Executive Dean's Message - June 2019
Dear colleagues,
Plenty of good news stories this month, from papers, to prizes, to world rankings! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the achievements.
Firstly, congratulations to Bernie and Sandie Degnan who, along with a team of UQ scientists, have rewritten biology textbooks. Their discovery has made us rethink the history of multi-cellular animal evolution. Take a moment to read a little about their discovery.
Congratulations to staff and alumni of the Faculty of Science recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours: Brad Norman was awarded an Order of Australia and a former Faculty of Science researcher - Maree Smith - was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia. Congratulations also to former UQ mathematician Professor Peter Donnelly, knighted for his research investigating the relationship between human genetics and disease.
The Faculty also did exceptionally well in the UQ Excellence awards again this year. Helen Ross took out the Community, Diversity and Inclusion Category award, and commendations were also granted to:
Service Category:
- Erinn Osmond (SMP)
- Daniel Schwartz & Jodie Smith (Glasshouse Services Team)
- Susan Rowland (as a member of the UQ Teaching Awards Recognition Team)
Community, Diversity and Inclusion Category:
- Christine Beveridge (SBS)
- Vet School Diversity Team – Joerg Henning & Daniel Schull
Leadership Category:
- Melissa Fitzgerald (SAFS)
Mental and Physical Health, Safety and Wellness Category:
- UQ VETS Equine Specialist Hospital – Ben Ahern, Francois Bertin, Natalie Fraser, Myat Kyaw-Tanner, Carlos Medina, Albert Sole, Allison Stewart, Alex Young, Steven Zedler
Congratulations also to Joan Esterle (SEES) for receiving a John Castano Honorary Membership Award.
UQ has done spectacularly well in various, recently announced global rankings, including a QS ranking of #48 worldwide for the University, holding our place as a top 50 tertiary institution. UQ was announced as number one in Australia in the Nature Index of high-quality research outputs, maintaining the coveted position in the annual table, with the Faculty of Science contributing more than 30% of the articles and more than 25% of the fractional count. We’re also delighted to be ranked #25 worldwide by the Nature Index for Earth and Environmental Sciences. National Taiwan University global subject rankings have also been announced and notably include Agriculture (#5 worldwide), Environment/Ecology (#4), Microbiology (#14) Plant and Animal Science (#18) and Life Sciences (#35).
UQ’s achievements in driving improved equity and diversity has been recognised with a Council for Advancement and Support of Education Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Silver Circle of Excellence Award for the #uqwomencreatechange campaign, which communicated the outstanding achievements of many UQ women, including Cynthia Riginos, Avril Robertson, Rochelle Soo, Isobella Stone, Natasha Taylor, Rebecca Dunlop, Kirsty Short, Christine Beveridge, Tamara Davis and Dorina Pojani from the Faculty of Science. These awards recognise outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising, and marketing, and it’s wonderful to be helping drive this change.
Thanks to the over 160 people who attended our Semester 1 Faculty Board meetings at Gatton and St Lucia an few weeks ago. For reference, or if you weren’t able to make the meetings, the agenda, presentations, school reports and minutes can be found here on SharePoint.
There has been great progress on UQ’s Science Precinct. User briefs have been drafted by each of the four working groups and these will be distributed shortly for further feedback across UQ science.
For the many staff taking the opportunity to attend conferences or have a holiday - enjoy. I'll see you in Semester 2.
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean