Government announces seven UOW academics as Future Fellows

The Federal Government has announced the outcomes of a new scheme, ARC (Australian Research Council) Future Fellowships to promote research in areas of critical national importance.

The aim is to give outstanding researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia so that the country can attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers. The Minister for Innovation, Industry Science and Research Senator Kim Carr said at present many highly qualified mid-career researchers choose to work overseas to further their careers due to lack of opportunities in Australia.

Over a five-year period (2009-2013), ARC Future Fellowships will offer four-year fellowships of up to $140,000 a year to 1,000 outstanding Australian and international researchers in the middle of their career. In addition, each researcher’s administering organisation will receive funding of up to $50,000 a year to support related infrastructure, equipment, travel and relocation costs.

In all, the Federal Government has committed $844 million. UOW has received $5.1 million in this inaugural round achieving more than 30 per cent success rate for applicants in comparison to the overall national success rate of 20.5 per cent.

“We are absolutely delighted to have so many academics from UOW included in this inaugural Future Fellowship program,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Judy Raper, said.

The successful recipients from the University of Wollongong are:[* Denotes staff about to join UOW]

    • Dr Zhenxiang Cheng, Manipulation of Spin by Electric Field

    • Associate Professor Brett Garner, Targeting brain lipid homeostasis to treat Alzheimer's disease*

    • Associate Professor Chris Gibson, Crisis and change: cultural-economic research on the adaptability and sustainability of Australian households

    • Dr Marc in het Panhuis, Soft carbon nanotube materials

    • Professor Vera Mackie, From Human Rights to Human Security: Changing Paradigms for Dealing with Inequality in the Asia-Pacific Region*

    • Dr Aaron Oakley, Fragment Based Screening for new Antibiotics by Protein X-Ray Crystallography *

    • Professor Willy Susilo, Secure and Efficient Fair Exchange Protocols

Last reviewed: 14 September, 2009