A/Prof Melanie Baak
South Australia | 2026 South Australian Award WinnerSchools should be places where all young people can learn, participate and develop a strong sense of belonging. Yet for many students, particularly those from culturally and racially diverse backgrounds,... Read More »
Dr Scarlett Howard
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerMany people are aware that bees are essential to pollination, which contributes to healthy ecosystems and food security. However, the intelligence of bees and other insect pollinators has been classically... Read More »
Dr Kit Prendergast
Western Australia | 2026 Western Australian Award WinnerNative bees and pollinators are declining across the globe, including in Australia, where we are facing a crisis in native bee conservation. Native bees are crucial components of Australia’s biodiversity... Read More »
Dr Jarmon Lees
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerHeart disease is one of the biggest killers in Australia, but for people living with conditions like Friedreich ataxia or diabetes, the situation is even more stark: there are no... Read More »
A/Prof Mary Woessner
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerMore than four million Australian children participate in community sport every week. However, research shows that many children experience psychological, physical, or sexual harm while participating in community sport. Preventing... Read More »
Dr Lei Bao
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerMany diseases remain difficult to detect early and treat effectively because the biological environments around them are constantly changing, while many current treatments remain largely passive. This can delay healing,... Read More »
Dr Shanmuga Sundar Dhanabalan
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerAs an ARC Industry Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Technology Infusion, Dr Shanmuga Sundar Dhanabalan focuses on developing affordable, easy-to-use wearable devices that make healthcare simpler, enable... Read More »
Dr Rebecca Morris
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerRebecca’s research focuses on harnessing nature to help protect coastlines from erosion, storms, and rising sea levels while restoring the ecosystems that support healthy oceans. Rather than relying solely on... Read More »
A/Prof Milad Haghani
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerModern cities are becoming increasingly complex, interconnected, and densely populated. As a result, societies continue to face preventable deaths and injuries across transport systems, crowded places, disasters, and other urban... Read More »
Dr Helena Wang
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerAs the world transitions to clean energy, millions of batteries and solar panels will reach the end of their life over the coming decades. These waste streams contain valuable critical... Read More »
Dr Ashleigh Hood
Victoria | 2026 Victorian Award WinnerHow did life evolve on Earth and how has life survived for billions of years on our planet? These are some of the most fundamental questions in science, yet we... Read More »
Dr Elizabeth Hill
Western Australia | 2026 Western Australian Award WinnerDr Lizz Hill addresses an often-overlooked barrier to fair and effective mental health care: language skills. Many children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties also have trouble understanding or... Read More »
Dr Mehwish Nasim
Western Australia | 2026 Western Australian Award WinnerDr Mehwish Nasim studies a growing challenge at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and society: how AI can influence what people think, believe and share. As AI systems become... Read More »
Dr Chloe Maxwell-Smith
Western Australia | 2026 Western Australian Award WinnerCancer touches almost every Australian family, yet critical opportunities to improve outcomes are being missed at both ends of the cancer journey. Many people, particularly in regional and rural communities,... Read More »
Dr Marcus Korb
Western Australia | 2026 Western Australian Award WinnerMany of the medicines, materials and chemical products we use every day rely on rare and expensive metals such as palladium and platinum. These metals are limited resources, expensive to... Read More »
Dr Margaret Jane Moore
Queensland | 2026 Queensland Award WinnerCognitive impairment after stroke is common and debilitating, yet little is known about how strokes change the way the brain works. Dr. Margaret Jane Moore is a cognitive neuroscientist at... Read More »
Dr Debottam Sinha
Queensland | 2026 Queensland Award WinnerCancer remains one of the biggest health challenges facing our society. Despite remarkable advances in medicine, many cancers are still difficult to treat, particularly aggressive tumours that stop responding to... Read More »
Dr Samantha Teague
Queensland | 2026 Queensland Award WinnerDr Samantha Teague is a mental health researcher focused on improving the wellbeing of children, parents and families. Her work addresses a growing challenge: mental health problems often begin early... Read More »
A/Prof Seth Cheetham
Queensland | 2026 Queensland Award WinnerEvery single cancer is different, but cancer treatment often isn’t tailored. A “one-size-fits-all” approach still dominates. Treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can work, but are also tough on patients. For... Read More »
Dr Owen Missen
Tasmania | 2026 Tasmanian Award WinnerGlobally, society needs increasing volumes of metals to meet the sustainable development needs of the growing population. The challenges associated with mining metals include impacts to landscapes and local air... Read More »