Grant recipients receive up to $5,000 of funding to attend international conferences in their fields of expertise, with a view to bringing these events to Brisbane in the future.
The five winners in this round come from specialities including medtech, hypersonics, agriculture and food innovation and tourism.
“Brisbane is a renowned innovation hub, especially in the fast-growing sectors of science, technology, medtech, tourism and sustainability, making it the perfect destination to host major conferences in these fields,” said Brisbane’s Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
“Our city offers a robust business and technology ecosystem, premium infrastructure and facilities, vibrant lifestyle and bustling entertainment precincts that keep event attendees engaged throughout their stay.
“Attracting business events to Brisbane shines a spotlight on our industries, areas of expertise and homegrown talent while creating significant economic impact for the city.”
This year’s winners are medtech expert, Professor John Fraser, founder and director of the Critical Care Research Group and director of the intensive care unit at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, amongst other positions; Dr Chris James, an Amplify senior lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at the University of Queensland and a specialist in hypersonics; Dr Tamara Sopek, the Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Women in STEMM at the University of Southern Queensland, also a hypersonics expert, in addition to rocketry; Dr Raisa Rudge, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at The University of Queensland and a specialist in the physics of soft matter and food research; and Dr Bojana Spasojevic, an interdisciplinary researcher in tourism and air transport management and lecturer in aviation management at Griffith University.
A previous recipient of the grant, Dr Gareth Price, also highlights the personal professional benefits of helping Brisbane secure international conventions.
A bioinformation and genomic scientist, Price won the grant in the 2018-2019 financial year and brought the Galaxy Community Conference to Brisbane and Australia for the first time last year.
“Being named as the primary driver for the winning bid for the 2023 Galaxy Community Conference has provided me with national recognition and reputational gain for securing the hosting rights for such an important conference to Australian life science researchers,” he said.
