Professor Georges is Dean of Applied Science at the University of Canberra and his main research focus is on sex determination in reptiles. He is also the chair of the ACT Flora and Fauna Committee, responsible for advising the ACT Government on biodiversity and ecology issues, among other committee and management appointments. University of Canberra’s research income triples in a year
The University of Canberra is on course to reach its goal of becoming a world-ranked research university having tripled its research income last year.
In 2011, the University of Canberra signed new research contracts to a value of $21.2 million dollars, which was almost three times the $7.2 m value of contracts signed during 2010; its highest level of research income to date.
“The University of Canberra is placing a renewed emphasis on research. We have appointed a large number of new researchers and attracted more research students who are now capitalising on their expertise and winning more grants and signing new contracts,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Frances Shannon said.
“This increase is fantastic news and puts us on the right path to achieve our goal of becoming a world-ranked research university.”
A total of 111 new research contracts were signed in 2011 compared to 94 in 2010.
“We are winning more grants, but what is more significant is the increase in the value of the grants and contracts we’re receiving,” Professor Shannon said.
The research areas that were substantial recipients of government research and evaluation contracts and competitive grants were environmental science, education and health.
These are some of the major research projects undertaken by the University in the last year:
A group of innovative researchers, including University of Canberra’s Professor Robert Fitzgerald and lecturer Danny Munnerley, received funding from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) to mix the real with the virtual in an effort to expand the concept of learning spaces by using ‘augmented reality’ in interactive teaching and mobile learning.
The memory of Australia as a nation is now available at your fingertips thanks to a recent interactive installation developed by researcher Mitchell Whitelaw and multimedia developers Lightwell, for the National Archives of Australia. The installation Touch and See allows visitors to navigate through thousands of layers of information from the archives, zooming in and out of documents, photographs, film and objects from the Archives’ collection.
In May, the University was awarded $6.3 m to lead the Murray-Darling Basin Futures, a collaborative research network project towards building resilience in the Murray-Darling Basin in collaboration with four other Australian universities and key government partners.
In June, a $1.4m grant from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research was awarded to a team of community development experts at the University of Canberra to improve the livelihoods of poor and marginalised rural households in Pakistan.
In July, researchers from the University’s Centre for Research and Action in Public Health received $1.8 million to investigate the role of nurse practitioners in the aged care sector.
Research projects to reduce asthma-related deaths, the development of vaccines for diseases including HIV and cancer, and whether midwifery care increases natural births received more than $1 million in funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The role of technology in keeping a work-life balance and the factors keeping older Australians away from the workforce are among four research projects that raised more than $1million in prestigious grants from the Australian Research Council.
- Professor Frances Shannon is available for interview
- Professor Fitzgerald, Mr Munnerley and Dr Whitelaw are available for interview
- Vision and photos of their respective projects can be arranged
Contact the University of Canberra media team:
Ed O’Daly M: 0408 829 618 T: 02 6201 2441
Amanda Powell M: 0408 826 362 T: 02 6201 5422
