News and views

Melanie is a PhD qualified medical research scientist turned professional science communicator. She joins us from the Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC) where as Manager of Business Development she was a driving force in the launch of their new breaking science news venture, Scimex.

Smarter bank notes, health-protecting wearable electronics, and bendy solar cells are just some of the ways that polymer science is making plastic fantastic. Next week, three Australian researchers will tell audiences in Sydney and Melbourne how they are putting polymers to work.

Dear Academy person…

Space science and technology was on the political agenda following the Parliamentary Friends of Science breakfast held in Canberra on Tuesday 14 February.

The Academy has announced the recipients of the J G Russell Award to help talented younger researchers in the basic sciences.

Academy President Professor Andrew Holmes has been recognised with Australia’s highest honour, Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Australia Day Honours list.

Distinguished Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC FAA FTSE has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, one of only two elected in 2017.

When microbiologist Professor Nancy Millis passed away in September 2012, some of her colleagues at the University of Melbourne came up with the idea that, by donating sufficient funds, they would enable a medal to be struck in her honour—and thus began the Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science.

A special opportunity was made during Science at the Shine Dome for the donors to the following awards to meet the 2015 recipients of those awards: Ruth Stephens Gani Medal, Gustav Nossal Medal, Jacques Miller Medal, Moran Medal and Anton Hales Medal.