UTS celebrates research achievements

The Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Research Excellence acknowledge the exceptional contribution of UTS researchers to shape our world and highlight the breadth and depth their work.

The award ceremony was hosted by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Kate McGrath, who commended the finalists and winners across three medal and five award categories.

"The commitment, enthusiasm and remarkable contributions of our researchers is making a difference in their chosen fields. Each of them reflect the university commitment to research excellence, innovation and impact," she says.

The winners of the three medals for research excellence were:

Chancellor’s Medal for Research Excellence

Sustained research excellence at the highest level

Professor Simon Darcy (UTS Business School) for his work on the social participation of marginalised groups, disability citizenship and developing transformative solutions to discriminatory practices.

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A great deal of our research revolves  around the international convention on the rights of Persons with disabilities, which  falls into the Disability Discrimination Act, the NDIS, and of course the outcomes, of the most recent Disability Royal Commission. Its important work that you’ve got a baseline,  so that you know whether you’re improving being appropriate effective and efficient So  that you’re bringing about social change.

UTS Medal for Research and Teaching Integration

Outstanding research and teaching at UTS

Dr Maiken Ueland (Faculty of Science) for her work in forensic taphonomy, where she uses analytical, biochemical and spectroscopic techniques to conduct human post-mortem investigations.

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My research is focusing on developing  new technology to locate missing persons, and the way we're going about that is  we've developed electronic nose technology, copying what the dogs do. So, we're chemically  sniffing the air and trying to pick up where  the victims are. And in the future, what  I'm imagining is having a whole range of these electronic noses on drones, so we  know where to focus our search efforts.

UTS Medal Research Impact 

Considerable impact outside the academic community

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley (Faculty of Health) for her work in enhancing communication and swallowing functions through innovative technologies and methods, particularly for individuals with disabilities.

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My research grew out of problems  in the sector relating to the support of people with communication  difficulty. In particular,  people with swallowing difficulty face a big  problem with the risk of choking. We need to do more work around our 3D food printing to  make that more accessible, and to see if we can improve the variety of texture-modified  foods for people with swallowing difficulty.

Early Career Research Excellence Award

Research conducted by an individual early career researcher or a team of ECRs.

Dr Amy Freeman-Sanderson (Faculty of Health)

Research Excellence through Collaboration or Partnership Award

Successful research partnerships or collaborations resulting in significant outcomes, including those in creative industries or practices

IDEAL Hub: Professor Stella Valenzuela, Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin, Professor Shanlin Fu, Associate Professor Charles Cranfield, Dr Gungun Lin, Dr Andrew Care and Dr Olga Shimoni (Faculty of Science)

Research Leadership and Development Award

Individual researcher who is on a path to becoming a research leader

Associate Professor JiaJia Zhou (Faculty of Science)

Supervisor of the Year Award

Exceptional research supervisor who supports the achievements and development of Higher Degree Research candidates

Professor Shoudong Huang (Faculty of Engineering and IT)

Research Management and Development (Professional Staff) Award

Support service that has boosted research capability and/or development

Sarah Angus (Office of the Vice-President Advancement)

Nominations for the 2024 Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Research Excellence  will open to UTS staff in late June.