How Queensland science makes a difference

Queensland science makes a difference in Queensland and globally. We focus on science that is important for ourselves, our region and the planet. Find out more about our science, and come join us in making a difference .

Featured Queensland scientists and research centres

Professor Ian Frazer AC

Faculty of Medicine | The University of Queensland

As a Professor at the University of Queensland, Ian leads a research group working at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) on the immunobiology of epithelial cancers. He is recognised as co-inventor of the technology enabling the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, developed to protect women and men from cervical cancers caused by the HPV and currently used worldwide.

Professor Katherine Andrews

Director | Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD) | Griffith University

The Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery supports a multidisciplinary scientific team working in the areas of chemical biology, cell biology, neurobiology, and drug discovery. As well as being Director of GRIDD, Professor Andrews is respected as a leading researcher in tropical parasitology focusing on the identification of new antimalarial drugs and physiological targets areas in malarial process.

Professor Neena Mitter

Director | Centre for Horticultural Science | Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI)

Professor Mitter has been involved in molecular biology and biotechnology in Australia and India for over 20 years. As Director of The Centre for Horticultural Science, she oversees developing improvements to productivity, profitability and sustainability of horticulture industries. Professor Mitter is also Director, ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection (QAAFI), and the innovator of BioClay for crop protection.

Professor Margaret Mayfield

Head of School | School of Biological Sciences | The University of Queensland

Professor Mayfield is one of Queensland’s most respected in ecology and conservation biology, whose research broadly focuses on understanding how plant communities reassemble, persist and function following human land-use change.

Dr Paul Bertsch

Science Director | Land and Water | CSIRO

Dr Bertsch’s key responsibility as Science Director is ensuring that the science strategy for Land and Water, and CSIRO more broadly, is positioning CSIRO to be globally leading in R&D areas of greatest priority to Australia. The focus of Land and Water is to work with partners to deliver innovative solutions to the complex challenges that arise from the demands and impacts of human activities on the environment.

Professor Peta Ashworth OAM

Chair of Sustainable Energy Futures | School of Chemical Engineering | The University of Queensland

Professor Ashworth is a globally recognised expert in the fields of energy, communication, stakeholder engagement, and technology assessment. For almost two decades, Peta has been researching public attitudes toward climate and energy technologies, including wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), solar photovoltaic, storage and geothermal.

Researchers and facilities featured

• Telehealth facilities in the Townsville University Hospital which works to improve the health of our region through discoveries in nursing/midwifery, allied health and numerous medical specialties.
• The School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences is home to the Molecular Clamp platform, enabling rapid vaccine development work. The clamp can be used on any virus including Ebola, influenza and MERS coronavirus.
• Patheon by Thermo Fischer Scientific is a leading global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), and is a state of the art facility, specialising in clinical and commercial manufacturing, and single use biologics technology.
• Vaxxas is a Queensland biotech startup developing needle-free vaccination and vaccine delivery solutions that safely and cost effectively amplify vaccine efficacy using Nanopatch technology.
• The Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy offers research to help feed the world sustainably and develop cleaner, greener bioproducts.
• Researchers at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology are part of a collaboration to turn Spinifex into a material called nanofibrillated cellulose. The work is being undertaken in work in collaboration with indigenous industry partner the Myuma Group, owned and managed by the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu traditional owners of the Camooweal area.
• The QUT Centre for Robotics is working to allow robots to see, to understand their environment using the sense of vision.
• The Seaweed Research Group is improving environmental, economic and social outcomes through the production of world-class seaweed research and development.
• Quantum dot solar cell that can be made into thin, flexible films and used to generate electricity even in low-light conditions, developed by researchers at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture, and Information Technology (EAIT).
• The Centre for Materials Science, in collaboration with German industrial giant Siemens, is developing superconductor technology to enable dense currents to be carried with virtually no energy loss and could reduce the size and weight of conventional motors by more than 30 per cent.
• Production and export of green hydrogen is under investigation by the Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, in partnership with the Japanese company JXTG.
• The Mount Kent Observatory is at the forefront of planet discoveries working with global partners like NASA, and is Queensland’s only professional research observatory for astronomy teaching and research training.

Finding Queensland’s institutes, facilities, precincts, laboratories and other research organisations is made easy by searching the Queensland science capability directory.