Real Focus feature stories

Cleaner, greener water treatment technologies are transforming wastewater into valuable resources, with huge environmental and economic benefits.

Read more of Rethinking wastewater

Filed under: Engineering

Internationally renowned microbial ecologist Professor Gene Tyson reveals how our gut microbiome will impact future medical treatment and why he doesn't take probiotics.

Read more of Gut instinct: why microbiome health is the new frontier of medicine

Filed under: Health
Health impact

Nursing homes don’t have to be dull, uninviting spaces. There’s a new wave of designers transforming aged care and health with better buildings, community interaction, technology and the creative arts.

Read more of Better aged care: by design

Filed under: Creative Industries
Health impact

Professor Grace Sarra has spent more than 30 years making a difference in Indigenous and low socio-economic education.

Read more of Creating a brighter future for all students

Filed under: Education
Educational impact

Modern work is an evolving ecosystem, with robotics, generative AI, the gig economy and the rise of digital platforms impacting careers and workplaces.

Read more of The future of work

Filed under: Business

Distinguished Professor Lyn Griffiths is a 'DNA detective', tracking down genetic links to human ailments to lead to personalised treatment. She also uses next-generation genome sequencing to identify the remains of missing Australian soldiers.

Read more of Geneticist uncovers the history of us

Filed under: Health
Health impact

They live in a secret underground world, hidden down the cracks of the hardened clay soil of outback Queensland – small as a mouse, cute as a bilby and sometimes as ferocious as a tiger.

Read more of The secret world of the dunnart

Filed under: Science

Associate Professor Zephanie Tyack, internationally recognised for pioneering burns treatment for children, has built her healthcare career by following one simple maxim: make things better for people.

Read more of Revolutionising the quality of healthcare, step by step

Filed under: Health

From high school experiments to cutting-edge technology, Dr Tobias Fischer has travelled the globe in his quest to change the future face of robotics.

Read more of Shaping the future of robotics

Filed under: Engineering
Commercial impact

QUT researcher Professor Narelle Haworth isn’t just studying road safety, she’s living it with her daily bicycle commute into the office.

Read more of Pedalling her commitment to road safety

Filed under: Health
Public policy impact

Associate Professor Paige Little has made it her life’s work to help children with spinal deformities. She also champions disadvantaged teens to pursue a career in STEM.

Read more of Supporting spines and building futures

Filed under: Engineering, Health
Health impact

QUT’s health law experts Professors Lindy Willmott and Ben White have played a key role in end-of-life law in Australia. Their extraordinary 20-year-plus professional relationship has helped give 98 per cent of Australians the choice of a better death.

Read more of The legal pioneers behind end-of-life law in Australia

Filed under: Law
Legal impact