2025 UQ AI PhD Showcase
On the 26th and 27th June, the UQ AI Research Network hosted the 2025 UQ AI PhD Showcase over two days at the St Lucia Campus. The event brought together over 40 PhD students from diverse disciplines, leading academics, industry experts, and members of the UQ community for two days of vibrant discussion, cutting-edge research presentations, and collaborative networking.
With AI continuing to reshape industries and societies worldwide, this showcase provided a timely platform for exploring the development, application, and implications of artificial intelligence across disciplines. From health and agriculture to digital safety and governance, the breadth of research on display highlighted UQ’s commitment to advancing responsible and impactful AI.
Special thanks to the organising team Dr Alina Bialkowski (Chair), Dr Rocky Chen, Dr Xin Yu, and Professor Shane Culpepper for an excellent event! See the full details below.
PhD Student Presentations
Forty students showcased their AI-related projects through engaging talks and posters, sparking lively conversations and potential collaborations.
Congratulations to our winners!
Hetiao (Slim) Xie – FIRST PLACE Oral Presentation
Marguerite King – PEOPLE’S CHOICE Oral Presentation
Aurel Amar – FIRST PLACE Posters & Demos
Swathi Hassan Gangaraju – PEOPLE’S CHOICE Posters & Demos
Event details
- Day 1 - Thursday 26th June 9am-4:30pm
- Day 2 - Friday 27th June 9:30am-2:45pm
Venue
This was an in-person event 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
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