Executive Dean’s Message - October 2023
Dear colleagues,
As the jacarandas are blooming and it's becoming a little easier to find a car park, we know that the formal teaching semester has concluded and that the end-of-year exams are about to commence. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the delivery of teaching, assessment and everything else related to our educational endeavour this semester!
The above also means that it is UQ Teaching & Learning (T&L) Week this week! So many great events and activities are happening across our campuses and online, to learn from one another and celebrate creative and innovative teaching practices that enhance student learning. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning Showcase on Friday morning, where I will have the pleasure of announcing the winners of the Faculty of Science Teaching Excellence Awards and hearing some great examples of outstanding teaching practice, including Wetlab practical teaching, VetCloud: an innovative digital learning platform, Communicating controversy, and UniDoodle.
I am also looking forward to attending the UQ Awards for Teaching Excellence and celebrating some more successes on Wednesday evening.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Carissa Klein (SENV), who was awarded the 2023 Queensland Young Tall Poppy of the Year at the Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Awards on 18 October. Well done to Carissa and the twelve other researchers who were acknowledged with a Young Tall Poppy Science Award at the event.
Congratulations to Bachelor of Advanced Science (Hons) graduate Brodie Crouch who won one of two UQ Graduate of the Year Awards for 2023. It was wonderful to meet and congratulate Brodie at the UQ Courting the Greats event last week. Brodie has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, a commitment to rural outreach and collaboration, and significant contributions to improving access of regional and remote students. Congratulations to Brodie and best of luck with the PhD with Martine Maron (SENV) next year.
Congratulations also to the multiple other Faculty of Science alumni who were also recognized by an Alumni Award at this event including Glen Richards (BVetSci(Hons)), John Pascoe (BVetSci(Hons)), Chloe Yap (BSc, MD/PhD), Karina Holden (GradDipSci), Tim Neale (BAppSci(Hons)) and George Mellick (BSc(Hons), PhD) (UQ Alumni of the Year).
Congratulations to our new Professors: Daniel Watterson (SCMB), Elizabeth Krenske (SCMB) Keith Chappell (SCMB), Mikael Boden (SCMB), and Bryan Fry (SENV). I look forward to announcing our new Associate Professors and Senior Lecturers / Research Fellows in the next few weeks.
Congratulations to staff who have been awarded a 2024 ARC Discovery Project grant! This includes the following (for which the lead CI is at UQ): Paul Bernhardt and Craig Williams (SCMB), Keith Chappell and Michaela Blyton (SCMB), Daniel Dunn and Hugh Possingham (SENV), Peter Jacobson and Xiuwen Zhou (SMP), Karen Kheruntsyan and Emma Laird (SMP), Alex Khromykh and Andrii Slonchak (SCMB), Peter Kopittke and Ram Dalal (AGFS), and Ramiro Lafuente and Artem Pulemotov (SMP). Congratulations also to staff who are a named CI on grants led by another university.
Congratulations also Jody Hobson-Peters (SCMB) to two additional staff (currently under embargo) for being awarded Economic Accelerator Seed Grants, and to those staff who are involved in facilities that have been supported by the NCRIS scheme.
Events
On behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, I was fortunate to attend a Queensland Future Conversations Series session at Queensland Parliament House on 11 October. It was great to attend with Sagadevan Mundree, the new Head of School for the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, and to be part of conversations with leaders in government and universities on a range of issues focused on ‘Protecting Agriculture Through Innovation and Science’, including strategies to ensuring the next generation of agriculture graduates.
On 20 October, I joined the VC, COO and our Gatton Campus Director Susan Frost for a new staff ‘Welcome to UQ’ event. This was a fantastic opportunity to meet new commencing staff and provide them with an overview of UQ, the Faculty of Science, and the Gatton campus.
Last week, as President of the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS), I chaired the ACDS Annual General Meeting and Conference held at the University of Canberra, with half of the event run in partnership with the Australian Council of Engineering Deans to explore STEM-related issues that are common to Science and Engineering. The event brought leaders from universities across Australia to discuss prominent issues facing the sector, build relationships, and gain insight from thought leaders from across university and government sectors.
And then, on Saturday, I joined the VC for our Alumni Open Day at the Moreton Bay Research Station. With over 160 people in attendance, it was wonderful to see the station in action with alumni fully engaging with lectures, facilities and displays. Enormous thanks to the many people who made this happen, including Mike Noad (SVS), Karen Cheney (SENV), Kevin Townsend, Liz Borey, Martin Wynne, Ben Mos, The UQ Demo Troupe team, the Coral Watch team, the Faculty of Science Engagement and Advancement teams, and all of the speakers.
Other news
On UQ Giving Day, $62,980 was raised to support Marine Solutions, Science Leaders Scholarship, and UQ VETS Animal and Emergency Care. This amount represents 12.5% of the total funds raised across UQ for Faculty of Science research and transformative learning. Matching gifts from the Southern Paradise Foundation, Meta and John Goodman, Emeritus Professor Susan Hamilton and Dr Mervyn Cobcroft helped substantially increase the amount raised. Thank you to all those who were a part of the Giving Day effort.
In other exciting news, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on 2 October for their pioneering work in messenger RNA research. Their discoveries enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and opened the door to many other possible therapeutic interventions based on mRNA.
Have a great November!
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean - Faculty of Science