Early Career Conference Grants

Dr Donnie Adams is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Educational Management, Planning and Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Malaysia. The ACU Early Career Conference Grant will support his career development as a young and emerging researcher, and facilitate increased international collaboration and network activity among the members of the ECER 2021 network on health and wellbeing education.

Dr Leandy Bertrand is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Saskatchewan with an academic background in Nutritional Sciences. Her research interests include food environments and health outcomes. Dr Bertrand is very passionate about cooking and trying new recipes. She will be presenting her research at the Nutrition 2021 conference, June 7-10, 2021, with the support of an early career conference grant.

Madu Solomon C is a researcher at the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development, University of Nigeria, and is passionate about conducting academic research in advanced materials engineering. He applied for a grant to present his paper at 2021 Sustainable Engineering and Industrial Technology Conference.

Dr Kenzie Friesen is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, studying sports biomechanics/kinesiology. The grant will enable her to attend the prestigious International Society of Biomechanics conference where she can meet potential future collaborators and discuss current research and methods with top tier researchers. With a passion for keeping young athletes healthy and happy along their sport journey, Dr Friesen’s research specifically seeks to track athlete movement patterns longitudinally to understand injury etiology and ideally reduce injury risk.

Dr Theodora Fteropoulli is a research fellow at the University of Cyprus Medical School, and her research interests include quality of life and psychosocial functioning in chronic illness and recently the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals. Theodora is passionate about patient empowerment, patient-centred care, and environmental protection. The grant will enable her to present her research at the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) conference, helping to widen her network and potentially bring about collaboration for her university.

Dr Paulina Ramirez Garcia is a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash University within The ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science and Technology (CBNS). Paulina continues the optimisation of nanoparticles for pain relief through an industry collaboration with Endosomes Therapeutics. Her main research interest are stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems, pain and G-protein coupled receptor pharmacology.

Prashneel Ravisan Goundar is a Lecturer in Language at Fiji National University, Lautoka, Fiji. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics from University of New England, Australia.  Goundar's research interests include language policy and planning, language assessment, language testing, and academic English writing skills. He is presenting at a post graduate conference in June this year, and the grant will assist in getting proper internet connectivity as well as preparation workshop participation. When he is not busy reading and writing, Goundar enjoys cooking for his dad and sister at their home in Nadi, Fiji. 

Dr Suhana Koting is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Her research field is Transportation Engineering. She is interested in asphalt pavement, traffic engineering and statistical analysis and modelling. Participating in an international conference will help her share and discuss research findings with other researchers. She will learn about her field's latest developments, build a professional network, and share new knowledge with her colleagues and students. 

Dr Lulama Mdodana-Zide is a lecturer at the University of the Free State, School of Education Studies. They are passionate about teacher professional development, educational leadership and management, and hearing Impaired education. As an emerging scholar, Dr Mdodana-Zide applied for a  grant to get assistance to attend conferences. 'The grant will benefit me, an emerging scholar, with academic research growth and the university will benefit on the article publications which will emerge from conference attendance.'

Dr Zamambo Mkhize is a lecturer in Gender Studies and African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr Mkhize applied for a grant because 'as an early career academic - exposure to other academics and their work through conferences, especially international ones, is critical in terms of networking and building connections for possible collaborations. This grant will benefit my university because it will allow me to be more visible to my university community, as well as increase the profile of my university globally.'

Lindiwe Mokotjo is a Senior Lecturer at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa. Her research interests include the integration of technology in the teaching of mathematics. She applied for this grant for the opportunity to attend an international conference that will expose her to innovative ways of teaching and growing my research. In Lindiwe's role as Senior Lecturer, she will gain networking that expose me to better ways to mentor and support my subordinates. Lindiwe is passionate about exploring ways of making mathematics understandable for all learners.

Christopher Momanyi is a Teaching Fellow at Strathmore University, Kenya, with a keen interest in vocational education and philosophy. The grant will allow him to participate in The Asian Conference on Education (ACE2021) to be held in November 2021. Christopher will be able to share his research with other researchers, including those from his university. 

Mohlalakoma Therecia Ngwako is a control systems engineer and an Associate Lecturer at the School of Electrical and Information engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. A P.h.D student with a passion for female empowerment, Mohlalakoma specialises in modelling and automation of systems using energy-based approaches and optimization techniques. Her work is on efficient energy optimization of electric mining vehicles. This grant will help Mohlalakoma finance publications to advance her career, contribute towards knowledge in the field, and also present solutions that would benefit the society.

Adaobiagu Obiagu is a lecturer in Department of Social Science Education, University of Nigeria where she teaches and researches peace, human rights, citizenship, and gender education mainly from a transformative perspective. She is passionate about promoting peacebuilding and social justice in and through education. Her grant will cover the participation cost of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI-ISS) Conference 2021, where she will be presenting a paper on gender education in a deeply patriarchal context. 

Dr Chukwueloka Okeke is an engineering geologist who is passionate about utilising nature-based solutions in disaster management and ecosystem restoration. He is currently a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Civil Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria and has completed several research projects in the areas of watershed management, GIS-based gully erosion assessment, flood vulnerability assessment, land use impact on watershed and ecosystem health, to name a few. Dr Okeke is using his grant to attend the World Landslide Forum conference,  through which he can share his research results, network, and collaborate with other researchers working on related projects.

Saheed Olanrewaju Yusuf is currently a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Project Management Technology, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. His research interests include sustainable construction management and emerging digital technologies in the construction industry. He plans to pursue a Doctoral degree in Construction Management after his master’s degree. He applied for the ECCG grant to fund his scholarly research contribution to the Zero Energy Mass Custom Home (ZEMCH) international conference, 2021. The findings of his study will be beneficial as a teaching aid for students and for further research for government, and construction industry stakeholders.

Olawale Olonade is an Assistant Lecturer, and a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. His research interests include gender, rural, urban and development studies, and is passionate about city sustainability and overall wellbeing, which is the goal 11 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs 11). Olawale will use his grant to participate in the 8th International Conference on Education and Education of Social Sciences (SOCIOINT 2021), where he will be able to present a paper on gender and education, whilst meeting likeminded people and networking for potential collaborations.

Dr Walter Sengai is from Zimbabwe and is currently a lecturer in History Education at the National University of Lesotho. Dr Sengai will use this grant to attend an international teacher education conference in Turkey where he is presenting a research paper on the teaching and learning of history at secondary school. This presentation will help to put his university on the academic map of the world since little is known about institutions in developing countries. ‘Personally, the interaction with other academics in my area of specialisation will nurture me academically and professionally since I will learn a lot.’

Dr. Samuel Tette is a lecturer and researcher of Physical and Inorganic at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. By attending the 6th European Crystallography School, he hopes to acquire more experience in X-ray crystallography and use the knowledge acquired to train both undergraduate and graduate students. He also hopes to build a strong research group in the area of clay minerals and the synthesis of metal oxides for catalytic applications in environmental remediation. His research areas consist of media and communication, rhetoric Studies and multilingual education.

Jumoke I. Oladele is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her specialisation is in educational research, measurement and evaluation/psychometrics. She is using the grant to attend the twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning, which is focused on educational improvement and professional development as a researcher. Jumoke is passionate about educational research and computer adaptive testing.

Dr Awadhesh Kumar Shirotriya is from India and currently working as a lecturer of Physical Education at Fiji National University, Fiji Islands. Dr Shirotriya applied for this grant to showcase their work to the world in order to prove the work scope of Physical Education Teachers (PETs). The professional growth of the PETs is one of his areas of interest.

Guanjin Wang works as a lecturer in Information Technology at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Thanks to the ACU Early Career Conference grant, her latest research outcome on COVID-19 vaccination social media analysis could be presented that would reach a wider audience including researchers, governments and the public. Her current research interests lie in artificial intelligence, machine learning, transfer learning, data mining and interdisciplinary solutions to real-world challenges.

Lang Wang is from Hong Kong SAR, China and is working as a lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her subject is Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Pollution. The grant will support her to attend a conference that is a great platform for scientists to communicate and cooperate in the field of atmospheric chemistry around the globe. As an early career academic, she is looking forward to presenting her research and building potential collaborations at the conference. These activities can benefit their professional development, contribute to the university’s research and educational dimensions.