Fulbright Scholars

The Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind, created by American Senator J William Fulbright and the United States Government in 1946, and aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange between the United States and 155 countries.

We have produced many Fulbright Scholars, some of whom have been specifically acknowledged for their outstanding achievements.

Associate Professor Robert Perrons

Rob specialises in innovation and new technologies within the energy and resource sector. He also serves as a member of the United Nations Resources and Energy Expert Group and is a technical adviser to several resource sector technology start-up companies around the world. As a Fulbright Scholar, Rob will develop an integrative framework for the policy- and business-related aspects of applying blockchain technology to make supply networks for technology minerals “smart,” thereby helping to provide these inputs for green energy technologies.

Associate Professor Kelly Richards

Kelly is an Associate Professor in the School of Justice, Faculty of Law, where her research focuses primarily on sexual offending against children, and especially on the reintegration of those who perpetrate sexual violence. Kelly will use her Fulbright Scholar Award to further her research on victim/survivors of sexual violence and CoSA at California State University-Fresno and the University of Vermont.

Joseph West

Joe will complete his Doctor of Philosophy in 2020 at QUT researching machine learning (ML), more specifically improving the speed of learning for an artificial player learning any board game without human intervention. For his Fulbright Future Scholarship Joe will be working with the Centre for Neurotechnology at UW researching how ML can provide automated adaptive control of DBS therapy for neurological conditions.

Sasha Purcell

Sasha is a lawyer and delegate for the United Nations Association of Australia-Qld Division. She is passionate about advocating for the rights of marginalised and isolated communities. As a Torres Strait Islander Sasha has a particular interest in the preservation and advancement of Indigenous human rights. As a Fulbright Scholar, Sasha hopes to study a Master of Laws specialising in international law, human rights and environmental law.

Dylan Cronin

A research chemist and doctoral student at our Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, Dylan is working to find renewable solutions for increased demands for energy, fuel and synthetic products. After being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2015, he will continue his work in a research institute at Washington State University.

Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham

Stuart received a Fulbright Senior Scholar award to the United States in 2014. The media scholar and Director of the QUT-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara, focusing on emerging new global online entertainment systems and opportunities for innovation in screen production and distribution.

Sarah Holland-Batt

A poet, critic and QUT lecturer in creative writing and literary studies, Sarah used her two-year scholarship to study for a Master of Fine Arts in poetry at New York University.

Dr Craig Costello

A mathematics PhD student, Craig spent 12 months at the University of California undertaking research into maths-based security techniques for computers and other telecommunication devices.

Dr Hilary Hughes

A lecturer with our Faculty of Education, Hilary spent four months as a scholar-in-residence at the University of Colorado, Denver, developing an inclusive approach to online learning for students from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Dr Kristy Vernon

Kristy took out the Postgraduate Award in Technology and Communication, and travelled to the University of California, Berkley in San Francisco for eight months. The focus of her research was on developing a nano-optical circuit and nano-sensors.

Dr Avin Mathew

Avin spent 12 months at the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, investigating ways of making it easier for asset managers to make informed decisions about water resources.

Dr Tim Hopper

Tim's ultimate goal is to develop a portable Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to be used by researchers in space, which could run experiments to benefit suffers of osteoporosis. He spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Centre, studying with some of the world's leading authorities on MRI technology.

Dr Mitchell Lawrence

Mitchell won a $40,000 Fulbright Postgraduate Award to conduct research into prostate cancer at Harvard University's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston. His study focused on specific proteins involved in the progression of prostate cancer to better detect the invasive disease.

Professor Peter Coaldrake

Our previous Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake was elected Chair to the Board of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission in 2005, and is himself a two-time Fulbright scholar.

Laura A. Milton

Laura is a biomedical engineering PhD candidate who generates micro-scale drug testing platforms. Laura combines microfluidic cell culture devices with bespoke biomaterials and cell constructs, using them to develop predictive and reproducible drug screening models which forecast patient responses. As a Fulbright Scholar, Laura will work with leading microfluidics researchers at the University of Washington to develop microfluidic drug screening platforms for a variety of disorders.

Monash Scholars

The John Monash Scholarship is Australia's most prestigious postgraduate scholarship.

Tim O'Shea

A biomedical engineering graduate, Tim was awarded a John Monash Scholarship in 2008. The $150,000 award enabled him to further his spinal cord repair research in the United States.