Team Queensland

Queensland is renowned for its strong collaborative culture supported by cutting-edge infrastructure. Accessible, state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure is a vital component of modern innovation ecosystems. The ‘Team Queensland’ approach across our universities and with the Queensland Government supports multidisciplinary collaboration and strong industry partnerships to deliver leading research outcomes and accelerate the development and commercialisation of ideas.

The Team Queensland’ approach across Queensland’s universities and key Queensland agencies including (Trade and Investment Queensland, Queensland Investment Corporation), Queensland Government departments (State Development and Infrastructure, Queensland Health , Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Department of Tourism and Sport) and our universities helps connect potential investors and research collaborators.

Below are some ‘Team Queensland’ outcomes.

Team Queensland – shared research infrastructure

Research Infrastructure Queensland Alliance

Research Infrastructure Queensland Alliance (RIQA) is a coalition of all the major Queensland universities: The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Griffith University, University of Southern Queensland, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, Southern Cross University, as well as the Translational Research Institute, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, CSIRO, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation.

RIQA aims include:

• coordinating major research infrastructure bids
• identifying future infrastructure opportunities
• providing a complete statewide list of available infrastructure, and
• maximising the effective use of all Queensland’s research infrastructure.

RIQA operates under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Access to and Acquisition of Research Infrastructure in Queensland (PDF, 780.0KB) .

The Alliance structure and the MOU enables the efficient use of research infrastructure, optimisation of the return on investment in research infrastructure and research funding generally, and of promoting greater research collaboration in Queensland.

A common framework provides for equitable and reciprocal access arrangements to the research infrastructure and the associated technical expertise listed in the schedule of the memorandum (PDF, 2.5MB) for all Queensland researchers. Contact Research Infrastructure Queensland Alliance.

Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation

The Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation Ltd (QCIF) represents an effective and efficient vehicle to deliver digital research infrastructure capabilities to the research community of Queensland. Under the Team Queensland approach, all the universities and several other research organisations in the State co-invest as members of QCIF, contributing to maintaining and further advancing a critical mass of digital capabilities, allowing the breadth and depth of resources to be equitably available to both metropolitan and regional institutions. The cooperative approach underpinning QCIF has been, and continues to be, an effective structure for engaging and partnering on several projects under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.

Translational Science Hub

Queensland will become a global mRNA vaccine hub with leading healthcare company Sanofi partnering with the Queensland Government, The University of Queensland and Griffith University to establish the Translational Science Hub utilising laboratories and infrastructure in south east Queensland. When asked in December 2022, why pharmaceutical giant Sanofi chose Queensland to set up a $280 million mRNA hub, their Global Head of Vaccine Research and Development, Dr Toussaint said:

I know for sure we've been seduced from day one by the quality of the scientists that we saw here, but also very much seduced by the one Queensland team approach, meaning everybody looking in the same direction, speaking in the same direction, actually no surprises through the processes, certainly here with the government and with the universities as well. So certainly, a partnership can only work if we all look in the same direction. And this is what we could find here.