2025 Chancellor's Research Fellows
Dr Anastasiia Zalogina, Faculty of Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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
Dr Chaohao Chen, Faculty of Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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
Dr Daniel Enosi Tuipulotu, Faculty of Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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.
Sponsor: Associate Professor Bernadette Saunders
Dr Juergen Knauer, Faculty of Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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.
Sponsor: Distinguished Professor Alfredo Huete
Dr Matthew Ryan, Faculty of Arts and Social Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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
Dr N.A.J. ‘Nico’ Taylor, Faculty of Arts and Social Science
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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
Dr Tingting Liu, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
Chancellor's Research Fellow 2025
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
2024 Chancellor's Research Fellows
| Dr Zoe Xirocostas Project: Pliable plants: How biogeography shapes plants’ adaptive potential to climate change. Sponsor: Associate Professor Brad Murray |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
2022 Chancellor's Research Fellows
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Mehran Kianinia Project: Quantum memory with two dimensional materials Supervisor: Professor Igor Aharonovich |
| Yan Liao Project: Divide and conquer: deciphering cell division in ancestral organisms and its implications in biology Supervisor: A/Professor Iain Duggin |
| Laurence Don Wai Luu Project: Elucidating chlamydia host-pathogen interactions through systems biology and a new organoid model Supervisor: A/Professor Willa Huston |
| Asif Mahmood Project: Develop high-energy sodium-metal batteries for renewable energy storage Supervisor: Professor Guoxiu Wang |
| Jennifer 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 |
2021 Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellows
| Andrew Care Supervisor: Stella Valenzuela |
| Brigitte Sommer Supervisor: Professor David Booth |
| Amir Razmjou Supervisor: Professor Hokyong Shon |
| Alexandria Grey Supervisor: Ana Vrdoljak |
| Elliot Scanes Supervisor: Professor Justin Seymour |
2020 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows
| Paul Byron (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) Project: LGBTIQ+ young people, mental health and digital peer support Supervisor: Dr James Meese |
| Jaesung (Peter) Choi (Faculty of Science) Project: Sex hormone and microbiome regulation of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and stroke Supervisor: Professor Philip Hansbro |
| Emma Letizia Jones (Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building) Project: Built by the book: The global impact of the trade catalogue in nineteenth century Australia Supervisor: Professor Charles Rice |
| Nathan Kettlewell (UTS Business School) Project: Risk attitudes and economic wellbeing Supervisor: Professor Lionel Page |
| Stephen Northey (Institute for Sustainable Futures) Project: Battery industries and sustainable development: transforming metal supply chains Supervisor: Professor Damien Guirco |
| Dong Han (Michael) Seo (Faculty of Engineering and IT) Project: Next generation, advanced material based membrane for battery driven, portable water desalination Supervisor: Professor Hokyong Shon |
| Bill Söderström (Faculty of Science) Project: Advanced technology development: an out-of-the-box approach to fight against antimicrobial resistance Supervisor: Professor Liz Harry |
| Cait Storr (Faculty of Law) Project: Regulating 'new' mining in the international seabed and space Supervisor: Professor Shaunnagh Dorsett |
| Javad Tavakoli (Faculty of Engineering and IT) Project: Novel engineering solutions to cure back pain: Engineering a novel 3D tissue for disc regeneration Supervisor: Professor Joanne Tipper |
| Qiaoyun Xie (Faculty of Science) Project: Forecasting pollen in the scenario of climate change to mitigate health threats Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Alfredo Huete |
Videos
Four of our Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows offer insights into their research:
- Arian Wallach, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Faculty of Science
- Tim Foster, Institute for Sustainable Futures
- Romy Lauche, Australian Research Consortium in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM)
- Jean Baptiste-Raina, Climate Change Cluster, Faculty of Science
2019 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows
| Chelsea Barnett Project: Toxic Masculinity, or Just Misunderstood? A History of Single Men in Australia, 1945—2018 Supervised by Associate Professor Anna Clark |
| Emma Camp Project: Extremes Down Under: Diagnosing coral resilience to future reef climates Supervised by Associate Professor David Suggett |
| Juan Pablo Dehollain Project: Optimising near-term quantum simulators with superconducting circuits by adding a touch of chaos Supervised by Dr Nathan Langford |
| Evelyne Deplazes Project: Cell membrane-disrupting peptides to combat multi-drug resistance in cancer and infections Supervised by Dr Charles Cranfield |
| Sejeong Kim Project: Next-generation nanophotonics: Engineering light-matter interactions in two dimensions Supervised by Professor Igor Aharonovich |
| Wei Lin Project: Integrated Wireless Power Transfer and Communication Systems for Emerging IoT/IoE Applications Supervised by Professor Richard Ziolkowski |
| Laura Smith-Khan Project: Communicating migration law and procedures across cultures Supervised by Dr Trish Luker |
| Trong Toan Tran Project: Scalable telecom cybersecurity architecture Supervised by Dr Alexander Solntsev |
| Fan Wang Project: Developing new tools for super-resolution tracking cells’ talk within a mini organ Supervised by Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin |
2018 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Congratulations to the 2018 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows (CPDRF):
- Nilesh Bokil (Science)
Regulating microRNA as a novel treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases
Supervised by Dr Bernadette Saunders
- Barbara Brito Rodriguez (Science)
Genomic epidemiology of known and novel viral livestock diseases
Supervised by Associate Professor Aaron Darling
- Gayathri Danasamy (Engineering and IT)
Energy-efficient desalinisation for Australia: In-situ biofouling index and carbon storage
Supervised by Distinguished Professor Saravanamuth Vigneswaran
- Richard de Abreu Lourenco (Business)
Value of choice in Cancer care
Supervised by Distinguished Professor Rosalie Viney
- Alvaro Garcia (Science)
Lipophilic cardiovascular drug disruption of protein/phospholipid membrane interactions
Supervised by Dr Charles Cranfield
- Rachel Grove (Graduate School of Health)
Understanding autism in girls and women
Supervised by Dr John McAloon
- Mohammad Hamidian (Science)
Fundamental mechanisms involved in antibiotic resistance and virulence of Acinetobacter baumannii
Supervised by A/Prof Cynthia Whitchurch
- Peter Irga (Engineering and IT)
Can green infrastructure technology mitigate the impending air quality crisis in Australia?
Supervised by Professor John Zhou
- Carolyne Njue (Health)
Increasing access to Maternal and Child Health Services for African refugees
Supervised by Associate Professor Angela Dawson
- Alana Piper (Arts and Social Sciences)
Digitising crime histories: Perceptions and realities of criminality in Australia
Supervised by Dr Tamson Pietsch
- Maiken Ueland (Science)
Search and recovery of human remains and associated evidence in mass burials
Supervised by Professor Shari Forbes
- Zaiquan Xu (Science)
Engineering “white graphene” for efficient, on-chip quantum light emitting diodes
Supervised by Professor Milos Toth
- Ting Zhang (Engineering and IT)
Ultra-sensitive Wideband Mm-wave HTS Receiver for Future Spectrum Sensing
Supervised by Distinguished Professor Yingjie Jay Guo
- Jiajia Zhou (Science)
Upconversion nanoscale thermometry: enabling high brightness in a thermal field
Supervised by Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin
Past Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellows
Read more about our past Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellows, including the full list of successful applicants for the past five years:
- 2017: Fellowship scheme brings leading researchers to UTS
- 2016: Fellowships bring outstanding researchers to UTS in 2015
- 2015: Record number of fellowships to back UTS young researchers in 2014
- 2014: Postdoctoral fellowships bring best and brightest in 2013
- 2013: UTS boosts support for young researchers