A/Prof Matthew Tam
2026 Victorian Award WinnerMany modern technologies rely on finding the best possible option from a potentially huge number of permissible choices. Everyday examples of this include navigation apps that find the fastest route... Read More »
Dr James Pang
2026 Victorian Award WinnerDr Pang’s research seeks to uncover the fundamental principles that govern brain structure and function in health, disease, and across species. Specifically addressing the following three complex neuroscience questions: (1)... Read More »
Dr Harriet Goodrich
2026 Tasmanian Award WinnerFish have always lived in changing environments, but the pace and combination of changes they now face are increasing. Warmer water, declining oxygen, shifting food availability and fishing mortality can... Read More »
Dr Tori Graham
2026 Tasmanian Award WinnerEnvironmental management confronts the complex challenge of how to effectively protect and restore ecosystems while recognising the diverse ways people value and connect with nature. Dr Tori Graham works on... Read More »
Dr Luke Isbel
2026 South Australian Award WinnerEvery cell in the human body contains essentially the same DNA, yet different cells can behave in remarkably different ways. Brain cells, for example, are very different from the cells... Read More »
Dr Jake Robinson
2026 South Australian Award WinnerMuch of the life that keeps people and the planet healthy is hidden from view. Microbial communities in soils, the air and the human body play important roles in ecosystem... Read More »
A/Prof Michael Noetel
2026 Queensland Award WinnerArtificial intelligence is changing society faster than we can write the rules. The people building AI admit there is a real chance it goes catastrophically wrong. Those odds seem higher... Read More »
Dr Timothy Piatkowski
2026 Queensland Award WinnerDr Timothy Piatkowski studies the growing use of substances taken to improve appearance, performance and health, such as steroids and peptides. These substances are spreading rapidly through social media and... Read More »
Dr Gemma Galbraith
2026 Queensland Award WinnerCoral reefs are one of the planet’s most fascinating and vital ecosystems, yet we know surprisingly little about parts of these habitats lying just below the depths of standard SCUBA... Read More »
Dr Giselle Newton
2026 Queensland Award WinnerDr Giselle Newton is a digital health sociologist who investigates how digital platforms shape experiences of fertility and family. People are increasingly using digital platforms (social media, search engines and... Read More »
Dr Samantha Teague
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 »
Dr Aaron Eger
2026 New South Wales Award WinnerKelp forests sit at a mystifying intersection. These incredible underwater forests are essential for supporting ocean life across the Southern half of Australia, yet they are largely ignored, and as... Read More »
Dr Laura Ryan
2026 New South Wales Award WinnerDr Laura Ryan studied how sharks see and sense their world in order to understand why some sharks sometimes bite humans and unlock new ways to protect people. She discovered... Read More »
Dr Kenya Fernandes
2026 New South Wales Award WinnerOver 40% of invertebrate pollinator species are threatened with extinction globally. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance is making human infections increasingly difficult to treat. These may seem like separate... Read More »
Dr Yongze Song
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerDr Yongze Song, Senior Lecturer at Curtin University, uses geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) to build smarter, greener, and more sustainable cities. Urban environments face growing challenges, roads deteriorate faster under... Read More »
Dr Denis Fougerouse
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerDr Denis Fougerouse, Senior Lecturer at Curtin University, is helping secure Australia’s role in the global transition to clean energy by improving how we find and extract critical minerals—the essential... Read More »
Dr Myles Murphy
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerDr Myles Murphy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University, is helping millions of Australians recover from musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain. More than seven million people in Australia live... Read More »
Dr Masoumeh Zargar
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerDr Masoumeh Zargar, Senior Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, is developing smart materials to solve some of today’s toughest water and environmental challenges. Microplastics and PFAS are increasingly found in... Read More »
Dr James Lloyd
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerDr James Lloyd, Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia, is reimagining how we design crops for the future, on Earth and beyond. Current genetically modified crops rely on... Read More »
Dr Kefyalew Alene
2025 Western Australia Award WinnerAssociate Professor Kefyalew Alene, based at Curtin University, is an infectious disease epidemiologist whose pioneering work is transforming global tuberculosis (TB) control. TB remains the world’s leading infectious killer, causing... Read More »