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The UWI St Augustine Research Shines During 2025 Principal’s Research Awards and Festival

For Release Upon Receipt - December 5, 2025

St. Augustine


St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago – December 5, 2025 - From November 26 to 28, 2025, The UWI St Augustine Campus held its annual Principal’s Research Awards and Festival, which honours the university’s researchers, scientists, collaborators and students, whose transformational work addresses today’s challenges and strategically contributes to a better understanding of future needs.

Not all universities conduct research and even fewer do so with the depth and regional relevance of The UWI. At the St. Augustine campus, research and innovation remain foundational pillars and continue to give the university its distinctive edge as an institution leading the path towards sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

The three days of festivities kicked off with the Principal’s Research Awards Ceremony on November 26 at the Daaga Auditorium and continued with the Research Festival, which was held at The UWI St Augustine JFK Quadrangle on November 27 and 28. The Research Awards Committee selected the recipients based on a set criteria and demonstration of exemplary contributions that aligned with the campus’s commitments to advancing knowledge and addressing real-world problems.

 

 Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, joins the full cohort of award recipients for a commemorative group photo at The UWI Principal’s Research Awards 2025, hosted at the Daaga Auditorium on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

 

The reimagined research events are the innovation of Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, who is persistent that research should be at the core of what the University does and should be our greatest gift to the region. With Professor Duraisamy Saravanakumar, Director of Graduate Studies and Research, steering the vision and execution of the Principal’s Research Awards and Festival, this year’s winners demonstrated that the influence of their research extended beyond publications and journal articles and led to tangible benefits for society as a whole.

Professor Antoine said, “The theme of this year’s awards – Research Innovation for Present and Future – captures well our commitments to research that is not only responsive to today’s challenges but anticipates those likely to arise tomorrow. We fully understand our mandate to advance knowledge, foster innovation and build collaborations that matter.”

 

 Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, delivers her keynote remarks during The UWI Principal’s Research Awards 2025, held at the Daaga Auditorium on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

Professor Antoine noted that groundbreaking research at The UWI St Augustine is made possible by its unique blend of faculties and also announced that the Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) the only one of its kind across the UWI’s five campuses, will soon be renamed the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Sustainability. This new faculty name better reflects the faculty’s dedication to alleviating food security challenges, advancing agricultural innovation and driving sustainability research. The principal also announced that the campus would be home to The UWI’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Centre, which is the brainchild of the Faculty of Engineering.

The announcement was also made that The UWI-Trinidad and Tobago Research and Development Impact Fund (RDI Fund) will be reopened with a Call for Proposals in 2026. Describing the RDI Fund as the campus’s internal mechanism that supports research, innovation and technology transfer, Professor Antoine thanked the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for allocating monies in the 2026 budget for the reopening of the fund with successful projects potentially receiving up to one million dollars in funding.

Professor Antoine made a mass appeal for funding when she added, “we need investments in research, so to our leaders in government, we are thankful for your recent generosity and we need you to continue helping to set the tone for research to flourish through your policies and programmes. To our private sector representatives and international development partners, your investments and networks can and do truly make a difference by helping us turn ideas into industries and tangible progress. We need all hands-on deck to ensure that the research we conduct is shared knowledge and development priorities.”

Immediately following the end of the Awards Ceremony, attendees moved across to the JFK Quadrangle, where the Research Festival was declared officially open by Professor Antoine and the various booths and displays were toured and experienced. In addition to the main display at the Quadrangle, several events were held as part of the Research Festival across The UWI St Augustine Campus on November 27 and 28.

 

 Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, officially opens the Principal’s Research Festival with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during The UWI Principal’s Research Awards and Festival 2025, held at the JFK Quadrangle on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

 

These included competitive oral and poster presentations on the eight topics including agri-food technology and policy for food security, biodiversity, climate change and disaster risk management, health and wellbeing, engineering and green technologies for sustainability, AI for multidimensional research and Creative Arts Presentations. A high level “The UWI Principal’s Business Breakfast” engaging businesses to commercialise the UWI MADE products and the workshop on “University-Industry-Government Partnerships for Research Innovation” featuring Senator the Honourable Professor Prakash Persad, Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training, as one the panelists at The UWI Inn and Conference Centre, were among other activities.

Access the full list of Awardees and the winners of the poster competitions here Principal's Research Award Winners

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 About The University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is the Caribbean’s premier higher education institution and one of only two regional universities in the world. With five campuses across the English-speaking Caribbean and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, The UWI continues to be a beacon of academic excellence, research innovation, and societal impact. Consistently ranked among the world’s best by Times Higher Education (THE), The UWI is a global leader in addressing critical challenges, including climate change, sustainability, and development.

As The UWI St. Augustine Campus celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2025 under the theme Beyond 65: From the Caribbean, For the World, it pays tribute to its Caribbean roots while highlighting its contributions to solving global challenges. This milestone underscores the campus's significant role in producing ground-breaking research and fostering talent that transcends regional boundaries to shape a better world. The UWI St. Augustine’s researchers, academics, and graduates continue to make an international impact, exemplifying the university’s mission to serve the region while influencing the world.

Learn more at www.uwi.edu 

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