In the 2024 Technical University of Munich International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE) round, The University of Queensland (UQ) secured 3 out of the 5 collaborative research opportunities on offer.
This initiative, run through the TUM International Project Team initiative, supports interdisciplinary scientific collaborations that run for up to 4 years.
At the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, UQ’s Dr Rowan Gollan leads one of these successful proposals. His research investigates flight through the Earth's atmosphere using numerical investigations on how the surface of a vehicle traveling at hypersonic speeds (more than 5 times the speed of sound) influences the air flow around it. This is known as Wall Effects on Hypersonic Transition Control HypRTTC.
“This is an emerging capability for our research group and brings a one-of-its-kind research direction to Australian academia,” Dr Gollan said.
“This will serve Australia well as the technology for hypersonic flight and space access matures locally. The partnership with TUM helps us to deepen and diversify our expertise in using computer simulation to study turbulent flows as they affect hypersonic vehicles.”
Dr Gollan will collaborate with Professor Christian Stemmer at TUM’s Institute for Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics.
“Our project studies fundamental fluid mechanics of how air flowing over hypersonic vehicle transitions from a steady predictable laminar state to a chaotic turbulent state,” Dr Gollan said.
“One consequence of this air flow transition is local hotspots in heating on the vehicle's skin.
"Better understanding of hypersonic transition to turbulence can lead to improvements in the design and operation of hypersonic vehicles.”
The other UQ projects awarded include a proposal led by Dr Adam Komarek (School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability) who will work with TUM’s Professor Mariana Rufino (Professor of Livestock Systems, School of Life Sciences) on technologies to increase the sustainability of African livestock systems under the growing climate risks.
The School of Civil Engineering received the third project, with Professor Jiwon Kim advancing her work on engineering data for traffic prediction models. Her TUM collaborator is Professor Constantinos Antoniou, Chair of Transportation Systems Engineering.
Within each of these research projects are significant international opportunities for UQ’s early career researchers and PhD students.
Dr Gollan believes researchers have the chance to accelerate that exposure to new thinking and elevate their competitiveness in the research job market.
“A focus of the TUM-partnered scheme is also on early career researcher development beyond the PhD students,” he said.
“As part of the project, there are early-career postdoctoral fellows at both TUM and UQ who will have opportunities for and experience with research leadership. This is an admirable goal of the awarded projects.”
This TUM IGSSE initiative includes a commitment to foster research projects that sit outside the usual funding channels, encouraging and qualifying exceptional young scientists into practice. TUM applauded the success of its premier partner UQ within the International Project Team initiative.
Professor Barbara Wohlmuth, Director of the TUM IGSSE Board, is excited about the rich methodologies and the diverse topics in the 3 successful joint TUM-UQ proposals.
“Thematically anchored around pressing challenges in the fields of livestock modelling, hypersonic transition control and traffic prediction, all three joint IPT projects reflect TUM’s sustainability strategy, foster cross-disciplinarity and strengthen the alliance between the University of Queensland and TUM,” Professor Wohlmuth said.
“We are eager to meet the doctoral students and postdocs and embrace the fresh ideas they will bring to IGSSE."
Explore TUM's other openings:
Apply for 2 Professional Services Staff Fellowships before 1 May
This professional development opportunity aims to facilitate the exchange of best practices and experiences among colleagues, including travel to Munich. Proposals should align with the UQ Strategic Plan 2022–2025.
For guidelines and advice, please email globalstrategy@uq.edu.au.
