It’s been another eventful year for the Australian Academy of Science, as we continued to support and celebrate excellence in Australian science. There are plenty of highlights-here’s a month-by-month snapshot of 2022.
January
The Academy launched -a strategy to enable Australia to be a respected partner in the global community of spacefaring nations.
Academy President Professor John Shine joined other presidents of Australia’s learned academies to raise concerns over the Australian Government exercising its veto powers to
We were proud to see recognised for their achievements with appointments to the Order of Australia. Among the recipients was Dr Alan Finkel, who was also added to the COVID-19 Honour Roll.
We also congratulated Academy Fellow , who was named NSW Australian of the Year 2022.
February
We hosted the first event of our ‘. The series has since explored remarkable achievements in science that were only possible due to scientific disciplines borrowing from each other’s ideas.
We were proud to announce the of the Academy’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scientist Award.
Our Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia penned an that was first published by the Diversity Council of Australia, and the Academy made a recommending permanent mechanisms for independent science advice to government.
We also hosted a symposium aimed at empowering early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs), and released the in digital format.
March
We , following compelling scientific evidence that provides an alternative explanation for the deaths of Kathleen Folbigg’s children.
We hosted to inform policy makers about climate adaptation and overcoming vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
We were proud to announce the 20 researchers who received Academy . We congratulated who’s only the second Australian to receive a China International Science and Technology Co-operation Award, and we for our education program Science by Doing to help teachers promote equitable learning.
The Academy also condemning the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and stood in solidarity with the Ukrainian scientific community. The Academy reiterated this position via the .
April
We launched , a discussion paper on data governance in professional sport, and hosted the given by president-elect Professor Chennupati Jagadish. We also on what could be done to support the world’s most precious heritage assets in the face of climate change.
We , to commence delivery of the Australian government’s $18.2 million ‘Global Science and Technology Diplomacy Fund-Strategic Element’, a key part of the new $60.2 million GSTDF fund. We also released the ahead of the federal election.
We published a video about .
May
We were excited to announce our , including , the first Fellow elected to the Academy who identifies as an Aboriginal person. We also celebrated four of our Fellows being elected as , the oldest scientific academy in the world. May was also the month that Professor Chennupati Jagadish took over as Academy president from Professor John Shine.
We published our , and .
June
Two-and-a-half years since severe damage caused by a Canberra hailstorm, our 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.
We congratulated four Fellows , and launched a new report, , calling for action to support the future of scientific research. We also partnered with Springer Nature on a survey, the results of which indicated broad support for mandatory research integrity training in Australia.
July
For NAIDOC Week, we celebrated Indigenous Knowledges by hosting an , and , who received the inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scientist Travelling Research Award from the Academy in 2019.
Academy President Professor Jagadish , asserting the importance of establishing a new national information system led by an independent agency to manage our nation’s biodiversity data. He also urged the government to explore how to over the next decade.
We were excited to help attend the 71st annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany.
The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA) partnered with the Academy to produce a series of well-received videos highlighting the .
August
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade partnered with the Academy to highlighting the close scientific research relationship between Australia and India. We also celebrated the long and fruitful history of , as well as recent .
We to discuss how the pandemic is affecting the Women in STEM workforce in Australia and Pacific Alliance countries, and about research collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region.
Also in August, the digitisation of the Academy’s historic scientific collections received a , and we began broad promotion of how to by dedicating a copper tile to a scientist.
September
We were deeply saddened by the . It is believed that we are the only body in the Commonwealth to receive its charter directly from the hands of Her Majesty.
In a historic moment, the Academy was accepted as an independent scientific adviser to into the convictions of Kathleen Folbigg-a landmark case in the NSW justice system. We also to consider the capability of science to draw out new negative emissions approaches, in addition to current approaches.
Future Earth Australia, based at the Academy, launched its , bringing Indigenous and other relevant knowledges, adaptation science, the social sciences and the humanities together to reshape the national adaptation and resilience agenda.
We were proud to announce that Academy President Professor Jagadish was elected an International Fellow of the . We also welcomed the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP to the Shine Dome.
We also hosted the exciting to identify the national winners to take part in the international three-day conference held in Berlin, and supported their participation at the international event.
October
We welcomed the announcement that the Academy will lead a new regional presence for the International Science Council to . This has been made possible by a $10.3 million investment from the Australian Government over the next six years.
We also welcomed the faced by female and non-binary senior researchers via the Investigator Grant scheme of the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
We held an Academy of Science and Academy of Law joint symposium on , and created a series of videos on in both English and simplified Chinese.
We awarded an Academy medal to science and research advocate, , and were also pleased to see our heritage building 989 days since it sustained significant damage during a 2020 hailstorm.
Academy President Professor Chennupati Jagadish and Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia met with the Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP at Parliament House to discuss ways to bring science to the service of the nation.
November
We were excited that women working in STEM fields around the world will be able to raise their profile and discover opportunities to progress their careers following the global launch of the Academy’s innovation, .
We were also overjoyed to welcome hundreds of participants to Canberra in a celebration of the best of Australian science at our flagship event, .
.
We announced that a by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation will support Ukrainian scientists who have fled the war with Russia or who have been unable to work due to the destruction of their workplace.
We proudly announced the establishment of the , to recognise individuals who have led efforts to foster and promote integrity in science.
We also celebrated that the was awarded to Academy Fellow Professor Trevor McDougall.
December
The Academy produced a video update on the SKA project, an initiative that will revolutionise astronomy.
We published a of Australia’s 10-year plan for mathematical sciences, which found there are significant challenges facing teaching and research in the mathematical sciences.
We announced the 17 recipients of six funded awards for 2023: ; ; ; ; ; .
We also hosted a Frew Fellowship Lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Donna Strickland, who spoke about her .
And of course it wouldn’t be summer at the Academy without the annual that reveals the fascinating and diverse interests of Australia’s leading scientists.
With so much achieved, and much more to look forward to, we can’t wait to usher in 2023!
