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Professor Michael Brünig is the Head of School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at The University of Queensland (UQ), a role he took over in 2016 but with an interruption from 2019-2021 to lead UQ’s Business School.

Prof Brünig is a strategic thinker, an innovation expert, and an experienced change manager with international experience from Europe, the United States, and Australia. He is passionate about building strong performing teams and has experience in bringing large projects with substantial funding to fruition, igniting entrepreneurial spirit in students and staff, and driving impact from research through partnering, commercialisation and spin-off companies.

Before joining UQ, Prof Brünig worked with the CSIRO. As an executive manager with the organisation, he led an initiative to establish a $140m National Research Flagship on Digital Productivity and later guided the business through a merger to create Data61, a national research powerhouse focusing on data innovation. Professor Brünig started his career in research and development in the automotive industry in Germany and Silicon Valley in the United States after completing his PhD at RWTH Aachen, Germany.

Prof Brünig is a sought-after expert with respect to research translation. He sits on multiple boards as non-executive director, is technical advisor to start-up companies in Australia and is frequently consulted as a subject matter expert. Within UQ, Prof Brünig has helped to create UQ Ventures and UQ Innovate, units that foster entrepreneurship among students and academics and provide the creative environment to be successful.

Under Prof Brünig’s leadership, UQ started multiple significant initiatives, including UQ Cyber, the National Industry 4.0 Energy Testlab, the AI Initiative and with partners the QLD Government AI Hub. He is also highly influential in shaping UQ’s curriculum. He initiated the Bachelor of Computer Science, the Master of Cyber Security that is modelled using the US National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education framework and UQ’s first full online Master of Business Analytics. He also was a key contributor to creating the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Informatics and Digital Health.

Darryn Bryant's research interests are in combinatorics, specifically in graph theory and design theory.

He received his PhD from The University of Queensland in 1993. His current research projects concern fundamental open problems on graph decompositions and a new design theory-based approach to signal sampling via compressed sensing.

Andrea Bubenik is an expert in Renaissance and Baroque Art, and the continued reception of early modern visual culture. She is an Associate Professor in Art History in the School of Communication and Arts, and was the Director of the UQ Node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions between 2019-2022. Her research interests include early modern printmaking, links between art and science, court cultures and collecting, and histories of reception for both iconic and lesser known works of art.

Her books include The Persistence of Melancholia in Art and Culture (edited, 2019), Perspectives on the Art of Wenceslaus Hollar (co-edited with Anne Thackray, 2016), and Reframing Albrecht Dürer: The Appropriation of Art, 1528-1700 (2013), which was awarded the AAANZ best book prize (2014). Andrea’s forthcoming monograph, Living Pictures: The Renaissance Artist-Scientist explores the afterlives of the animal, plant, and rock studies by Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, and is supported by a grant from AIAH/AAANZ.

Andrea's international profile includes visiting fellowships at the Warburg Institute in London, the Central Institute of Art History (Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte) in Munich, the Institute of Art History (Ustav Dějin Umění) in Prague, and the Huntington Library in LA. Andrea is a strong advocate for collaboration with arts and culture institutions and the translation of academic research into more public platforms. She curated two major exhibitions at the UQ Art Museum: Ecstasy: Baroque and Beyond (2017), and Five Centuries of Melancholia (2014), both accompanied by exhibition catalogues. She also delivers an annual public art history course at QAGOMA (Queensland Gallery of Art), and has given public lectures at galleries in Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, and the UK.

As an experienced teacher and supervisor, with more than twenty successful supervisions at the Honours, MPhil and PhD levels, Andrea is especially proud of her students’ successes. She supervises local, national, and international internship placements in art galleries and museums, and developed an undergraduate study abroad option for UQ students, ‘Art and Architecture in Venice’ which takes place on site in Venice, Italy. She welcomes expressions of interest from prospective HDR students.

Dr Sandra Buchler is the Mary Lee Family Dynamics Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. She is currently undertaking a research project on the life course trajectories of sole parents in Australia. Sandra holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Queensland. Her broader research interest lies in the role of gender ideology and labour market stratification in perpetuating gender inequality. Her areas of research and expertise include life course transitions, families, gender inequality, female labour force participation, gender ideologies, education, qualitative evaluation and quantitative research methods. Sandra was a Lecturer at the University of Bamberg from 2011 to 2013 and a Senior Lecturer at the Goethe University Frankfurt (2014 – 2024).

Dr Buckley’s overall research expertise overlies health behaviour change program development, implementation and evaluation including the translation of theory to evidence-based practice. She has focused on behaviour change research in efforts to reduce adolescent and young adult injury, primarily around the use of alcohol, experience of violence and road-related risk behaviours. Her work takes a focus on promotive factors for wellbeing, particularly through supportive relationships with friends, parents and in schools. She has a strong interest in the way bystanders influence health behaviour.

Dr Buckley has been a chief investigator on funded research projects totalling more than 13 million dollars both in Australia and the United States, including funding from the U.S. Department of Justice and in Australia, leading an ARC-Discovery Project. She was also funded as a co-Director of the Training and Education Core of the University of Michigan Injury Center (one of only 11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Centers). She has over 85 publications and written 25 large reports for government and industry as well as 14 training manuals/ research products. Her work has been presented widely with over 65 national and international conference presentations and invited talks to government and industry organisations.

Dr Claudia Bull is a Research Fellow in psychiatric epidemiology at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR), University of Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Nutrition with First Class Honours (2017) and a PhD in Health Services Research from the Griffith University School of Nursing and Midwifery (2022). Claudia's research largely focusses on undertaking complex data analysis using large, linked, population-based administrative datasets to understand equity, patterns of health service use, and outcomes in vulnerable Australian populations. She is particularly interested in the intergenerational and lifetime effects of child abuse and neglect in Australia, as well as understanding how health services can better support Child Protection efforts. Claudia is also well-versed in the development, psychometric evaluation and implementation of PROMs and PREMs for health systems performance measurement. She is internationally recognised for her research related to PROMs and PREMs, having published several seminal and highly cited papers, as well as pioneering methods for consumer engagement in deciding what questions are relevant and important in PROMs and PREMs. Claudia is an inaugural member of the South Australian Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health's Generic PROM Selection Subcommittee, and is currently collaborating internationally with researchers in The Netherlands, Iran, France and Spain to cross-culturally validate an Emergency Department PREM. Claudia's expertise in population-based linked administrative health data analysis, as well as PROMs and PREMs, positions her as a well-rounded and capable researcher. Claudia's international collaborations underscore her ability to work across cultural and geographical boundaries, enriching her research with a global perspective. Moreover, her track record of published research, practical involvement in healthcare initiatives, and ongoing projects reflect a proactive and influential presence in the field.

Dr Nevenka Bulovic is a water resource engineer and her current research focus is on improving the climate resilience of the mining sector in the face of climate change. This work applies state-of-the-art climate models to assess risks to water availability, mine site rehabilitation and pollution risks. Nevenka's other research passion is in using remotely sensed data and novel approaches for improving knowledge on hydroclimate in data sparse regions such as Australia and the Andes.

Dr. Buning is a Senior Lecturer within the tourism discipline in the UQ Business School and the research lead for the UQ Micromobility Research Cluster. His research interests reside at the intersection of physical activity, travel, and events. Within this area, his research agenda is focused on how tourists are physically active as both a driver of tourism behaviour (i.e., active lifestyle sports) and during visitation (i.e., active transport). His research works on active lifestyle sports closely mirrors his passions in active sport tourism for mountain biking, cycling, running, rock climbing, hiking, and more. His work crosses over to active transport through bikeshare, eScooters, and more generally micromobility where he is focused on tourism usage and related impacts.

The outcome of his work enables communities, events, and organizations to efficiently market to and attract visitors, encourage physical activity generally, and improve the related impact to destinations as a form of sustainable tourism. Prior to academia, Dr. Buning worked in the running event industry managing race logistics and continues to work with physical activity focused organizations, events, and communities as a consultant in developing data driven business strategy. Although he is an expert in survey research design and analysis, his research methodology speciality is in mixed methods (i.e., combining data sources and types) tailored to the research question at hand. He is regularly featured in the media and publishes on the topics of active transport, sport tourism, and event management.

Interested in working on research, teaching, or consulting projects? Please get in touch!

Dr. Sabrina Sofia Burgener is Deputy Lab Head of the Disease Modelling Team of the Inflammasome Laboratory and Senior Research Fellow in Immunology at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland.

As Deputy Lab Head of the Inflammasome Group at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), Dr. Burgener is an innate immunologist with over 12 years of cross-functional expertise in immunology, disease modelling and molecular biology. My research program focuses on a holistic understanding of inflammasome signalling in pre-clinical disease models to harness the development of new diagnostics and anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

After obtaining her professional training as a Veterinary Technician, they completed their PhD in Immunology under supervision of A/Prof. Benarafa at the University of Bern, Switzerland in 2017.

For their work on the cytoprotective role of Serpinb1 and Serpinb6 in neutrophils, they received several international awards such as the Society of Leukocyte Biology Presidential Award in 2016 and the Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg Prize in 2020. Before joining the Inflammasome Lab in 2019, Dr. Burgener had been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Virology and Immunology at the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern. In the Schroder lab, Dr. Burgener leads a team of Honour and PhD students, interested in understanding how caspase-1 drives inflammatory diseases and if targeting caspase-1 in diseases such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, and whether inhibition of caspase-1 comes at the cost of increased susceptibility to infection. Their research is funded by SNSF Postdoc Mobility Fellowship (2020-2022) and the Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research Fellowship (2022-2023) and two ARC Discovery Projects (2025-2027).

Henri Burgers is the Head of the Strategy & Entrepreneurship Discipline at The University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD from the RSM Erasmus University, and worked at the Queensland University of Technology prior to joining UQ. His research focuses on the intersection of corporate entrepreneurship, managerial and organisational capabilities, and institutional contexts with the aim of helping individuals and organisations unlock their entrepreneurial potential. He has published in top journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Long Range Planning, and Technovation. He has worked with leading firms, industry associations and governments across the globe. His research received well over 1mln AUD in research funding, including two prestigious grants from the Australian Research Council to improve entrepreneurship and innovation in the natural resources industries.

Henri teaches courses and provides workshops on strategic decision-making and agile innovation for different levels. He has developed and transformed a wide range of Bachelor and Masters and Executive courses and programs to embed more entrepreneurship and strategic decision-making skills in curricula. He was awarded a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy for his teaching. He is a recognised reviewer for numerous journals and grants and serves on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Business Venturing and Group and Organization Management.

As a Teaching-focused academic in the School of Biomedical Science and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), I am deeply committed to ensuring students grasp and employ biomedical principles across various facets of their education and life journey. I champion the cause of ensuring education is both safe and accessible, and I continually strive to foster a diverse and welcoming learning environment. My research delves into the intricacies of student learning, focusing on the individual and collective obstacles they face in their academic and professional pursuits. I'm enthusiastic about exploring students' self-perceptions, academic journeys, and dynamics with peers, faculty, and the larger academic community, including the university's resources and procedures. A key aspect of my advocacy is supporting neurodiverse students, driving an inclusive higher education landscape where everyone feels valued and understood.

I completed my post-doctoral studies in the field of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), where I investigated the effects of alcohol consumption during the periconceptional period on stress and mental health-related behaviours. While my current research focuses on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, I continue collaborating with researchers in the DOHaD field.

Professor Philip Burgess is a researcher in the field of mental health services research and evaluation. He is a Professor with the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, based at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research.

Philip holds qualifications in clinical psychology and has over 30 years of experience in the design, analysis and reporting of research projects, including systematic literature reviews, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, studies based on routinely collected administrative health and mental health data, epidemiological survey data, and evaluations of health programs and interventions using observational and quasi-experimental research designs.

Philip’s current role is with the Analysis and Reporting Component of the Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network (AMHOCN), which leads the design, analysis and reporting of the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (http://www.amhocn.org/). In this role, he is leading a range of projects designed to improve the measurement of patient- and service-level outcomes in Australia's specialised public sector mental health services.

Experienced human factors and ergonomics researcher and consultant across a range of industries particularly mining. Currently seconded to the BHP Think and Act Differently team with support from the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer and the Commonwealth Government through the Trailblazer Universities Program to undertake a Human Systems Integration project.

Robin Burgess-Limerick is Professorial Research Fellow in the Human Factors within the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre. He has been a member of academic staff since 1995, and prior to that has held research positions in a number of organisations including the Division of Workplace Health & Safety, and the Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit (UK). Prof Burgess-Limerick completed his Bachelor of Human Movement Studies, and Hons degrees at The University of Queensland, and returned to the University to undertake his PhD in the area of manual lifting coordination. He is a Certified Professional member, past-president, and elected Fellow, of the Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc.

Research Interests

Prof Burgess-Limerick has eclectic research interests ranging across the broad scope of human factors and ergonomics from visual perception and movement control, through workplace interventions to prevent injuries due to manual tasks, and the design of mining equipment to reduce injury risks. His research has been funded by grants from the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, ARC, NHMRC, Workcover Queensland (QComp), the Coal Services Health and Safety Trust (NSW), and the Australian Coal Association Research Program.

Gilbert Burgh has been active in promoting philosophy in schools since 1990. He has published widely in the field of educational philosophy (philosophy functioning educationally), especially democratic education and collaborative philosophical inquiry as pedagogy, and in 2009 completed an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Grant to conduct a study on the effectiveness of philosophy on children’s explanatory behaviour, problem-solving, and learning. He has participated in a number of philosophy teacher education programs in Australia and the United States, and was the founding president of the Queensland Association of Philosophy in Schools (1994-1996), and president of the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (2002-2003). As one of the founding members of the Australian Philosophy Research Group (APRG), he works closely with other members, Dr. Simone Thornton (School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, UOW / Honorary Research Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, UQ), Assoc. Prof. Michelle Boulous Walker (School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, UQ), and Adjunct Assoc. Prof. Mary Graham (School of Political Science and International Studies, UQ / Doctor of the University honoris causa, UQ / QUT), a Kombumerri and Wakka Wakka community development leader, Elder, educator, and philosopher, who has long been a sounding board and driver of Aboriginal philosophy. The aim of the group is to develop an Australian philosophy in dialogue with Indigenous and non-Indigneous scholars, to develop a place-based, grounded philosophy. This project informs his current research on place-responsive pedagogy as an ecological approach to education to improve human-environmental relations and how we understand citizenship and democracy.