Executive Dean’s Message - November 2025
Dear colleagues,
As always, November is a busy time of year as we finalise assessment including over 27,000 grades, delight in ARC grant outcomes, reflect on our amazing achievements across teaching, research and operations in 2025 and prioritise what we can really get done in the next few weeks and what can wait until 2026. We are also all busy with many celebrations and end of year events, including seven graduation ceremonies for the Faculty of Science, three at Gatton and four at St. Lucia, and planning for next year’s teaching, research, budgets, staffing and workloads.
Thank you to everyone for their enormous contributions to the success of our Schools and units, the Faculty overall and UQ. Looking forward to seeing you on campus or at graduations over the remaining weeks of 2025.
Congratulations
There are lots of reasons to celebrate this month!
Teaching and Learning Awards
Congratulations on the outstanding achievements of our educators through the UQ and Faculty of Science Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. These awards celebrate staff who demonstrate innovation, dedication, and impact in creating exceptional learning experiences for our students. Well done to all recipients for their commitment to teaching excellence and for inspiring the next generation of scientists.
UQ Awards
- Suresh Krishnasamy (AGFS) 2025 Commendation: UQ Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
Faculty of Science 2025 Awards
- Effie Kartsonaki (SCMB) Teaching Excellence Award
- Daniel Schull (SVS) Teaching Excellence Award
- José Granados (SVS) Early Career Teaching Excellence Award
- Gilbert Price (SENV) Sustained Teaching Excellence Commendation
- Chiara Palmieri (SVS) Teaching Excellence Commendation
2025 academic promotions
I am delighted to announce the outcomes of the 2025 Academic Promotion process, with 23 staff being elevated to the next academic level. Congratulations to the following successful applicants:
Promotion to Academic Level B
Janina Ladwig (SCMB)
Laura Rix (SCMB)
Rhys Parry (SCMB)
Stephanie Portelli (SCMB)
Tina Skinner (SENV)
Maddie James (SENV)
Promotion to Academic Level C
- Angela Lees (AGFS)
- Effie Kartsonaki (SCMB)
- Annabel Smith (SENV)
- Gurion Ang (SENV
Promotion to Academic Level D
- Rebekah Scotney (SVS)
- Aaron Herndon (SVS)
- Albert Sole Guitart (AGFS)
- Renjie Zhou (SENV)
- Michael Forbes (SMP)
- Ellie Soumeh (AGFS)
- Risti Permani (AGFS)
- Sarah Meale (AGFS)
Promotion to Academic Level E
- Brett Ferguson (AGFS)
- Jacqui Mitchell (AGFS)
- Arkady Fedorov (SMP)
- Cecelia Gonzalez Tokman (SMP)
- Masoud Kamgarpour (SMP)
A huge thank you to everyone involved in this process, including supervisors, Deputy Heads of School, Heads of School, members of the Faculty of Science Local Confirmation and Promotion Committee, and our wonderful CapScience team.
ARC grant success
In November, UQ researchers secured more than $36 million in ARC Discovery and Linkage grants, driving innovation in a significant and broad number of important areas. The Faculty of Science played a major role in this success, contributing 24% of UQ’s total awarded applications. Including UQ led and non-UQ led grants, researchers in the Faculty of Science attracted 15 project grants, three fellowships and two equipment grants funded as listed below:
2026 ARC DP grant recipients
UQ-hosted, Faculty of Science led grants:
- Aude Bernard (SENV)
- Paul Bernhardt (SCMB)
- Jack Clegg (SCMB)
- Matt Davis (SMP)
- Elizabeth Gillam (SCMB)
- Bostjan Kobe (SCMB)
- Mariusz Skwarcynski (SCMB)
- Teresa Ubide (SENV)
- James Watson (SENV)
- Jianxin Zhao (SENV)
Hosted by another university, Faculty of Science contribution:
- Debra Bernhardt (SCMB)
- Angela Dean (AGFS)
- Stuart Phinn (SENV)
- Julian Steele (SMP)
2026 ARC Linkage Projects grant recipients
UQ hosted Faculty of Science-led:
- Gary Schenk (SCMB)
2026 ARC DECRA
UQ-hosted, Faculty of Science led grants:
- Agnese Barbensi (SMP)
- Ariel Isaacs (SCMB)
- Rhys Parry (SCMB)
2026 ARC LIEF Projects grant recipients
Hosted by another university, Faculty of Science contribution:
- Jacqui Romero (SMP)
- Craig Williams (SCMB)
Highly cited researchers
Clarivate has announced its 2025 list of Highly Cited Researchers - those whose work shows significant influence in their fields. These researchers have authored multiple papers ranking in the top 1% by citations in the Web of Science Core Collection over the past 11 years. We are proud to congratulate the eleven Faculty of Science researchers named on this prestigious list:
Bhesh Bhandari (AGFS), Pierre-Alain Chaumell (SCMB), Maria Chuvochina (SCMB), Phil Hugenholz (SCMB) (in two discipline areas!), Ove Hoegh-Gulldberg (SENV), Cath Lovelock (SENV), Pete Mumby (SENV), David Obura (SENV), Hugh Possingham (SENV), Avril Robertson (SCMB and FoS), and James Watson (SENV).
Other congratulations
It's also wonderful to celebrate the remarkable impact of UQ researchers named among Australia’s Top 250 researchers in The Australian’s 2026 Research Magazine. This prestigious recognition highlights the vital role of science in tackling global challenges - from food security and health innovation to climate resilience and sustainable technologies. The following Faculty of Science researchers were included in this auspicious list: Tamara Davis (SMP), Bryan G. Fry (SENV), Bhesh Bhandari (AGFS), Anthony Romilio.
Congratulations to Jacqui Romero (SMP), who has been announced as a 2026 Optica Fellow for her seminal contributions to quantum-structured light and her pioneering role in promoting quantum science in the Philippines. Optica Fellows are selected based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to research, business, education, engineering, and service to Optica, a key body advancing optics and photonics worldwide.
Congratulations also to April Hastwell (QAAFI) on being awarded a 2025 Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Mid-Career Research Fellowship. April will lead research focused on enhancing legume productivity through advanced molecular approaches, including the study of signalling peptides that regulate root development and nodulation. This prestigious fellowship is part of GRDC’s $11.3 million investment to support innovative research that strengthens Australia’s grains industry.
And congratulations to Risti Permani (AGFS) for her recently celebrated work on the MyIndah Diet project - a KONEKSI-supported collaboration between ten institutions in Indonesia and Australia, including UQ, focused on improving nutrition security, empowering farmers, and building climate-resilient food systems. Her achievements exemplify UQ’s commitment to research with real-world impact.
University rankings
QS has released its latest Sustainability Rankings, which assess universities across Environmental Impact, Social Impact, and Governance. UQ ranked 50th globally and 6th nationally. UQ continues to excel in key areas, ranking equal 1st nationally in Health & Wellbeing Impact and 2nd nationally in Environmental Research, and rising 38 places in the Equality indicator.
The Faculty of Science played a leading role in this achievement, contributing case studies for SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), as well as supporting other sustainability initiatives. A big thank you to everyone who provided examples and information for this submission, your efforts showcase our commitment to sustainability and global impact.
UQ has also ranked second nationally in the Australian Financial Review Best Universities Ranking. This recognition reflects UQ’s excellence in teaching (ranked #5), research (ranked #3), equity (ranked #18) and graduate career outcomes (ranked #6).
Events
Thank you to everyone who attended the Faculty of Science All Staff Forum on 11 November, whether in-person or online. We hope you enjoyed the presentations and panel discussion. A big thank you also to those who shared feedback and ideas for future strategic priorities for the Faculty of Science via Mentimeter - we truly appreciate your input and will incorporate this into our future planning. Please note that School reports, Faculty reports, and PowerPoint slides are available online via SharePoint. If you have any additional feedback or ideas for improvement, please feel free to reach out to me or any member of the Faculty of Science Executive team
Earlier this month, I had the privilege of opening the Dorothy Hill Symposium, hosted by the School of the Environment, to honour UQ’s first female professor and pioneering scientist, Professor Dorothy Hill. Her remarkable achievements including serving as President of the Australian Academy of Science and being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London -helped shape our academic community. This annual event celebrates her legacy and our progress toward diversity, with women now holding 30% of senior academic roles in the Faculty of Science, while reminding us to keep championing excellence and equality in science.
This week, I am travelling in China with a delegation of Faculty of Science staff and students, to deepen engagement with the China-Australia Student Exchange Program, expand our partnered teaching programs and collaboration into research and innovation. Our itinerary includes a research symposium at Yangzhou University and strategic meetings with Sichuan Agricultural University and Guizhou Medical University. A special thank you to Grace Li and Angela Huang for their exceptional coordination of this trip, including arrangements for our student groups.
Other news
The Vice-Chancellor’s All Staff Forum will be held on Wednesday 3 December. This is a great opportunity to hear updates from across UQ, reflect on our achievements in 2025, and celebrate the many ways our teams deliver for the public good. The new Strategic Plan for UQ will also be launched at the forum. I strongly encourage you to join this event.
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean – Faculty of Science