The Fellowships are awarded each year by our distinguished jury. The current members of the Jury are:
Dr Cathy Foley is one of Australia’s most respected science and innovation leaders, with an outstanding career spanning physics, national science policy, research translation and advocacy for equity in STEM. She served as Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist from January 2021 to December 2024, following a distinguished career at CSIRO, where she was appointed Chief Scientist in 2018. In 2025, she was appointed to the CSIRO Board for a three-year term, and in 2026 she became President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
An internationally recognised physicist, Dr Foley made significant contributions to nitride semiconductors and superconducting electronics. Her research helped underpin the LANDTEM sensor system, a technology used to locate valuable mineral deposits deep underground. Her leadership and scientific excellence have been recognised through numerous awards and fellowships, including the Public Service Medal, election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to research science and the advancement of women in physics. Dr Foley is a strong advocate for evidence-based policy, emerging technologies, Australia’s quantum capability, and a more inclusive and diverse science sector. Dr Foley is an inspiration to women in STEM across the globe and is committed to tackling gender equality and diversity in the science sector. Throughout her career she has strived to create an environment that embraces the full human potential of both men and women for wellbeing and economic benefit and for equality.
Professor Chennupati Jagadish is an internationally renowned leader in semiconductor physics, materials science, optoelectronics and nanotechnology. He is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Electronic Materials Engineering in the Research School of Physics at The Australian National University and became President of the Australian Academy of Science in 2022. Across his career, Professor Jagadish has published more than 790 journal papers and has held major editorial leadership roles, including Editor-in-Chief of Applied Physics Reviews.
Professor Jagadish is a Fellow or Foreign Fellow of 16 science and engineering academies across Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, China and India. His many national and international honours include a UNESCO medal for contributions to nanoscience and nanotechnology, the IUMRS Somiya Award, the IEEE Nanotechnology Pioneer Award and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman from the President of India. He has also been an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow and Laureate Fellow. His career reflects exceptional scientific achievement, international leadership and a deep commitment to advancing research excellence.
Professor Merryn Tawhai is Director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and a leading bioengineering researcher whose work sits at the intersection of engineering, physiology, mathematics and medicine. She joined the Auckland Bioengineering Institute as a research fellow in 2002 after completing a PhD in Engineering Science and has since developed a world-leading research programme in applied computational physiology of the respiratory system.
Professor Tawhai is renowned for developing mathematical and multiscale models of the lung that help researchers and clinicians understand both normal physiology and the changes that occur in disease. Her work links patient-specific lung structure with function, supporting simulations of ventilation, perfusion, gas exchange and pulmonary function tests. She previously served as Director of the Medical Technologies Centre of Research Excellence and has been recognised with the 2016 MacDiarmid Medal from Royal Society Te Apārangi. She is a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering.
Professor Andrew Steer is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and global child health leader whose work focuses on improving outcomes for children affected by infectious diseases, particularly in Australia, the Pacific and other settings where neglected tropical diseases have a profound impact. He is Director of Infection, Immunity and Global Health and Group Leader of the Tropical Diseases Research Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, a paediatric infectious diseases physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and a Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Steer’s research focuses on tropical diseases, particularly scabies, Strep A and rheumatic heart disease. He directs the World Scabies Program, is Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Scabies Control, co-chairs the Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium, and serves as Ex-Officio President of the Lancefield International Society for Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Professor Steer has received several major awards, including the inaugural Jian Zhou Medal, the Bailey K Ashford Medal and the Sir Gustav Nossal Medal for Global Health. His work brings together clinical care, public health, global collaboration and translational research to address diseases that disproportionately affect children and communities experiencing disadvantage.
Professor Charlotte Conn is Professor of Biophysical Chemistry in RMIT University’s School of Science and Associate Dean, Industry and Alumni Partnerships. Her research brings together physical chemistry, soft matter science, structural characterisation and biomedical materials, with a focus on advanced lipid-based nanomaterials and their potential in health and therapeutic delivery.
Professor Conn’s research focuses on the development and structural characterisation of lipid-based nanomaterials using high-throughput experimentation, understanding how these materials interact with different cell types, and applying them in the delivery of protein, peptide and RNA-based therapeutics. She also contributes to national and industry-facing science through advisory roles, including with mRNA Victoria, ABITEC, the Australian Synchrotron BRIGHT Scientific Advisory Committee and the Program Advisory Committee for the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering. Her work reflects the growing importance of materials chemistry and nanotechnology in next-generation biomedical innovation.
Professor Kate Buchanan is Professor in Ecology and Animal Behaviour within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University. A behavioural ecologist, she has a longstanding interest in how early-life conditions shape adaptive developmental programming in birds, with particular expertise in songbirds, vocal learning, environmental stress and the ways that conditions can influence behaviour and biology across generations.
Professor Buchanan has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and has built an international reputation for research that connects animal behaviour, ecology, physiology and evolution. She completed her PhD at the University of London before undertaking postdoctoral positions at the University of Stirling and a personal research fellowship at Cardiff University. Since relocating to Deakin University in 2008, she has continued to contribute to Australian and international ecology, including as an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and as Editor-in-Chief of BirdLife Australia’s journal Emu - Austral Ornithology.
Laureate Professor Samuel Berkovic is one of the world’s most respected neurologists and clinician-scientists. Based at the University of Melbourne and Austin Health, he is internationally recognised for pioneering work that transformed the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. In 2025, he was elected by his peers as the 21st President of the Australian Academy of Science, with his term commencing in May 2026.
Professor Berkovic’s research helped establish the central role of genetics in epilepsy. Together with molecular genetic collaborators, he discovered the first gene for epilepsy in 1995, a breakthrough that reshaped both clinical practice and scientific understanding of the condition. His contributions span epilepsy genetics, neuroimaging, phenotyping, clinical practice and global research leadership. In 2014, he received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science alongside Laureate Professor Ingrid Scheffer for their groundbreaking work on the genetic links of epilepsy. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Royal Society, Professor Berkovic continues to be recognised for his scientific leadership, mentorship and impact on people living with epilepsy.
Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble is Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Auckland and one of New Zealand’s most celebrated chemists. Her research focuses on the synthesis of bioactive natural products and peptides as potential new medicines, and her work has had wide-ranging impact across organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. She has published more than 460 papers and 60 reviews and is an inventor on more than 30 patents.
Dame Margaret’s research has contributed to real-world advances in medicine, including chemistry underpinning the discovery of DAYBUE™/trofinetide, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2023 as the first treatment for Rett syndrome. Her honours include the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Medal, the Royal Society Davy Medal, the Royal Society of Chemistry Natural Products Award, the American Chemical Society Ernest Guenther Award and the 2007 L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for Asia-Pacific. In 2026, she was named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in recognition of decades of drug discovery innovation, scientific leadership and mentorship, especially of women in science.
