51²è¹Ý

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 51²è¹Ý 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  

•  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 

• 51²è¹Ý 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

•  was awarded Anton Hales Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the geosciences by The Australian Academy of Science. 
•  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. 
•  was awarded the Career Development Fellowship from the Cancer Institute NSW, allowing the continuation of her research into pancreatic cancer treatment. 
•  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  and including fellow UOW researchers  and  won the NSW Environment, Energy and Science (DPIE) Eureka Prize for Applied Environmental Research. 
•  from UOW and the Australian Antarctic Division won the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science. 
•  was a finalist in the UNSW Eureka Prize for Scientific Research; and  was a finalist in the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science. 
•  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.
• , was awarded the inaugural Health Services Research Association’s First Nations Health, Wellbeing & HSR Award. 
•  was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. 
•  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. 
•  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 

•  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.  
•  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. 
•  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.  
•  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. 
•  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. 
•  and , 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. 
•  and  were each awarded Australian Centre for International Agricultural Reserarch grants for inclusive community-based fisheries management in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands. 
•  was awarded an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant  
•  was awarded a ARC Future Fellowship for his project 'Iron-based high-temperature topological superconductors’ 
•  and  were awarded funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council to deliver important discoveries to improve the health of Australians 
•  has been awarded an ARC grant as part of the Discovery Indigenous Scheme to lead a research project in collaboration with  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)