Hub Awards and Celebrations
2025, a Year of Achievement and Community
The Soils and Hub Christmas Party was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on a successful year and celebrate the people who made it possible.
Director Deli Chen thanked the entire Hub, Board, SIAC, industry partners and collaborators for their hard work and contributions throughout 2025. Special thanks were also given to the Social Committee for organising events that strengthened collegiality and collaboration across the Hub. Industry partners were acknowledged with small tokens of appreciation in recognition of their ongoing support.
Promotions, Appointments and Welcomes
We congratulated Professor Uta Wille on her promotion to Head of School, Chemistry, and celebrated several key appointments, including Professor Ute Roessner as CEO of the ARC. New SIAC members included Jeff Kraak, Dr Cristina Martinez, and Dr Thushari Wijesinghe (ECR representative). We also welcomed new postdoctoral researchers Rex, Li and Mei.
Grant Success and Recognition
2025 saw strong funding success, with highlights including ARC Discovery Projects awarded to Jim He and Raymond Lam, a GRDC Fellowship to Dr. Emma Liang, and multiple ECR and postdoctoral awards across the Hub. Several researchers were recognised as Highly Cited Researchers, including Jim He, Hangwei Hu, Deli Chen and Caixan Tang, while Frank Caruso received further international recognition.
Graduations, Awards and Community
Congratulations were extended to our graduating PhD and Masters students, and we farewelled colleagues moving on to new opportunities. Hub awards recognised excellence across research, communication and community, including awards to Brendon Costello, Joses Nathanael, Yulin Shu, Claire Lewis, and Becca McQuillan and Ella Williams for their outstanding contributions.
The year concluded with highlights from major conferences, including the the Fertiliser Australia Workshop and the International Symposium on Advancing Green Agriculture, reinforcing the Hub’s strong industry engagement.
As we look ahead to 2026, the Christmas Party reminded us of the strength of our community and our shared commitment to impactful research.
