Eight University of Queensland researchers, including two from QAAFI, have been awarded more than $3.4 million through the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Early Career Industry Fellowships.
The scheme connects academics with industry to drive research collaboration, translation and commercialisation outcomes across a range of industry settings.
The 2023 Early Career Industry Fellowships awarded a total $22.2 million to 50 researchers across Australia, with UQ achieving the equal highest number of researchers awarded.
The successful UQ recipients will each collaborate with an industry partner across a breadth of projects.
UQ recipients:
- Dr Dongxue Zhao – (Gentech Seeds, Airborn Insight) to develop an efficient, cost-effective sensing platform for visualising sorghum root systems in the field, generating new knowledge on the association between root structure and improved yield stability under drought stress.
- Dr Loan Nguyen – (Neogen Australasia) to improve genomic testing tools for fertility traits in beef cattle by identifying sequence variations, including structural variants, that underpin genetic variation in cattle fertility.
- Dr Aimee Brownbill – (Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education) to examine harmful digital marketing practices and improve the accountability of dark alcohol advertising on digital platforms.
- Dr Adnan Sufian – (SMEC Australia) to improve the reliability and robustness of quantifying the risk of internal erosion failure in dams and levees, improving industry confidence in identifying susceptible assets.
- Dr Haoran Duan – (City of Gold Coast, Water Research Australia, Water Corporation, Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority) to develop an accurate and practical approach to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment, supporting the sector on its path to net zero.
- Dr Andrew Ward – (Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority) to upscale wastewater-based algae production enabling increased renewable energy production via anaerobic digestion, for onsite thermal, electrical energy and upgraded liquefied natural gas.
- Dr Azhar Hussain Potia – (Former Origin Greats and Department of Education) to develop strategies to prevent the steep decline in school attendance rates of First Nation students as they transition from primary to secondary school.
- Dr Min Zheng – (Water Corporation) to innovatively use iron salts to realise highly efficient wastewater treatment in regional areas, reducing the inequity of wastewater services across regional Australia.
Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au; +61 429 056 139.
