Meet the remarkable researchers who make up GERN
Research has an important role to play in assisting societies, governments, and corporations realise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality by 2030. Designing gender inclusive policies and responses requires evidence-based research that informs all sectors on how to progress the rights of women, girls and marginalised genders; how to progress gender inclusive governance and leadership; and how to support gender inclusion in sport, culture, and activism.
Below, you can learn more about our co-convenors and click through to our individual researchers and PhD candidates.
GERN Co-convenors
Professor Sara Davies
Sara is a Professor at School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Gender, Peace and Security Centre, School of Social Sciences, Monash University. She is the co-convenor of the Gender Equality Research Network with Professor Susan Harris-Rimmer and Director of Research at the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University.
Sara is an international relations scholar with a specific focus on global health governance and the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Sara has been an Australian Research Council Discovery Australian Postgraduate Award Scholar (2008-2012) and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2014-2018).
Sara’s research career has been devoted to identifying the political conditions that deny humans access to civil, economic and social human rights. Her research, and her PhD students' research, focus on situations where humans face immense vulnerability: disease outbreaks events, gender-based and sexual violence in conflict, and forced displacement.
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer
Susan is the Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub. With Professor Sara Davies, Susan is co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network. She also leads the Climate Justice theme of the new Griffith Climate Action Beacon.
Susan is author of Gender and Transitional Justice (Routledge 2010), the Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law (Edward Elgar 2019, with Kate Ogg) and over 40 refereed works on women's rights and international law. She has edited special issues of leading Australian journals on 25 years of feminist international law, Australian diplomacy and women in national security.
Susan was Australia’s representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2014, and the W20 (gender equity advice to the G20) in Turkey 2014, China 2016, and Germany 2017. She is a national board member of the International Women’s Development Agency.
She was named in the Apolitical list of Top 100 Global Experts in Gender Policy in May 2018.
Our researchers
Meet our individual researchers, explore their achievements and connect with them on Twitter.
Our PhD candidates
Meet each of our PhD candidates and explore their research interests.
GERN recognised for research excellence
Our Gender Equality Research Network has been recognised in the Pro Vice Chancellor's Research Excellence Awards, winning the Excellence of a Research Group or Team award for 2021.
A number of our members also won individual Research Excellence awards. Congratulations to all!
GBS Pro Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award winners
- Excellence of a Research Group or Team: Gender Equality Research Network (GERN) led by Prof Sara Davies and Prof Susan Harris Rimmer
- Early Career Researcher: Dr Elaine CL Yang
- Mid-Career Researcher: Dr Dhara Shah
AEL Pro Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award winners
- AEL Mid-Career Researcher Award: Dr Tanya Smith (HLSS)
- AEL Research Engagement Award: Dr Kate van Doore (Law/ LFC)
Contact us
If you'd like to know more about our network or get involved, contact Program Co-Convenors: Sara Davies and Susan Harris Rimmer.