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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.

Associate Professor Ruirui Qiao is a Group Leader, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (2021–2026), 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. Before joining UQ, she held academic appointments at CAS as an Assistant Professor (2009–2015) and tenured Associate Professor (2016–2017), and subsequently served as a Project Co-Leader at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology at Monash University.

A/Prof Qiao leads a multidisciplinary research program focused on smart biomaterials, precision delivery, microfluidic biomanufacturing, and 3D/4D-printed soft robotic systems. Her group develops functional polymer–inorganic nanohybrids and bioengineered platforms that integrate nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, microfluidics, and advanced manufacturing. These technologies span multiple length scales, from nanoparticles and microcarriers to biointegrated devices, and are applied to brain-targeted nanomedicine, drug and gene delivery, disease modelling, organoid and cell manufacturing, regenerative engineering, and wearable biomedical technologies.

A major focus of her research is the development of advanced materials and delivery platforms for brain diseases, including paediatric brain cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. Her team engineers polymer-functionalised magnetic nanoparticles, liquid-metal nanocomposites, biofunctional hydrogels, and stimuli-responsive delivery systems for non-invasive brain entry, spatially controlled therapeutic delivery, molecular imaging, and gene regulation. The group also develops droplet-microfluidic microgel platforms for scalable organoid production, blood–brain barrier modelling, drug screening, and advanced cell manufacturing.

In parallel, A/Prof Qiao’s group pioneers nanoparticle- and liquid-metal-enabled materials for 3D/4D printing, soft robotics, and biointegrated devices. This research establishes new strategies for programming the mechanical, electrical, optical, and biological properties of soft materials, enabling stimuli-responsive robotic systems, wearable sensors, actuators, and adaptive biomedical interfaces. Her long-term vision is to establish an integrated, materials-driven technology platform that connects fundamental materials science with precision medicine, biomanufacturing, and intelligent biomedical devices.

A/Prof Qiao has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals, including Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials. Her work has received more than 9,500 citations, with an h-index of 53. Her scientific contributions have been recognised through major awards and fellowships, including the ARC Future Fellowship, NHMRC Investigator Grant, Young Tall Poppy Science Award, UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award, and Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award.

In addition to her research leadership, A/Prof Qiao contributes extensively to institutional governance, research culture, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. She is a member of the UQ Academic Board, Chair of the AIBN Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Co-Chair of the AIBN Early- and Mid-Career Researcher Committee. She also holds leadership roles in international scientific conferences and university partnership initiatives.

A/Prof Qiao serves as an Associate Editor of Science Advances and the Journal of Nanobiotechnology, and as an Editor of Chemical Engineering Journal: Engineered Materials. She also contributes to the editorial leadership of ACS Polymer Science & Technology and regularly leads international special issues and collections in nanomedicine, polymeric delivery systems, and advanced biomaterials.

A/Prof Qiao welcomes applications from highly motivated PhD candidates with backgrounds in materials science, chemistry, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, or related disciplines. Competitive scholarship opportunities may be available to outstanding domestic and international candidates.

The University of Queensland is one of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities. UQ is currently ranked equal 40th in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, equal 42nd in the 2026–2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings, 80th in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 65th in the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities, and 37th in the 2025 NTU Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for 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 10 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).