A Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher whose work to develop "intelligent machines" is crucial to future breakthroughs in science and technology has been awarded one of Australia's most prestigious fellowships.
Professor Peter Bartlett, from QUT's Faculty of Science and Technology, was today (August 10) awarded an Australian Research Council 2011 Australian Laureate Fellowship to further his work in large-scale statistical machine learning.
He is QUT's first Australian Laureate Fellow under the Federal Government initiative to attract and retain world-class researchers. QUT Distinguished Professor John Hartley was awarded an ARC Federation Fellowship in 2005 under the predecessor scheme.
Professor Bartlett, whose research focuses on the point where artificial intelligence and mathematical statistics intersect, said the fellowship would provide nearly $2.8 million of funding over five years to advance statistical machine learning research at QUT.
"This is very exciting. This research area addresses one of the defining scientific and technological issues of our time: how to make effective use of the deluge of data that arises in a huge variety of areas of science and technology," he said.
"It is a research area at the intersection of statistics and computer science, which has been under-represented in Australia. It is fantastic that the ARC is supporting this area."
Professor Bartlett said intelligent machines with the ability to sift through massive data streams would be a key to future scientific discoveries.
He said the fellowship would help develop the science behind statistical problems such as data analysis on the human genome, optimising financial investment returns and web retrieval.
"The funding will mainly support people - PhD students and early-career researchers. This means that, in addition to its research advances, the program will contribute to the next generation of researchers in this area," Professor Bartlett said.
"QUT is the right institution for this research program. QUT has been positioning itself to facilitate long-term support of STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, most notably through the $230 million Science and Technology Precinct that is currently being built at the Gardens Point campus."
QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Commercialisation, Professor Arun Sharma, said Professor Bartlett had a stellar track record in an important area of research.
"For more than a decade, Professor Bartlett has been a true global leader in this critical field of research, which is at the heart of helping us make sense of the vast amount of data being accumulated in diverse areas of science and technology," Professor Sharma said.
"The fellowship will allow Professor Bartlett to build a critical mass of research capacity and complements QUT's existing strengths in computer science, applied mathematics and statistics.
"QUT's future research trajectory is heavily focused on STEM and this award for Professor Bartlett will ensure his team and QUT are at the forefront of this discipline."
Professor Bartlett, who is also Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, was recently named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics for his world-leading contributions to research.
Media contact: Stephanie Harrington, QUT media officer, 3138 1150, stephanie.harrington@qut.edu.au
