UQ researchers top nation for ARC Industry Fellowships

Funding awarded through the Early Career Industry Fellowships, Mid-Career Industry Fellowships and Industry Laureate Fellowships will support research aligned to national priorities including climate change, health, agriculture, and advanced technologies.  

This investment will further strengthen UQ’s industry partnerships which are essential for translating research into practical solutions that benefit Australian industries. 

Industry Laureate Fellowships 2025 round 1: 

• Professor Karen McNamara – identify strategies for climate-related loss in Pacific Island communities and guide policies to support regional stability and wellbeing. 

• Professor John Zhu – improve efficiency of water electrolysis technologies to produce clean hydrogen using renewable energy and enable industry to be more competitive. 

View full list of Industry Laureate Fellowships projects.

Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2025 round 1: 

• Associate Professor Jingwei Hou – create a cost-effective, eco-friendly way to recycle solar panels, helping recover materials, reduce waste, and support Australia’s clean energy and recycling goals. 

• Associate Professor Bin Luo – develop parts for clean energy batteries (iron redox flow batteries) using recycled materials, to boost local manufacturing and support renewable energy storage. 

• Professor Esteban Marcellin – develop a microbial system for gas fermentation to create animal feed, to cut emissions, support aquaculture, and help Australia reach net-zero targets. 

• Dr Anne Sawyer – create safe, environmentally-friendly biopesticides to protect crops and native plants from disease, reducing chemical use and boosting Australian agriculture and biodiversity.

• Dr Hannah Siddle – develop fast, cost-effective tests to detect chemical resistance in cattle ticks, helping protect Australia’s beef industry and ensure sustainable tick control.&nbsp

• Associate Professor Sally Staton – understand how the location and design of early childhood education centres affect learning and development, to create evidence-based guidelines that support better environments for young children in Australia. 

• Dr Cheng Zhang – create new magnetic particle technology to remove harmful “forever chemicals”, known as PFAS, from polluted water, helping keep Australia’s environment and people safe. 

View full list of Mid-Career Industry Fellowship projects.

Early Career Industry Fellowships 2025 round 1: 

• Dr Peng Chen – develop eco-friendly solar cells from the mineral perovskite as a sustainable and battery-free alternative for modern devices.

• Dr Jiuling Li – bridge knowledge and technology gaps in quantifying and mitigating sewer methane emissions and develop standardised guidelines for reporting city-wide emissions from sewer systems. 

• Dr Chris O'Brien – boost Australia’s vanilla industry by developing high-quality, disease-resistant vanilla cultivars and advanced propagation technologies for indoor farming. 

• Dr Rose-Marie Stambe – co-design a Research Literacy and Coordinated Care Toolkit to improve services for vulnerable young people. 

• Dr Alice Twomey – understand how mangroves increase elevation and recover after storms to support decision-making in coastal conservation and management  

• Dr Zijian Wang – enhance safety and efficiency on industrial sites by developing an AI model to manage road infrastructure and compliance monitoring.  

• Dr Zhiyao Wang – develop a novel acidic sludge treatment technology for water utilities to reduce greenhouse gases and odour emissions from sewage sludge. 

View full list of Early Career Industry Fellowship projects.