2025 Chancellor’s Research Fellows
Use the buttons to expand or collapse the section.
-
Project: Metasurfaces for quantum-engineered photonic chip.
Summary: This fellowship project aims to develop a photonic chip for quantum information processing, based on a novel type of material: metasurfaces. Metasurfaces can provide additional degrees of freedom to qubits while maintaining a small footprint, making them an ideal platform for transitioning quantum devices from academia to industry. The project is expected to have broad impact, maximising economic and commercial benefits. By advancing computational power, sectors such as cybersecurity and quantum sensing for mining will benefit significantly. Moreover, it will greatly support Australia's local quantum industry by enhancing expertise and education in quantum nanophotonics.
Sponsor: Professor Milos Toth
-
Project: Quantum-Enhanced Mid-Infrared Imaging with 2D materials.
Summary: This project aims to develop a compact device platform for quantum-enhanced mid-infrared (MIR) imaging, merging quantum photonics, material science, nanotechnology and imaging algorithms. Addressing challenges in low MIR radiation detection efficiency at room temperature, it leverages 2D materials to convert MIR radiation into visible light detectable by standard silicon-based photodetectors. Outcomes include advanced sum frequency generation-based MIR detection mechanisms and nanofabrication techniques, enabling an integrated chip-based, laser-free platform for next-generation MIR imaging systems. Anticipated benefits encompass quantum-enhanced sensing, imaging, and communication across diverse applications in the MIR range.
Sponsor: Professor Igor Aharonovich
-
Project: Bacteriophage lysins: a new approach to antimicrobial therapy for mycobacterial infections.
Summary: This project aims to develop new antimicrobial solutions for mycobacterial infections – a leading cause of deaths from infectious disease worldwide. Existing treatment for drug-resistant mycobacteria requires prolonged antibiotic therapy and is highly ineffective. This project will determine the feasibility of using lysins (proteins produced by viruses) to kill mycobacteria and whether they improve the activity of existing antibiotics. Expected outcomes include advancing our knowledge of combining lysins and antibiotics to improve the treatment of mycobacterial infections and developing a strong candidate for clinical translation. Benefits of this work include the development of new therapies to combat bacterial infections and improve human health.
-
Project: Leveraging a next-generation vegetation model to enhance grassland resilience under climate change.
Summary: This fellowship project aims to develop a process-based vegetation model to assess the resilience of grasslands to climate and environmental change and to support sustainable land management. The model will provide realistic and robust representations of natural and human processes unmatched by existing approaches and leverage field and satellite observations for high predictive capability. It will be used for basic research and as a real-world decision support tool, enabling collaborations with researchers, land managers and industry. Outcomes will benefit sustainable land use, fire management, ecosystem conservation, and carbon storage, with positive impacts for the economy, society and public health.
-
Project: Powering Up, Down Under: An energy history of Australia for a changing climate.
Summary: Rapid decarbonization of energy systems is an absolute necessity – yet political debate and policy development concerning this task is strikingly ahistorical. How and why have energy systems changed in the past? And in what ways might an interdisciplinary study of energy history in Australia – bringing together history and political economy in novel ways – recast this contemporary challenge? By understanding how and why energy use has shifted in the past, we can better understand the forces at work in driving and obstructing this crucial work today. With this knowledge, we might better craft policy and build communities around new energies.
Sponsor: Professor Anna Clark
-
Project: Australian nuclear stewardship of radioactive wastes: From ANSTO to AUKUS.
Summary: This project aims to evaluate and transform Australian nuclear stewardship of radioactive wastes consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which demands “free, prior and informed consent”. Co-designed with the First Nations-led project partner, the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (est. 1997), the project investigates international best practice in siting both low- and high-level radioactive waste repositories and generates new knowledge on a time-critical debate in environmental and Indigenous-Settler relations using innovative decolonising methodologies such as Indigenous-led scoping studies, self-determined community outputs, and agonistic dialogue. This should provide significant benefits to communities most affected by, or at risk of, radioactive waste siting processes.
Sponsor: Professor James Goodman
-
Project: Uncovering the Developments of Smaller-Scale Chinese Platforms and Digital Migrant Creators.
Summary: Although current research into global digital platforms focuses mainly on Silicon Valley giants, smaller-scale Chinese platforms are becoming increasingly influential – politically, commercially and culturally. Continuing to ignore these platforms therefore creates significant economic and social risks. To mitigate them, this project aims to provide a nuanced, in-depth, micro-level analysis of several such smaller-scale platforms and their creators. In doing so, it will yield insights that will benefit not only future researchers, but also Australian companies targeting Chinese customers, and policymakers aiming to position Australia as a key global digital economy player, as envisioned in the government’s Digital Economy Strategy 2030.
Sponsor: Professor Anna Cristina Pertierra
Previous Chancellor’s Research Fellows
Use the buttons to expand or collapse the section.
-
Dr Zoe Xirocostas
Project: Pliable plants: How biogeography shapes plants’ adaptive potential to climate change.
Sponsor: Associate Professor Brad Murray
Read more about Zoe Xirocostas.
Dr Ariel Pezner
Project: Drivers of low oxygen tolerance in extreme reef habitats over space and time.
Sponsor: Dr Emma Camp
Dr Daniel Mediati
Project: Programmable RNA-based antibiotics for urosepsis: A translational RNA biology approach.
Sponsor: Professor Garry Myers
Read more about Daniel Mediati.
Dr Lizhao Song
Project: Adaptive terahertz antenna systems for inter-satellite communications.
Sponsor: Distinguished Professor Yingjie Jay Guo
Dr Matt Johansen
Project: Investigating the host-pathogen interface of Mycobacterium abscessus infection in cystic fibrosis.
Sponsor: Professor Philip Hansbro
Read more about Matt Johansen.
Dr Meg Foster
Project: Law and Justice? Social attitudes towards crime and policing from Australia’s past.
Sponsor: Professor Anna Clark
Dr Kumar Biswajit Debnath
Project: Data-driven Bio-fabricated carbon-negative building skin for passive COOLing (BioCOOL).
Sponsor: Associate Professor Dr Nimish Biloria
Read more about Kumar Biswajit Debnath.
Dr Guochen Bao
Project: Conquering concentration quenching for efficient absorption of lanthanide nanocrystals.
Sponsor: Professor Philip Gale
Dr Aaqil Rifai
Project: 3D-bioprinted microtissues as living building blocks to regenerate cartilage (PrintCARTILAGE).
Sponsor: Professor Joanne Tipper
Dr Xuan Li
Project: A novel biotechnology for eliminating harmful wastewater-induced emissions from sewers.
Sponsor: Professor Qilin Wang
-
Yougwoo Choo
Project: Next-generation membrane: Highly selective rare-earth element recovery from mining wastewater
Supervisor: Dr Gayathri Naidu
Mariana de Souza e Sousa
Project: Building multidisciplinary capacity to deliver quality cancer cachexia care
Supervisor: Professor David Currow
Read more about Mariana de Souza e Sousa.
Yuhan Huang
Project: Improving urban air quality by reducing street canyon effect on pollution dispersion
Supervisor: Professor John Zhou
Michael Kendig
Project: Characterising the effects of unhealthy diets on the brain, behaviour, and gut microbiota
Supervisor: Dr Laura Bradfield
Read more about Michael Kendig.
Mehran Kianinia
Project: Quantum memory with two dimensional materials
Supervisor: Professor Igor Aharonovich
Read more about Mehran Kianinia.
Yan Liao
Project: Divide and conquer: deciphering cell division in ancestral organisms and its implications in biology
Supervisor: Associate Professor Iain Duggin
Laurence Don Wai Luu
Project: Elucidating chlamydia host-pathogen interactions through systems biology and a new organoid model
Supervisor: Associate Professor Willa Huston
Read more about Laurence Don Wai Luu.
Asif Mahmood
Project: Develop high-energy sodium-metal batteries for renewable energy storage
Supervisor: Professor Guoxiu Wang
Jen Matthews
Project: Good Fats of the Reef: Unlocking the Role of Lipids in Coral Resilience
Supervisor: Professor David Suggett
Luong Nguyen
Project: High rate CO2 capture and wastewater treatment by a novel microalgal photobioreactor
Supervisor: Professor Long Nghiem
Julia Scott-Stevenson
Project: Envisaging and enacting just climate futures through immersive media
Supervisor: Professor James Goodman
-
Andrew Care
Faculty of Science
Project: “Unlocking the Cage”: Engineering protein nanocages for next-generation nanoparticle-based therapies.Supervisor: Professor Stella Valenzuela
Brigitte Sommer
Project: Should I stay or should I go? Predicting ecological shifts in the subtropics.
Supervisor: Professor David Booth
Read more about Brigitte Sommer.
Amir Razmjou
Project: Design and development of novel lithium-ion selective nanostructured membrane for lithium recovery.
Supervisor: Professor Hokyong Shon
Alexandra Grey
Project: New legal directions in Australian government support for Aboriginal language renewal.
Supervisor: Professor Ana Vrdoljak
Read more about Alexandra Grey.
Elliot Scanes
Project: Are microbiomes the key to unlocking oyster disease in a rapidly changing climate?
Supervisor: Professor Justin Seymour
-
Paul Byron
Project: LGBTIQ+ young people, mental health and digital peer support
Supervisor: Dr James Meese
Jaesung (Peter) Choi
Project: Sex hormone and microbiome regulation of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and stroke
Supervisor: Professor Philip Hansbro
Emma Letizia Jones
Project: Built by the book: The global impact of the trade catalogue in nineteenth century Australia
Supervisor: Professor Charles Rice
Nathan Kettlewell
Project: Risk attitudes and economic wellbeing
Supervisor: Professor Lionel Page
Read more about Nathan Kettlewell.
Stephen Northey
Institute for Sustainable Futures
Project: Battery industries and sustainable development: transforming metal supply chains
Supervisor: Professor Damien Guirco
Read more about Stephen Northey.
Dong Han (Michael) Seo
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Next generation, advanced material based membrane for battery driven, portable water desalination
Supervisor: Professor Hokyong Shon
Bill Söderström
Project: Advanced technology development: an out-of-the-box approach to fight against antimicrobial resistance
Supervisor: Professor Liz Harry
Read more about Bill Söderström.
Cait Storr
Project: Regulating 'new' mining in the international seabed and space
Supervisor: Professor Shaunnagh Dorsett
Javad Tavakoli
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Novel engineering solutions to cure back pain: Engineering a novel 3D tissue for disc regeneration
Supervisor: Professor Joanne Tipper
Qiaoyun Xie
Project: Forecasting pollen in the scenario of climate change to mitigate health threats
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Alfredo Huete
-
Chelsea Barnett
Project: Toxic Masculinity, or Just Misunderstood? A History of Single Men in Australia, 1945–2018
Supervisor: Associate Professor Anna Clark
Emma Camp
Project: Extremes Down Under: Diagnosing coral resilience to future reef climates
Supervisor: Associate Professor David Suggett
Juan Pablo Dehollain
Project: Optimising near-term quantum simulators with superconducting circuits by adding a touch of chaos
Supervisor: Dr Nathan Langford
Evelyne Deplazes
Project: Cell membrane-disrupting peptides to combat multi-drug resistance in cancer and infections
Supervisor: Dr Charles Cranfield
Read more about Evelyne Deplazes.
Sejeong Kim
Project: Next-generation nanophotonics: Engineering light-matter interactions in two dimensions
Supervisor: Professor Igor Aharonovich
Wei Lin
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Integrated Wireless Power Transfer and Communication Systems for Emerging IoT/IoE Applications
Supervisor: Professor Richard Ziolkowski
Laura Smith-Khan
Project: Communicating migration law and procedures across cultures
Supervisor: Dr Trish Luker
Trong Toan Tran
Project: Scalable telecom cybersecurity architecture
Supervisor: Dr Alexander Solntsev
Read more about Trong Toan Tran.
Fan Wang
Project: Developing new tools for super-resolution tracking cells’ talk within a mini organ
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin
-
Nilesh Bokil
Project: Regulating microRNA as a novel treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases
Supervisor: Dr Bernadette Saunders
Barbara Brito Rodriguez
Project: Genomic epidemiology of known and novel viral livestock diseases
Supervisor: Associate Professor Aaron Darling
Gayathri Danasamy
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Energy-efficient desalinisation for Australia: In-situ biofouling index and carbon storage
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Saravanamuth Vigneswaran
Read more about Gayathri Danasamy.
Richard de Abreu Lourenco
Project: Value of choice in cancer care
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Rosalie Viney
Read more about Richard de Abreu Lourenco.
Alvaro Garcia
Project: Lipophilic cardiovascular drug disruption of protein/phospholipid membrane interactions
Supervisor: Dr Charles Cranfield
Rachel Grove
Project: Understanding autism in girls and women
Supervisor: Dr John McAloon
Mohammad Hamidian
Project: Fundamental mechanisms involved in antibiotic resistance and virulence of Acinetobacter baumannii
Supervisor: Associate Professor Cynthia Whitchurch
Peter Irga
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Can green infrastructure technology mitigate the impending air quality crisis in Australia?
Supervisor: Professor John Zhou
Carolyne Njue
Project: Increasing access to Maternal and Child Health Services for African refugees
Supervisor: Associate Professor Angela Dawson
Alana Piper
Project: Digitising crime histories: Perceptions and realities of criminality in Australia
Supervisor: Dr Tamson Pietsch
Maiken Ueland
Project: Search and recovery of human remains and associated evidence in mass burials
Supervisor: Professor Shari Forbes
Read more about Maiken Ueland.
Zaiquan Xu
Project: Engineering “white graphene” for efficient, on-chip quantum light emitting diodes
Supervisor: Professor Milos Toth
Ting Zhang
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Project: Ultra-sensitive Wideband Mm-wave HTS Receiver for Future Spectrum Sensing
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Yingjie Jay Guo
Project: Upconversion nanoscale thermometry: enabling high brightness in a thermal field
Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin