2025 UQ AI PhD Showcase
Thursday 26th & Friday 27th June 2025
The UQ AI Research Network is pleased to announce the 2025 UQ AI PhD Showcase.
AI is receiving widespread attention around the world, with breakthrough results in a range of domains generating excitement, speculation and concern about the potentialrevolutionary impact of AI on economic growth and the future of jobs in the face of automation. At UQ, researchers from across Faculties and Institutes are actively working on the development, application, and implications of AI in a diverse range of disciplines and application domains. This showcase brings an opportunity for UQ experts (academics and students alike) to share knowledge and expertise, and importantly, build our community for exploring synergies and developing collaborations around AI.
The UQ community is invited to join a two-day catered event on Thursday 26th & Friday 27th June in the Hawken Engineering Building (50), T203 Learning Theatre, at the St Lucia Campus. The event includes keynote speakers, presentations and posters of AI related projects by 40 PhD students, an expert panel discussion, and social networking.
Event details
- Day 1 - Thursday 26th June 9am-4:30pm
- Day 2 - Friday 27th June 9:30am-2:45pm
Venue
This is an in-person event and will be held in the Hawken Engineering Building (50), Level 2, T203 Learning Theatre, UQ St Lucia Campus.
Program
Opening Address: Professor Rachel Parker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), The University of Queensland
Professor Rachel Parker has twenty years experience in higher education research leadership as Director Higher Degree Research Studies (UQ, 2003-2006), Associate Dean Research (QUT, 2009-2018), Dean Research Development (QUT 2014-2015), Director Centre for METS Business Innovation (QUT, 2017-2020) and most recently as Executive Director, Research Translation and Impact (UQ, 2022-2023). She has worked closely with State and Federal governments as an advisor on technology and innovation policy, research impact and university-industry research collaboration.Rachel Parker's research field is technology innovation systems and she has a discipline background in policy, governance and strategy.
Keynote Speaker: Dr Peter Bailey (Canva)
Talk Title: "Building Better Bicycles: The Future of AI"
Abstract: Modern generative AI systems are situated in centuries-old tool building cultures. The advent of modern personal computing created "bicycles for the mind" that accelerated all kinds of digitally enabled experiences. Modern search engines did the same by enabling unparalleled access to digital information. What will AI do in turn? What's holding it back? And why does the user interface experience still feel like we could be talking to ELIZA in 1966?
Bio: Peter is an expert in the field of information retrieval, and currently leads machine learning for Content & Discovery at Canva. He has worked in a range of organisations, from academia to industrial research labs, from startups and consulting, to more than a decade at Microsoft. He is a co-author of numerous scientific papers and co-inventor of a number of patents. He is the co-creator of several widely used datasets, including WT10g, CERC, UQV100, and CRD3. While at Microsoft, he led the Contextual Relevance team when it introduced personalised search ranking to the Bing web search engine in 2010. Elements of that work were recognised in the ACM SIGIR 2022 Test of Time paper award for "Modeling the impact of short- and long-term behavior on search personalization". In addition to his applied scientist and manager responsibilities, he was a member of Microsoft's Responsible AI AETHER Committee's Fairness and Inclusiveness working group from 2018 through 2021. He is a Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and contributes regularly to program committees for conferences in the information retrieval community. He is an amateur builder, baker, and marmalade maker.
Keynote Speaker: Lawrence Kusz (ChatStat)
Talk Title: "Beyond the Hype: AI's Role in Shaping a Human-Centred Future"
Abstract: In this keynote, Lawrence will reflect on the journey that led him to found Chatstat and work at the intersection of AI, safety, and social impact. He'll explore some of the big-picture questions that today’s AI researchers should be considering: What does it mean to be human in an AI-shaped world? How can we ensure AI narrows inequality instead of amplifying it? What are the societal consequences of AGI, personalised learning, AI companions, and synthetic media? And how might AI both challenge and reinforce our sense of identity, truth, and connection?
This won’t be a technical deep dive. It is designed to provoke discussion and reflection, especially as you shape the next generation of AI research. Expect a mix of storytelling, provocation, and open questions.
Bio: Lawrence Kusz is the Founder and Managing Director of Chatstat, an award-winning Australian social enterprise using AI to detect and respond to online harm. He began his career in academia, teaching and researching at the University of Queensland, before founding Chatstat in response to the rise of online risks affecting young people. His work focuses on ethical AI design, digital safety, and the intersection of human behaviour and emerging technology. Lawrence regularly speaks on the societal impacts of AI and has been recognised nationally for his contributions to innovation and social impact.
Panel Discussion:
- UQ graduates sharing their perspectives on "AI in the real-world"
- Tariq Soliman, Graduate Digital Engineer, Hatch
- Dr Zixin Wang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ARC Training Centre for Information Resilience (CIRES), UQ
- Dr Xin Xia, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Electrial Engineering & Computer Science, UQ
PhD Presenters:
- Forty student presenters from across the University. See the full program for presenter details and abstracts.
Important Dates
- Thursday 19th June - Registrations close 5pm for non-presenters. Register here.
Thursday 26th & Friday 27th June 2025 – UQ AI PhD Showcase 2025
Past deadlines
Friday 6th June 2025 – Deadline for presenter registration & submissions - Closed
Friday 13th June – Presenters notified - Completed
Organising committee:
- Dr Alina Bialkowski
- Dr Rocky Chen
- Dr Xin Yu
- Professor Shane Culpepper
About the UQ AI Research Network
UQ AI researchers and domain experts are co-designing innovative AI solutions to tackle complex global problems together with our industry and government partners.
From health and medicine to business, agriculture, mining, energy and defence, our research impact on industry, society and government is broad and diverse.
Our key capabilities lie in:
AI Strategy and Governance
Human-Centred AI
Scalable and Sustainable AI
Data-Centric AI
See past events:
2022 UQ Workshop on Artificial Intelligence
2021 UQ Workshop on Artificial Intelligence