17 September 2004

The University of Queensland will recognise outstanding research achievements during Research Week 2004 which starts on September 20 and runs until the 24th.

The event is designed to raise awareness of current UQ research among the university community, the general public, industry, government and the media.

Highlights of the week include a public forum on research commercialisation and the annual UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards on September 23.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle said he encouraged students, staff and the wider community to attend events, including the public forum on research commercialisation to be held on Monday September 20, 12.30-2pm in the Queensland Bioscience Precinct auditorium, St Lucia campus.

The forum, to be moderated by ABC Radio National’s Sandy McCutcheon, will examine the topic, Universities have a responsibility to commercialise their research: academics as entrepreneurs.

“The issue of commercialisation has become a hot topic in the media and in the higher education sector, and it will be interesting to explore the issues with a leading broadcaster and an expert panel from UQ,” Professor Siddle said.

Members of the panel are Professor Peter Gray, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Dr Melissa Little, Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) and Professor Peter Cryle, Centre for History of European Discourses.

A number of schools and institutes, as well as the Graduate School and the Office of Research and Postgraduate Studies, are holding seminars, workshops and other events during Research Week.

For details of this year’s program, visit www.uq.edu.au/research/researchweek2004

Media: for more information, contact Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 3365 2659, email b.turner@uq.edu.au).