Executive Dean’s Message - November 2023
Dear colleagues,
Thank you all for your exceptional work and dedication in finalising Semester 2 grades, which were officially released to students on Wednesday this week.
Thank you also to everyone who attended our recent All Staff Forum, which included an update on the higher education landscape and an overview of the many activities and achievements happening across UQ, the Faculty of Science and our schools. For those staff who were unable to attend, a copy of the presentation, the school reports, and minutes of the meeting are available online.
Congratulations
Congratulations to all recipients of the Faculty of Science Dean’s Commendation for Excellent Teaching! This commendation reflects the views of our highest-performing students (GPA >6.5) who themselves have been awarded a Dean’s commendation for Academic Excellence. The recipients of these awards are asked to nominate a teacher, including academics, tutors, postgraduates or researchers, who teach in Faculty of Science programs, and whom they believe should be commended for excellent teaching.
This year, 36 staff members were nominated, with six of them being nominated more than once. Highlights include the most highly nominated staff: Barbara Maenhaut (SMP), Masoud Kamgarpour (SMP), Andres Gambini (AGFS), Kazutoshi Yamazaki (SMP), Ramiro Lafuente (SMP) and Yongping Wei (SENV), and the most highly nominated schools: SMP (13 commendations) and SENV (10 commendations). A full list of staff can be found on slide 24 of the Faculty of Science Forum presentation which is available online.
Faculty of Science researchers have again been recognised for the impact of their research, by being named as a 2023 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. Well done to Bhesh Bhandari (AGFS), Maria Chuvochina (SCMB), Richard Fuller (SENV), Phillip Hugenholtz (SCMB), Cath Lovelock (SENV), Hugh Possingham (SENV), Christian Rinke (SCMB), Avril Robertson (SCMB and ADR, Science), and James Watson (SENV). Together, highly cited researchers from the Faculty of Science comprised a quarter of UQ’s Highly cited researchers this year.
I was delighted to see four of our amazing staff honoured at the 2023 UQ Awards for Excellence yesterday afternoon, with Jackie Mergard winning the UQ Award for Excellence in Service, and commendations for Jodi Li (Excellence in Service), Matt Davis (Diversity and Inclusion) and Kelly Cosgrove (Mental and Physical Safety and Wellness). Congratulations to Jackie, Jodi, Matt and Kelly and to the many staff across the Faculty of Science who were nominated.
Congratulations to this year's UQ Excellence in Learning & Teaching Award winners: Gilbert Price (SNV), Carlos Ponce Campuzano (SMP), Liam Timms (SMP) and Millicent Smith (AGFS).
Congratulations also to the winners of a Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning Excellence Award: Millicent Smith (AGFS), Ulrike Kappler (SCMB), John Hall (SENV), Frances Shapter (SVS), Michael Jennings (SMP) and the VetCloud team, as well as the many teachers who were highly commended.
Congratulations to UQ Bachelor of Science student Emerald Gaydon, who has secured a prestigious Australia-at-Large Rhodes Scholarship which will take her one step further in her quest to become an astronaut.
Congratulations to Jonathan Corcoran (SENV and Deputy ADR, Science) who has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Congratulations also to Angela Dean (SENV) and Henry de Marlmanche (SCMB) for winning a UQ EMCR Industry Engagement Award. It was wonderful to see both Angela and Henry receiving their awards from the Vice Chancellor earlier this week.
Congratulations to Professor Martine Maron (SENV) who has been awarded $664,129 through the ARC Linkage Projects scheme and will lead a project to improve how biodiversity is measured and inform better evaluation, restoration and monitoring by developing a data-driven system to describe animal communities.
UQ has been awarded eight Australian Economic Accelerator seed grants under Tranche Two totalling over $1.5 million. A quarter of these were awarded to researchers in the Faculty of Science. Congratulations to Paul Ebert (SENV) and Rachel Stephenson (SCMB) on their success.
UQ has also secured $3.34 million in funding under ARC’s 2024 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme. Well done to Glen Harris (SMP) who was amongst the successful awardees.
Events
I had the pleasure of opening the UQ Thanks You Gatton Event with the VC last Tuesday 21 November. Despite the weather, it was a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the many achievements and contributions that the Gatton staff have made to our amazing University. I trust you all enjoyed this event, or the one held at St Lucia on Friday 24 November.
On Thursday 23 November, it was my pleasure to participate in the launch of ACARCinom, Australia’s first Companion Animal Registry of Cancers. Supported by an ARDC grant, ACARCinom will establish a sustainable, unified, and accessible data asset for use in both human and animal cancer research and the veterinary industry.
I am looking forward to attending the UQ Gatton Past Students Association Annual Reunion Dinner this Saturday, and opening the 38th Australia and New Zealand Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry (ANZSCPB) Conference, also at Gatton, on the following Saturday.
I am also looking forward to attending the opening of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society by the VC and Queensland Chief Scientist next Tuesday.
Other news
I was exceptionally proud to learn that UQ was recognised as #1 in The Australian Financial Review’s inaugural Best Universities Ranking last week. This result is a testament to the dedication of our teaching and student support teams, as well as our world-class research. Congratulations and well done to everyone on this excellent recognition.
As you may have heard, on the evening of Friday 10 November 2023, there were heavy and damaging storms that impacted the Gatton campus. Due to the destructive winds, hail and excess water most of the damage was to our crop and field research areas, with leaks to infrastructure and some damage to glasshouses. We are very fortunate to have outstanding staff in the Faculty of Science and Properties and Facilities to ensure that staff, students and animals were safe, that services were operational so that staff could continue their great work, that exams could proceed, and that the our Veterinary clinics could open. Thanks to Felicity Ray (Acting Faculty Executive Manager) and Susan Frost (Director of the Gatton Campus) for their outstanding leadership in responding to this event.
All the best for the upcoming silly season and looking forward to seeing you at one of the many events over the next week weeks, including Christmas parties and of course the upcoming December graduation ceremonies as a wonderful and uplifting opportunity to share in the joy of our students and their families as they celebrate this important milestone in their lives.
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean - Faculty of Science