Early to Mid-Career Researchers Industry Engagement Awards

Congratulations to the 2024 recipients of the Early to Mid-Career Researcher Industry Engagement Awards!

The UQ EMCR Industry Engagement Awards recognise and celebrate collaborative research partnerships between EMCRs and industry that are making an impact on a national or international scale.

This year, nine projects were recognised from across the University's faculties and institutes, and for the first time, an overall winner was announced at he Research Partnerships and Translation (RPAT) Awards on 3 October 2024 at Customs House.

Each faculty and institute-level recipient receives $2,500, funded by the researcher’s faculty or institute, to help facilitate ongoing academic/industry collaboration.

The overall award winner additionally receives a trip to the 2025 'Science meets Parliament' event in Canberra. This year, two overall winners were selected: Dr Cristyn Meath from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law for "The Infrastructure CoLab", in collaboration with Business Models Inc; and Associate Professor Yaqoot Fatima from the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences for "Let's Yarn about Sleep", in collaboration with Sleep Health Foundation, Mithangkaya Nguli - Young People Ahead Youth & Community Services Indigenous Corporation, and Nagk Min Health.

Speaking at the RPAT Awards, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Mark Blows highlighted the importance of early-to-mid career research at UQ.

"UQ’s EMCR community is the backbone of our research efforts, making up almost half of our academic workforce," he said. "It’s a group that plays a vital role in generating new ideas that develop into significant research projects and sustains our thriving culture of research and innovation."

UQ has a long history of acknowledging EMCRs through development and training opportunities, as well as support for grants and entrepreneurship.

Learn more about the 2024 EMCR Industry Engagement Award recipients below.

Winner	Institute/Faculty	Industry Partner	Project
Dr Cristyn Meath Overall winner	Faculty of Business, Economics & Law	Business Models Inc	The Infastructure CoLab
A/Professor Yaqoot Fatima Overall winner	Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences	Sleep Health Foundation, Mithangkaya Nguli - Young People Ahead Youth & Community Services Indigenous Corporation, and Nagk Min Health	Let's Yarn About Sleep
Dr Stefanie Plage	Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences	Micah Projects and Inclusive Health Partnerships	Health Home Hope – Exploring the relationship of housing instability and health using participant-produced photography
Dr Peter Rankin	Queensland Brain Institute	Australian Education Research Organisation	Linking national data on quality and child development in early childhood education and care to inform policy and practice
Dr Sung-Po Chen	Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)	Boeing	Microbe fighting surface coating for deep space travel
Dr Leslie Roberson	Faculty of Science	Moreton Bay Seafood Industry Association	Collaborating with Moreton Bay’s commercial trawl fishery to identify impacts on threatened biodiversity and develop potential solutions
Dr Mark Allenby	Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (EAIT)	Australian Red Cross Lifeblood	Engineering bioreactors to grow lifesaving cell therapies from blood donations
Dr Laura Jackson	Sustainable Minerals Institute	Geoscience Australia, South Australian Government	Secondary prospectivity of South Australia's mine waste- finding new critical mineral deposits
Dr Bushra Nasir	Faculty of Medicine	Goondir Aboriginal Health Service, University of Southern Queensland	Innovative Digital Indigenous Primary Health Care Delivery Model (ID-INSPIRED).