Awards
Overview
The Royal Society of New South Wales has long recognised distinguished achievements in various fields of knowledge through its Awards. Some are amongst the oldest in Australia while others are more recent. From its Act of Incorporation in 1881, the Society’s mission has been to encourage “studies and investigations in Science, Art, Literature and Philosophy”.
In 2023, the Society determined to broaden and streamline its Awards portfolio to recognise recent and evolving fields and disciplines, and emerging as well as established stars.
From 2023, the Society Awards are made in two main classes reflecting the Society’s history: Career Excellence Medals and Discipline Awards and Medals; with additional Awards, Scholarships, and Citations, including Internal Awards for distinguished service to the Society and community.
External nominations are most welcome for all but the Internal and Discretionary Awards which require both the nominator and seconder to be Members or fellows of the Society. Conditions and nomination forms are listed at each Award’s individual webpage, together with some guidance notes.
Nominations for all available Awards open on 1 July each year and close on 30 September
Awardees are announced by the end of that calendar year with formal presentations of their Awards in the following year. All nominations require a nominator and a seconder. All RSNSW awards are assessed relative to opportunity.
Information about historical Awards and their winners prior to 2023 is available from the preceding link.
Current RSNSW Awards
The new program comprises four categories of awards, with individual awards within each category itemised as follows. Follow the links to information pages and relevant nomination forms for each individual award.
Recent Winners
Each year, the Society makes a number of awards that are among the oldest and most prestigious awards in Australia.
Award Winners 2023
The Awards for 2023 were announced at the 1318th Ordinary General Meeting of the Society, held on Wednesday, 29 November 2023.
Listed below are the winners for 2023. Detailed information about each of the awards and their recipients can be found on the Recent Winners page.
RSNSW Career Excellence Awards
RSNSW James Cook Medal—Scientia Professor Helen Christensen AO FASSA FAHMS
RSNSW Edgeworth David Medal—Professor Qilin Wang FRSN
RSNSW Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Scholars Medal—Aunty Frances Bodkin
RSNSW Ida Browne Early Career Medal—Dr Brendan Nuen
RSNSW Discipline Awards and Lectureships
RSNSW Clarke Medal and Lecture in Earth Sciences—Professor Moninya Roughan FRSN
RSNSW Walter Burfitt Award in Medical and Veterinary Sciences and Technology—Professor Maria Kavallaris AM FRSN FAHMS
RSNSW Award in the Social and Behavioural Sciences—Scientia Professor Kaarin Anstey FRSN FASSA FAHMS
RSNSW Award in the History and Philosophy of Science—Professor Hans Pols FRSN FAHA FASSA
RSNSW Scholarships, Early Career, and Student Awards
RSNSW Bicentennial Postgraduate Scholarships
— Ms Sasha Bailey (University of Sydney)
— Mr Jayden McKinnon (University of Wollongong)
RSNSW Bicentennial Early Career Research and Service Citations
— Dr Jacinta Martin (University of Newcastle)
— Dr Abhimanu Pandey (Australian National University)
— Dr Shoujin Wang (University of Technology Sydney)
RSNSW Jak Kelly Award
— Mr Jaime Alvarado-Montes (Macquarie University)
RSNSW Service Awards
RSNSW Medal—Ms Judith Wheeldon AM FRSN
RSNSW Citation—Mr Jason Antony MRSN
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