Delivered 9 am Wednesday 24 May 2017, Shine Dome, Canberra
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Australian Academy of Science President, Professor Andrew Holmes AC PresAA FRS FTSE
Fellows of the Academy, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Before we begin the proceedings, I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet—the Ngunnawal people of the Wiradjuri Nation. It is upon their ancestral lands that the Australian Academy of Science is built.
As we share our own knowledge, teaching, learning, and research practices may we also pay respect to the knowledge embedded forever within the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country.
I welcome all the new Fellows as well as the award holders who will present their lectures this morning.
Before we start the day's proceedings I should like to update everybody on the initiatives that Council has undertaken on the subject of diversity.
I should also like to take this opportunity of reporting to you on your Academy’s relationship with government, and to talk about science advocacy, communication and outreach, as well as relate some of the activities undertaken by Fellows of the Academy on your behalf.
When I reported to you a year ago scientists were excited by the government’s commitment to the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) and to the longer term support for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (NCRIS).
We have now heard the Federal budget for the financial year 2017–2018, and although disappointingly neither of these schemes received much mention, the Minister has released the Research Infrastructure Roadmap, but with no indication of investment; we are hoping that no news is good news, and that further positive announcements will be made in the future. There has been commendable continued support for basic research with significant announcements having been made in the budget concerning support for Australia’s partnership with the European Southern Observatory (a recommendation included in the latest Academy Decadal Plan for Astronomy), support for various kinds of medical research supported by disbursements of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), and Cooperative Research Centre commitment to large scale manufacturing projects. Tomorrow Minister Hunt will announce a radical revision of the NHMRC research funding structure.
On the other hand there are concerns about the efficiency dividend imposed on universities and the increased pressure that will arise on research funding that is already too heavily dependent on the innovative use of tuition fees to underpin the deficit. The Academy is also concerned that the high mobility of postdoctoral researchers and new academics will be hindered by the more restrictive conditions on the issue of 457 visas, and we will be emphasising to government the honeybee effect that such exchanges have in pollinating the spread of new ideas and thinking. We have written to the Minister for Immigration and the Leader of the Opposition on these matters.
When I became President I stated that one of my longer term ambitions was to establish a good working relationship with government where the Academy was a natural ‘port of call’ for the government to seek advice. I am pleased to say the fruits of the investment in engagement with parliament before the last Federal election are beginning to show in a number of ways. Most encouragingly we have engaged strongly with the past and the present Ministers of Industry, Innovation and Science. The Academy developed a review of capabilities and needs for climate science in a submission to the Hon Greg Hunt in his role as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science through a committee led by Trevor McDougall, a review that we shall soon publish, and the Academy Fellows were extensively consulted by the Minister in his Statement of Expectations submitted to CSIRO. We congratulate Minister Hunt on his appointment as Minister for Health and Minister for Sport in which role the Academy will continue to engage with him over issues of health and medical research, and we welcome Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos as incoming Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. We had the privilege of meeting the Minister for dinner with the Council of the Academy and were subsequently able to provide background information for the Minister’s recent National Press Club address as a keynote contribution to the ‘Science Meets Parliament’ week in Canberra in March.
We continue to maintain strong relationships with the Chief Scientist and his office as well as the Office for Innovation and Science Australia. Each plays a crucial role in informing the short and long term policy landscape for science.
One of the key issues that has been pre-occupying scientists around the world is the developing trend in discounting the potential contributions of science to a civilised society. Events in the United States and in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe have given a stronger voice to those who choose to ignore the informed position that is available from a scientific analysis of a physical situation on the planet. As a result there developed a strong enthusiasm for scientists to participate in a ‘March for Science’ on Earth Day (22 April). The Academy Council discussed whether the Academy should play a leading role in participating in such a march in Canberra and resolved to leave the decision to march to be taken by Fellows individually. This decision was broadly in line with that taken by the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences. Not all Fellows agreed with it. And please let me assure you that I personally think that we as scientists have to take our advocacy for science role really seriously. I was attracted to the advice given by Professor John Holdren, former White House science advisor in the Obama administration:
And last: We as a community need to think carefully about how to focus and utilise our activities to try to ensure the continuation, momentum, and the integrity of science in this new era.
I feel that we have a real mission in the Academy in sharing our science with the public, in raising scientific literacy and in engaging in outreach activities in general. But we could do much more, and I encourage you the Fellowship to consider where you might become involved.
Our education programs (Primary Connections, Science by Doing and reSolve Mathematics by Inquiry) continue to have a growing impact in the Australian community. Under Secretary for Education and Public Awareness, Professor Pauline Ladiges’s fine oversight, Primary Connections has relocated to Canberra and all educational activities will now be coordinated under a single education committee, and I am delighted to announce that one of our newly elected Fellows, Professor Ian Chubb has kindly agreed to chair this Committee once it is properly constituted. The present challenge is to develop a coherent and holistic program that will continue to attract government support for the next phases that the Academy is planning.
Nova: Science for Curious Minds has attracted an enormous following. As the initial sponsorship from Telstra draws to a close, the Chief Executive and the communications team have been exploring exciting new ideas for the continuation of the series such that it reaches larger audiences. Watch this space. I promise there will be some lively action!
In terms of outreach the Academy continues to attract large numbers of ACT participants to its monthly Tuesday Public Lecture series. A new development in public lectures outside the ACT was the Science of Life and Death held over the past twelve months in Hobart, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Our partners were Nova and Science and Technology Australia (STA). This has been followed in 2017 with a Plastic Fantastic series on the wonders of modern plastics sponsored by PM Science Prize winner Professor David Solomon, with the initial lectures being in Melbourne and Sydney. These have been a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the wider community, to promote the Academy as an ‘influential voice’ and to extend the Academy’s philanthropic range. I do hope more Fellows can participate in the forthcoming lectures as we have been taking the opportunity to share updates on the Academy’s activities with the Fellows after each event.
As mentioned earlier, a major commitment by the Academy in partnership with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) has been the expansion of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) project among over forty Australian universities and research institutions. This initiative has attracted widespread interest from all sectors of the community and from government, and it is progressing well under the leadership of Executive Director Dr Wafa El-Adhami.
This year, the Academy has been able to secure perpetual funding for the Nancy Millis Award for Women in Science. This has been possible due to the generous contribution by the University of Melbourne that has built upon funding kindly provided by friends and colleagues of Nancy Millis.
Further, generous support has been provided to establish a new medal for Indigenous scientists. Planning for this is underway and will be complemented by other initiatives within the Secretariat to assist indigenous Australians, including the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan.
All the activities are now grounded in the balanced advice provided by an Equity and Diversity Reference Group co-chaired by Professors Peter Koopman and Sue O’Reilly with a broad representation of Council, Academy Fellows and Early and Mid-Career Researchers (EMCRs). Their leadership is providing guidance on ways in which we can continue to develop the STEM workforce such that it becomes more diverse. In addition, strategies are being developed to encourage the nomination of the growing number of talented women in science for Fellowship of the Academy. These initiatives have my full and ongoing support.
The Academy has embarked on a number of new initiatives with administrative support initially being provided within the Secretariat. These include
The Academy continues to develop decadal plans for relevant disciplines funded by the ARC Learned Academy Special Projects (LASP) program. Recently the Chemistry plan was launched and this will be followed by agriculture and earth science. Disciplines such as mathematics and astronomy have been successful in obtaining independent funding for the development of decadal plans.
In keeping with the spirit of the National Innovation and Science Agenda the Academy has been developing a plan for improved engagement with business and industry, with the formation of a Council industrial advisory group. At an international level the Academy has hosted (and will host again on 12 September 2017) in conjunction with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany a ‘Falling Walls Lab’ for Australian and New Zealand researchers to develop their ideas. Participants are given three minutes to present their research work, business model or initiative to a broad audience from science and industry, including a distinguished jury who selects the most innovative and promising idea. The winner will attend the Falling Walls Lab in Berlin that was established to commemorate the fall of the Berlin wall on 9 November 1989 and which asks the question ‘Which are the next walls to fall?’ in terms of technological and sociological breakthroughs. You may have fun this evening discussing these questions with others at your dinner table.
Our international engagement remains very strong with extensive participation of our national committee members in international scientific unions, representation on the Executive Committees of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), Science and IAP Research, membership of the Executive Board of the Association of Academies and Scientific Societies of Asia (AASSA) and the Secretary-General of the International Council for Science (ICSU) that is coincidentally considering merger with the International Social Science Council (ISSC) at the General Assembly in Taiwan in October.
Serving as a national representative of the Academy has provided some entertaining moments.
Last September the Foreign Secretary and I were privileged to attend the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of the French Academy of Science in Paris and had a personal tour of the Louvre after the event. This year the Chief Executive and I were in awe of the traditional Maori participation we observed while attending the 100th anniversary of the Royal Society of New Zealand that was officially renamed the Royal Society Te Aparangi. We managed to persuade the Prime Minister of New Zealand to join us in a photograph. In March I represented the Academy at a meeting at the German Academy Leopoldina in Halle of the science academies of the G20 nations to present a submission on ‘Global Health’ that had been commissioned by the German Chancellor Dr Angel Merkel to be considered at the G20 Heads of Government meeting in Hamburg later this year. The Chief Executive had promised the Academy secretariat that I would shake Dr Merkel’s hand which fortunately I had the opportunity to do. This S20 Forum was the first time that such an event had taken place and we were reassured that the government of Argentina will be endeavouring to repeat the process at the next G20 meeting.
In April Professors Jagadish and Hans Bachor accompanied the Chief Scientist on a tour to European science innovation sites.
At the annual meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau the Academy continues to be well represented by doctoral and postdoctoral representatives, generously supported by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund. Last year was centred on the discipline of physics; this year the field is chemistry (of course the most central of all sciences).
In the past twelve months the ACOLA Council completed the delivery of twelve Securing Australia’s Future (SAF) projects together with a thirteenth, specially commissioned by the Minister for Education on Higher Education Research Training. All reports have had significant impact and a book synthesising a summary of the first twelve will be published soon. I served as ACOLA President last year, and the Council took advantage of developing a new Strategic Plan as well as a leaner governance structure. ACOLA is now delivering shorter (6-12 months) Horizon Scanning Projects commissioned by the Commonwealth Science Council, and the first on ‘Energy Storage’ is about to be released.
As Fellows will know, Dr Sue Meek decided to stand down from the position as Chief Executive in July 2016. We thank Sue for the dedicated leadership that she provided in the Academy. We welcome Ms Anna-Maria Arabia who was appointed in October. We look forward to the development of various new initiatives in the Academy under Anna-Maria’s leadership. We are most grateful for the leadership team of Mr Ben Patterson (acting Chief Executive), Ms Nancy Pritchard and Dr Chris Hatherly who oversaw the smooth running of the Academy during the period of recruitment of a new Chief Executive.
A number of vacancies arose through the departure of various members of the secretariat and the creation of new initiatives and opportunities. During this time the dedication of the remaining members of the Secretariat was quite remarkable and we extend our thanks to all those who undertook extra tasks to maintain the smooth running of the Academy. We thank all those who have departed and wish them well in their new positions. Likewise we welcome the new members of the Secretariat who have joined the Academy over the last twelve months.
We congratulate Professor David Boger who was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering, Professor Jon Sprent who was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and Professor Ken Freeman who was elected a Foreign Associate of NAS.
Congratulations to Professors Susanne von Caemmerer, Eddie Holmes and Gerard Milburn who were elected Fellows of the Royal Society.
Ladies and gentlemen, this brings me to the end of my address for the Annual Meeting 2017. Thank you very much.
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