Professor Susan Scott FAA, Australian National University

Professor Susan Scott is an internationally recognised mathematical physicist who has made fundamental advances in our understanding of the fabric of space-time in general relativity, and in gravitational wave science. Her ground-breaking discoveries probe the existence and nature of singularities and the global structure of space-time, and possible initial and final end states for cosmological models representing our Universe. Professor Scott has also been a pioneer in the analysis of astrophysical signatures in gravitational wave experiments, including the searches for gravitational waves from asymmetric neutron stars and from inspiralling binary systems of black holes and neutron stars. She has played an important role in the development and promotion of gravitational research worldwide, and a leading role in Australia’s participation in the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015.

Professor Nick Wormald FAA, Monash University

Technological, biological, social and logistical networks are a ubiquitous feature of modern life. Professor Nick Wormald is a world leader in the field of random graph theory, which combines advanced probability theory, combinatorics and theoretical computer science to produce deep insights into the nature of such large and complex networks. The mathematics that he produces leads to greater understanding of the structure of real-world networks and to new methods for modelling them. This in turn leads to versatile tools of widespread use in algorithmic computer science and network optimisation, with other applications in physics, coding theory for communications, underground mine design and genetics. Professor Wormald is responsible for an impressive number of major breakthroughs in these areas and several standard methods used today were his invention.

Professor David McClelland FAA, Australian National University

Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity more than 100 years ago. After 40 years of sustained experimentation, on 14 September 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the death spiral of two stellar-mass black holes as the gravitational waves they emitted almost a billion years ago passed through two detectors in the US. Remarkably, the wave moved the mirrors in the 4 km-long detectors by a fractional amount equivalent to 1/1000th of the width of a proton, in so doing verifying one of the most challenging predictions of Einstein’s General Relativity.

Professor David McClelland carried major responsibility as the lead Australian investigator in LIGO and has made major contributions to this famous detector including work on ‘quantum enhancement’ which increased the observable volume of the Universe significantly.

Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC FAA FTSE, Australian National University

Professor Jagadish has made pioneering contributions to semiconductor physics in particular materials physics and optical physics. He has developed semiconductor growth, processing and characterisation techniques to achieve many world firsts in terms of innovative optoelectronic devices such as semiconductor lasers, infrared and terahertz detectors based on quantum wells, quantum dots and nanowires. He has developed quantum well and quantum dot atomic intermixing techniques to develop integrated optoelectronics devices being used in industry. His work has led to the development of innovative optoelectronic and nanophotonic devices used in optical communication systems, biomedical imaging, defence and security applications. He has trained a large number of PhD students and early-career researchers and they are in leading positions in industry and academia.

2017

Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn FAA, University of Sydney

Professor Bland-Hawthorn has excelled in both astronomical research and cutting-edge instrumentation, helping to keep Australia at the forefront of optical astronomy over the past 25 years. His legacies include establishing two astronomical fields – galactic archaeology and near-field cosmology (with Professor Kenneth Freeman FAA FRS) and astrophotonics, resulting in awards in astronomy, optics, and photonics. His innovative contributions to astronomical technology and instrumentation have been very influential and have been widely adopted in experimental astronomy and have also been applied to other fields, such as telecommunication, food safety and the farming industry.

2015

Professor Michelle Y Simmons FAA, University of New South Wales

Professor Simmons has pioneered a radical new technology for creating atomic-scale devices producing the first ever electronic devices in silicon where individual atoms are placed with atomic precision and shown to dictate device behaviour. Her ground-breaking achievements have opened a new frontier of research in computing and electronics globally. They have provided a platform for redesigning conventional transistors at the atomic-scale and for developing a silicon-based quantum computer: a powerful new form of computing with the potential to transform information processing.

2013

Professor Cheryl Elisabeth Praeger AM FAA, University of Western Australia

Professor Cheryl Praeger has transformed our understanding of groups acting on large systems, producing new theories, algorithms and designs that have advanced every field that exploits the symmetry of large systems. Her research has led to significant new directions taken up by mathematicians internationally. Her algorithms have enhanced powerful computer algebra systems which have transformed research and teaching of algebra.

2011

Professor James Stanislaus Williams FAA, Australian National University

James Williams developed ion implantation processes which are widely used in the microelectronics industry for manufacturing computer chips. He has developed phase change memory technology based on silicon which is expected to play an important role in next generation of high density memory devices. His work on compound semiconductors has made an impact in optoelectronic device technology. He has provided exceptional leadership in materials science in Australia and is highly regarded internationally for his contributions in electronic materials.

2009

Professor Victor Flambaum FAA, University of New South Wales

Victor Flambaum has performed pioneering research in the area of the violation of fundamental symmetries and tests of unification theories of elementary particles. With collaborators he developed a new method to perform the most accurate atomic calculations of parity violation. These calculations allowed the standard model of elementary particles to be tested. Recently he proposed new ideas which have led to fresh directions in the search for variations of the fundamental constants of nature, including astrophysics (Big Bang nucleosynthesis, quasar spectra), nuclear physics (nuclear clock), and atomic and molecular spectroscopy (atomic clocks).

2007

Professor Yuri Kivshar, Australian National University

Yuri Kivshar is a world leader in nonlinear physics and optics, widely recognised for his contributions to our understanding of self-trapping and energy localisation, pioneering results in the theory of optical solitons and vortices, and the world-first predictions of many important effects in nonlinear physics of periodic photonic structures. Most of his theoretical predictions have been verified and demonstrated experimentally. Yuri is a leading figure in the interchange of ideas between nonlinear optics and atom optics. His research is multidisciplinary in background and focus.

2005—A.J. Guttmann
2003—G. Dracoulis
2001—I.H. Sloan
1999—E.O. Tuck
1997—A.W. Thomas
1995—C.C. Heyde
1993—N.H. Fletcher; E. Weigold
1991—B.H.J. McKellar
1989—R. Delbourgo; P.G. Hall
1987—D.B. Melrose
1985—A.W. Snyder
1983—R.J. Baxter
1981—J.R. Philip; D.W. Robinson
1979—E.J. Hannan
1977—K. Mahler
1975—J.P. Wild
1972—H.A. Buchdahl
1970—R.Hanbury Brown
1968—G. Szekeres
1966—S.T. Butler
1963—G.R.A. Ellis; P.A.P. Moran
1961—H.O. Lancaster
1959—E.S. Barnes
1957—B.Y. Mills

1953—J.L. Pawsey
1951—T.M. Cherry
1949—K.E. Bullen
1947—J.C. Jaeger; D.F. Martyn
1941—G.H. Briggs; T.G . Room
1935—J.R. Wilton

Professor Steven Chown FAA, Monash University

Professor Steven Chown’s research concerns biodiversity variation through space and time, and the conservation requirements for mitigating the impacts of environmental change. He co-developed the field of macrophysiology – the investigation of large-scale patterns in and processes underlying physiological variation and their ecological implications. He has worked in Australia, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, the UK, and in the Antarctic, where he has over 30 years of field experience. For many years Professor Chown represented the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), of which he was also President (2016–21), at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, providing scientific advice on a broad range of environmental and science policy matters. He has been National Delegate to SCAR for both Australia and South Africa. He provides a range of advice to international Antarctic programs through advisory committees and boards.

Professor Peter Koopman FAA, University of Queensland

Professor Peter Koopman’s research focuses on how genes function as the blueprint for embryonic development. He is best known for his role in discovering the Y-chromosomal sex-determining gene Sry, widely acknowledged as a milestone in 20th century genetics. His subsequent work has exposed the molecular, genetic and cellular pathways by which the gonads form in the embryo, addressing the essential question of how males and females come to be. In parallel, Professor Koopman discovered several Sry-related (Sox) genes including those that act as master regulators of skeletal and vascular development. These achievements have had broad and enduring impact in developmental biology, medical genetics and reproductive biology.

Professor Terence Hughes FAA, James Cook University

Professor Terry Hughes has made a superlative and sustained contribution to marine biology and science leadership in Australia and globally. His early research pioneered new understanding of the population dynamics and life histories of corals, and of the ecology of coral reef ecosystems. Among his most significant research has been his ground-breaking exploration of the resilience of coral reefs to pollution, overfishing and climate change, and on the dynamics of tipping-points and regime-shifts. Throughout his distinguished career, Professor Hughes’s research provides innovative and practical solutions for improving coral reef management and governance. He is also a Highly Cited Researcher with many publications in Science and Nature, and the founding Director and driving force behind the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, providing leadership and mentoring a large team of researchers of all career stages.

Professor Catherine Lovelock FAA, The University of Queensland

Professor Catherine Lovelock is a leading global expert on the impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands and the role of coastal ecosystems in mitigating climate change. Her research demonstrates the important role coastal wetlands (mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass) play in mitigating climate change. Achieved by assimilating atmospheric carbon within living wetland plants, a proportion of this plant material is stored in sediments for long periods of time and is known as blue carbon. Professor Lovelock has been pivotal in driving international research and policy regarding blue carbon, and was instrumental in developing a voluntary blue carbon market in Australia that will play a central role in Australia’s efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change on Australia’s coasts. Professor Lovelock’s research emphasises the important role of coastal wetland plants in accumulating substrates, a process that is particularly important in a changing climate where sea-level rise will increase erosion and inundation frequency along shorelines. Despite this important role, she has cautioned that the capacity of coastal wetlands to adjust to climate change will become increasingly limited throughout this century, unless planning decisions reduce pressures and facilitate landward retreat.

Professor Georgia Chenevix-Trench FAA, QIMR Berghofer

Professor Georgia Chenevix-Trench is a cancer geneticist, interested in both inherited and acquired genetic variants that contribute to the risk and development of cancer. Her main focus is on breast and ovarian cancer, but she has also made major contributions to inherited skin and gastric cancers. In the last 15 years, her main focus has been on genome-wide association studies to identify inherited genetic variants associated with cancer risk. These have identified over 200 regions of the genome associated with breast cancer risk. This information is currently being used in international clinical trials to stratify women for breast screening, but has also transformed our understanding of the biological basis of breast cancer. Professor Chenevix-Trench’s main focus now is to identify the relevant susceptibility genes in those 200 regions, to determine how they contribute to breast cancer risk, and whether this information can be used to treat breast cancer, or even to prevent it.

Professor John Endler FAA FRS, Deakin University

Professor John Endler is a world leading evolutionary biologist. His research explores the interplay between ecological, behavioural and genetic factors, and how they affect geographic variation and the process of natural selection in natural populations. His contributions are wide ranging and seminal. His scholarly books on how geographical variation can develop despite movement between habitats and his hypothesis of Sensory Drive are classics. The latter proposes that the environment sets the direction of the combined evolution of senses and signals, as well as mate and microhabitat choice behaviour. He pioneered this new interdisciplinary field of sensory ecology. Professor Endler has worked with a variety of species, notably wild guppies and bowerbirds, and topics from population genetics and evolution through behavioural ecology and visual physiology. He defined the properties of bird and other animal eyes to understand visual perception and visual illusions and the importance of colour perception in mating success and sexual selection.

Professor Susanne von Caemmerer FAA FRS, Australian National University

Professor von Caemmerer is the pre-eminent authority on modelling metabolic, physiological, structural and environmental aspects underpinning photosynthetic CO₂ fixation in plant leaves. She changed the way we think about photosynthesis and gas exchange in leaves and remains at the forefront of this research. Her ability to combine mathematical modelling with experimental approaches and her progressive exploitation of ever more powerful molecular engineering methods throughout an outstanding career have refined and deepened our understanding of biochemical, physiological and environmental limitations to photosynthesis. Her research from leaf chloroplasts to global models of plant production aimed at enhancing photosynthetic rates in crop plants to increase their yields and adapt to climate change is now applied world-wide.

Dr Ira Deveson, Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Dr Ira Deveson leads a research group using new genomic technologies to improve the diagnosis of genetic disease. His work spans from basic methods development to large-scale genomic analysis of diverse human cohorts. His goals are to develop, adopt, optimise and validate new techniques that may shed new light on the genome, show how these can be used to address unsolved challenges in genomic medicine and facilitate their eventual translation into clinical practice. Dr Deveson’s team has led the adoption of new technologies for long-read DNA sequencing (LRS) in Australia, allowing us to resolve the most complex, repetitive regions of the human genome for the first time, and to reliably identify new classes of genetic variation that are difficult to identify with existing technologies. By generating a more complete snapshot of a patient’s genome, his team is applying LRS to improve our understanding and diagnosis of inherited disease.

Dr Sonia Shah, University of Queensland

Dr Sonia Shah’s research uses innovative statistical genomics approaches applied to human genomic and health data to advance understanding, improve prevention and identify new avenues for treatment for cardiovascular disease. Her research has led to new insights into heart failure biology and shifted our understanding of the genetic risk factors for familial hypercholesterolemia, impacting patient management in the UK. Dr Shah’s current research focuses on understanding cardiovascular risk in understudied groups, such as women and genetically diverse groups, in whom current tools for identifying high-risk individuals are less accurate, with the goal of developing more effective tools for disease prevention in these groups and ensuring more equitable translation of genomics research.

Dr Stephin Vervoort, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Accurate control of gene expression is essential for health and deregulation of these processes can result in disease. A key regulator of gene expression is RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII), an enzyme that reads our DNA’s genetic information. Mutations that affect RNAPII’s function can give rise to cancers, and RNAPII dysregulation is recognised as a hallmark of cancers. As such, the RNAPII pathway is a prime candidate for the development of novel anti-cancer treatments. Despite the importance of tightly regulated gene expression in biology, the mechanistic control of this process remains incompletely understood. Dr Stephin Vervoort’s innovative approach to understand RNAPII regulation uses genome-wide analyses paired with computational methods. His work has resulted in ground-breaking discoveries of fundamental regulatory mechanisms of RNAPII-driven gene expression, uncovering how these are dysregulated in cancer, and which component can be targeted therapeutically in cancer. Ultimately, he aims to develop drugs that prevent these cellular processes from malfunctioning.

Dr Loic Yengo, University of Queensland

Dr Loic Yengo has developed novel theory and statistical analysis methods and applied those to 'big data' in human genomics to address questions about the causes and consequences of human behaviour. He has discovered thousands of DNA variants that are associated with human traits and showed that the pattern of those variants in the human genome are in part the consequence of people seeking partners who are like themselves, in terms of, for example, height and the level of education. This is direct evidence that human behaviour has an effect on the human genome in subsequent generations. In addition, Dr Yengo has developed better analysis methods to study the effect of homozygosity in the human genome and has shown that the larger the proportion of a person’s genome that is homozygous, the more detrimental effects it has on traits that are associated with disease.

Professor Joseph Powell, Garvan Institute

An individual’s chance of developing a disease or health condition is due to differences in their DNA. These differences mean that some people develop diseases such as diabetes, while other do not. Professor Powell’s research is focused on understanding how these differences in DNA act at the level of individual cells – the building blocks of the human body. Gene expression – the mechanism by which information from DNA is translated into proteins – underscores the genetic risk for most diseases. Gene expression is controlled at an individual cell level, so ideally, analysis of gene expression should be performed using single cells. Professor Powell’s research uses single cell sequencing technology to investigate why diseases arise in different cell types, and how early-stage diseases can be diagnosed and treated by targeting the specific disease driving cell populations.

Associate Professor Marina Pajic, Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Sydney

Pancreatic cancer has an almost uniformly dismal outcome for patients, with only 7% surviving longer than 5 years. The survival rate has remained low for decades, highlighting the urgent need for innovative translational research into this disease. Dr Pajic and her group utilise rapidly evolving genomic technologies, innovative models of disease and patient tumour specimens to improve our understanding of how cancers develop, spread to distant sites (metastasise), and why so many of them are heavily resistant to treatment. This knowledge is used in turn to inform the design of novel, effective and personalised treatment options for pancreatic cancer, as well as other difficult-to-treat cancers, with the aim of patients getting the best treatment tailored based on the “molecular fingerprint” of their tumour.

Dr Justin Wong, Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology

Our DNA stores genetic information akin to an encyclopedia, and genes are the paragraphs. Like paragraphs, which are separated by spaces, our genes also contain spacer sequences known scientifically as introns. All of these features are important to ensure that messages are conveyed accurately in our cells. Dr Wong has made a significant discovery that the natural accurate positioning of spacers is important to control how genes are turned on or off. He has also discovered that a ‘punctuation mark’ called DNA methylation can instruct the accurate usage of spacer sequences. When these punctuation marks are applied, the spacer sequences are used to control what information is ‘whited out’, that is, which genes to turn off. The work by Dr Wong uncovers a novel way to control gene expression with vast therapeutic potential for cancers and other genetic diseases.

Dr Irina Voineagu, University of New South Wales Sydney

Dr Irina Voineagu's research has made significant contributions to the genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders, including work on molecular mechanisms of DNA instability, autism genomics and transcriptomics. Among her many research achievements to date, she has elucidated the role of DNA repeat expansions in neurodevelopmental disorders as well as identified a novel syndrome of intellectual disability caused by mutations in the CCDC22 gene. Most notably, in the first landmark large-scale transcriptome study of autistic brain, Dr Voineagu identified networks of genes that showed altered expression in autistic brain tissue.

2017

Associate Professor Sarah Medland, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Queensland

Associate Professor Medland is a Statistical Geneticist working on Neuroimaging genetics, Child & Adolescent Psychopathology and Women’s health. She plays a leading role and was instrumental in the formation of the ENIGMA brain imaging genetics consortium, which is currently the largest brain imaging study in the world. Her work in this area has significantly advanced our understanding of the ways that genetics influences the structure and function of the human brain. 

2016

Associate Professor Geoffrey John Faulkner, University of Queensland

Associate Professor Faulkner is a leading researcher in the field of genomics, where computers can be combined with high-throughput machines to analyse the DNA found in individual human cells. In recent work, Dr Faulkner and his team have discovered unusual genetic changes in neurons associated with the activity of mobile DNA, a type of ‘jumping gene’. This variation means that each neuron in the brain presents a unique genome that is slightly different to every other cell in the same person’s brain. Interestingly, the parts of the genome most important for neurons to function normally are the most likely to carry changes associated with mobile DNA activity. Associate Professor Faulkner’s work has major implications for how we view healthy brain function, and may provide opportunities to better understand mental health and neurodegenerative conditions.

2015

Dr Jian Yang, University of Queensland

Dr Yang has developed novel statistical analysis methods to show that individual differences between people for many characteristics are due to the cumulative effect of many genes. He solved the problem that genes identified from recent large-scale genetic studies explained only a small part of the genetic basis of characteristics such as height or susceptibility to disease. He has distributed his software tools widely and many researchers now apply his statistical genetic methods to their data.

2014

Winthrop Professor Ryan Lister, University of Western Australia

Professor Ryan Lister studies the epigenome, the millions of molecular signposts added to the genome to regulate the activity of the underlying genetic information. His development of key techniques to map the epigenome has enabled major advances in our understanding of its role in gene regulation in both plants and animals. Professor Lister’s investigation into epigenome dynamics during mammalian brain development has provided the first comprehensive maps of epigenome dynamics through mammalian brain development, in both humans and mice. His discoveries provide an essential foundation to understanding the role of the epigenome in mammalian gene regulation and brain development.

2013

Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, Western Australian Institute for Medical Research

Professor Filipovska has made significant contributions to the field of human mitochondrial gene expression. She has developed new technologies to investigate mitochondrial nucleic acids and the roles of proteins that regulate the expression of genes encoded on the mitochondrial DNA. Furthermore she has discovered several mitochondrial proteins that are important for energy production and consequently cell health. She has developed new tools to modulate mitochondrial gene expression and is using them currently as potential therapeutics for the treatment of diseases caused by mutations in the mitochondrial genome.

2012

Dr Manuel Ferreira, Queensland Institute of Medical Research

Dr Manuel Ferreira established the Australian Asthma Genetics Consortium, which recently carried out the largest asthma genetics study in Australia. This study, published in The Lancet, identified a gene – the interleukin-6 receptor – that has a more active version and a less active version. The more active version is more commonly found in asthmatics and contributes to inflammation. These findings suggest that a drug that reduces the activity of this gene – currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis – may be effective in asthma.

2011

Dr Alicia Oshlack, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Alicia Oshlack studies gene regulation using high throughput genomic technologies where expression from tens of thousands of genes can be detected simultaneously. She has made major advances in understanding human evolution and the biology of human genomes by comparing changes in gene expression levels between humans and apes. She has developed methodology specifically for gene expression analysis that can be applied to many aspects of human biology and medical genetics. She is pioneering analysis of new DNA sequencing technology for studying gene expression.

2010

Dr Stuart Macgregor, Queensland Institute of Medical Research

Stuart Macgregor is a statistical geneticist who has developed new methods and tools to analyse a wide range of diseases, ranging from schizophrenia to cancer and glaucoma. He is known for his work in relation to gene mapping, having developed ways to analyse pooled DNA for large-scale genetic association studies. This has led to the discovery of a new genetic risk variant in melanoma.

2009

Dr Marnie Blewitt, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Marnie Blewitt has made major advances in our understanding of epigenetics – how we silence or activate particular regions of DNA to orchestrate normal development and prevent disease. She has identified new epigenetic mechanisms that influence how geneticists interpret the inheritance of phenotypic traits. She identified a new gene that regulates X-inactivation, the process by which expression of genes on the X-chromosome is equalised between male and female mammals, including humans.

She is also making major contributions to the epigenetic control of stem cell function and the possible therapeutic benefits arising from it.

2008

Dr Vanessa Hayes, Group Leader Cancer Genetics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Vanessa Hayes is an outstanding researcher with an enviable record in human genetics research. Following her early studies in identifying genetic risk factors for cervical and colorectal cancer, she demonstrated the importance of genetic polymorphisms in progression of HIV disease in the African population. Her recent work on genetic variations and prostate cancer risk is providing a major stimulus to the effective use of human genetics in prevention and treatment of this disorder. She has identified genetic markers associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer and the prediction of prostate cancer outcome.

Professor Jane Visvader FAA FAHMS FRS, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Professor Jane Visvader is an esteemed scientific researcher in the field of breast stem cell biology, having made seminal discoveries that continue to define how the breast develops, how errors in that development lead to breast cancer, and how we might prevent or treat that cancer. Her outstanding contributions encompass fundamental research, translational discoveries, and an inspiring commitment to teaching and mentorship. Professor Visvader’s research leadership has provided a series of important discoveries that underpin our current understanding of breast stem cell biology, including the isolation of mouse breast stem cell, which provided methodologies now used in research laboratories worldwide; defining the sensitivity of breast stem cells to ovarian hormones and their impact on the development of breast cancer; discovery of the cellular origin of BRCA1-associated breast cancer; and validation of a specific cell signalling pathway as a therapeutic target to prevent breast cancer in people carrying a BRCA1 mutation.

Professor Kerrie Mengersen FAA, Queensland University of Technology

Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen’s 35 year post-PhD research career has focused on the development of new statistical methodology motivated by challenging real-world applications. As a pioneer and leader of Bayesian statistics in Australia, her first 25 years focused substantively on research and translation of Bayesian methods and computational algorithms. In the last decade, her research has expanded further to embrace new types of data and data science, with the former including digital and citizen science data, and the latter focused on the intersection between statistics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Professor Mengersen’s work is explicitly multidisciplinary and all of her contributions have been jointly developed with collaborators. She has maintained a career-long focus on engaging with and mentoring women in mathematical and applied sciences, and has more recently had the pleasure and honour of working with Indigenous Australian researchers.

Professor Jennifer Graves AC FAA, La Trobe University

Professor Jenny Graves is an international leader in comparative genomics of vertebrates, arguing that Australian animals are particularly valuable as “independent experiments in evolution”. She exploits the biology of Australian marsupials, monotremes and reptiles to dissect conserved genetic structures and processes, pioneering a comparative approach that has led to many fundamental discoveries. She produced unique data that successfully challenged accepted ideas, leading to new hypotheses about the origin and evolution of human sex chromosomes and sex determining genes. She showed that human sex gene and sex chromosomes evolved quite recently, and the Y chromosome is degrading rapidly and will disappear in a few million years. She made fundamental discoveries about how the X chromosome is genetically silenced in female mammals, showing that genes on the inactive X are not copied into RNA, and that DNA methylation suppresses transcription. She initiated and guided collaborative research on the epigenetic control of environmental sex determination in Australian reptiles. 

Dr Liz Dennis AC FAA FTSE, CSIRO

Dr Liz Dennis is a distinguished plant molecular biology researcher. She has addressed important basic questions in plant development, vernalisation-induced flowering and the increased yield of hybrid varieties. A feature of her research is that she has worked with Arabidopsis, a plant favoured in laboratory research, and then transferred her discoveries to crop plants. This has been a powerful strategy. Her analysis of the basis of hybrid vigour has been outstanding in Arabidopsis and subsequently in rice. The development of hybrid mimics in rice has removed the first-generation limit for hybrids and facilitates a continuity of high food grain production. The development of high yielding mimic varieties can be expected in many other crops.

Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger AC FAA, University of Western Australia

Professor Cheryl Praeger’s work on the mathematics of symmetry has been in the vanguard of a mathematical revolution caused by the classification of the finite simple groups, the atoms of symmetry from which all finite groups are built. She has elucidated the internal structure of these simple groups, and driven research on applying their immensely powerful classification to study symmetric structures.

Professor Praeger has developed a theory of quasiprimitive groups which, via her innovative ‘normal quotient method’, established a new paradigm for working with symmetric graphs and exploited the simple group classification.

Professor Praeger demonstrates an extraordinary ability to foster and inspire others, supporting women, advocating for mathematics in schools, and promoting mathematics in emerging economies.

Associate Professor Jiajia Zhou, University of Technology Sydney

Associate Professor Jiajia Zhou creates and applies nanoparticles that become luminescent in precise ways in response to light and heat. These nanoparticles are the basis for nanosized sensors, the world’s smallest and most sensitive thermometer and ways to test for minute quantities of single-molecule proteins and oligos. She works with Australian companies to apply her discoveries in diverse areas. One is a device that can accurately profile milk proteins in an hour, so farmers and producers can control for milk without unwanted proteins. Another is a single molecule antigen rapid test (SMART) to monitor mutations of the spike proteins on new strains of COVID virus. Innovative tests that Associate Professor Zhou recently developed have also been proposed for rapid diagnostics of foodborne pathogens. She now leads UTS’s team in a new ARC Centre of Excellence for quantum biotechnology that aims to develop quantum technologies that can observe biological processes.

Professor Yuerui Lu, Australian National University

Modern information technologies are increasingly focused on the development of integrated opto-electronic devices with compact footprints and integrated functionalities. Key in the downscaling of integrated opto-electronic devices to the nanometre scale has been ultra-thin, two-dimensional (2D) ‘quantum’ materials. Professor Yuerui Lu’s team at ANU has developed new types of atomically thin 2D materials and devices with peculiar optical and electronic properties, enabling new applications in electronics, photonics and space. These novel materials facilitate devices that are significantly smaller, less massive, and require much lower power to operate. His discovery could introduce new materials and devices in applications ranging from smaller and fast-speed 3D cameras for future smartphones, and low-weight and high-quality satellite electronics – making future space missions more accessible and cheaper to launch. His work was chosen by the Australian Research Council (ARC) to be a national highlight in 2020. 

Dr Keith Bannister, CSIRO

Dr Keith Bannister is an exceptional scientist who has led several projects at the forefront of radio astronomy, especially in the area of fast radio burst (FRB) research. His great strength is that he has a deep understanding of both astronomy and radio-science engineering. These qualities enable him to envisage novel and powerful techniques to advance key science goals, to bring systems based on these techniques to fruition, and then to harvest the scientific returns. By exploiting the unique wide-field capabilities of CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope, Dr Bannister and his team doubled the number of FRBs known at the time. He then went on to devise and implement a scheme to determine their precise sky positions, thereby identifying their source location in distant galaxies. These results provided vital clues on FRBs’ astrophysical origin and also identified the location of 50 per cent of the missing baryons in the universe.

Associate Professor Xiaojing Hao, UNSW Sydney

Associate Professor Xiaojing Hao, is a world leader in next-generation kesterite photovoltaics; utilising green (earthabundant, environmentally-friendly) thin-film semiconductor materials to harvest sunlight.

Over the past four years she has led her group in setting four world records for sulfide kesterite solar cell efficiency as confirmed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Her kesterite solar cell breakthroughs represent major advances in developing high bandgap thin film solar cells that are flexible, stable, cheap and non-toxic, showing clear societal impact as photovoltaics emerge as the front-runner in supplanting fossil fuels.

Associate Professor Adam Deller, Swinburne University of Technology

Associate Professor Deller uses high angular resolution radio imaging to study neutron stars and black holes, the most compact objects in the Universe. To do so, he has developed new instrumentation capable of jointly processing signals from radio antennas spread across the Earth and even on orbiting satellites, which has been adopted by major astronomical facilities world-wide.

His own usage of these facilities has led to breakthroughs including a time-lapse movie of the high-speed material launched by merging neutron stars in a galaxy 125 million light years away, which determined the orientation of the system first detected via the burst of gravitational waves emitted when they merged. Closer to home, he has pinpointed the location of neutron stars within the Milky Way galaxy with unprecedented precision, using radio observations so precise they could discern motion no greater than the width of a human hair at a distance of 2,000 km.

Professor Steven Flammia, University of Sydney

Quantum information science (QIS), a field born at the interface between physics and computation, has impacted all areas of physics. Increasingly it is impacting technology. By marrying the classical theory of compressed sensing with quantum tomography, Professor Flammia’s work has succeeded in drastically reducing the number of measurements required to learn the types of quantum states and processes commonly found in laboratory experiments aimed at building scalable quantum computers. This work was significant as, firstly, it has had a real practical impact, with numerous experiments already performed that show the advantages of the new approach, and secondly, the methods introduced have had an impact beyond physics back to the original machine learning community where the idea of compressed sensing originated. Professor Flammia’s work has impacted both theory and experimental practice in the field, with direct impact on Australian efforts in quantum technology.

Dr Paul Lasky

Dr Paul Lasky has dedicated his career to furthering our understanding of the most exotic regions of the universe. He is an active member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration that, in 2016, transformed the very foundations of astrophysics by announcing the first detection of gravitational waves—tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime—coming from two colliding black holes over one billion light years from Earth. He has identified new ways of studying the interiors of neutron stars using their gravitational-wave signatures, as well as new ways of testing Einstein’s theory of gravity in regions of the universe where new physics is most likely to occur—at the surfaces of black holes. He has also recruited and led an international team that provided direct, empirical measurements that deepen our understanding of the universe from when it was less than one second old.

2017

Associate Professor Igor Aharonovich, University of Technology Sydney

Associate Professor Aharonovich is delivering breakthrough research that underpins next generation light-based technologies spanning energy, communications and quantum information processing. His work is original, has motivated wider research and focuses on novel single photon sources, one fundamental building block in quantum information science. He has demonstrated new materials with record-setting properties which assist the further development of quantum communication systems and their deployment in real world applications. His work contributes to one of the pressing issues in the modern era – ensuring that private information and sensitive data can be secured through unbreakable encryption.

2016

Associate Professor Ilya Shadrivov, Australian National University

Associate Professor Shadrivov is developing new forms of metamaterials, with future use in photonics and communication technologies. Metamaterials are composite structures with carefully designed properties that are not found in nature. They can manipulate light and other electromagnetic waves in many unusual ways. For example, they can be tuned to absorb some ‘colours’ of light, which is useful for the next generation of security cameras which use invisible long wavelength, or Terahertz, radiation. Alternatively, metamaterials can be used in novel antennas, which will beam electromagnetic waves in carefully chosen directions and rapidly scan the surrounding environment. This is useful for many applications in modern industry, such as for car radar-type sensors in order to increase car safety.

2015

Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths, Australian National University

Dr McClure-Griffiths is an internationally recognised radio astronomer, who has used “The Dish” at Parkes and other Australian telescopes to make stunning new discoveries about our home Galaxy, the Milky Way. Her research has provided unprecedented insights into how the Milky Way is structured, lives its life, and interacts with its neighbours. She has unravelled the complicated pinwheel-like structure of our home Galaxy and has helped explain how the Milky Way keeps finding fresh gas to make new stars.

2014

Professor Geoffrey John Pryde, Griffith University

Professor Pryde's research investigates the fundamental properties of the quantum world and how these can be harnessed for radical advances in information technologies, sensing and measurement. Working with quantum states of light, Geoff has demonstrated the first quantum measurement scaling at the absolute quantum limit of measurement precision, and has realised key steps on the path towards optical quantum computing. His recent investigations of quantum entanglement and the quantum limits of amplification are providing new resources for realising ultra-secure long-range communications.

2013

Associate Professor Christopher Adam Blake, Swinburne University of Technology

Observations by astronomers over the last fifteen years have produced one of the most startling discoveries in physical science: that the expansion of the Universe, originally triggered by the Big Bang, has begun to speed up. A new map of galaxies, created using Australian telescopes under the leadership of Chris Blake, has produced new evidence that this accelerating expansion is driven by a smooth, diffuse "dark energy" that fills the Universe and overwhelms the normal attractive force of gravity. Associate Professor Chris Blake has helped to develop techniques to measure the properties of dark energy using the acoustic oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum as a standard ruler. These techniques are now commonly applied by cosmologists worldwide.

2012

Professor Tanya Monro FAA FTSE, University of Adelaide

Professor Tanya Monro is a dynamic, creative and productive physicist who has made numerous internationally significant contributions and world firsts in emerging areas of optical physics, most notably in sensing and nonlinear optics. She and her team have discovered new ways of generating, controlling and manipulating light and its interactions with molecules and developing advanced technology for structuring materials on the nanoscale. This research has spanned the development of new theoretical models, the identification of new regimes and fabrication and experimental breakthroughs, and has led to the development of new forms of optical fibres for use in telecommunications, biology, health, food and wine, environmental monitoring and defence.

2011

Professor Bryan Gaensler, University of Sydney

Bryan Gaensler's pioneering studies of cosmic magnetism have opened a new window on the Universe. Bryan has derived detailed three-dimensional maps of large-scale magnetic fields throughout the cosmos, and is now using these results to understand what has created and sustained cosmic magnets over billions of years of the Universe's evolution. As a by-product of studying astrophysical magnetism, he has also made the stunning discovery that the Milky Way is twice as thick as was previously thought, a result that fundamentally changes our understanding of our home Galaxy.

2010

Professor Andrew White, University of Queensland

Quantum optics – the study of the quantum nature of light – provides a technological platform for quantum computing in which the individual quantum bits of information are carried by single photons. Andrew White is a pioneer in the experimental development of the quantum optical approach to quantum computing. He performed the first unambiguous experimental demonstration of an entangling quantum-logic gate with photons in 2003.

2009

Dr Stuart Wyithe, University of Melbourne

Stuart Wyithe has made outstanding contributions to cosmology, and to our understanding of the likely structure of the universe as the first stars formed, with work on the birth of black holes, stars and galaxies. Together with collaborators, he has developed clear predictions of the expected observational signatures of these processes. Searches for these signatures are now being undertaken using new instrumentation on existing international observatories, such as the Gemini Telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope, and on new long wavelength radio telescopes being constructed around the world.

2008

Dr Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov, University of Sydney

Ken Ostrikov has achieved international repute through his contributions to diverse multidisciplinary fields, particularly in plasma nanoscience, where he is widely recognised as a pioneer and world leading authority. He has used innovative approaches to the creation and manipulation of atomic and nanoscale building blocks, the organisation of nanomatter by plasma, and describing the interactions between plasma and solids. His research has created new ways to generate self-assembled nanomaterials, nanoelectronic and photonic structures, and devices for future computer chips, solar cells, communications systems and biosensors.

2007

Professor Ben Eggleton, University of Sydney

Ben Eggleton has pioneered research in optical device physics and photonics that underpin the development of the next generation of communication technologies and has made seminal contributions leading to the development of the photonic chip. His research achievements include the first experimental observation of nonlinear pulse propagation in photonic crystals, ground-breaking work on geometries for photonic crystal fibres, and the demonstration of highly original and significant nonlinear waveguide.

2006

Dr Mahananda Dasgupta, Australian National University

Mahananda Dasgupta is a leading international researcher in the field of nuclear fusion physics. Her cutting-edge contributions include precision measurements of unprecedented accuracy. She has developed theoretical models to describe quantum tunnelling of composite objects and designed efficient experimental particle detection equipment. Mahananda completed her PhD at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay.

2005—M.Y. Simmons
2004—M. Bilek
2003—H. Wiseman
2002—S.V. Vladimirov
2001—B.P. Schmidt
2000—A. Murphy
1999—C.M. de Sterke
1999—R.R. Volkas
1998—I. Bray; Y.S. Kivshar
1997—MT Batchelor
1996—RG Elliman
1995—PA Robinson
1994—PTH Fisk
1993—ST Hyde
1992—DJ Hinde
1991—AE Stuchbery
1990—WK Hocking
1989—KA Nugent
1988—INS Jackson
1987—JWV Storey
1986—B Luther-Davies
1985—RM Pashley
1984—PR Wood
1983—MA Dopita
1982—JA Piper
1981—MA Green
1980—JE Norris
1979—GJ Clark
1978—RN Manchester
1977—JN Israelachvili
1976—WM Goss
1975—RJ Baxter
1974—DB Melrose
1973—BHJ McKellar
1972—KC Freeman
1971—BW Ninham
1970—RA Challinor
1969—KG McCracken
1967—RM May