News and views

Multiple Academy videos have gone viral internationally on Facebook since the launch of the Academy’s new daily commitment to answer everyday questions and introduce people to science.

The Academy has awarded more than $200,000 to a number of high-quality research projects and conferences, generously supported by donations to the Academy. In 2018 these will, among other things, fund cutting-edge Australian marine, soil and plant biology research and help the survival of some of Australia’s endangered species. There is also support for specialist conferences on subjects such as the rapid collapse of ecosystems in a changing world.

The Academy’s national speaker series aims to deliver science around Australia in an engaging, accessible and positive way. Since August, the Academy has delivered Making Better Humans with Polymers in Wollongong, Brisbane and Adelaide, with audiences taken on a polymer journey by Dr Katherine Locock, Dr Georgina Such, Professor Martina Stenzel, Professor Gordon Wallace, Professor Christopher Barner-Kowollik and Professor Peter Murphy.

The December 2017 issue (Volume 28 Number 2) of the Academy’s journal, Historical Records of Australian Science, is now available. This issue contains five articles on the history of Australian science, four biographical memoirs of Fellows, and a selection of book reviews.

A meeting of representatives of some of the world’s major brain research projects, hosted by the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra, has made a declaration to establish an International Brain Initiative.

There’s nothing like fully immersing yourself in a good book—so what do Australia’s top scientific minds recommend you read this holiday season?

Outstanding contributions to science have been recognised by the Australian Academy of Science today with 18 of Australia’s leading scientists and future superstars receiving prestigious 2018 honorific awards.

Outstanding contributions to science have been recognised by the Australian Academy of Science today with 18 of Australia’s leading scientists and future superstars receiving prestigious 2018 honorific awards.

PhD students Ms Melissa Houghton from the University of Queensland and Mrs Charlie Phelps from Edith Cowan University are the 2018 recipients of the Australian Academy of Science Max Day Environmental Science Fellowship Award.