Earth provides humanity with a vast array of services on which our survival and prosperity are critically linked. From the water we drink, to fertile soils, energy and minerals deposits, to the stable crust on which we live. Nowhere is this more evident than in Australia where so much of our historical prosperity has been linked to primary industries including mining and energy production. Australian scientists have been instrumental in scientific discovery in these and other fields of Earth Sciences.

The National Committee for Earth Sciences (NCES) has developed a wide-ranging decadal plan. The previous decadal plan was released in 2003 and brought about a period of significant scientific advance in our sector built on well-funded research programs and underpinned by significant investment in research infrastructure through the NCRIS and EIF schemes. The new (2018) decadal plan looks towards the challenges and opportunities likely to present themselves over the next 10 years.

NCES has developed the new decadal plan to ensure  Australian geoscience research continues to be world leading through sustained support for this innovative and integrated field of endeavour. The plan is intended to drive future research to impact positively on Australian life: improving the safety, security and well-being of Australians while contributing positively to the nation's prosperity and management of environmental challenges.

The Mid-term review committee invited specific stakeholder groups to consult with the community and submit papers on their discipline in order to inform the review. In addition to the white papers, the committee invited shorter ‘facility papers’ that relate (but are not restricted) to mid-scale facilities not likely to be covered in the white papers. A mini-demographics survey will also be conducted at the departmental level. The survey will request no personal information.

Solicited white papers

Facilities papers

Other papers

Governance documents

Consultation documents

A pioneer in digital mental health interventions, a world-leading crop genomics expert, and a pre-eminent theoretical cosmologist are amongst the 26 newly elected Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science.

President of the Academy Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC said the new Fellows of 2025 represent the exceptional breadth and depth of Australian scientific excellence.

“The Academy is proud to welcome such a diverse group of outstanding scientists whose work spans from improving mental health outcomes to securing our food future and unravelling the mysteries of the universe,” Professor Jagadish said.

“Each Fellow has made remarkable contributions in their field, demonstrating the vital role that science plays in addressing our most pressing challenges and expanding human knowledge.”

Newly elected Fellow Professor Helen Christensen from UNSW Sydney has transformed the treatment of mental health through her pioneering work in digital mental health interventions.

She has led the translation of traditional face-to-face treatment to digital interventions, which has allowed millions of people across the world to access effective mental health support for depression and anxiety. Her contributions have significantly influenced clinical practice and helped shape policy to address mental health challenges in Australia and overseas.

Also elected this year is Professor Rajeev Varshney from Murdoch University, whose groundbreaking work in crop genomics is helping to secure food production in the face of climate change.

Professor Varshney applies large-scale genome sequencing and haplotype cataloguing approaches to breed climate-resilient and high-yielding crop varieties.

He has decoded the genomes of over a dozen crops, leading to the identification of genes and traits that can boost crop productivity and help Australian crop industries adapt to our changing environment and support global food security efforts.

Professor Tamara Davis from The University of Queensland has been leading efforts to fortify the foundations of modern cosmology and produce detailed measurements of the expansion history of the universe.

Working with major astronomical surveys, her research bridges the gap between cosmology theory and observational data analysis, resulting in a deeper understanding of dark energy and the fundamental properties of the universe.

New Fellows of 2025

The 26 Fellows of the Academy elected in 2025 are:

• Professor David Adams FAA FAHMS, University of Wollongong
• Professor Gabrielle Belz FAA FAHMS, University of Queensland
• Dr Josep Canadell FAA FTSE, CSIRO
• Professor Deli Chen AO FAA, University of Melbourne
• Professor Helen Christensen AO FAA FAHMS FASSA, UNSW Sydney
• Professor Tamara Davis AM FAA, University of Queensland
• Professor Jeffery Errington FAA FRS, University of Sydney
• Professor Jürgen Götz FAA FAHMS, University of Queensland
• Professor Xiaojing Hao FAA FTSE, UNSW Sydney
• Emeritus Professor Mark Howden AC FAA FTSE, Australian National University
• Professor David Huang FAA FAHMS, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• Professor Trevor Ireland FAA, University of Queensland
• Dr Marlene Kanga AO FAA FTSE, iOmniscient Pty Ltd
• Professor Derek Leinweber FAA, University of Adelaide
• Professor Robert Mahony FAA, Australian National University
• Professor Richard Middleton FAA, University of Newcastle
• Professor Christina Mitchell AO FAA FAHMS, Monash University
• Associate Professor Andrew Nash FAA FTSE, CSL Limited
• Professor Jessica Purcell FAA, Monash University
• Professor Clare Scott AM FAA FAHMS, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• Professor Aidan Sims FAA, University of Wollongong
• Professor Michael Stumpf FAA, University of Melbourne
• Professor Rajeev Varshney FAA FRS, Murdoch University
• Distinguished Professor Guoxiu Wang FAA, University of Technology Sydney
• Professor Nicole Webster FAA, University of Tasmania
• Professor Anthony Weiss AM FAA FTSE FAHMS, University of Sydney

Find out more about each of the Fellows elected in 2025

2025 Corresponding Members

Professor Donna Strickland FAA FRS Nobel Laureate from the University of Waterloo and Professor Hiroaki Suga FAA from the University of Tokyo join the likes of Sir David Attenborough, and Nobel Laureates Professor Elizabeth Blackburn and Sir Fraser Stoddard, as Corresponding Members. Corresponding members are eminent international scientists with strong ties to Australia who have made outstanding contributions to science.

More information

The Academy’s newly elected Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy and will present their research at Science at the Shine Dome on 2 and 3 September 2025 in Canberra. With the election of our 2025 Fellows, the Fellowship now stands at 638 Fellows. Find out more about criteria for election to the Academy and how to nominate a scientist for Fellowship.

The President of Australia’s leading science body has welcomed the introduction of the government’s Climate Change Bill 2022 into the Australian Parliament.

Professor Chennupati Jagadish also urged the government to explore how to deliver stronger emissions reductions over the next decade.

“The proposed targets represent a good start, and we encourage parliament to support the Bill as an important step in our country’s efforts to reduce emissions as quickly as possible,” Professor Jagadish said.

“However, the worsening impacts of climatic changes on the lives and wellbeing of millions of Australians demand that our political leaders work together with world leaders to achieve more ambitious emissions targets.

“On the current global 2030 trajectory, limiting warming to 1.5 degrees is unachievable,” he said.

The latest IPCC report on the impacts of climate change found if the world reaches 1.5 degrees of warming before 2040, it will cause further serious and complex threats to our ecosystems and communities far beyond the extreme weather events we are experiencing right now.

Professor Jagadish said rapidly reducing greenhouse gases to achieve net zero before 2050 is an ambitious undertaking requiring coordination and mobilisation of the global and domestic scientific talent.

“There is also no realistic path to decarbonisation for Australia and the world without advances in research and mechanisms to stimulate technology development at scale,” Professor Jagadish said.

“The Academy will continue to assist by providing independent scientific advice on emissions reduction to inform the short, medium- and long-term plans that are needed to achieve net zero by 2050.”

The Academy supports strategies to scale up the development and implementation of next-generation low to zero greenhouse gas technologies as well as large-scale carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere, both of which are needed to keep below 1.5 degrees of warming.

The Academy is hosting a national roundtable next month to examine what science capabilities, research and investment are needed to deliver new breakthroughs in negative emissions.

You can find out more about the Academy's work and the science of climate change on our Climate Change Hub.

The iconic Shine Dome, home of the Australian Academy of Science, was officially reopened on Monday night by the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency General the Hon David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) and the Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science, in the presence of the President of the Academy, Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC PresAA FTSE.

The national heritage-listed Shine Dome was damaged in a severe hailstorm in January 2020, with massive damage to the copper-clad roof and skylights, exposing the building’s nationally significant scientific archives to the hail and rain. Significant works, including recladding of the copper roof, have restored the building and improved its longevity and energy efficiency.

Two years and five months after the hailstorm, Fellows of the Academy were invited to witness the official ceremony.

Addressing guests, General Hurley said the Shine Dome is “an iconic building – its architecture and design inspires and befits those who make a unique and valuable contribution to humanity”.

“Yet its real power comes from within – from its people. As elected Fellows of the Academy, you are amongst Australia’s best and brightest,” said General Hurley.

“Our nation relies on you, believes in you and is willing you to succeed.”

Read General Hurley’s full speech [PDF, 82KB]

In his speech, Minister Husic said the Albanese government wanted to "rekindle the respect for the role of science in helping develop good policy".

Read Minister Husic's full speech

Professor Jagadish said that the Academy is proud of the Shine Dome, “not only because it is the meeting place for Fellows, but because it is the home of science for all Australians”.

“As scientists, our efforts to make new discoveries, to share our knowledge and to see the never seen, is driven by a relentless quest to better your lives and to sustain this planet we all call home.”

Read Professor Jagadish’s full speech [PDF, 232KB]

Celebrate science

The new copper roof of the Shine Dome contains 1888 custom-made tiles, with a time capsule containing Fellows’ messages to the future placed underneath the tiles at the peak.

To mark this historic event, the Academy has established the Celebrate Science Campaign.

Anyone can dedicate a virtual copper roof tile to an Australian scientist who has made a significant contribution to science, to a team of scientists who have contributed significantly to science, or to a school teacher who has made an impact on a scientist’s career.

Learn more about making a dedication

Host an event

The Shine Dome is available for hiring by small and large groups for private, corporate and public functions, with a range of venue spaces available.

Learn more about venue booking

History of the Shine Dome

The Shine Dome was built expressly for the Academy, designed by famous Australian architect Roy Grounds, and originally opened in 1959 by the Governor-General Sir William Slim. It was named Becker House in 1961, in recognition of a significant donation to the building costs by pastoralist Sir Jack Ellerton Becker.

Grounds said then that he “decided this building was going to be my portrait of them [the scientists] as I saw them, full of mystery, romance and intense intellectual exercises, at the same time”.

“I wanted a sense of enormously disciplined order, which is the way their minds work, and I wanted it to have a big emotional impact, because they are very emotional people. They’re intensely creative…”

In 2001, Becker House was renamed the Shine Dome, after major works were supported by a donation of $1 million from Academy Fellow and past president, Professor John Shine AC FAA FAHMS(Hon) FRS. It was included in the National Heritage List on 21 September 2005.

Learn more about the rich history of the Shine Dome

The Academy is delighted to welcome Nokia as the 40th Champion of the Women in STEM Decadal Plan. The national plan aims to establish a thriving STEM-skilled workforce that is fit for the future, globally recognised, powered by a diverse and gender-balanced pipeline, and supported by an inclusive and respectful workplace culture.

The Women in STEM Decadal Plan Champions initiative was launched in August 2019, encouraging all organisations in the STEM ecosystem to submit responses aligning their gender equity activities with the six opportunities outlined in the Women in STEM Decadal Plan. Champions’ responses are publicly available on the STEM Women website.

As a leading global telecommunications and technology company, Nokia’s response highlights goals and strategies across all six opportunity areas, with a specific focus on leadership and visibility through their StrongHer program, and a commitment to a target of 30 per cent women employed in Oceania by 2026.

Nokia joins a growing network of STEM organisations – large and small – across Australia in support of the plan, spanning all parts of the ecosystem: academia and research, industry, small to medium enterprises, institutions and the public sector.

In welcoming Nokia to the network of Champions, Academy Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia said “As a global brand known to many, Nokia has shown the way as an exemplar in realising the benefits of transformative commitment to STEM research and development. We are so thrilled that this worldwide company, so experienced in seeking new futures, has chosen to continue its impactful work by joining with other Champions to proactively create new futures for women in STEM.”

Anna Perrin, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand for Nokia said “Globally Nokia recognises the need for action to drive up inclusivity and diversity within STEM industries, making strong public commitments to improve our female participation rates. I’m so proud to see Nokia Australia follow this lead and join the Australian Academy of Science’s Decadal Champion community, committing to the real and measurable changes outlined in the decadal plan.”

While there has been positive action since the launch of the plan in 2019, now is not the time to lose momentum given the impact of COVID-19 on women in STEM. Substantial work is required to create systemic change across the STEM sector. A recent report from the Academy shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing gender inequity in the STEM workforce across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Academy continues to welcome new Champion responses and encourages all STEM organisations to share their actions and learnings to show their support for a fair and equitable STEM sector.

Find out how to become a Champion

Congratulations to the five fantastic winners of the Academy’s ‘scienceXart: food for thought’ competition!

This year’s scienceXart competition was hosted by the National Committee for Nutrition, celebrating the creativity of nutrition science. It received hundreds of entries from primary students nationwide, who described the science using a creative plate of food.

The judges were particularly excited by the number of entries from students who explored nutrition science together in their classrooms.

Foundation/Kindergarten/Prep

Summer, whose plate featured an array of healthy fruits and vegetables. “Every day at school we eat healthy because fruit and vegetables make us grow. I eat bananas and healthy fruit because it is yummy.”

Summer’s winning entry in the Foundation/Kindergarten/Prep category

Year 1/2

Ellie, with a creation designed for her mum, which was commended for featuring all food groups and water.  “ … Vegetables and fruits are mum’s favourite foods, they have fibre to keep digestive system healthy. Also they provide vitamins A, C and K as well as folic acid to support body. Milk gives calcium to support bones. The most important food for our daily life is water, it is a key to make our body works normally.”

Ellie’s winning entry in the Year 1/2 Category

Year 3/4

Arabella, who created a fun way to eat all the colours of the rainbow. “I created a fun, healthy plate using mainly organic and whole foods and based on the strategy of eating all the colours of the rainbow. My aim was to get a maximum variety of nutrients and minerals into a balanced meal in a memorable and fun way. I hope it inspires you to eat a rainbow and eat more healthily. Remember, you are what you eat!”

Arabella’s winning entry in the Year 3/4 category

Year 5/6

Awarded jointly to William and Oceana, for their vitamin-filled illustrations. Says William: “… [Apples] have 6 different vitamins and minerals including vitamin c vitamin b6 vitamin k manganese copper and potassium. The extent that I eat them may be a bit unhealthy but it's worth it to get the sweet sweet taste of an apple every day…”

Says Oceana: “I decided to make a nice, fitting lunch having a medium rare cooked steak with a few slices of tomatoes which can also help your cells from being damaged. There is also cooked asparagus having vitamin C, K and A! For the sides, we have cooked spinach and cooked corn. Corn having vitamin C, and spinach having vitamin E.”

William’s winning entry in the Year 5/6 category 

Watch the full livestream of Falling Walls Lab Australia 2021 above.

Dr Jiao Jiao Li is the winner of the sixth Falling Walls Lab Australia event, hosted online today by the Australian Academy of Science in partnership with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Canberra and EURAXESS Australia and New Zealand.

The second place winner was Chamikara Liyanage, while Dr Lokman Norazmi took third place.

The People's Choice winner, selected via a survey of audience members, was tied between Chamikara Liyanage and Dr Lokman Norazmi.

The nine contestants presenting at the Australian finale event were selected by the Falling Walls Lab New South Wales, organised by DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service and EURAXESS; the Falling Walls Lab Queensland, organised by the University of Queensland; and the Falling Walls Lab Victoria, organised by veski with support from Deakin University.

In another Falling Walls category, ‘Science Breakthroughs of the Year’, Academy Fellow Professor Thomas Maschmeyer from the University of Sydney, Professor Warwick Bowen from the University of Queensland and Professor Geoffrey Spinks from the University of Wollongong have been selected by Falling Walls 2021 in Berlin as global finalists in the category Engineering and Technology. They will be presenting their breakthroughs at the event in Berlin in November.

The question of every Falling Walls Lab is: Which walls will fall next?

Three-minute pitch

Each participant had three minutes to make their pitch in front of a jury of eminent academics and leaders from business chaired by Australia's Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley.

Dr Jiao Jiao Li of the University of Technology Sydney is developing a new and off-the-shelf, disease specific, stem cell based therapy for osteoarthritis, a next-generation treatment solution that can also be adaptable for other diseases.

Chamikara Liyanage of the Queensland University of Technology introduced a microprotein gene therapy to overcome prostate cancer treatment resistance and a diagnostic immunoassay that early predicts treatment resistance.

Dr Lokman Norazmi of the University of Tasmania established an army of chromosome fish to fight in the war against alien mosquitofish invasion in Australia, thus protecting our unique and diverse aquatic ecosystem.

The people's choice award tied between Dr Lockman Norazmi and Chamikara Liyanage.

Winners to compete internationally

The top three winners will each receive a prize of AUD1,000 and support from the Academy on their online participation at the Berlin Falling Walls Conference. The winners’ videos will be shared with the influential global audience of Falling Walls Berlin and on the Academy’s social media platforms to over 2.4 million followers.

Academy partner EURAXESS will also provide high-quality online science communication training to the three winners led by European experts, including opportunity to have one-on-one consultation with the experts.

The three Australian winners will represent Australia in the hybrid Falling Walls Conference 2021 alongside the other 97 global winners, and the top 10 global finalists will compete in the Falling Walls Pitches on 7 November for their title in the Emerging Talents category.

Jury members

The event organising partners are grateful for the involvement of the jury members for Falling Walls Lab Australia:

• Dr Cathy Foley AO FAA—Australia’s Chief Scientist
• Dr Dan Grant—MD and CEO, MTPConnect
• Ms Kate Hart—Partner ANZ, A.T. Kearney Australia
• Ms Rosie Hicks—Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Data Commons
• Professor Michael Schuetz—Director, Jamieson Trauma Institute
• Professor John Shine AC PresAA FRS—President, Australian Academy of Science
• Dr Jack Steele—Director Science Impact and Policy, CSIRO

Read the event program booklet (PDF).

About Falling Walls Lab

Each year, the Falling Walls Foundation supports scientific organisations around the world to host a Falling Walls Lab. This international forum promotes interdisciplinary connections between aspiring academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals known for their excellent work.

Falling Walls Lab is a challenging and inspiring format for emerging bright minds, giving them a unique chance to become the next big success story in innovation. Each year, nearly 100 international Labs are held with more than 1000 presenters, 100 of whom make it to the final in Berlin. In 2019, Australian researcher Rhys Pirie took out first place at the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin and was named 2019 Young Innovator of the Year. Read more about his success and a follow-up interview six months after winning the competition.

The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation in Berlin dedicated to the support of science and the humanities. It was established in 2009, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At its heart is the question ‘Which are the next walls to fall?’ as a result of scientific, technological, economic and sociological breakthroughs.

Who do you see when you look at this image above?

These Science Activity Characters show people engaging with a range of science-related activities. Last year, the Academy worked with the National Science Week team to share real stories of Australian science to bring these characters to life. For National Science Week this year there are three new stories to explore. What better time is there to celebrate the work of our Fellows?

Lifelong passion

There’s never a dull moment when you work as a marine biologist. You might come face-to-face with an octopus, a seal, a dolphin—or maybe a predatory sea star that can destroy our coral reefs. Professor Maria Byrne followed a lifelong passion for exploring the underwater world and applies her in-depth knowledge of sea stars to find better ways to manage crown-of-thorns starfish.

“I wanted to know what made animals tick, why animals are where they are in the world, and how did they get there?” said Professor Byrne.

What questions do you ask whenever you gaze up at the stars in the night sky? There aren’t too many questions more fundamental to our existence than ‘how did the Universe begin?’. Professor Rachel Webster explores how astrophysicists can get precious glimpses of our early Universe by peering around galaxies, inside black holes and back through time itself.     

Professor Webster was inspired to delve a lot deeper into the Universe after “accidentally” attending a lecture on cosmology at the University of Sydney one summer, saying “it blew my 17-year-old brain out of the water.”

How do birds see the world—and how do we know? Understanding what a bird’s eye view really looks like helps us understand why different animals perceive the world in different ways. Professor John Endler specialises in understanding the visual systems of birds, and how some of them can even create visual illusions.

Professor Endler said his path to studying animal vision was initially triggered by “pure curiosity. I was curious about the why, rather than just the usual who, what, where and how. What are the animals trying to do, and why?”

You can also explore the ethics of artificial intelligence, how bees help us design better drones, and how virtual reality helps environmental conservation.

How will you science this National Science Week?

Share your own stories on social media with the #ScienceWeek, #SolveItWithSTEM and/or #STEMsavinglives hashtags and tell us how you use STEM to solve problems or who in STEM inspires you. Make sure to tag National Science Week (@Aus_ScienceWeek) and the Academy (@Science_Academy) so we can hear from you!

Find out more about the Academy's activities in National Science Week.

Despite an unprecedented global research effort and record-breaking times to first in-human trials there are no guarantees that a vaccine will be available soon for COVID-19, according to one of Germany’s pre-eminent virologists, Professor Doctor Marylyn Addo.

Professor Addo made the comments during a recent webinar titled ‘Under the Microscope’ held by the Australian Embassy Berlin, the German Embassy Canberra, the Australia-Germany Research Network (AGRN) and the Australian Academy of Science.

The webinar was held on the six-month anniversary of receipt of the first reports of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in China by the World Health Organization. Now the world has just crossed over a minimum of 10 million infections and 500,000 deaths.

“I am optimistic, but nobody can say when we’ll definitely have a vaccine and there are many open questions,” said Professor Addo, who is head of infectious disease at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.

Professor Addo has developed and tested vaccines for Ebola and MERS and is currently developing a viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccine.

“While we are talking about the vaccine it’s critical that we develop other therapeutics. The repurposed drug remdesivir, developed to treat Ebola, is one of the frontrunner options for treating COVID-19, while the search for a vaccine continues,” said Professor Addo.

“It’s got the advantage of already having lots of data from clinical use. It’s not going to be our saving drug but it’s an important first step.”

Professor Addo was joined by patron of the Doherty Institute, Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC FAA FRS. The institute has been at the forefront of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the importance of international collaboration Professor Doherty said there is a massive global commitment to finding solutions to the pandemic.

“I think in general the world is working together very well on this. There is great consciousness that this is a global problem and recognition that this has to be solved globally,” Professor Doherty said.

“This is the only truly novel respiratory virus pandemic in modern history. This is quite a benchmark and I think we should be very much warned that these things are around and out there and there is a lot more of them.”

Professor Addo said the global pandemic has shown how connected we are.

“A unilateral approach is not going to tackle this. There might be a new normal and we must talk about that. We have to be cautious about whether we’ll go back to the way things were,” Professor Addo said.

The webinar was opened by Her Excellency Ms Lynette Wood, Australian Ambassador to Germany, and Emeritus Professor Hans Bachor, Secretary for Education and Public Awareness at the Australian Academy of Science.