Research Pathways Conference


'Resilience, Innovation and Sustainable Futures'

Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 November 2023

Welcome to a unique event at Australia's first regional university, showcasing a researchers at UNE and connecting HDR’s, Honours, Coursework Masters and Early Career Researchers across UNE’s academic disciplines.

This conference provides opportunity to highlight existing UNE knowledge while encouraging new researcher connections within our research community.  This event also provides an excellent and accessible stage to demonstrate the innovation and resilience of our researchers.

Where: This year's conference will be located at Oorala (Lecture Theatre 1) and Arts (Lecture Theatres 2 and 3).

Contact us via email if you have an questions, rpc@une.edu.au.


Zoom Links

For those who would like to attend the conference online, the zoom links can be downloaded HERE. Check the  program below for session times.


Conference Program and Proceedings

Download final version of the conference program and proceedings below. 

RPC Proceedings front page


Powerpoint Template

You can use your own preferred Powerpoint template for your presentation, but we have created a Conference Powerpoint template for those that wish to use it.


Conference Presentation Training

Conference Presentations training has now finished but sessions were recorded, if you would like access to the recordings please contact rpc@une.edu.au.

This is a great way to learn skills on how to prepare for the upcoming Research Pathways Conference, or any other presentation you might be doing in the future.

Dr Michelle Jamieson was the facilitator. Michelle has created The Mindful Researcher program, which is an evidence-based academic skills and wellness suite of training. You can read more about Michelle's experience and qualifications here.

Writing a Conference Paper Abstract

Crafting an Engaging Presentation Narrative and PowerPoint Slides

Writing an Academic Biography

Mindful Presenting 1: Managing Nerves During Conference Presentations

Mindful Presenting 2: Responding to Questions and Feedback

Facilitated presentation practice session

This was a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) funded workshop.


Artwork by PhD student of a robotic bee

The winner of the 2023 RPC Artwork Competition is “Robo Bee” by Cassandra Brooker.

Cassandra is currently doing a PhD by Creative Practice in Peace Studies, her title is “Deploying Information Warfare Tactics in Support of Environmental Peace: How Art as Activism Can Influence Conservation Action”.

Story of Entry: A robotic bee with the Doomsday Clock on its back and nuclear powered brain is juxtaposed against a bunch of seemingly beautiful blooms - but which are actually introduced exotic species not native to Australia. In light of recent pollinator deaths and invasive species thriving in damaged ecosystems, does our future resilience and sustainability require innovation in providing technological solutions, such as robotic pollinators? The background music and textural imperfect artwork itself speaks to the contribution that creativity provides to critical thinking and innovation.


The New England Award

The New England Award (NEA) program is designed to encourage, recognise and reward students’ personal and professional development through participation in extra-curricular activity. It is open to all UNE students and is targeted at ‘whole person’ development. A collaborative framework incorporating internal and external partners provides development opportunities to UNE students, unifying otherwise unrelated activities under one ‘umbrella’. The NEA provides students with a structure within which to plan and reflect upon their learning and development. The NEA contributes significantly to student development and personal growth and provides learning experiences which have a positive impact on student engagement.

If you wish to apply for this award, please complete the New England Award section in the Abstract and Biography Submission Form.

Enquiries: rpc@une.edu.au |  Contact details for the Graduate Research School.


Conference Prizes

PowerPoint Presentations - The Research Pathways Conference will announce the prizes at a later date.

Poster Presentations - The prize amounts for the Poster Presentations will be announced at a later date.

Conference Survey

Please feel free to leave your feedback on the Conference Feedback Survey


This Conference is partially funded by the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF)

2022 Conference Proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference to be held 19 - 20 October 2022.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers: 
    Day 1: Craig Robertson - Chief Executive Officer Victorian Skills Authority
    Day: 2: Prof Llewellyn Owens, BE Mech (UQ), MBM (Monash) Managing Director / Founder Vesi Water with Dr Lou Conway, Director of the UNE SMART Region Incubator (UNE SRI) and  Prof Trevor Brown, Adjunct Professor in Chemistry, School of Science and Technology
  • Invited speaker:  Prof. Raewyn Connell - Remaking of Universities
  • Special Presentation:  What’s beyond the PhD?  Peter Musinguzi, Razzaq Arker, Hiep Dao, Terence Sibanda, Jori Bremer (Panel Discussion)

Program of Events

2021 Conference Proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference to be held 23 - 24 June 2021.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers:
    Day 1: Professor Brigid Heywood "In pursuit of Knowledge"  
    Day 2:  Sean Murphy, Prof David Lamb and Darren Marshall "Media for Science Communications"
  • Special Presenters:
    Day1:Lisa Farrar -  APR.Intern  Program  
    Day2: Natasha Rawlings and Dr Lou Conway - What do investors want?
  • Special Presentation: Introduction to SOL:AR; Computationally Intensive Research: Computer Vision, Machine Learning and simulation;  Carbon Matter(s)

Conference Proceedings

2020 Conference Proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference was held 22-23 January 2020.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers: Dr Sally Isberg
  • Invited Speaker, Mr Darren Keegan
  • Invited Speaker Special Presentation: Mr Darren Marshall
  • Free entry
  • Available to anyone from UNE and the community

Program of Events

Conference Proceedings Book

2019 conference proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference was held 15 - 16 January 2019.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers: Dr Kate Wilson
  • Invited Speaker, Mr James Horsburgh
  • Invited Speaker Special Presentation: Professor Lewis Kahn
  • Free entry
  • Available to anyone from UNE and the community

Program of Events

Conference Proceedings Book

2018 conference proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference was held 15 - 16 January 2019.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers: Dr John Dixson
  • Invited Speaker: Daniel Aubin
  • Invited Speaker Special Presentation: Professor Emeritus Professor Ray Cooksey
  • Free entry
  • Available to anyone from UNE and the community

Program of Events

Conference Proceedings Book

2017 conference proceedings

The UNE Postgraduate Conference was held 17–18 January 2017.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speaker Profesor Annabelle Duncan
  • Motivation speaker Olympic volleyball player, Kerri Pottharst
  • 20 special presentations
  • Free entry
  • Available to any one from UNE and the community

Program of Events

Conference Proceedings book

2016 conference proceedings

The inaugural Postgraduate Conference was held 19–20 January 2016.

The Postgraduate Conference included:

  • Keynote speakers: Professor Ray Cooksey and Professor Robert van Barneveld
  • Free entry
  • Availability to anyone from UNE and the community.

Postgraduate Research Conference Proceedings

Program of Events