Edgeworth David Medal

Edgeworth David Medal

The Edgeworth David Medal is awarded for the most meritorious contributions to knowledge and society in Australia or its territories, conducted mainly in New South Wales by an individual who is from 5–15 years post-PhD or equivalent on 1 January of the year of the award, together with signs of leadership. The recipient may be resident in Australia or elsewhere.

The medal is named after the pioneering geologist and longstanding supporter of the Society, Sir Edgeworth David FRS, who wrote the first comprehensive record of the geology of Australia. In September 1942, Henry Ferdinand Halloran, who had joined the Society in 1892, decided to celebrate his jubilee as a member by making a donation to the Society. In May 1943 the Council decided to use some of Henry Halloran’s gift to establish the Edgeworth David Medal, to be awarded annually to scientists under the age of 35 years.

In October 1943, the sculptor Lyndon Dadswell was commissioned to draw up a design for the Edgeworth David Medal. About three years elapsed before Dadswell finalised the design. The Council of the Society had decided at an early stage that a portrait of the late Professor Sir Edgeworth David would appear on the obverse side of the medal. Members of the Council were not satisfied that the first plaster cast of the medal was a good likeness of Sir Edgeworth and a modified design was finally accepted by the Council in March 1947.

The first award of the Edgeworth David Medal was made at the Annual General Meeting of the Society in April 1949.

Edgeworth David Medal 2024

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2024 has been awarded to Professor Yansong Chen, an ARC Future Fellow from the UNSW Sydney School of Chemical Engineering, is the Director of the PROMO laboratory which undertakes research into the process modelling and optimisation of reacting flows, with applications in the resource and energy sector. The mass deployment of photovoltaic solar panels plays a vital role in Australia’s meeting of Net Zero 2050 Targets. Importantly, at their end-of-life, these panels must be recycled to enable genuine life-cycle Net-Zero and to meet Australia’s Waste Action Plan. Unfortunately, current photovoltaic solar panel recycling consists of simply stripping the aluminium frames and sending the rest to landfill. In an Australian first, and inspired by metallurgy engineering, Professor Yansong Shen has developed a sustainable, full-loop system for end-of-life solar panels. This environmentally friendly recycling process not only diverts waste from landfills but also provides materials for new solar panel manufacturing.

Edgeworth David Medal 2023

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2023 has been awarded to Professor Qilin Wang FRSN of the University of Technology Sydney. Professor Wang, has achieved international recognition for his contributions to sustainable wastewater treatment and wastewater-based epidemiology. His patented technology can convert wastewater treatment plants into carbon-neutral energy generators by ingeniously harnessing a waste by-product on-site. In addition to this energy innovation, Professor Wang’s technology significantly reduces the environmental impact of wastewater treatment by effectively preventing pollution — including antibiotic resistance genes, pathogens, nitrogen, microplastics, and ‘forever chemicals’ – from entering the environment while minimising waste production and land usage.

Furthermore, Professor Wang has pioneered the development of an accurate prediction tool that can forecast hospital admissions due to COVID-19 up to four weeks in advance, relying on wastewater-based epidemiology. His outstanding contributions have been recognised through numerous research and industry awards, including a Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, a Eureka Prize for Applied Environment Research, an Australian Research Leader in Water Supply & Treatment, a NSW Young Tall Poppy, a Prime Minister’s Prize Finalist, a MIT Technology Review Innovator, and Australia’s Most Innovative Engineer. He secured a tenured full professorship only seven years after PhD completion, a German Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher, an ARC DECRA Fellowship only six months after his PhD completion, and an ARC Future Fellowship—Level 2 only five years after PhD completion.

Qilin Wang

Edgeworth David Medal 2022

he Edgeworth David Medal for 2022 has been awarded to Dr Tim S Doherty, an ARC DECRA Fellow in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. Dr Doherty has made extraordinary contributions in the fields of predator-prey dynamics, movement ecology and fire ecology, emerging as a pre-eminent scientist of his generation in developing these fields and in exploring how each is influenced by human modification of the environment. Dr Doherty’s transformative insights have been achieved by combining field experiments with novel theoretical frameworks and global syntheses. Key contributions include revealing that invasive predators have contributed to more than 50% of bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions globally, and conducting vital applied field research on fire and invasive species that informs conservation policy and management.

Tim Doherty

Edgeworth David Medal 2021

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2021 has been awarded to Dr Lining Arnold Ju, an ARC DECRA Fellow in the Faulty of Engineering at the University of Sydney. Dr Ju employs innovative and cutting-edge research in mechanical engineering and biomechanics to open new avenues for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of blood clotting diseases. In just 8 years since his PhD award and under 35 years of age, he has been an ARC DECRA Fellow and a Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and has won awards such as the;MIT TR35 Innovator, the Australian Museum Eureka Prize and NSW Young Tall Poppy. His academic standing is on a steep upward trajectory nationally and internationally. He is now spearheading his own Cardiovascular Biomechanics Lab for organ-on-chip blood clot assessment and the development of future cardiovascular point-of-care tests and telehealth microdevices.

Lining Arnold Ju

Edgeworth David Medal 2020

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2020 has been awarded to Associate Professor Brett Hallam of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW (Sydney). In less than six years from completion of his PhD, Scientia Fellow Brett Hallam has established himself as a national and international leader in the highly competitive field of crystalline silicon photovoltaics, particularly in the areas of light induced degradation, hydrogen passivation and defect engineering. Although he has made a major impact on photovoltaics globally, this is in addition to his profile and leadership in crystalline silicon photovoltaics in Australia. Professor Hallam’s research addresses one of the key challenges in sustainability, that is, access to clean electricity. His work on hydrogen passivation to avoid light induced degradation of solar cells means that the cost of photovoltaics can be reduced greatly, increasing the competitiveness of this form of electricity compared with that generated by fossil fuels.

Associate Professor Brett Hallam

Edgeworth David Medal 2019

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2019 has been awarded to Professor Si Ming Man, of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University. Professor Si Ming Man is an outstanding young researcher in the field of innate immunology, attaining a full professorship only six years after his PhD graduation. Six of his recent papers are recognised as “highly cited”, being in the top 1% of the field. His research has identified a class of disease-fighting “killer” proteins, produced by the cell, which can directly attack bacteria, causing these pathogens to die and release signals that can rapidly trigger activation of the immune system. Further studies have shown that immune receptors have critical roles in preventing gut inflammation and the development of colorectal (bowel) cancer, while most recently he has discovered that toxins from foodborne bacteria can be detected and blockaded by immune receptors to prevent sepsis.

Professor Si Ming Man

Edgeworth David Medal 2018

The Edgeworth David Medal for 2018 was awarded to Associate Professor Elizabeth J. New. She is an inorganic chemist working in the field of molecular imaging and medical sensors. Associate Professor New’s research has progressed the field in several ways, including synthesising new chemical tools that can sense chemical environments, promoting a translational approach to the development of new chemical sensors and establishing generalised methods that are now widely used to improve and evaluate potential cellular probes.

Fellow Elizabeth New

List of Past Recipients of the the Edgeworth David Medal

YearRecipientDiscipline
1948R.G. Giovanelli and E. RitchieAstrophysics
 E. RitchieOrganic Chemistry
1949T.B. KielyPlant Pathology
1950R.M. Berndt &Anthropology
 Catherine H. BerndtAnthropology
1951J.G. BoltonRadio Astronomy
1952A.B. WardropBotany
1954E.S. BarnesMathematics
1955H.B.S. WomersleyBotany
1956J.M. CowleyChemical Physics
1957J.M. CowleyChemical Physics
 J.P. WildRadio Astronomy
1958P.I. KornerPhysiology
1960R.D. BrownChemistry
1961R.O. SlatyerClimatology
1962R.F. IsbellSoil Science
1963W.H. FletcherPhysics
1964M.E. HolmanPhysiology
1965J.L. DillonAgricultural Economics
1966R.I. TannerMechanical Engineering
1967D.H. Green &Geology
 W.J. PeacockBotany
1968R.M. MayPhysics
1969B.W. NinhamPhysics
1970D.A. BuckinghamInorganic Chemistry
1971W.F. BuddGlaciology
1972D.H. Napper &Physical Chemistry
 J. StonePhysiology
1973C.B. OsmondPlant Biology
1974A.W. SnyderPhysics
1975F.J. BallardBiochemistry
1976R.H. StreetMathematics
1977R.A. AntoniaMechanical Engineering
1978JT.W. Cole &Astronomy
 M.G. ClarkPhysiology
1979G.C. GoodwinElectrical Engineering
1980Michael Anthony EtheridgeGeology
1981Martin Andrew GreenApplied Physics
1982Nhan Phan-ThienMechanics
1983Denis WakefieldOcular Immunology
1984Alan James HusbandPathology
1985Simon Charles Gandevia &Clinical Neurophysiology
 Brian James MorrisMolecular Biology
1986Leslie David Field &Chemistry
 Peter Gavin HallStatistics
1987Andrew CockburnZoology
1988Peter Andrew LayInorganic Chemistry
1989Trevor William HambleyChemistry
1990Timothy Fridjof FlanneryTaxonomy & Phylogeny – Macropodidea
1991Mark HarveyTaxonomy – Invertebrates
1992Peter James Goadsby &Neurophysiology
 Keith Alexander NugentOptics
1993John SkerrittAgriculture (Genetics)
1994Richard Hume MiddletonElectrical Engineering
1995Anthony Bruce MurphyPhysics
1996Peter Alexander RobinsonPhysics
1997Albert ZomayaMathematics
1999Dr Merlin CrossleyMolecular Biology
2000Dr Michael Coon Yoong LeeZoology
2001Dr Samantha RichardsonEvolution
2002Professor Marcella BilekPhysics
2003Dr Stuart Robert BattenChemistry
2004Dr Cameron KepertChemistry
2005A/Prof Christopher Barner-KowollikChemistry
2006Professor Barry BrookEnvironmental Science
2007A/Prof Stuart WyitheAstrophysics
2008Dr Adam MicolichPhysics
2009A/Prof Nagarajan ValanoorMaterials Science
2010A/Prof Angela MolesBotany
2011Dr Trent WoodruffPharmacology
2012Dr Joanne WhittakerGeophysics
2012A/Prof David WilsonMathematics and Public Health
2013A/Prof David WilsonEpidemiology
2014A/Prof Richard PayneChemistry
2015A/Prof Simon HoBiology and Evolution
2016Dr. Muireann IrishNeuroscience
2017Dr Angela NickersonPsychology
2018 Associate Professor Elizabeth J. NewChemistry
2019 Professor Si Ming ManImmunology
2020Associate Professor Brett HallamPhotovoltaic Engineering
2021Dr Lining Arnold JuMechanical Engineering / Biomechanics
2022Dr Tim S DohertyEcology / Predator-Prey Dynamics
2023Professor Qilin WangSustainable Waste Water
2024Professor Yansong ShenSustainability Engineering
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