Hello, and welcome. This is the first time I have the honour of greeting you in my capacity as President of the Academy. I am grateful to all our readers – existing and new – who take an active interest in the activities of the Academy and continue to support us. The Academy’s monthly newsletter is a showcase of the important work the Academy does, and I hope you find it interesting and share it widely with friends, colleagues and family. Your feedback is also always appreciated.
This month, we were proud to welcome the Governor-General of Australia and the Minister for Industry and Science to officially reopen the Shine Dome, Australia’s home of science in Canberra, with its brand-new copper roof. I would like to ask all readers to consider celebrating science with us by dedicating a virtual copper roof tile to an Australian scientist who has made a significant contribution to science. Your donations, through this campaign and others, help to make the Academy a vital, viable and visible presence in Australia and around the world.
I was delighted to congratulate four of our Fellows on being appointed to the Order of Australia for their innovation and scientific excellence, including Professor Tanya Monro who became a Companion of the Order; Professor Jennie Brand Miller and Professor Warren Ewens who are recognised as Officers of the Order, and Professor David Gardner, now a Member of the Order. Their success is a benefit to all Australians.
This month we have published the first national survey to investigate research integrity in Australia, a collaboration with publisher Springer Nature. I was heartened to see that Australia remains very active in delivering research integrity training, but there is certainly room for improvement, particularly in the training uptake among early career researchers.
We have also launched a new report which presents the data-related needs of the Australian science community, highlighting the need for greater research data infrastructure, policies and standards, and a better equipped workforce. This report was done in collaboration with the other learned academies, and I hope we can learn from each other to improve this field which underpins all areas of science.
Welcome again, and I hope you enjoy reading the June newsletter.
Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FTSE
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