Academy announces 2015 scientific excellence awards

The Australian Academy of Science has announced the winners of honorific awards for scientific excellence. The awards were established to recognise distinguished research in two categories: medals and prizes for early- and mid-career scientists up to 15 years post-PhD; and career awards for scientists of lifelong achievement.

Three new awards have been added to celebrate the careers of eminent biologists Sir Gus Nossal and Professor Jacques Miller, and engineer Professor John Booker. The academy has also announced the 2016 Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture, which recognises outstanding research in the biological sciences and is presented every two years, as well as several grants and fellowships.

Academy President Professor Andrew Holmes congratulated all the award winners and recipients of grants. He said the winners “represent an incredible list of Australia’s scientific achievements across a huge range of areas, from medicine to maths and engineering”.

The winners are listed below.

Career awards

• Professor Dennis James Evans FAA, Australian National University - 2015 David Craig Medal for research in chemistry.
• Professor Gustav I Lehrer FAA, University of Sydney; Professor Alan G R McIntosh FAA, Australian National University - 2015 Hannan Medal in the mathematical sciences.
• Professor Trevor John McDougall FAA, University of New South Wales - 2015 Jaeger Medal for Australian Earth science.
• Professor Graham D Farquhar AO FAA FRS, Australian National University - 2016 Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture for scientific research of the highest standing in the biological sciences.
• Professor Michelle Simmons FAA, University of New South Wales - 2015 Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal for research in mathematics or physics.

Early- and mid-career awards

• Professor Michael Cowley, Monash University - 2015 Inaugural Jacques Miller Medal for Experimental Biomedicine.
• Professor Nicholas Anstey, Menzies School of Health Research - 2015 Inaugural Gustav Nossal Medal for Global Health Research.
• Associate Professor Kylie Catchpole, Australian National University - 2015 Inaugural John Booker Medal in engineering science.
• Dr Yingjie Yang, ARC Centre of Excellence for Core Crust Fluid Systems, Macquarie University - 2015 Anton Hales Medal for research in earth sciences.
• Associate Professor Catherine Greenhill, University of New South Wales; Dr Scott Morrison, Australian National University - 2015 Christopher Heyde Medal for mathematical sciences.
• Dr Nerilie Abram, The Australian National University - 2015 Dorothy Hill Award for female researchers in the earth sciences.
• Dr Peter E Czabotar, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research - 2015 Gottschalk Medal for research in the medical sciences.
• Professor Chengzhong Yu, University of Queensland - 2015 Le Fèvre Memorial Prize for research in basic chemistry.
• Associate Professor Yee Hwa Yang, University of Sydney -2015 Moran Medal for research in statistics.
• Associate Professor Tamara Davis, University of Queensland - 2015 Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science.
• Dr Ian Wright, Macquarie University - 2015 Fenner Medal for research in biology (excluding the biomedical sciences).
• Dr Jian Yang, Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland - 2015 Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for distinguished research in human genetics.
• Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths, CSIRO - 2015 Pawsey Medal for research in physics.

Research awards

• Dr Renee Catullo, CSIRO; Michael Hitchcock, University of Melbourne; Robyn Shaw, Australian National University; Melissa Wynn, Australian National University - Margaret Middleton Fund for endangered Australian native vertebrate animals.
• Dr Andrea Candela, University of Insubria - Moran Award for the History of Science Research. 
• Dr Melanie Bishop, Macquarie University; Dr Rebecca Lester, Deakin University; Dr Jonathan Plett, University of Western Sydney; Dr Shane Powell, University of Tasmania - Thomas Davies Research Fund for Marine, Soil and Plant Biology.
• Dr Michalis Hadjikakou, University of New South Wales - W H Gladstone Population and Environment Fund Grant.

Travelling fellowships

• Hien Duy Nguyen, University of Queensland; Yi Uang, University of Melbourne - 2015 AK Head Travelling Scholarship for Mathematical Scientists.
• Professor Ursula Keller, Institute of Quantum Electronics at ETH Zurich - 2015 Frew Fellowship for Physics.
• Professor Ray Jayawardhana, York University (Canada) - 2015 Selby Fellowship for excellence in science.

Support for research conferences

• The 2015-16 Boden research conference on comparative animal genomics.
• The 2015-16 Elizabeth and Frederick White research conference on geomaterials.
• The 2015-16 Fenner Conference on Australian Citizen Science.

The honorific awards will be formally presented at the academy’s annual three-day celebration of Australian science, Science at the Shine Dome, to be held from 26-28 May 2015 in Canberra. More information on the award winners is available here.