beyond, and workshop priorities for the next Faculty of Science Strategic Plan. Presentations and minutes can be found on SharePoint.
Lots of good news stories this month including announcements in the agri-food space, the outcomes of this year’s Dean’s Commendations for Excellent Teaching, recent research grant outcomes and awards, highly cited researchers, The Australian newspaper’s top 250 researchers and our academic promotions.
It was wonderful to hear about the UQ’s Agrifood Innovation Alliance being launched in Toowoomba last week. The Alliance is part of a two year pilot program, connecting UQ’s research and education in agri-food science with Queensland’s agri-food business thanks to $2.5 million in funding from the Australian Government’s Strategic University Reform Fund. And also about the establishment of a Gatton Smart Farm, which is a $9 million partnership between the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Horticulture Innovation.
The Semester 1 2021 Dean’s Commendation for Excellent Teaching identified 42 outstanding teachers in Science, and 22 in other faculties. A wonderful outcome! The top scorers in this round were: Sara Herke (SMP), Artem Pulemotov (SMP), Cheong Xin Chan (SCMB), John Hall (BIOL), Brett Ferguson (SAFS), Poh Wah Hillock (SMP) and Samuel Kault (SMP). Well done all and especially the School of Mathematics and Physics!
Congratulations also to the following recipients of NHMRC Ideas Grants: Alex Khromykh (SCMB) x2, Nigel Beebe (BIOL) x 2, Phil Hugenholtz (SCMB) and Avril Robertson (SCMB), and to Advance Queensland grant recipients: Chris McMillan (SCMB) and Anne Sawyer (SCMB).
Congratulations to the following staff who have been named in the Highly Cited Research Awards 2021: Christine Beveridge (BIOL), Bhesh Bhandari (SAFS), Rich Fuller (BIOL), Phil Hugenholtz (SCMB and a double HiCi!), Cath Lovelock (BIOL), Pete Mumby (BIOL), John Pandolfi (BIOL), Donovan Parks (SCMB), Hugh Possingham (BIOL), Christian Rinke (SCMB), Avril Robertson (SCMB), James Watson (SEES). And to the The Australian’s top 250 Australian researchers: Ian Marquette (SMP), Phil Hugenholtz (SCMB) and Bryan Fry (BIOL).
Congratulations to Jodi Li and Bronwyn Venus for being appointed as our new Business Development Managers as part of the RSP funding initiative. We are very excited about the opportunity to better engage with industry research partnerships and income sources.
Congratulations also to Paul Young (SCMB) and team for being announced as the inaugural winner of the AIBN Translational Research Award.
Congratulations to the following academic staff who were promoted this year:
Level A to level B
Inka Vanwonterghem (SCMB), Francois Barbier (BIOL), Nana Satake (SAFS), Effie Kartsonaki (SCMB), Gurion Ang (BIOL), Xannie Langford (SAFS), Anitha Kumar (SCMB), Matthew Reeves (SMP), Robert Hoelzle (SEES), Jeffrey Nanson (SCMB), Frederik van der Bom (SAFS) and Markus Rambuch (SMP).
Level B to C
Ellie Soumeh (SAFS), Cristina Martinez (SAFS), Deidre Mikkelsen (SAFS), Daniel Harris (SEES), Dietmar Oelz (SMP), Bradd Witt (SEES), Karen Harper (SAFS), Pia Wohland (SEES), Ramiro Lafuente (SMP), Jody Peters (SCMB), Renjie Zhou (SEES), Poh Hillock (SMP).
Level C to D
Jacqui Romero (SMP). Kirsty Short (SCMB), Sonia Roitman (SEES), Thomas Sigler (SEES), Karen Cheney (BIOL), Francois-Rene Bertin (SVS), Paul Dennis (SEES), Justine Gibson (SVS), Scott Waldron (SAFS), Chris Roelfsema (SEES), Steve Salisbury (BIOL).
Level D to E
Ben Ahern (SVS), Rachel Allavena (SVS), Vito Ferro (SCMB), John Gaughan (SAFS), Eve McDonald Madden (SEES), Michael Noad (SVS), Chiara Palmieri (SVS), Jorgen Rasmussen (SMP) and Ben Schulz (SCMB).
Congratulations also to Salit Kark for her recent publication on the links between COVID-19, conservation and ecosystem health in Lancet Planetary Health
In other news, further to the data shown at Faculty Board, Faculty and School leadership teams are currently working through the outcomes of the recent UQ Pulse survey and developing strategies to respond to the feedback. And the first phase of a new Faculty-wide mentoring program for EMCAs commenced last week with over 50 academics attending formal mentor training ahead of the scheme’s launch early next year.
We are also working hard to prepare for 2022, including welcoming international students back to campus during Semester 1. There continues to be significant uncertainty about how this will play out, which means we will need to plan for a number of possible scenarios.
I hope that you enjoy the remaining few weeks of 2021 at UQ, including participating in our graduation ceremonies at Gatton and St Lucia.
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean