A year in review

What a year!   

2021, like 2020, has been another year of change, transition and enforced patience as we continued to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the many disruptions, our University of Wollongong researchers’ resilience, courage and dedication continues to inspire me.

We can all be enormously proud that with this backdrop of constantly changing restrictions, we have so many significant research achievements to celebrate in 2021.

I’d also like to thank those who supported and advocated for the vaccination effort this year. Without your efforts, this festive season would look very different.

Research Reputation and Partnerships  

• University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) virtual conference was hosted by UOW in March with an emphasis on the UN Sustainable Development Goals showcasing ground-breaking research from UOW and our UGPN partners. 
• UOW ranked 6th in the world in the Times Higher Ed (THE) University Impact Rankings 2021. This ranking assesses universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across three broad areas: research, outreach and stewardship.

 
Equity and Inclusion 

• University of Wollongong was recognised as a national Women in STEM Decadal Plan Champion by the Australian Academy of Science (AAS)
• Prioritising Research Leaders (PERL) Fellowship Scheme was launched providing short-term support for the retention of emerging research leaders. UOW announced 28 research fellows, including 3 Indigenous fellows, through its PERL Fellowship Scheme. 
• Revitalise Research Grant Scheme (RITA) grants were awarded to 25 investigators and 26 teams prioritising early career researchers and interdisciplinary teams impacted by COVID-19. 

Excellence and Leadership

• Dr Nicolas Flament was awarded Anton Hales Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the geosciences by The Australian Academy of Science. 
• Dr Samantha Wade was nominated for NSW Young Woman of the Year and recognised for her research into pancreatic cancer at IHMRI. One of only 30 finalists across five categories. 
• Dr Kara Vine-Perrow was awarded the Career Development Fellowship from the Cancer Institute NSW, allowing the continuation of her research into pancreatic cancer treatment. 
• Associate Professor Danielle Skropeta was chosen as one of 17 new Science & Technology Australia STEM Ambassadors. 
• Aaron Hodges was winner of the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition and represented UOW at the Asia-Pacific Competition 
• The NSW Bushfire Hub team, led by Associate Professor Owen Price and including fellow UOW researchers Dr Hamish Clarke and Dr Katharine Haynes won the NSW Environment, Energy and Science (DPIE) Eureka Prize for Applied Environmental Research. 
• Dr Dana M. Bergstrom from UOW and the Australian Antarctic Division won the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science. 
• Professor Justin Yerbury was a finalist in the UNSW Eureka Prize for Scientific Research; and Senior Professor Sharon Robinson was a finalist in the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science. 
• Senior Professor Geoff Spinks was announced as one of ten global winners in the Engineering and Technology category for Science Breakthrough of the Year 2021 at the Falling Walls Science Summit.
• Professor Kathleen Clapham, was awarded the inaugural Health Services Research Association’s First Nations Health, Wellbeing & HSR Award. 
• Professor Ray Chambers was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. 
• Dr Marlene Longbottom received the Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, a prestigious and highly competitive award and one of only three awarded across the country. 
• Professor Shujun Zhang was the recipient of the NSW Premier’s Prize for Excellence in Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry or Physics
• 2021 Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Research 
   

Research Funding 

• Dr Michelle Voyer from the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS) was awarded ARC funding in partnership with Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council and Djungga Aboriginal Corporation.  
• Professor Victoria Traynor Director of UOW’s Aged Dementia Healthy Education & Research Centre (ADHERe), will lead a project delivering specialised training programs for Registered Nurses under the Aged Care Transition to Practice (ACTTP) initiative. 
• Senior Professor Pascal Perez Director of the SMART Infrastructure Facility, and his team will lead the creation of AIOT-enabled solutions through the multi-partner Telstra-UOW Hub for AIOT Solutions project.  
• Professor Kashem Muttaqi was awarded ARC funding under the Industrial Transformation Research Program for the ARC Training Centre in Energy Technologies for Future Grids. 
• iAccelerate was awarded funding from the Federal and NSW governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLER) to bring the iAccelerate program to 10 bushfire-affected regions. 
• Professor Stacy Carter and her team were awarded funding through NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) scheme to conduct world-leading research to reduce medical overdiagnosis and overtreatment in Australia, and around the world. 
• Professor Peter Kelly and Dr Briony Larance, were awarded NHMRC Centre of Excellence funding to contribute to the Centre of Research Excellence in Alcohol and Other Drug sector capacity building for outcome focused, evidence based and cost-effective care. 
• Professor Neil Andrew and A/Prof Hampus Eriksson were each awarded Australian Centre for International Agricultural Reserarch grants for inclusive community-based fisheries management in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands. 
• Dr Lisanne Spenkelink was awarded an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant  
• Dr Zhi Li was awarded a ARC Future Fellowship for his project 'Iron-based high-temperature topological superconductors’ 
• Distinguished Professor Anatoly Rozenfeld and Dr Chris Degeling were awarded funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council to deliver important discoveries to improve the health of Australians 
• Dr Marlene Longbottom has been awarded an ARC grant as part of the Discovery Indigenous Scheme to lead a research project in collaboration with Professor Kathleen Clapham and researchers from the University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, Central Queensland University and UNSW. 

I hope everyone is able to spend time with loved ones over the festive season, and can enjoy a very well-earned break over the coming weeks. 

Warmest wishes, 

Professor Jennifer L Martin AC FAA 
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)