Research Infrastructure Queensland Alliance (RIQA)
Queensland is renowned for its strong collaborative culture supported by cutting-edge infrastructure. Accessible, state-of-the art scientific infrastructure is a vital component of modern innovation ecosystems. The 'Team Queensland' approach across our universities and with the Queensland Government supports multidisciplinary collaboration and strong industry partnerships to deliver leading research outcomes and accelerate the development and commercialisation of ideas.
Research Infrastructure Queensland Alliance (RIQA) is a coalition of all the major Queensland universities. The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Griffith University, University of Southern Queensland, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, Southern Cross University, as well as the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation, Translational Research Institute, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, CSIRO, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
RIQA do this by:
- co-ordinating major research infrastructure bids
- identifying future infrastructure opportunities
- providing a complete statewide list of available infrastructure, and
- maximising the effective use of all Queensland's research infrastructure
RIQA Awards – Celebrating Excellence in Enabling Queensland’s Research Future
The RIQA Awards honour the technical professionals whose expertise, innovation, and dedication power the state’s research ecosystem. They recognise the often‑unseen contributions of core facility staff who enable discovery, strengthen capability, and support researchers across Queensland and globally, and who exemplify leadership, creativity, collaboration, and excellence in delivering world‑class research infrastructure as individuals or as a part of a team.
The 2026 RIQA Awards will be announced and presented at CORES 2026 [URL link to be inserted].
There are four (4) categories of RIQA Awards - select the tab below to see the criteria and nomination form.
The RIQA Award for Emerging Leaders / Leadership recognises individuals who demonstrate leadership in research infrastructure from the ground up. This award celebrates those who lead through influence, initiative, inclusiveness and collaboration - especially those not in formal leadership roles.
Criteria
- Demonstrated initiative in leading projects or teams in the delivery of research infrastructure.
- Contribution to diversity, equity and inclusion within research infrastructure facilities and their user groups.
- Evidence of mentoring and/or supporting career development of peers.
- Commitment to continuous learning and the application of new knowedge and skills.
- Nominee may not currently hold a formal leadership position (emerging).
The RIQA Award for Innovation/New technologies/Capabilities celebrates individuals or teams whoo have introduced innovative platforms, techniques, technologies, or processes that significantly enhance research infrastructure delivery, open new career pathways and/or positively impact discovery.
Criteria
- Development, introduction of, or contribution to the advancement of a novel technology, workflow or capability.
- Demonstrated improvement in research infrastructure facility efficiency, accessibility, or scalability.
- Proven creative problem-solving in response to research challenges.
- Evidence of positive impact on research outcomes or career development within facilities and their user groups.
- May include process innovation, skills development or new service models.
The RIQA Award for pan-institutional collaboration highlights outstanding cross-disciplinary or cross-institutional partnerships that exemplify RIQA's mission of fostering Team Queensland collaborations and cooperation in research infrastructure.
Criteria
- Collaboration spans multiple institutions or disciplines.
- Evidence of sustained engagement and mutual contribution enhancing research outcomes.
- Demonstrated impac on research infrastructure, facility delivery or researcher support.
- Contribution to team-based initiatives or shared infrastructure projects.
- Alignment with RIQA's strategic objectives.
The RIQA Award for training excellence/outstanding training delivery acknowledges excellence in the design and delivry of training programs that build researcher capability This includes both facility-led and individual-led initiatives.
Criteria
- High-quality, accessible training programs for researchers.
- Innovative approaches to training delivery (e.g. hybrid, hands-on, peer-led, multi-modal).
- Positive feedback or evaluation from training participants.
- Evidence of improved researcher skills, confidence or outcomes.
- Contribution to long-term researcher development and infrastructure use.