Division & Leadership

Professor Anton Middelberg is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) of The University of Adelaide and an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the US National Academy of Inventors. He earned his Bachelor and PhD degrees in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from The University of Adelaide.

After a period as a Fulbright Fellow at UC Berkeley, he joined the University of Cambridge as a tenured academic with Fellowship of Selwyn College and the Cambridge-MIT Institute. In 2003 he returned to Australia as a Federation Fellow of the Australian Research Council, and then as the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Fellow. From 2014-2017 Professor Middelberg was the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and International) at the University of Queensland.

Professor Middelberg is an internationally-recognised research and thought leader in the fields of rapid vaccine scale-up, soft condensed matter and bio-nanotechnology. He has published, patented and licensed innovations in these fields. With broad research, senior executive, international and commercialisation experience, Professor Middelberg now has University-wide responsibility for the Research and Innovation portfolio at The University of Adelaide.

Professor Laura Parry has three decades of experience in higher education, as a researcher, research leader and award-winning educator.  She is internationally renowned for her expertise and ground-breaking fundamental and applied research in women's health, and in the last 10 years, has become one of Australia's foremost experts in vascular physiology and diseases of pregnancy.  She also developed research programs in drug discovery for acute heart failure with national and international collaborators including the biotechnology industry (Corthera Inc, USA; Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland; Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Australia) and the University of Florida.

During her career, Laura received three Fellowships (ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, ARC QEII Fellowship), has authored more than 115 journal articles and book chapters, and has attracted approximately $14 million in research funding.  She was elected as a Fellow of the Society for Reproductive Biology in 2019 in recognition of her contributions and service to the discipline.

For 2015 until 2019, Laura was Professor in BioSciences and Associate Dean of Research and Industry in the Faculty of Science (University of Melbourne).  In September 2020, she was appointed interim Executive Dean of Sciences at the University of Adelaide, after a 10-month appointment as the Head of School, Biological Sciences. Laura commenced her new role as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Excellence) at the University of Adelaide in January 2023.  In this role, she oversees the strategic priorities and research performance of the University and its Research Institutes.  Furthermore, she is a champion of the greater participation of women in STEM and Chairs the Staff Gender Equity Committee.  In 2020/2021, Laura led the external recruitment of 7 women junior academics in the Faculty of Sciences - the first appointment of women into continuing academic positions in the Faculty in 10 years.

Professor Bruce Northcote is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Operations and the Chief Security Officer (CSO) within the Division of Research & Innovation at the University of Adelaide. The PVC (Research Operations) has responsibility for the promotion and support of research infrastructure within the University. The role of CSO is to ensure the University complies with essential regulatory requirements and best practice in relation to defence, national security, the Foreign Interference Transparency Scheme Act and University Foreign Interference Taskforce Guidelines.

Professor Northcote is also CEO of TelAri Analytics. His Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, specialising in queueing network theory, was undertaken at the Teletraffic Research Centre (TRC), of which he is a former Director.

Following completion of his postgraduate studies and a short post-doctoral role at the TRC, Professor Northcote spent nearly 6 years working in the US telecommunications industry as a system architect, pre-sales consulting engineer, performance test engineer and primary company representative on international telecommunications standardisation bodies such as ANSI-T1S1, the IETF, ATM Forum and ITU. Many of his technical contributions to those bodies have been incorporated into international standards that govern how telecommunications devices and networks operate today.

After returning to Australia and prior to joining the University of Adelaide in 2002, Professor Northcote was a consultant for BSN Consulting Pty Ltd and Telic Australia Pty Ltd, working on projects for customers ranging from Vodafone Australia, Telstra, Telcordia (USA), Viridien (USA), and the Victorian Department of Justice. He has published over 20 refereed journal and conference papers, is a senior member of IEEE and was an accredited ATM Forum Ambassador for several years.

Between August 2018 and December 2019, he served as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Engagement) within the Division of Research & Innovation, responsible for providing leadership in relation to industry engagement and commercial partnerships.

Professor Carolin Plewa is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Researcher Education and Development) and Dean of Graduate Studies. Professor Plewa has responsibility for the implementation of policies and plans relating to research development and education for HDR students and Early-Career Researchers. She is also a Professor of Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement. She also acts as the Academic Lead for the Engagement and Impact Assessment.

Professor Plewa specialises in the interaction and value co-creation across a myriad of organisations and individuals, with a particular emphasis on university-business collaboration, service and social contexts, as well as market shaping.

Her research in the context of university-business engagement, in particular, has led to her appointments to the South Australian Science Council (2015-2018), as an inaugural co-chair of the University-Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) Australia Chapter, to the ARC Engagement & Impact Assessment Panel 2018.

Her leadership comprised Deputy Dean (Research for the Faculty of the Professions (2019-2022), Deputy and Interim Director of the Entrepreneurship,

Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC; 2016-2019), as well as Associate Head Research (School of Marketing and Management; 2013-2016) to name a few.

Professor Plewa’s achievements have been recognised by her being shortlisted for the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards - Emerging Leader Category in 2019 and by her being listed on the Educator Higher Education Hot List 2020. She has been awarded an ARC Discovery Grant in 2021, two Australian Research Council Linkage Grants in 2009 (partners Meals on Wheels SA and the Norwood Football Club) and in 2011 (partner Financial Services Council) and was part of the team being awarded the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Accelerated Future Crop Development (2021). She also received an inaugural Barbara Kidman Women’s Fellowship from the University of Adelaide in 2013.

She has published her research in international marketing, management and education journals, such as Journal of Service Research, European Journal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Marketing Theory, R&D Management, the Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Education and Training and others.

With extensive teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, Professor Plewa’s teaching interests include Marketing Management, Relationship Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Services Marketing and Innovation. She was awarded the Scott Henderson Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching in 2007.

Complementing her research and teaching interests, Professor Plewa holds valuable industry experience, for example as Manager for Marketing and Strategy at Flinders Partners Pty Ltd and Education Manager at Definitive Events Pty Ltd.

Professor Michael Goodsite is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Operations and Commercialisation).  This role provides leadership in achieving the University's strategic goals in relation to research infrastructure and commercialisation. He also leads major energy and sustainable green transition initiatives.  

With a PhD in Climate and Environment from the University of Copenhagen, Professor Goodsite has attained academic, public and private company leadership and governance experience in many different countries over the last few decades. He arrived at the University of Adelaide in October 2018 and has served in a number of leadership roles, including being bid sponsor of the successful HiLT CRC.

He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and is a chartered (Civil, Environmental and Engineering Leadership and Management) professional engineer (CPEng, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE(Aus)) as well as Engineering Executive (EngExec).

The Office of the DVC&VP(R) provides direct support for the DVC&VP(R), and oversight of the implementation of the Research and Research Training aspects of the University Strategic Plan and manages the Research Budget.

The Research Services provides pre- and post- award services to the University's research community in relation to external competitive research grants and postdoctoral fellowships.

They support research compliance related activities including Human Research Ethics, Animal Ethics, Gene Technology regulation (Institutional Biosafety Committee) and Quarantine; Oversees the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) research publications data collection on behalf of the University; Provides administrative support for the University Research Committee and; Provides advice on relevant University research policies.

The Adelaide Graduate Research School (AGRS) is responsible for the management and administration of research education at the University of Adelaide.

It is the starting point for prospective research students, providing information about the process of admission and scholarship application and enrolment, and the support centre for current research students in their management of candidature, providing the tools to assist in planning and managing their research education.

The AGRS operates under the leadership of the Dean of Graduate Studies, who also convenes the Research Education and Development Committee (REDC).

Adelaide Microscopy is a centrally located facility and consulting service offering a broad range of the most technologically advanced instrumentation for microscopy and microanalysis to universities, research institutions and industry.

Our expert staff - among the best in their field - have many years of accumulated knowledge in microscopy and experience in the biological and materials sciences, and understand the need for accurate analysis and application of the most suitable technique to solve the most demanding problems.

Laboratory Animal Services supports the biomedical research community through the delivery of best practice, and world standard laboratory animal services.