Message from the President: May 2026

I am delighted to write to you for the first time as Academy President, and I want to begin with thanks.

To Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC, who handed over the Presidency at our AGM on 21 May after four years of distinguished leadership: thank you.

Professor Jagadish leaves the Academy stronger, more visible and more confident in its public voice than he found it. Australian science, Australia’s future and the Academy's central role in shaping the Strategic Examination of R&D both bear his fingerprints. We are in his debt.

I take up the Presidency at a consequential moment for Australian science. Technological change is accelerating faster than our policy settings can absorb. Climate pressures are intensifying. Geopolitical shifts are reshaping how we collaborate and with whom.

Through all of this, science is central to how Australia navigates, adapts and leads. The Academy's job is to make sure that scientific knowledge shapes the decisions that matter for every Australian.

That will mean speaking clearly, confidently and, when necessary, uncomfortably. The old instinct in our sector toward quiet modesty no longer serves us. Australians are looking for trusted voices, and the Academy is a truly independent one. We will use it.

This month has already given us plenty of opportunities to do so. The 2026–27 Budget took genuine first steps on R&D reform – in particular, the National Resilience and Science Council is a foundation worth building on. The release of the National Health and Medical Research Strategy has added further momentum, and we welcomed it. But this is a starting point, not a solution. A decade of underinvestment will not be undone in one Budget cycle. We will keep making that case.

Last week we announced the election of our 2026 Fellows – an extraordinary cohort whose work spans the breadth of Australian science. I extend a warm welcome to each of them. The Fellowship is the source of this Academy's authority, and every newly elected Fellow brings additional energy, expertise and strength.

Becoming the Academy's 21st President is a profound honour, and I do not take it lightly. There is much to do. Whether you are a scientist, an educator, a policymaker or simply someone who believes Australia is stronger when science is at the table, the Academy's work in the years ahead will matter to you. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Professor Sam Berkovic AC PresAA FAHMS FRS
President