QUT’s CARRS-Q postgraduate education program has received the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its outstanding contribution to improving road safety.
On 11 December 2018, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent presented the award to CARRS-Q (Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety-Queensland) in recognition of CARRS-Q’s leadership in educating future road safety professionals.
The judges were impressed by the numbers of Masters and PhD students being trained at CARRS-Q which “had a significant effect in building capacity in many states and countries”.
CARRS-Q director Professor Narelle Haworth said CARRS-Q had grown to become the leading institution for the education of road safety researchers in Australia, and one of the world’s leading institutions of its type.
“Our Higher Degree Research Program has seen 75 national and international PhD students graduate from CARRS-Q since its inception in 1996,” Professor Haworth said.
“Over the past decade, our program has expanded to include postgraduate students from multi-disciplinary backgrounds, not only from Australasia, but from Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
“CARRS-Q encourages students to conduct research in their own countries in spite of multiple financial and logistic challenges because low and middle income countries have road safety problems markedly different from those of high-income countries.”
Professor Haworth said CARRS-Q postgraduate supervisors were in high demand for their experience in transdisciplinary research with national and international research institutes, governments and industry on road safety issues.
“Our researchers have investigated everything from preventing injury to vulnerable road users to the design and analysis of human-machine interaction for connected and automated vehicles,” she said.
“Links with international institutions have led to student and staff exchange which has contributed to institutional reform in those countries.
“Our internationally recognised program has achieved real-world results demonstrated by high-level and influential roles held by graduates in Australia and around the world such as Global Road Safety Partnership, Asian Development Bank , Queensland Department of Transport & Main Roads, Department of the Premier and Cabinet (Queensland), Building and Road Research in Africa, and Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia.”
QUT Media contacts:
Niki Widdowson, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au.