Griffith University has been awarded the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transforming Human Origins Research, one of only eight Centres of Excellence funded nationally by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Announced by The Honourable Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, the Centre has secured $35 million in federal funding with an additional $50 million contributed from collaborating partners and universities, bringing the total funding to $85 million.
Led by Professor Michael Petraglia, Director of the internationally renowned Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, the new Centre of Excellence - which is Griffith University's first to be awarded as the lead institution - will spearhead groundbreaking research to reframe the study of human origins.
"Despite its promise, human origins research remains hindered by geographic bias, exclusion of Indigenous and traditional knowledge, and lingering colonial narratives - limiting its potential to tell inclusive, globally representative stories of our origins."
Professor Michael Petraglia
To overcome longstanding biases in human origins research, the Centre is the first of its kind globally, assembling an international consortium of researchers and partners in the field.
The Centre is a collaboration between eight leading Australian universities, led by Griffith University. Partner institutions include The Australian National University, Flinders University, La Trobe University, University of Adelaide, University of Queensland, Monash University, and the University of Western Australia.
It brings together 62 researchers across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and humanities and social sciences (HASS) disciplines, working with 30 national and international partners to integrate Indigenous knowledge systems, traditional knowledge perspectives, and cutting-edge scientific methodologies.
The Centre's inclusive and transdisciplinary approach will see researchers co-design and co-conduct fieldwork with our partners and their communities in understudied regions across Africa, Asia and Australia, revolutionising our understanding of human adaptation and innovation.
The Centre will also support a new generation of transdisciplinary researchers including more than 40 research fellows, 70 PhD and Masters students, and 112 Honours students - with half the opportunities prioritised for Indigenous or those from the Global South.
In addition to formal academic pathways, the Centre will develop co-designed microcredentials and ranger training programs in collaboration with Indigenous communities.
A suite of outreach and engagement initiatives will be delivered in partnership with organisations and communities, including an annual symposium, touring and virtual exhibitions, a seminar series, a transnational white paper policy series, as well as various methods and translational workshops.
Importantly, the Centre will empower Indigenous and traditional knowledge researchers and communities to lead new dialogues that reshape how we understand both past and present human experiences. It will also contribute to public education and inform national and international policies on nature, heritage, and climate resilience.
Griffith researchers Dr Sergei Slussarenko and Dr Nora Tischler from the Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Research Institute were also named as Investigators in The University of New South Wales-led Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Performance and Integration.
