Executive Dean’s Message - July 2023
Dear colleagues,
I hope you have had a good start to Semester 2. It is lovely to see the campus coming back to life and students and staff returning from the break a little more refreshed after a busy first half of the year. I also hope you were able to have some downtime between semesters. I enjoyed 10 days just north of Cairns, which was very therapeutic. Thanks so much to Karyn Johnson for being Acting Executive Dean during that time.
News
As mentioned previously, the Federal Government is currently reviewing Higher Education in Australia through a process known as the Australian Universities Accord. After a broad and inclusive consultation process in April, the Minister of Education, the Honourable Jason Clare MP, recently released the Universities Accord Interim Report. The document includes five priority actions that will be implemented immediately, with a welcome focus on access for rural, remote and indigenous students, ceasing the 50% pass rule, providing CGS funding certainty and improvements to university governance. The report also includes over 70 areas for further consideration focussing on a broader range of areas, including research. I strongly recommend that you take a look at the document and, if inclined, participate in the consultation process either directly or by sharing your feedback with a member of the Faculty of Science leadership team. The outcomes of this process stand to positively transform the sector and it's wonderful to be part of this once-in-a-decade reform.
Another important review is the Review of Veterinary Education in Australia and New Zealand. This thoughtful document has identified a number of critical issues and made some important recommendations, including reviewing the accreditation process, enabling more diverse career pathways, upskilling in biosecurity preparedness and a much-needed and justified 30% increase in Commonwealth-supported student funding.
On 30 June, we formally established two new schools in the Faculty of Science: the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability (AGFS) and the School of the Environment (SENV), replacing the School of Biological Sciences, the School of Earth and Environmental Science and the School of Agriculture and Food Science. Steve Chenoweth has now commenced as the new Head of the School of the Environment. Sagadevan Mundree has been appointed to the role of Head of the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability and will commence on 4 September. See below for further details. Many thanks to Melissa Fitzgerald, Patrick Moss and Steve Chenoweth for their outstanding leadership of the three predecessor Schools, through a tumultuous first half of 2023, while we implemented the organisational change process.
A consultation process relating to the structure of UQ’s Health Faculties, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, is currently underway. The process aims to determine how these areas of the university might be configured to ensure that UQ is best positioned to undertake impactful health research and to develop the future health workforce. Further information can be found online.
Professor Virginia Slaughter has been appointed as the next Dean of the UQ Graduate School. Virginia has been the Head of the School of Psychology for the last 10 years and will take up the role on 2 October, 2023.
Farewell to Melissa Fitzgerald (AGFS), who will be departing UQ on 18 August, 2023. Melissa has made enormous contributions to UQ over the past 11.5 years, through her roles as Professor of Food Science, Deputy Associate Dean Research (Research Partnerships), member and more recently Chair of the Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee and Interim Head of School. Please join me in thanking Melissa for her contributions and wishing her well in the future.
Events
The Vice-Chancellor recently hosted a two-day event for senior leaders at UQ. Topics of conversation included the national and international landscape, an update on UQ’s position and achievements, Project 2025 (which aims to generate financial efficiencies and savings), the Learning and Student Experience Roadmap (building on page 12 of the UQ Strategic Plan), and UQ’s Queensland Commitment. Further information will be shared in updates from the VC and in various school and faculty committees and forums.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the signing and celebration of a Memorandum of Understanding between UQ and the UQ Gatton Past Students’ Association. It was wonderful to hear about the opportunities for an even stronger partnership with this important element of our extended community.
Also, this month, the Director (Susan Frost) and staff on the Gatton campus participated in National Farm Safety Week activities. Further information can be found online.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Mark Turner (AGFS) who has been awarded the 2023 Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) President’s Award for his outstanding contributions to the institute.
A big congratulations to Jaquie Mitchell, who was recently named '2023 AgriFutures Researcher of the Year Award Runner Up'.
Congratulations to UQ Skills Farriery Trainer, Craig Jones, who recently won the VET Trainer of the Year at the South West Regional Training awards in Toowoomba and will now head to the Queensland state finals.
Congratulations to the winners of the Queensland Government’s Engaging Science Grants program, including the following staff and teams from the Faculty of Science: UQ Science Demo Troupe, the DNA Detectives and the Computational Chemistry workshops.
Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Playford, who was recently awarded the Robert Etheridge Jr. Medal for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Australasian Palaeontology.
Congratulations to our two new ARC Future fellows: Andrii Slonchak (SCMB), and Teresa Ubide (SENV).
New senior appointments
Congratulations to Avril Robertson for being appointed as the new Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Science. Professor Avril Robertson brings to the role extensive experience across both research and industry. Avril leads a research lab in drug discovery and translation, is a professor in SCMB and affiliate professor at the IMB. Avril had 10 years leadership experience in the UK biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry at Tripos Discovery Research, ThermoFisher Scientific and Cyclacel Ltd before moving to UQ in 2011 to pursue an academic career. As Associate Dean Research, Avril will be responsible for the facilitation and promotion of the strategic direction of research within the faculty. Avril will champion improvements in the quality and impact of research and research training, and the growth of local, national, and international research collaborations across the Faculty of Science.
Congratulations to Sagadevan Mundree for being appointed as the Head of the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability. Professor Mundree is currently the Acting Head of School for the School of Biology and Environmental Science at QUT. Previously he has held roles as Director for the Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy and Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities at QUT. Sagadevan was also General Manager within the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in the Queensland Government and is a former academic from the University of Cape Town and served as Chief Executive Officer of South Africa’s National Innovation Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology. Professor Mundree is a world-leading expert in agricultural biotechnology, leading research and teams focussed on making crops that are more resilient to environmental stresses such as drought and salinity, and value-addition to deliver nutritious products. As Head of the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, Sagadevan will be responsible for enacting the School, Faculty and UQ vision, cultivating collaborative and productive relationships and delivering outstanding results across the core activities of the school.
Congratulations to Steve Chenoweth for being appointed as the Head of the School of the Environment. Prior to taking up this role, Professor Chenoweth was the Interim Head of the School of Biological Sciences at UQ, and before that he was the Deputy Associate Dean Research (Researcher Development) for the Faculty of Science at UQ. Steve is an international leader in the field of ecological and evolutionary genomics who has made significant contributions to understanding how genetic variation shapes species ability to adapt to environmental change. Steve is also a highly successful tertiary educator who has a passion for developing our students’ quantitative and computational skills to prepare them for careers in an increasingly data-rich world. As Head of the School of the Environment, Steve will be responsible for enacting the School, Faculty and UQ vision, cultivating collaborative and productive relationships and delivering outstanding results across the core activities of the school.
Congratulations also to Antje Blumenthal for being appointed as the next Director of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre. Antje Blumenthal is an ARC Future Fellow and leads the Infection & Inflammation Group at The University of Queensland’s Frazer Institute. In this role, Antje will play a leading role in further establishing UQ as an international leader in infectious diseases research. Professor Blumenthal will facilitate the full range of interdisciplinary interactions across the university, drive innovation across UQ’s broad research capabilities, and enable national and international partnerships in industry, government, and philanthropy. Professor Blumenthal will also support development of teams/networks for researchers from UQ and QIMRB with relevant external stakeholders to undertake significant projects that will further enhance the scientific recognition, research translation and external profile of UQ in infectious diseases. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Mark Walker (formerly SCMB, now IMB) for his exemplary leadership as the Inaugural Director of AID.
Opportunities
Professor Susanne Schmidt (AGFS) will be delivering the next BrisScience public lecture on Monday 7 August, where she will discuss the latest research investigating the power of compost.
Nominations are currently open for the new UQ Research Culture Awards to celebrate individuals and teams who have made a significant impact on the research landscape within UQ. You can nominate a colleague, or a team of colleagues, up until 10 August.
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean - Faculty of Science