• Charles Sturt University Professor Leigh Schmidtke is part of a team from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production recognised for excellence in graduate research supervision
• The awards have been announced by the Australian Council of Graduate Research
• Professor Schmidtke is the Director of the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre at Charles Sturt University and has supervised more than 14 PhD candidates since 2011

Guiding PhD student research is a rewarding part of the job for the Director of the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre Professor Leigh Schmidtke (pictured) and it’s a role that’s earned him a national award.

The Charles Sturt University academic is part of a team from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production recognised in the 2020 Australian Council of Graduate Research (ACGR) awards.

The team has won the award for excellence in graduate research supervision, presented to supervisors who demonstrate a track record of successful HDR candidate outcomes and engagement in high quality supervisory practice and research supervision leadership.

Charles Sturt, through the NWGIC, is a partner in the ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production which is led by the University of Adelaide.

Professor Schmidtke is honoured his work as part of this team has been recognised.

“The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production has a rich and structured approach to HDR supervision that produces highly successful, well-published and employable graduates,” Professor Schmidtke said.

“Importantly, their research has also been adopted by the industry and a good example of this is Charles Sturt University PhD graduate Dr Rocco Longo’s work on an early harvest blending regime for managing wine alcohol content.

“This research was implemented in collaboration with the industry partner, Lowe Wines, to produce two commercially available wines.”

The 2020 ACGR award for excellence in graduate research supervision has been awarded to Professor Vladimir Jiranek, Associate Professor David Jeffery, Professor Kerry Wilkinson, Professor Stephen Tyerman, Dr Renata Ristic from the University of Adelaide and Professor Schmidtke.

The Australian Council of Graduate Research Inc (ACGR) is a not-for-profit forum of university representatives engaged in the leadership and management of graduate research, this is Higher Degree by Research (HDR) programs. 

The NWGIC is an alliance between Charles Sturt, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the NSW Wine Industry Association.