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Learning a foreign language is hard. Studying overseas in a foreign language is even harder!

Universities in Australia have up to 40% international students, that's 400,000+ students and makes up a significant portion of the Australian economy. These students face immense struggles adapting to Australian culture, language and education style. Without help, these students get lost in the complexities of higher-education and cannot successfully graduate.

Shaun's work involves developing innovative solutions with partner universities across the greater Asian regions though contextualised development programs, workshops that highlight modern teaching, and assisting students in acclimatising to their study-life in Australia. Shaun works heavily with China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Dominique coordinates BlackWords, AustLit's dedicated research resource for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers. She is passionate about people and Country care, and is committed to supporting self-determined, community-engaged and culturally-grounded research within the academy.

Yong Ming is also a member of the UQ Business School's Digital Finance Research Hub

Dr Liyu Chen is a research-focused academic with interdisciplinary training in nanoengineering and neuroscience. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR) at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), where she serves as the Blood-Brain barrier (BBB) Theme Leader in Prof. Jürgen Götz's laboratory, driving research aimed at advancing cerebral drug delivery.

Her research focussed on therapeutic ultrasound-mediated BBB opening to enhance drug delivery for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. She also develops contrast-free imaging modalities by integrating protein engineering and modelling, molecular biology, structural biology and nanotechnology approaches.

Professor Chen graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. She has over twenty five years research experience in the areas of membrane separation, gas separation, biocatalytic systems, nanomaterials, and water treatment. She was professor of chemical engineering at the University of New South Wales from 2008 - 2018, the Director of the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology from 2006 - 2014 and head of school of chemical engineering from 2014 - 2018. She is was formerly on the editorial board for the Journal of Membrane Science and Desalination Journal. Professor Chen was the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture, and IT at the University of Queensland from 2018 - 2022 and Provost and Senior Vice-President at the University of Technology Sydney from 2022 - 2025. Professor Chen is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

She currently holds ARC Discovery grants focussed on application of nanomaterials in membrane separation and had recently held funding from diverse sources such as CO2CRC, Coal Innovation NSW, ARC Linkage program, and CRC-P (Printed Energy). She is on the the advisory boards for the GETCO2 ARC Centre of Excellence and the Carbon Science and Innovation ARC Centre of Excellence.

I am a Senior Research Fellow, NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow, and Group Leader at UQ Frazer Institute. I was awarded my PhD in late 2017 by Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University. Under the UQ Health Research Accelerator (HERA) program, I lead a team to investigate T and B cell responses that profoundly regulate vaccine responses, viral clearance, and anti-tumour immunity.

My research program employs combinatorial methodologies of Biochemistry and Immunology to uncover new molecular mechanisms controlling T-cell-mediated immunity:

1. The action of T cells is required in antibody responses for suppressing viral infection or tumour growth and to confer protection upon vaccination. In particular, follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, a specialised subset of CD4+ T cells, essentially instruct the B cells to produce long-lived antibody protection. The knowledge of Tfh cells has fundamentally enabled vaccine development and therapy design for autoimmune diseases.

2. T-cell-derived cytokines play pivotal roles in both humoral and cellular immunity. Particularly, interleukin-21 (IL-21) is essential for supporting germinal centre (GC) reaction, where the B cell memory and long-lived antibody responses are generated. Besides, IL-21 is also the only known cytokine to maintain the functionalities of CD8+ T cells in the context of chronic infections or cancers by preventing a loss-of-function program termed 'exhaustion'.

This research program has generated multiple cutting-edge discoveries in the field, producing publications as 1st or joint 1st authors in top-tier journals including Nature Immunology, Science Immunology, and Nature Communications.

Dr. Qiaomin Chen is currently a Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability (AGFS) at the University of Queensland (UQ). Before receiving her PhD in Agricultural Science at UQ, she completed a Master’s degree in Physical Geography at UCAS and a Bachelor’s degree in Geographical Information System at WHT in China. With a solid foundation across earth and agricultural sciences, she has consistently pursued interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, actively exploring innovative solutions at the interface of geoscience and agriculture. Her diverse background empowers her to tackle real-world challenges in agricultural production.

She is particularly passionate about developing and applying advanced technologies in precision agriculture and modern crop breeding to improve efficiency and sustainability. She works at the intersection of plant phenotyping, crop modelling, machine learning and climate adaptation. Her current research focuses on leveraging integrative modelling approaches to inform field experiment design, optimize phenotyping strategies, and support crop growth monitoring across spatial and temporal scales.

I am a computational biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, specialising in computational oncology and spatial biology. My research focuses on integrating complementary molecular and spatial data modalities to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying breast cancer progression and metastasis.

Drawing on a strong foundation in evolutionary genomics, I study cellular diversity, tumour evolution, and interactions within the tumour microenvironment. I develop computational workflows in R and Python to process, integrate, and interpret spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial metabolomics, and other high-dimensional datasets.

My current research interests include:

Multimodal Data Integration: Integrating spatial, transcriptomic, genomic, and metabolomic data to generate a more comprehensive understanding of tumour biology.

Tumour Heterogeneity and Microenvironment: Characterising cancer cell states and their interactions with surrounding immune and stromal populations across spatial and molecular contexts.

Biomarker and Therapeutic Discovery: Identifying molecular features, cellular communities, and spatial patterns associated with disease progression, metastasis, and treatment response.

Tumour Evolution: Reconstructing the evolutionary and developmental trajectories of cancer cell populations to understand metastatic dissemination and local tissue invasion.

By combining multimodal data science, spatial biology, and high-performance computing, my work aims to transform complex biological datasets into meaningful insights that support biomarker discovery and precision oncology.

Dr Shujian Chen started his research on nanomaterial modified cement and concrete in 2011. He is also dedicated to developing and adapting new nano/micro-scale characterisation and simulations techniques for developing new cement and concrete-based construction materials via emerging technologies. Since 2014, he extended his research to apply 3D printing technology in advanced manufacturing of multifunctional, high-performance cement-based materials.

Jeff Chen is a pyrometallurgist with strong expertise in high-temperature phase equilibria and gas/solid reaction kinetics. He has over 15 years of research experience in extractive metallurgy, focusing on metals such as Cu, Pb, Ni, PGM, and Fe, through ongoing research collaborations with major mining and metal producers worldwide. Jeff has successfully secured over 10 million dollars in research funds from the Australian government and industry, primarily through funding schemes like ARC linkage and Trailblazer. His contributions to the field include the publication of over 60 papers in leading journals and major conferences in metallurgy, and he was awarded the Best Paper Award from TMS in 2021.

In addition, Jeff is a recognised expert in various quantitative microanalysis techniques, including electron microprobe (WDS) and laser ablation ICP-MS. His specialization lies in the application of quantitative microanalysis in the field of extractive metallurgy. He played a pioneering role in implementing LA-ICP-MS for trace element analysis in metallurgical materials and has consistently contributed to the development of new standard reference materials for sulfides and alloys. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the state representative for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in the Australian Microbeam Analysis Society.

Furthermore, Jeff has been actively involved in university teaching, covering subjects such as chemical thermodynamics, pyrometallurgy, and metal production and recycling

Conduct interdisciplinary research to tackle technical challenges associated with the efficient and responsible extraction of geo-energy and geo-resources. Three main focuses of my research interests are:

1. Mining geomechanics for high-stress and high-temperature mining conditions.

• It covers ground support design, excavation stability analysis, pillar stability, mine seismicity, strata movement and surface subsidence, and mine paste fill optimisation.
• My research team has also conducted extensive work on (i) using Thin Spray-On Liners (TSLs) to replace shotcrete, (ii) developing new experimental capabilities in assessing grout durability in extremely acidic and hot conditions (>140°C ), and (iii) evaluating rock sensitivity to different weathering conditions (e.g., wet-dry cycles and humidity effect).

2. Reservoir geomechanics, targeting key technical challenges associated with unconventional gas recovery.

• It includes borehole stability, permeability evolution, reservoir petrophysical properties characterisation, multiphase flow in fractured porous media with challenges associated with natural gas extraction, carbon geological sequestration, underground hydrogen storage, and energy storage in depleted reservoirs, and
• Over the years, my group has developed advanced multiscale multiphase and multiphysics computational modelling capabilities

3. Machine Learning Applications in Mining and Natural Gas Fields

• Explore the diverse applications of machine learning and deep learning algorithms in geomaterial strength analysis (sedimentary rock in particular), geotechnical characterization (e.g., automatic calculation of rock fracture characteristics, and roadway stability assessment of different geological conditions), and subsurface characterization. By harnessing the power of data-driven approaches, the research group aims to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of rock mechanics analysis, enabling more effective decision-making in engineering projects.

Teaching Courses:

1. Geotechnical Design and Implementation (Open Pit) (MINE6121) (Since 2025)
2. Applied Mining Geomechanics (MINE6112) (Since 2023)
3. Mine Geotechnical Engineering (MINE4120) (2013- 2023)
4. Coal Mine Strata Control (MINE4128) (2013- 2023)

Resources Geomechanics Lab (NATA accredited between 2023-2025) with leading experimental capabilities in:

1. A suite of rock mechanics testing capabilities:

• Mechanical properties (e.g., modulus, Poisson's ratio, density)
• Rock strengths (e.g., UCS, triaxial strength, fracture shear strength, direct shear, punch shear, direct tensile strength, Brazilian Tensile Strength, and bond adhesion force), and
• Rock petrophysical properties (e.g., porosity, permeability/conductivity at different high confining stresses, fracture compressibility, slake durability, and rock weathering etc)

2. Rock dynamic responses to different stress conditions (transient condition) using non-destructive methods (e.g., Acoustic Emission and Ultrasonic Detection for different applications at different scales)

3. Characterization of fluid flow (water or gas) in fractured porous media under a high-stress environment (up to 10,000 psi)

4. Quantifying the evolution of the intrinsic and relative permeability of extremely tight reservoirs (e.g., coals, shales, and tight sandstones) to gas adsorption/desorption as well as the changes of contact angle with varying reservoir pressure

5. Visualising two-phase flow using microfluidics: discontinuous flow vs continuous flow

6. Quantifying the impact of proppant embedment and reservoir stress on shale permeability evolution

7. Gas isotherm and directional sorption-induced strain measurements for different absorbing reservoir rocks

8. Mine paste rheological property measurements at various shearing controls, e.g., constant shear rate, varying shearing rate, ramping controls etc.

Dr Chen’s research aims to understand the molecular details of how phosphatases, kinases and their associated proteins regulate cell signaling and homeostasis.

In 2011, Dr Chen completed his PhD on structural studies of macrophage proteins in Professor Jennifer Martin’s laboratory at The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

In 2012, Dr Chen secured a postdoctoral research position at Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan) to work on the molecular insights of phosphatases and kinases interaction using the combination of X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering and chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry.

In 2015, he also received the Outstanding Young Postdoctoral Research Award from the Biophysics Society of Republic of China (Taiwan).

In June 2016, Dr Chen joined Associate Professor Brett Collins’ group at IMB, where he is working to understand how lipid kinases and lipid-binding proteins are involved in the regulation of cellular membrane transport.

Rocky Tong Chen is currently an Associate Professor and ARC DECRA Fellow with the Data Science Discipline, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Queensland. Dr Chen's main research interests include recommender systems, LLM agents, graph and sequential data mining, and social media content moderation. His research outputs shares a common focus on developing accurate, efficient, and trustworthy data mining solutions to discover actionable patterns and intelligence from large-scale user data to facilitate prediction and recommendation in a wide range of domains.

To date, Dr Chen has published 90+ peer-reviewed papers in the most prestigious, CORE A*/A-ranked and CCF A-ranked conferences (e.g., KDD, SIGIR, WWW, ICDM, ICDE, AAAI and IJCAI) and journals (e.g., VLDBJ, IEEE TKDE, IEEE TNNLS, ACM TOIS and WWWJ). Dr Chen's work has attracted 7,500+ citations and an h-index of 40 on Google Scholar. a Field-Weighted Citation Impact of 4.51 (SciVal), i.e., his publications attract 4.51 times of the citations in comparison to similar papers of the same age, type and area. According to CNCI (Web of Science), 10 and 36 of his papers are respectively the top-1% and top-10% most cited. His publications have won 4 Best Paper Awards, 1 Best Paper Nomination, and 2 Travel Awards.

Dr Chen has been regularly providing services in the data science discipline as reviewers for CORE A*/A journals like TKDE, TNNLS, TOIS, and as program committee members for CORE A*/A conferences like KDD, SIGIR, NeurIPS, WSDM, ICDM, ACL. He is one of the Area Chairs of top conferences KDD, WWW, and ACL in 2024-2025, and the Program Chair of the 2024 Australasian Database Conference (ADC’24). In 2025, he is appointed as an Associate Editor of the SJR Q1-ranked journal Neural Networks. Besides, he led and delivered a series of technical tutorials at WWW (the No. 1 international web mining conference) in 2022, 2024, and 2025, as well as WSDM’25 (CORE A-ranked conference) and DASFAA’23 (top database conference), which all aimed to promote trustworthy, resource-efficient, and unbiased personalisation algorithms.

Biography: Dr. Peng Chen is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Chemical Engineering, and a Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland (UQ). Dr. Chen's research focuses on the development of low-cost and efficient thin-film photovoltaic technologies for renewable energy conversion and storage, including perovskite solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and lead-free perovskite optoelectronics. Dr Chen received his PhD degree from the School of Chemical Engineering at UQ in 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Lianzhou Wang. He then moved to AIBN for an Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) Research Fellow (2020-2022), an ARC DECRA Fellow (2023-2025), and an ARC Early-Career Industry Fellowship (2026-2028).

Research highlights: Over the past decade at UQ, Dr Chen has contributed to 70 peer-reviewed publications in top journals, including Science (×1), Nature Nanotechnology (×1), Nature Energy (×1), Nature Reviews Clean Technology (×1), Nature Communications (×2), Advanced Materials (×5), Angewandte Chemie International Edition (×7), Journal of the American Chemistry Society (×2), Advanced Energy Materials (×4), ACS Nano (×3), Advanced Functional Materials (×4), Nano Energy (×3), etc. His publications have attracted >8500 citations with a H-index of 38 (Google Scholar). He has attracted over $5 million competitive research funds from ARC, ARENA, and Australian Government.

• 2018, Conceptual design of bilayer 2D/3D heterostructures for stable perovskite solar cells (Advanced Functional Materials 2018, 28, 1706923; >880 citations; ESI Highly Cited Paper)
• 2021, Synthesis of ultrastable perovskite-MOF glassy composites for light-emitting applications (Science 2021, 374, 621; ESI Highly Cited Paper)
• 2024, Setting a certified world-record efficiency of 16.65% for lead-free perovskite solar cells (Nature Nanotechnology 2025, 20, 779; ESI Hot Paper)
• 2026, Reporting a record efficiency of 15.27% for inorganic tin-based perovskite solar cells (Advanced Materials 2026, 38, e19143; Inside Front Cover)
• 2026, Focused review on the development of tin halide perovskite solar cells (Nature Reviews Clean Technology 2026, doi.org/10.1038/s44359-026-00210-0)

Course coordinator: CHEE4006/4007 Research Project, and CHEE4026/4027 Research Thesis; Course Lecturer: ENGG1500 Thermodynamics: Energy and Enivronment; Guest Lecturer: MATE7016 Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage.