UQ Researchers Secure $35m In ARC Funding

Researchers from The University of Queensland have secured almost $35 million through Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowships to advance world-leading research with social, environmental and economic benefits.

The funding will help drive research in areas of national and global significance, including data science, neuroscience, sustainability and advanced technologies.

The result reflects the strength of UQ's mid-career researchers and their contribution to delivering innovative solutions to complex global challenges.

ARC Future Fellowships 2026 round 1 projects:

• Dr Guillermo Badia - Develop new logic systems that help computers reason with numerical, probabilistic and security-rated data, improving AI, database querying and secure data access.

• Dr Valentin Bobrin - Combine nanoscience and 3D printing to create advanced materials that can assemble themselves for use in sustainable metal recovery and quantum technologies.

• Dr Rosemary Cater - Investigate how choline crosses the blood-brain barrier and supports brain development, function and health.

• Associate Professor Cassandra Chapman - Study how social psychological factors influence charitable giving, generating evidence-based guidance for the nonprofit sector.

• Dr Tong Chen - Develop fairer and more transparent online personalisation systems that reduce bias against marginalised user groups.

• Dr Jennifer Deuis : Use venom-derived peptides to understand sodium channel biology and support development of new therapeutics and biodegradable pesticides.

• Associate Professor Taylor Dick - Examine how muscles, tendons and neural control determine movement efficiency to improve mobility and wearable technologies.

• Dr Peter Evans - Create a new philosophical framework for understanding quantum mechanics and objectivity in the quantum era.

• Dr Itia Favre-Bulle - Develop advanced microscopy tools to uncover how the brain's locus coeruleus regulates neural communication.

• Dr Laura Fenlon - Investigate how timing differences in brain development shape evolution and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

• Dr Changkui Fu - Engineer next-generation stealth polymers that avoid unwanted immune responses and improve nanoparticle delivery technologies.

• Dr Sarah Grainger - Create Australia's first longitudinal social-cognitive ageing dataset to understand loneliness and social connection in older adults.

• Dr Cullan Howlett - Map the nearby universe to improve understanding of Dark Energy and the accelerating expansion of the cosmos.

• Dr Merja Joensuu - Explore how fats provide energy to neurons, challenging traditional theories of brain metabolism and ageing.

• Dr Andrew Letten - Study how antimicrobial fluctuations affect microbial communities and antimicrobial resistance evolution.

• Dr Rijia Lin - Develop robust microporous membranes for scalable and sustainable hydrogen technology.

• Dr Haijiao Lu - Create solar-powered photothermal catalysts that convert propane and carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals with lower emissions.

• Dr Ji Lu - Use machine learning and microbiome science to identify chemical combinations that drive antimicrobial resistance.

• Dr Christian Nefzger - Investigate how age-related chromatin changes alter cell identity and contribute to biological ageing.

• Associate Professor Anne Pohlman - Review and document practices in the Indonesian justice system and develop evidence-based tools for accountability and human rights abuse prevention.

• Dr April Reside - Design restoration strategies for agricultural regions that maximise both biodiversity conservation and farm productivity.

• Dr Benjamin Roberts - Use ultra-precise atomic physics techniques to search for dark matter and physics beyond the Standard Model.

• Dr Samuel Robinson - Identify and study defensive toxins from plants and animals to better understand pain and sensory nervous systems.

• Associate Professor Marnee Shay - Explore how educational leadership can strengthen access to high-quality, culturally responsive education for Indigenous students.

• Dr Zoe Staines - Investigate how gig-economy care platforms are changing care quality, safety and working conditions in aged care, disability and childcare sectors.

• Dr Julian Steele - Develop methods to stabilise halide perovskites for future light-emitting and light-detecting semiconductor devices.

• Dr Qiyang Tan - Use metal 3D printing approaches to create ultra-high-strength steels that are cheaper and more sustainable to manufacture.

• Dr T. Thang Vo-Doan - Study how insects navigate difficult terrain to develop biohybrid cyborg insects for search and rescue and environmental monitoring.

• Dr Benjamin Weger - Investigate how metabolism synchronises circadian clocks across organs to coordinate physiological processes.

• Dr Miao Xu - Develop new methods to make data deletion verifiable and trustworthy while preserving analytical value.

• Professor Liu Ye - Combine machine learning and wastewater engineering to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sewage treatment processes.