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Chemistry expert to be catalyst for research
It’s no coincidence that the man appointed to act as a catalyst in developing the research capabilities of the University of the Sunshine Coast knows quite a lot about chemistry.
Professor Roland De Marco started this month as USC’s inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and plans to use a few tried and true formulas of his own to boost the University’s success in research publications and grant income.
The Professor of Chemistry was previously the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research Strategy and Development) at Curtin University in Perth, where he had worked since 1995.
At Curtin, he helped create a strong research culture that delivered many prestigious Australian Research Council fellowships, a top 500 ranking in the Shanghai Jiao Tong index, and a national ranking just outside the top 10 universities in Australia.
Professor De Marco said he would use a coordinated and strategic approach to foster a similar research culture at USC, which he describes as a “young and aspirational” university.
“In terms of research, USC is an infant,” he said. “It has only had 10 years or so to build its research, and the academics have been doing that while also writing teaching programs.
“The University is undergoing a massive growth trajectory with its undergraduate programs, and the research is following suit. This will be an interesting and exciting time to be involved in this University.”
Professor De Marco said he aimed to lift USC’s research ranking from 38th of 41 universities ranked according to reported research income and publications, to the top 30 by 2021.
“That mightn’t sound that impressive,” he said. “But to get ourselves out of the bottom five of unis on the research rankings, we have to grow our research income and publications by about 25-30 percent per annum.
“The plan is to develop several niche areas of research strength that are world class and competitive, and to support these areas in the winning of competitive grants and the publication of high quality papers. We need to target our limited resources into areas of strength.”
USC is already taking this approach in research areas like sustainability, genecology and business, and should benefit greatly from Professor De Marco’s experience and guidance.
“There are a lot of systems and approaches that I have developed over the years and I can impart this knowledge to others,” he said. “And it’s not just to the younger researchers. For the more senior academics, having an independent person cast an eye over their work can strengthen it.
“My role is to be the spiritual leader of research at the University, and I’m a big believer in leadership by example. I will enthuse and motivate people. If you are enthusiastic and motivated about what you do, it tends to rub off on people.”
Professor De Marco brings to USC an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grant valued at $240,000 over the next three years for fundamental research involving the development of calibration- free polymeric chemical sensors.
He is also currently working on a CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund Cluster project valued at $250,000 over the next two years with researchers at the University of New South Wales, Monash University, Griffith University, Flinders University, La Trobe University and CSIRO to apply calibration-free polymeric sensors to the analysis of nutrients in environmental waters.
Professor De Marco is an internationally recognised leader in the field of electrochemical sensors and their application in environmental and clinical analysis. He has gained more than $4 million in competitive research funding and published about 200 papers and reports.
His career also has included working as a research scientist with CSIRO Minerals in Melbourne and as a Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Tasmania in Launceston.
— Terry Walsh