A year in review

UOW Research and Innovation

Welcome to a year in review: 2022


As 2022 draws to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the great achievements in the Research and Innovation space this year. UOW continues to contribute strongly towards the University's sustainable future goals.

Firstly, I want to thank you for a great year. 2022 has been both challenging and fruitful for the University. We have overcome significant health and financial challenges and have emerged through a global pandemic with our 2023 enrolments looking strong.

It seems fitting that we will come together in 2023 under the new title of Research and Sustainable Futures and I very much look forward to what the next year brings.

Research Reputation 

  • UOW academics named as the best in Australia in 14 fields of research in The Australian newspaper's annual list.
  • Strong rankings performance based on excellence in teaching and research across multiple subject areas.
  • UOW's commitment to sustainability was recognised through its ranking =70th in the world in the Times Higher Ed (THE) University Impact Rankings 2022 and 85th Globally in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. 

Equity and Inclusion 

  • VC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Transformation funding of $51,718.92 was awarded to 12 successful applications. Watch Vice-Chancellor, Professor Patricia M. Davidson discuss her commitment to equality, diversity ad inclusion at UOW.

Excellence and Leadership

Research Funding 

  • Early Start Research received $1.2 million in Prevention Research Support Program funding from the NSW Ministry of Health.
  • Associate Professor Shane Ellis was awarded $1.85 million funding by the prestigious international Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Research Grant for a research project investigating the role of lipids (fats) in ageing and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.
  • Four mid-career researchers, Professor Karen Charlton, Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, Associate Professor Fuchun Guo and Associate Professor Jiakun Liu were awarded 2022 Future Fellowships, and close to $4 million in total funding, under the Australian Research Council (ARC) funding scheme.
  • Three early-career researchers, Dr Elyse Stanes, Dr Anna Farmery, and Dr Yannan Li, were announced as recipients of the ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) scheme, receiving $1.3 million in funding across three projects.
  • An ARC Training Centre for Innovative Composites for the Future of Sustainable Mining Equipment worth $5 million was established at UOW led by Distinguished Professor Zhengyi Jiang.
  • Excellent outcomes in the ARC Discovery Project scheme with 14 visionary UOW projects awarded more than $6 million.
  • Three UOW led projects awarded $1.2 million in ARC Linkage Project grants. 
  • Major commercial contracts won totaling $29 million, including a $3.5 million protein research partnership by Molecular Horizons with Protein Evolution INC, a young start-up company based in the United States.
  • Professor Lezanne Ooi and Associate Professor Shane Ellis awarded $1.3 million from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Shake It Up Australia Foundation (SIUAF) for stem cell research into Parkinson's disease.
  • Professor Mirella Dottori was awarded a US$250,000 grant from Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), to advance therapies for a rare neurodegenerative disease, Friedreich's ataxia.
  • Launch of the iAccelerate Rise Program in May. iAccelerate was last year awarded $999,570 from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLER) to bring the progam to 10-bushfire-affected regions, including four Local Aboriginal Land Council areas. The initiative will deliver education programs to support 90 entrepreneurs and business owners in bushfire-affected areas to create 300 new jobs.
  • Internal grants such as AeGIS, EMCR Enabling, Open Access High Impact, Partnerships, Global Small Research were awarded to over 130 UOW researchers and projects valued inexcess of $1 million.

 

Thank you all for your commitment, collegiality and support over the past year.

Please take the time to switch off and recharge over the break.

I hope the festive season and New Year will be filled with peace, rest and happiness for you and your loved ones. 

Warmest wishes, 

Professor David Currow FAHMS

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Sustainable Futures)

Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)