It has been an incredibly active start to 2025.
As the federal election season gets underway, our 2025–26 Pre-Budget Submission includes four key recommendations, one of which is a call for investment of $200 million per year over the next ten years in the nation’s high-performance computing and data infrastructure capabilities.
Even though we rely on super computers for drug discovery; the climate intelligence we need to respond to bushfires; to strengthen cybersecurity; and to help farmers feed the nation; there are no plans to replace our two national supercomputers that are experiencing growing demand.
Alongside our pre-budget submission, I urge you to take a closer look at the discussion paper released as part of the government’s Strategic Examination of R&D which highlights the central role that R&D plays in driving productivity and economic growth, and that presents alarming data to support urgent investment and reform in this area. The Academy will continue to actively participate in the review as a once in a generation opportunity to shape a modern R&D system that meets the needs of a modern Australia.
Further afield, it was an immense honour to lead the Australian delegation to the International Science Council General Assembly in Muscat, Oman. Together with a strong Australian and Asia-Pacific presence we convened with global science leaders to discuss ways to strengthen science diplomacy, how science is shaping the world and reciprocally how the world is shaping science, and to ensure science remains a public good able to benefit all.
In January, we extended a warm welcome and congratulations to Australia’s new Chief Scientist Professor Tony Haymet FTSE. We very much look forward to continuing to work closely with the Office of the Chief Scientist under his leadership to provide the Australian Government with independent scientific counsel to inform decision-making.
This month, we announced the recipients of our 2025 funding awards. As ever, this year’s awardees comprise remarkable early career researchers as well as senior scientists. I am sure their work will inspire you as it has me.
Our 2026 honorific awards and funding opportunities are now open, and I strongly encourage you to nominate or apply – many past recipients have let us know that receiving an award from the Academy has changed their lives.
I hope you enjoy the January-February edition of the newsletter.
Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FREng FTSE
© 2025 Australian Academy of Science
