QCAS previous recipients
Successful grant recipients
The Queensland–Chinese Academy of Sciences Collaborative Science Fund has provided grants of $125,000 over two years to Queensland research organisations in a series of funding rounds since 2014.
View the list below of previous Q-CAS recipients and their project details.
| Round | Project | Location | Priority | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Turning Greenhouse Gas into Protein The University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop advanced microbial and membrane-aerated technologies to convert greenhouse gases into high-quality protein. The research will improve gas transfer and protein yields, supporting sustainable food production while reducing environmental impacts. | Brisbane | Environmental sciences | $125,000 |
| 2025 | Sustainable CO₂-Derived Fatty Acids The University of QueenslandThis project aims to convert industrial CO₂ into high-value fatty acids through a novel biomanufacturing process. The research will address challenges in gas fermentation and metabolic engineering to support carbon-negative production of sustainable chemicals. | Brisbane | Environmental sciences | $125,000 |
| 2025 | Pineapple Improvement by Genome Editing The University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop a gene editing platform to produce improved non-GM pineapple varieties resistant to premature flowering. The technology will also support future improvements including herbicide tolerance, disease resistance and climate resilience. | Brisbane | Agriculture and food sciences | $125,000 |
| 2025 | Bone Graft for Aged Population Griffith UniversityThis project aims to develop a clinically ready bone graft to improve fracture healing and bone regeneration in older people. The research will advance biomaterials that support healthy bone repair and establish a pathway to clinical application. | Gold Coast | Human health and medical research | $125,000 |
| 2025 | Improving Models for Water Allocation Griffith UniversityThis project aims to improve hydrological models by integrating remote sensing data to identify water balance gaps. The research will support more accurate water allocation decisions, strengthening environmental management and agricultural planning under changing climate conditions. | Brisbane | Environmental sciences | $125,000 |
| 2023 | Nuclear Receptors in Metabolic DiseasesThe University of QueenslandThis project will investigate the synergic regulation of nuclear receptors with the Ghrelin/LEAP2-GHSR signal axis - a novel regulator of food intake and body weight. The project aims to develop targeted drugs for treating chronic metabolic diseases. | Brisbane | Human health and medical research | $125,000 |
| 2023 | Environment Mitigation by Energy StorageThe University of QueenslandThis project will deliver a pilot-scale plant demonstrating underground Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) in Queensland. Porous reservoirs (depleted natural gas) will be examined at sites allowing for affordable construction of very large energy storages. By deploying suggested versions of CAES, reduction of the environmental impact and carbon emissions for electricity generation in Queensland and China will be evaluated, facilitating reduction of global carbon emissions. | Brisbane | Environmental sciences | $125,000 |
| 2023 | Breathing Batteries for Carbon Neutral The University of QueenslandThis project aims to mitigate energy efficiency and cycling stability issues of metal-CO2 batteries through the creation of an advanced Zinc-CO2 flow battery system employing highly efficient electrocatalysts. Outcomes include novel materials and methodologies for CO2 capture technology, and insights from interdisciplinary collaborations. The project will contribute to net-zero carbon emissions objectives in Queensland and China. | Brisbane | Environmental sciences | $125,000 |
| 2022 | Seawater-Degradable Plastic Materials The University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop a cost-effective seawater-degradable plastic material that will reduce marine plastic pollution and ultimately benefit marine environment management in both Australia and China. | Brisbane | Environment | $125,000 |
| 2022 | Nitrogen Cycle Under Climate Change Griffith UniversityThis project aims to develop and test novel Nitrogen-15 (N-15) technologies to improve our understanding of the nitrogen cycle in terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. It will also develop and apply tree ring N-15 technologies for fingerprinting climate extremes and bushfires; and will develop and apply climate smart and biochar (charcoal)-based technologies for dragon fruit by improving water- and nitrogen-use efficiency. | Brisbane | Environment | $125,000 |
| 2022 | Past Asian-Australian Monsoon Variability Griffith UniversityThis project aims to develop monsoon strength indices from environmental records of rainfall, regional ecology, and fire, using strategically selected lakes in China and Australia. These million-year sediment records allow identification of environmental drivers of the monsoons through major changes in ocean-land configuration, CO2 and earth climates. The project will result in a better prediction of tropical rainfall in both China and Australia. | Brisbane | Environment | $125,000 |
| 2022 | Green Peroxide for Pollutants Removal The University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop a sustainable technology for emerging micropollutants removal in water, achieved by an innovative process to couple on-site hydrogen peroxide production and advanced oxidation processes together, resulting in the development of a prototype device driven by renewable electricity for efficient on-site hydrogen peroxide production; and an in-depth scientific understanding of selective degradation pathways of organic micropollutants. | Brisbane | Environment | $125,000 |
| 2020 | Antimicrobial nanoadditive for poultry feedThe University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop a high-value natural nanoadditive containing natural plant extracts for foodborne bacteria control in chickens. | Brisbane | Agricultural biotechnology and food research, including food safety | $125,000 |
| 2020 | COVID-19 vaccines and inhibitorsThe University of QueenslandThis project will use structural biology to help develop new potential vaccines and inhibitors (both neutralising antibodies and small molecules) for SARS-CoV-2. | Brisbane | Human Health and Medical Research | $125,000 |
| 2020 | Targeted liver cancer therapyMater Research Institute–University of QueenslandThis project aims to develop targeted therapies for liver cancer, generating new agents that home specifically to and accumulate in this cancer. | Brisbane | Human Health and Medical Research | $125,000 |
| 2017–18 | Multifunctional nanomedicines for Alzheimer's diseaseThe University of QueenslandThis project is developing novel multifunctional nanomedicines for efficient Alzheimer's Disease treatment, through enhancing brain blood barrier penetration and brain cell uptake via targeting technology and simultaneously delivering four carefully-selected therapeutics to the brain intracellular and extracellular milieu for combinational Alzheimer's Disease treatment. | Brisbane | Agricultural biotechnology and food research, including food safety | $125,000 |
| 2017–18 | Therapeutics for stroke and painThe University of QueenslandThis project is using structural biological approaches to determine the molecular mechanism by which particular compounds inhibit acid-sensing ion channels, and use this information to rationally engineer optimised compounds for development as drugs for the treatment of chronic pain and stroke. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |
| 2016–17 | Predicting crop yield from spaceThe University of QueenslandThis project sought to develop crop yield prediction systems using remotely-sensed data from satellite platforms in combination with crop modelling and simulation technologies. | Brisbane | Agricultural biotechnology and food research, including food safety | $125,000 |
| 2016–17 | Better, cheaper, rechargeable batteriesThe University of QueenslandThis project sought to develop a new generation of high performance, cost-effective cathode materials for rechargeable lithium ion batteries for use in large-scale applications of importance to Queensland and China including household solar-charged batteries and electric vehicle batteries. | Brisbane | Energy | $125,000 |
| 2016–17 | Nanoparticle-mediated brain iron chelationQIMR BerghoferThis project investigated a novel approach for delivering iron chelators to the brain by encapsulating them in nanoparticles or nano-sized vesicles. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |
| 2015–16 | Liposomal semi-synthetic whole-parasite malaria vaccineGriffith UniversityThis project brought together two separate technologies that the partners independently pioneered to develop an advanced whole-parasite malaria vaccine. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |
| 2015–16 | Advancing ultrahigh-field MRI based neuroimagingThe University of QueenslandThis project sought to develop new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to significantly improve how we view the development of schizophrenia in the human brain. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |
| 2015–16 | Graphene-based thin film supercapacitorsQueensland University of TechnologyThis project was focussed on developing advanced nanotechnology to make thin film supercapacitors based on graphene. | Brisbane | Energy | $125,000 |
| 2015 | Ancient knowledge, modern methodsGriffith UniversityThis project analysed and tested Traditional Chinese medicines, specifically those that protect the central nervous system against damage or degeneration caused by diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease, to determine their mechanism of action and then accelerate their acceptance by Western regulatory agencies. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |
| 2015 | Clean, low cost solar electricityQueensland University of TechnologyThis project focused on developing new materials and technologies to make durable, non-toxic, high-efficiency solar cells using a low-cost method. | Brisbane | Energy | $125,000 |
| 2014 | Sweet sorghum for valuable sugarsThe University of QueenslandThis project focussed on identifying elite sweet sorghum lines with high and stable sucrose production and transform the stem into an industrial model for value-added sugars such as isomaltulose (low glycaemic and insulin indices and low tooth decay). | Brisbane | Agricultural biotechnology and food research, including food safety | $125,000 |
| 2014 | Immune responses in the development of bone substitute biomaterials (immune responses in biomaterials development)Queensland University of TechnologyThis project focussed on using materials-based strategies to design bone grafts that regulate the innate immune response for the purpose of reconstructing and regenerating skeletal tissue. | Brisbane | Human health: immunology or neuroscience | $125,000 |