National Committees for Science

The Academy’s 22 National Committees for Science are widely representative of scientific disciplines in Australia. The broad aims of the committees are to foster a designated branch or theme of natural science in Australia and to serve as links between Australian and overseas scientists in the same field. National Committees advise the Academy’s Council on Australia’s representation for the unions and multidisciplinary bodies of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and other international bodies.

Recent activities

• Activities with the International Council for Science
• Science decadal plans to build a stronger, healthier, more prosperous Australia
• Launch of the decadal plan for Australian astronomy 2016–2025
• Importance of advanced biological sciences to the Australian economy
• Response to Current and Emerging Issues for NHMRC Fellowship Schemes consultation paper

What’s coming up

• Third Heidelberg Laureate Forum, 23-28 August 2015
• Lasers Can Do Anything, a public lecture to celebrate the International Year of Light, 19 September 2015

National Committee for Space and Radio Science

As part of its remit to link the Academy and the Australian SRS community to related international organisations, the committee is actively involved in a bid to bring the 41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly to Sydney in 2020. If successful, this meeting will be a timely follow-up to the 68th International Astronautical Congress, which is being held in Adelaide in 2017.

The committee is led by Professor Russell Boyce, the Chair for Space Engineering at UNSW Canberra, where he leads the UNSW Canberra Space Research effort.

For more information on space and radio science, see:

• International Union for Radio Sciences
• Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics
• Committee on Space Research