UQ Research: Creativity and Impact Highlighted

A selection striking images capturing the breadth of research at The University of Queensland are on display at the Global Change Institute to mark this year's Research and Innovation Week (14-18 September).

The images have been shortlisted from the Visions of Research competition, which invited UQ staff and postgraduate students to share compelling visual representations of research across all disciplines, either through traditional photography, scientific and data visualisation or creative interpretation.

Dr Lauren Fothergill, from UQ's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, received the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Award for Best Overall Image for her entry titled Lived Experience Leading Aged Care Research.

The winning photo features Gwenda Darling, a Palawa woman and passionate dementia and aged-care advocate, with her assistance dog Redleigh.

Gwenda is a member of the Lived Experience Advisory Group for UQ's Better Conversations About Care research project, led by Associate Professor Sarah Wallace, and her contribution to the project reflects the values of the research: real voices driving real change in aged care.

The picture was taken at the team's national forum for developing communication guidelines for aged care, where Gwenda presented about her experiences of communication in aged care services.

Professor Antony Moulis, who was a judge for the Visions of Research competition, said Dr Fothergill's photo stood out for its colour and vibrancy, but its real power lay in the connections it captured between people and their experiences of care.

"Great research begins with understanding those connections and finding ways to strengthen them, making this an especially inspiring image," Professor Moulis said.

UQ's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Sue Harrison said the Visions of Research exhibition provided a window into the remarkable research taking place across the University.

"The quality of the entries is exceptional, and the images on display are a wonderful reflection of the creativity and impact of UQ's research community," Professor Harrison said.

"Research and Innovation Week is an opportunity for us to pause and celebrate the people whose ideas, commitment, and leadership make UQ research what it is.

"Research is central to UQ's identity as a university and expands knowledge, challenges assumptions and develops new ways of understanding the world."

Visions of Research award recipients

Best Overall Image

• Lived Experience Leading Aged Care Research: Dr Lauren Fothergill, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Photograph

• Winner

• A devastating day in the office: Dr Devin Rowell, School of the Environment

• Highly commended

• Grammar Written in Timber: Qianbin Xu, School of Architecture, Design and Planning
• Shear Power of Water: Professor Hubert Chanson, School of Civil Engineering
• Sunrise Ride: Dr Gregore Mielke, School of Public Health

Non-photographic image

Winner

• Musings on a Neuron's Birth: Cooper Atterton, School of Biomedical Sciences

Highly commended

• Bloom from PFAS Destruction: Jingxi (Jeff) Li and He Xian, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
• Energy Stores: Dr Igor Bonacossa Pereira, Institute for Molecular Bioscience
• Magmatic Reservoir Sunset: Dr Sri Budhi Utami, School of the Environment
• River of Life: Nur Ainn Adabiah Adibah Mazlan, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences

Creative image

Winner

• Natural product-derived compounds in clinical trials and drug approvals: Samara Jethwa, Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Highly commended

• Negotiating Postcolonial Subjectivities: Aaisha Umt Ur Rashid, School of Communication and Art