The first CIPPS workshop took place on the 18th and 19th of February 2020 in Brisbane. The workshop was attended by nearly all the lab heads of CIPPS, which is not a small feat considering that the research groups came from five Australian states and territories (ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC, WA). In an atmosphere of excitement, the attendees decided on the governance of the centre as well as the broad scientific directions. The cumulative skills, knowledge and facilities in the centre will enable the centre to tackle the most pressing challenges in protein and peptide science. The attendees pictured are, from left to right, (bottom row) Kate Jolliffe (USyd), Liz New (USyd), David Craik (UQ), Max Cryle (Monash), Richard Payne (USyd), Gottfried Oting (ANU), Colin Jackson (Monash), (front row) Michelle Colgrave (CSIRO/ECU), Glenn King (UQ), Lara Malins (ANU), Greg Challis (Monash) and Kathy Belov (USys). David Fairlie (UQ) and Richard Kim (UQ Research Office) also attended the meeting. Sonia Henriques (QUT) was an apology.
On Friday 25th of October 2019, the Australian Research Council announced that our centre was awarded funding for seven years as the ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science (CIPPS). See more details on the ARC website. Centre Director, Professor David Craik, received official congratulations from the ARC and the Australian government. This award will foster collaborations between 14 laboratories from six Australian universities, in partnership with the CSIRO, leading international research institutions, and industry partners from Big Pharma and Ag BioTech. The funding will drive discovery and translation across many aspects of STEM, especially in Molecular and Structural Biology, Plant and Animal Biology, Protein and Peptide Engineering, Physical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry. Centre establishment and spin-up will occur throughout 2020 with an official launch to be announced thereafter.