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Dr Xiaoqiong (Tina) Qi is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Queensland (UQ). She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Lanzhou University, China, and was subsequently offered direct entry into a PhD program. Her PhD research focused on high-speed, long-haul optical fibre transmission system design. During her doctoral studies, she was awarded a China Scholarship Council (CSC) scholarship to study two years at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she focuses on semiconductor laser dynamics and their applications in radio-over-fibre communications and optical sensing.

She was awarded her PhD in Photonics in 2009 and subsequently joined the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she secured three national grants and two industry grants as lead Chief Investigator in optical sensing system design. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. In the same year, she was awarded a UQ Fellowship and relocated to Australia, where she expanded her research into laser dynamics in terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) for biomedical applications.

She received the Mid-Career Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship (AQIRF) in 2020 and the UQ Amplify Fellowship in 2023. She has developed advanced optical sensing technologies spanning ultraviolet, near-infrared, and far-infrared (terahertz) wavelengths, with applications in greenhouse gas monitoring, road weather sensing, and skin cancer detection. Her AQIRF project focuses on terahertz imaging for early melanoma diagnosis, with translational research conducted in collaboration with the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Translational Research Institute in Australia.

Dr Ruirui Qiao is a Group Leader, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (2021–2025), and ARC Future Fellow (2026–2030) at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland (UQ). She received her BSc (2005) and MSc (2007) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Peking University and completed her PhD in Physical Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2014. Prior to joining UQ, she held academic appointments at CAS (Assistant Professor 2009–2015; Tenured Associate Professor 2016–2017) and served as a Project Co-Leader at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (CBNS) at Monash University.

Dr Qiao’s research focuses on the design and fabrication of next-generation robotic systems enabled by advanced functional materials and precision manufacturing. Her group develops nano- to macro-scale robotic platforms for applications in nanomedicine, cell and gene delivery, tissue engineering, and wearable biointegrated devices. The laboratory integrates nanotechnology, microfluidics, and 3D/4D printing to engineer smart, stimuli-responsive materials that serve as the foundation for soft robotic systems. Research spans synthetic nanorobots and microrobots for targeted therapeutic delivery, droplet-engineered microcarriers for cell manufacturing, and compliant soft robotic devices for biomedical sensing and actuation.

A central thrust of the program is materials innovation—designing hybrid polymer–inorganic systems, magnetic nanoparticle/liquid metal composites, and biofunctional hydrogels that enable programmable mechanical, electrical, and biological performance. These materials are translated into device- and system-level robotic technologies that bridge fundamental materials science with clinical and biomanufacturing applications. The group’s long-term vision is to establish a unified materials-driven robotics platform that advances precision medicine, regenerative engineering, and biointegrated wearable technologies.

Dr Qiao has made substantial contributions to materials science and biomedical engineering, particularly in the development of organic–inorganic nanocomposites for nanomedicine and 3D/4D-printed soft materials. Her research extends to impactful biomedical applications, including targeted gene delivery, antimicrobial systems, molecular imaging, tissue engineering, and cell-based therapies. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals such as Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials, with over 9,000 citations and an H-index of 52.

Her current research focuses on the design and fabrication of advanced polymer/inorganic hybrid materials using cutting-edge approaches including nanoparticle synthesis, polymer chemistry, PET-RAFT polymerisation, and 3D/4D printing. These materials and microfluidic platforms are applied to a broad range of biomedical challenges, such as disease diagnosis, drug and gene delivery, tissue regeneration, cell and organoid manufacturing, cell therapy, and soft robotics. Dr Qiao’s scientific excellence has been recognised through numerous prestigious awards, including the Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2025), ARC Future Fellowship (2025), NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020), and the UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award (2021).

She is currently serving in Editorial Board and Associate Editor of Science Advances (AAAS), Journal of Nanobiotechnology (BMC, Part of Spring Nature), Topic Editor of ACS Polymer Science&Technology (ACS).

Dr Qiao is looking for highly motivated Ph.D. students, and highly competitive full scholarship can be provided. The University of Queensland ranks in the top 50 as measured by the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities. The University also ranks 45 in the QS World University Rankings, 52 in the US News Best Global Universities Rankings, 60 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 55 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

My research focuses on data science methods, including theory and application for various real-world scenarios, such as recommender systems, social network, urban computing, engineering, law, health etc. I am particularly interested into graph neural networks, large language models (LLMs, MLLMs), etc.

• I am actively looking for PhD students (multiple positions) starting in Year 2026. Please visit: https://ruihongqiu.github.io/recruit-phd/
• I am actively looking for thesis/honours/research/RA students yearly. Please visit: https://ruihongqiu.github.io/recruit-thesis/

Jonathan is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedic Research at the STARS Education and Research Alliance. “STARS” is the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service specialist public health facility in Brisbane and the “Alliance” is between the University of Queensland (UQ) and Metro North Health in Queensland, Australia. He is also Steering Committee Member and Impactful Clinical Trials Co-Lead for the UQ Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research (CIPHER).

His vision is to improve the quality of life of people with the most common and disabling types of joint pain. He is passionate about leading research priority setting partnerships and investigating the most effective and safe treatments to support condition management. A key part of this is understanding what works best for whom and why. He has a specialist interest in the clinical and surgical management of joint pain due to osteoarthritis and low back pain. To maximise research impact he also seeks to understand the best ways of getting new knowledge from research to the people who need it most including healthcare practitioners and people with joint pain.

His boundary-spanning physiotherapy career has involved clinical, academic, conjoint, policy and professional body roles. Prior to joining the University of Queensland, he was Research into Practice Adviser at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK and he holds a Visiting Senior Research Fellow position at The University of York, UK.

He is in the top 1% of global osteoarthritis researchers and has secured over $6.3 million in grant funding and published over 52 peer-reviewed journal articles in top musculoskeletal journals including The Lancet Rheumatology, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Rheumatology and the British Journal of Sports Medicine. He has lead-supervised three research students to completion (1 PhD, 1 MPhil and 1 Academy of Medical Sciences project student) and has 4 ongoing PhD students and 1 MPhil. He contributes to national policy (e.g. 2022 UK NICE osteoarthritis guideline committee), is a steering group member of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International Joint Effort Initiative (which seeks to improve the international implementation of evidence based osteoarthritis care) and has held national committee strategy, research and communications officer roles (e.g. for: The Community Rehabilitation Alliance; The British Society of Rheumatology, and; the Council for Allied Health Professions Research). He thrives through collaboration and welcomes approaches from prospective PhD students. He is committed to high quality consumer involvement and improving equity, diversity and belonging in research.

Examples of national and international recognition include:

-Invited advisor to NHS England Obesity Expert Group and report writer of “the impact of weight and weight management on osteoarthritis of the hip and knee” 2021-23.

-Invitations to give international conference plenaries including the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Epidemiology and Therapy Year in Review in 2021.

-Clinical Research Network West Midlands Research Scholar Fellowships x2 2020-2022

-National Institute of Health Care Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer in Physiotherapy 2016-2019

-OARSI Young Investigator Award 2014

John Quiggin is a Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland. He is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and many other learned societies and institutions. He has produced over 1500 publications, including six books and over 200 refereed journal articles, in fields including decision theory, environmental economics, production economics, and the theory of economic growth. He has also written on policy topics including climate change, micro-economic reform, privatisation, employment policy and the management of the Murray-Darling river system. His latest book, Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work so Well and Why they can Fail so Badly, was released in 2019 by Princeton University Press.

Currently working as a Senior Research Officer/Lab manager of the Geomechanics Engineering Centre lab at UQ. Currently in projects related to instrumentation and long term monitoring of drying and wetting cycles of large scale columns with tailings or soil. Over 5 years of experience testing mechanical, physical and chemical properties of soil and tailings. Specific experiences in consolidation, direct shear, triaxial, SWCC, sensor instrumentation and characterization tests.

PhD student at the school of Civil Engineering

Sreekar’s research focuses on using ecological theory to inform conservation decision making. He is interested in a broad range of topics, including spatial conservation planning, evidence-based conservation policy, community assembly rules, extinction synergies, and land-use management. A big question that drives his research is how to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. His current research is centred around studying the environmental risks associated with mining and mineral processing.

He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Ecology and has spent the past 15 years at universities across Australia, China, Czechia, India and Singapore. Sreekar is an avid birder and enjoys this aspect of his work both professionally and recreationally.

Professor Maria Raciti (Kalkadoon-Thaniquith-Bwgcolman) is a social marketer dedicated to social justice and behaviour change. She co-founded and co-directs the UniSC Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre and co-leads the education and economies theme in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures hosted by the University of Queensland. Maria is a member of the esteemed Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). Her work is aligned with the United Nations SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities), as well as the National Closing the Gap Targets 6 (Further Education) and 8 (Economic Participation).

Professor Radford leads the Cancer Immunotherapies Group at Mater Research Institute-UQ. Her research interests are focussed on understanding how the human immune system can be trained to recognise and fight cancer for the development of vaccines and immunotherapies.

Professor Radford’s leadership and globally-recognised expertise in the fields of human dendritic cell (DC), immuno-oncology, immunotherapy, cancer vaccines and humanised mice is evidenced by 59 publications in top journals including J Exp Med, Nat Immunol, Immunity and more than 50 invitations to speak. She has attracted >$6 million in funding as a Chief Investigator and >$5 million as a Co-Investigator. She has been recognised by awards including NHMRC CDF2 (2011-2014), Mater Medal for Outstanding Research Contribution 2015, ASI Miller Award 2018, a 2021 Fulbright Future Fellowship and Fellowship of the QLD Academy of Arts and Science.

Professor Radford’s expertise include development and clinical trial of the one of the first vaccines to use human circulating blood conventional DC (cDC) for cancer immunotherapy that was translated to a first-in-human clinical trial for metastatic prostate cancer. Her group was the first to functionally characterise the human cDC1 subset) and propose their potential as next-generation cancer vaccines, a finding described by international leaders as “a needle in the cancer vaccine haystack”. She has pioneered techniques to isolate cDC1s from human tissues, culture them from CD34 progenitors in vitro and in humanised mice in vivo and developed a suite of assays to interrogate their phenotype and function, including priming of human tumour specific immune responses. These have been applied to develop novel cancer vaccines that target human cDC1 in vivo, that are now being translated for commercialisation and clinical trial.

Professor Radford has pioneered the development of innovative models that faithfully replicate the human immune system (humanised mice). These are in high demand globally to enhance research impact and increase the speed and accuracy of immunotherapy drug development in oncology, autoimmunity, inflammatory and infectious disease. She has applied these to wide range of applications including hematopoeisis, cancer immunotherapy and autoimmune disease.