Welcome to our first newsletter of 2024.
This year, we are excited to celebrate seven decades of bringing science to the service of the nation.
Our history is rich and varied. Over the years, we have established national parks, been critical to landmark Antarctic expeditions and created science education materials that have been used across the globe—to name just a few.
In this newsletter you can learn many more things about the Academy you probably didn’t know!
Today, we are no less focused on shaping Australia’s science ecosystem so we can all benefit. Most recently, we have been working to ensure Australia has the necessary high-performance computing capability to take advantage of the opportunities that quantum technology, AI, genomics and computational medicine offer.
Over the course of the year, we will be hosting a range of activities that draw on our history to better understand how advances in science are shaping our future.
In this spirit, we recently kicked off the special 70th anniversary edition of the annual Academy Public Speaker Series: The journey of Australian science.
Academy Fellow Professor Sharon Lewin AO FAA FAHMS and Associate Professor Misty Jenkins AO inspired us by sharing their significant scientific discoveries in immunology and virology, explaining how their work has built on the early discoveries of Nobel Laureate and Academy founding Fellow Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet OM AK KBE FAA FRS.
If you missed this one, you can watch their terrific presentations online. Please join us for the next instalment in April, exploring how the early discoveries of Academy founding Fellow Professor James Arthur Prescott CBE FAA FRS continue to shape advances in soil science today.
I invite you to be part of all of our 70th anniversary celebrations.
Last week, we welcomed the Australian Universities Accord Final Report. The review panel has laid out a roadmap that, if implemented, will go a long way to enabling Australians to benefit from education and research.
Amongst the recommendations is the need for a cross-portfolio examination of Australia’s research funding and the development of a strategy that sets targets for Australia’s overall spending on research and development (R&D). The Academy has been calling for such an initiative for several years because we know a strategic and coherent approach to R&D is critical for Australia to achieve its national ambitions. You can read more about our position in our pre-Budget submission to the Department of Treasury.
Next month, we will be heading to Brisbane for our National Symposium, held as part of the World Science Festival. With continuous breakthroughs and developments in agricultural and food science, we will examine what food will be on our plates in 2040 and how agricultural science and technology are responding to climate change. Join us in Brisbane or online to hear from leading Australian scientists who are pioneering research in this area.
I offer my warmest congratulations to all those whose achievements have been recognised with Academy honours and awards over the past two months—you can read more about their brilliant work in this month’s newsletter.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued interest in science and being part of our community. I extend my immense gratitude to our Fellows, distinguished scientists, emerging researchers, science champions and those whose generous donations support the Academy and our efforts to advance science.
As we enter our eighth decade, we remain ever committed to advancing our nation so everyone can continue to enjoy the benefits science delivers.
I look forward to connecting with you throughout 2024.
Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FREng FTSE
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
