The University of Queensland is committed to fostering and rewarding a positive research culture that upholds the highest standards of integrity, inclusivity, collaboration and innovation in the way our research is conducted, managed and communicated. The UQ Research Culture Awards celebrate the professional and academic staff, across disciplines and career stages, who are making exceptional contributions to enriching our research environment. These awards seek to inspire and encourage a shared commitment to advancing a sustainable and thriving research ecosystem that supports the growth of individuals and teams, empowering them to reach their full potential.
2026 Key dates
- Nominations are closed for 2026
- UQ Research Culture Awards: Wednesday 16 September
Please review the 2026 UQ Research Culture Awards guide (PDF, 140 KB) for full details of eligibility, nomination and selection process, selection criteria and awards categories.
2025 Award recipients
2025 UQ Research Culture Awards recipients with Professor Mark Blows, Provost and Senior Vice-President and Professor Rachel Parker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research
Individual awards
Nicole McDonald
Queensland Digital Health Centre
Nicole leads QDHeC’s Project Management Office, managing and mentoring project managers to ensure high-quality research delivery. By embedding a culture of strategic thinking and continuous improvement, she ensures QDHeC projects adhere to robust governance and management practices and are aligned with UQ best practice principles. Nicole’s leadership creates systematic approaches to project excellence while continuously developing project management capabilities across the research centre.
Associate Professor Ya-Yen Sun
UQ Business School
Dr Sun’s pioneering work on tourism emissions has evidenced the rapid rise in tourism-related emissions and significantly advanced tourism decarbonisation. Through key international partnerships with the United Nations World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission her work has improved emissions measurement and mitigation over the short, medium, and long term and provided governments with data-driven tools and strategies to align tourism development with climate goals.
Professor Zuduo Zheng
School of Civil Engineering
Through his work to promote research reproducibility, Professor Zheng exemplifies UQ’s core values of Truth and Integrity, reinforcing our role as custodians of public trust in research. Zuduo has consistently advanced a culture of openness and integrity by embedding reproducibility into his research, teaching and leadership. In doing so he has helped cultivate a research culture grounded in transparency, rigour and openness – benefiting both the academic community and society.
Team awards
Advancing UQ Maturity in Indigenous Data Sovereignty Practices
School of the Environment and UQ Library Data Management
Through their extensive and selfless work to embed Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov) into UQ’s research culture, this outstanding team are driving change in how we work together with Indigenous partners. Their work in scrutinising our current systems and supporting processes has seeded long-term shifts in how research at UQ can be conducted with greater respect, reciprocity and responsibility, moving UQ closer to a fit-for-purpose research ecosystem that enables Indigenous research.
Inclusive Food System Transformation
School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability and Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
Embedding inclusion, diversity and equity at the heart of its research, this team uses a novel, locally-led approach to centre gender equality in their work to strengthen food security in Indonesia. Through robust capacity building and meaningful engagement with diverse, and often underrepresented stakeholders, they are empowering local communities through data and participatory systems thinking: informing policy dialogue to produce impactful research outcomes.
Mekong Sustainable Rice Initiative
School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability
This outstanding team is transforming Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice sector through an innovative, impact-focused approach to research and development across agronomy, postharvest technologies, value chain analysis and gender equity. Their deep engagement with local partners to co-design and deliver sustainable solutions is driving remarkable change and fostering a more resilient and equitable international research culture at UQ.
Queensland Animal Science Precinct (QASP)
Research Infrastructure
As a trusted research infrastructure partner, QASP underpins countless research projects across multiple UQ faculties by providing outstanding, collaborative support for large animal research. Consistently demonstrating unmatched professionalism, exceeding expectations and fostering excellence, their expert facilitation of the highest standards in animal care and compliance ensures research integrity and upholds UQ’s outstanding reputation.
South Asian Genes and Health in Australia (SAGHA)
Institute for Molecular Bioscience and Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences
The SAGHA team pioneers inclusive research to improve disease prevention in underdiagnosed groups, especially South Asians. Their MRFF-funded genomics cohort study – the first in Australia – advances understanding of genetics and heart disease. This team’s dedication to equity and innovation highlights the vital contributions of diverse communities to science; helping to shape a more inclusive and effective healthcare future.
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN)
Collaborative Research Platform
TERN coordinates nationally distributed instrumentation that supports terrestrial and coastal ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring. The UQ team skillfully builds, maintains and supports infrastructure to enable collaborative research, demonstrating a deep commitment to identifying research community needs. Their governance and coordination activities foster national and international partnerships, creating a collaborative ecosystem that significantly enhances interdisciplinary research culture at UQ.
