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Dr Stephen Sanderson is an expert in nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation, with a particular interest in fundamental theory and method development. His current research focuses on developing new methods based in response theory for efficient calculation of nonequilibrium steady state properties, with applications in fluid dynamics, energy materials, heat flow, and quantum systems, among others. Previously, Stephen worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the group of Prof. Debra Bernhardt, where his focus was on nonequilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics theory, and improving capacity for molecular dynamics simulation of fluids. He holds undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and physics and a PhD in physics from James Cook University, during which he developed and applied kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations of charge and exciton dynamics coupled with atomistic molecular dynamics deposition simulations to establish a better understanding of structure-property relationships in organic semiconductors, particularly organic light-emitting diodes.

Senior Research Fellow at IMB, University of Queensland in the field of novel antimicrobial discovery, mode of action studies and development. Studying the use of antibiotic-fluorescent probes for detetcing bacterial infections and resistance development.

Previously, a postdoctoral researcher at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University Oxford. Studying dynamics of bacterial cell death during plasmid loss and post segregational killing using single cell approach of microfluidics and fluorescence microscopy.

Strong research professional with a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Microbiology from University of Delhi, India and a PhD in Biomedical science and Biochemistry from The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Skilled expertise in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, and Bioinformatics.

Dr. Denis Shishin,

• Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Chemistry from Moscow State University (Diploma with Honors)
• PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Montreal, Canada
• 2014 - Current: Research Fellow in Pyrometallurgy Innovation Centre (PYROSEARCH) of the University of Queensland

Jason Stokes is a Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Leader of the Premium Food and Beverages Program within Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator. His program delivers industry‑driven research aimed at enhancing onshore value‑adding and supporting business growth across the sector. Jason obtained his BE (Chem) and PhD from the University of Melbourne and worked as a Researcher at Unilever R&D in the United Kingdom from 1999–2008 before joining UQ in 2008. He has over 25 years of experience working in and with the food industry locally and globally, spanning industrial R&D, long-term research partnerships, and innovation translation.

Jason was named among Australia’s Top 250 Researchers in Research Magazine (The Australian, 2026), ranking first nationally in the Field of Dispersion Chemistry within Chemical and Material Sciences.

He is internationally recognised for his expertise in the rheology, lubrication, structure and processing of complex fluids and soft materials, including food and beverages. He pioneered the development of advanced rheology and soft-contact tribology techniques that provide new insights into oral processing and sensory perception—spanning mouthfeel, taste and flavour. His research has uncovered the physical and structural mechanisms underlying complex sensory attributes across diverse food systems, supporting industry in designing next‑generation products with enhanced quality, sensory performance and sustainability.

Jason has served in several senior leadership roles, including Deputy Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (2020–23), where he focused on research training, development, and researcher wellbeing. He has also served as Acting Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Research in the School of Chemical Engineering.

Key areas of his research include:

• Rheology, tribology, and interfacial properties of soft matter, including development of methods to identify material properties governing mouthfeel, texture and flavour.
• Soft materials and soft matter systems—gels, soft glasses, suspensions, microgels, emulsions and foams—with an emphasis on uncovering structure–property relationships in complex systems.
• Colloids and hydrocolloids, including nanocrystalline cellulose, microgels, polysaccharides, proteins and starches.
• Structure–property–processing relationships for the rational design of food and beverage products across dairy, plant-based, solid and liquid formulations.
• Aqueous lubrication, transport phenomena and non‑Newtonian fluid flow, with applications across minerals processing, waste streams, food manufacturing, firefighting fluids and polishing systems.

Jason teaches across the Chemical Engineering program, with particular strengths in fluid mechanics, transport phenomena and research project supervision. He currently coordinates and lectures in Transport Phenomenon (CHEE4009) and Engineering Placement (ENGG7292).

Professor Matt Trau is currently a Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland (UQ); and is also Senior Group Leader and co-founder of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Since graduating from the University of Sydney (BSc Hons I, University Medal) and the University of Melbourne (PhD in Physical Chemistry, 1993), he has held positions in industry and academia across the globe. These include a Fulbright Research Fellowship at Princeton University, USA; and a research scientist at Dow Chemical and ICI Pty Ltd. Professor Trau has been a Visiting Professor at two of the largest Cancer Research Centres in the world: The Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston (2000); and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle (2008). Professor Trau is internationally recognised for his innovative and cross-disciplinary research at the interface between chemistry, nanotechnology, biology and medicine. He has co-authored more than 290 refereed publications, many of which appear in the highest impact journals in his field, e.g., fifteen Science and Nature family publications. His major awards and honours include an ARC Laureate Fellowship, an ARC Federation Fellowship (amoungst the most prestigious scientific fellowships in Australia), a Fulbright Research Fellowship to the USA; a Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award; a UQ Foundation/Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award; a Paul Harris Fellowship; and a Pink Circle Award for breast cancer research excellence.

Liguang Wang is an internationally recognised researcher in mineral processing, with research leadership in flotation science and process intensification to enable efficient recovery of critical and energy-transition minerals. His research group has delivered patented and patent-pending technologies, supported by international (PCT) filings, for flotation process intensification, monitoring, and control, bridging fundamental understanding with industrial application. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech (Supervisor: Roe-Hoan Yoon) in 2006 and was awarded the ACARP Research and Industry Excellence Award in 2022.

More details from the lab website.

Fully funded PhD project: We are seeking a domestic student working on sustainable production of lithium minerals, which is supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant. Web link for the scholarship: https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/projects/sustainable-beneficiation-lithium-minerals

Educated at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Australian National University, Canberra. Career at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Universität Marburg, Germany. Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry and Head of the Organic Chemistry Section, The University of Queensland from 1985. Emeritus professor from 2008. Chair of the National Committee for Chemistry of the Australian Academy of Science 2009-2014. Editor-in-Chief, Australian Journal of Chemistry 2008-15. Editor, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (Elsevier, IF 3.65) 2016-. Visiting Professor Université de Pau, France, 2011-19; Visiting Professor University of Kuwait 2014-18; Visiting Professor / Special Appointed Professor Hiroshima University 2014-18. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Centenary Medal of the Australian Commonwealth 2003 for research in organic and physical chemistry. David Craig Medal of the Academy of Science 2014 for research in chemistry. JSPS Fellowship (Japan) 2014. Honorary doctorate, University of Pau, France, 2014. A.J. Birch Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) for ecellence in research in organic chemistry, 2014. Leighton Medal of the RACI 2018.

Research on Unusual Molecules and Reactive Intermediates: Synthesis and Reaction Mechanism. Heterocyclic chemistry. Pyrolysis reactions. Photochemistry

Research in the Wentrup group is concerned with the discovery of novel types of molecules with new and unusual bonding patterns. Such molecules are mostly highly reactive, and special methods are required both for their generation and for their detection. The group has developed these methods over many years and acquired world-class equipment for these purposes, including flash vacuum thermolysis apparatus, cryostats for matrix isolation of reaction products at cryogenic temperatures (down to 7 K), matrix and solution photochemistry equipment, infrared, UV and mass spectrometers, as well as modern computational facilities.

This research has resulted in the synthesis and characterization of many novel compounds, including extended cumulenes of the types RN=C=C=C=X, which themselves are used in the synthesis of many novel types of molecules, some of them of potential pharmaceutical interest (quinolone antibiotics; diazepines).

The research group has a world reputation in the field of carbene and nitrene chemistry, involving reactive intermediates with sextet carbon or nitrogen. These species are also very useful in synthesis, for example in the preparation of diazepines and diazepinones, a family of pharmaceutically interesting compounds. Numerous mechanistic studies and synthetic applications of ketenes have been carried out in our group.

Active collaborations are ongoing with scientists in Australia (UQ and CSIRO), China (Suzhou), France (Pau), Germany (Oldenburg), Japan (Hiroshima), Spain (Donostia - San Sebastian), and Portugal (Coimbra).

Yuan Xu completed a Bachelor of Engineering degree (Chemical and Material) from the University of Queensland in 2015. After that, he started his PhD in the research field of colloidal science, rheology and chemical engineering, supervised by Professor Jason Stokes. He has continued in UQ as postdoctoral research fellow since 2019, at which, he has contributed to multidisciplinary projects including viscoelastic lubrication of soft matter systems, and programming structural anisotropy in nanocellulose hydrogels. His research capability focuses on the area of rheology, colloidal science/ physical chemistry, material/physical science, soft matters/complex fluids, and tribology/lubrication.

I have a multidisciplinary background in chemical and civil engineering, chemistry and materials science. Currently, I am the UQ leader of the National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life, based at USC. I apply my expertise to understand the effects of fungal decay and moisture intrusion in timber connections, as well as the improvement of the fire performance of timber. I supervise 6 PhD students.

Xiuwen Zhou received her PhD in 2014 from the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where she worked with Prof Tomasz A. Wesolowski, who is recognized as the co-inventor of Frozen-Density Embedding Theory (FDET) alongside Nobel laureate Prof. Arieh Warshel (co-winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Then she moved to the University of Queensland (UQ) as a visiting scholar, supported by two awarded fellowships, i.e., a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship (2015) and an Australian-APEC Women in Research Fellowship (2016). She then took up a UQ Development Fellowship in 2017, working as a teaching and research fellow at UQ School of Mathematics and Physics. Later, she was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (ARC DECRA) commencing in 2019.