Royal Society of NSW News & Events

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW has been delighted to learn that one of its Fellows, Distinguished Professor Karu Esselle FRSN from the University of Technology Sydney has been named as Engineers Australia Professional Engineer of the Year for 2022 at a ceremony held in Sydney on 6 October 2022.  Professor Esselle, an internationally r...

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW was delighted to learn that one of its Fellows, Emeritus Professor Roy MacLeod OAM FRSN FASSA FAHA, along with the Hon. Mr Robert French AC FASSA, have been appointed to the International Science Council (ISC) Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science for 2022-2025, following their no...

The Society's 1307th Ordinary General Meeting, held in the Gallery Room of the State Library of NSW, on 5 October saw an audience of nearly 50 people enjoy an excellent and thought-provoking lecture on "The Global Economy and Australia's Outlook: Geoff Harcourt's contribution to the theory of productivity growth" presented by Dr Don Russell, Chair,...

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW warmly congratulates one of its Fellows,  Professor Ben Eggleton FRSN FAA FTSE of the University of Sydney, on being awarded Academic of the Year at the Australian Defence Industry Awards, held in Canberra in September 2022. Ben Eggleton is the Director of the University of Sydney Nano Institute and...

Three Society Fellows and Distinguished Fellows have been appointed to the National Quantum Advisory Committee, announced on 22 September by the Minister for Industry and Science, the Hon. Ed Husic MP.  The 15-member committee, to be chaired by Australia's Chief Scientist and Society Distinguished Fellow, Dr Cathy Foley AO DistFRSN FAA FTSE, w...

The evening of Thursday 4 August 2022 saw the fifth in the Ideas@theHouse series—a joint presentation of Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor New South Wales, and the Royal Society of NSW—take place in the Ballroom of Government House Sydney.   On that occasion, Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons AO FRS DistFRSN...

It is with sadness that The Royal Society of New South Wales learned of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Society sends its condolences to the Royal Family at this time of mourning. 

The Royal Society of NSW is delighted that one of its Fellows, Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla FRSN FAA FTSE from UNSW Sydney has been awarded one of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes for 2022.  The Council of the Society warmly congratulates Professor Sahajwalla on her achievement, and on this recognition of the impact of her outstandin...

The Society‘s 200th anniversary was featured on the ABC Science Show, which aired on 13 August 2022. In the segment, the Society‘s President, Dr Susan Pond AM FRSN was interviewed by Robyn Williams AO, host of The Science Show, to discuss key events in the Society‘s 200-year history, including a range of matters about which she spoke in her speech ...

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW extends its warmest congratulations to one of its Fellows, Scientia Professor Sven Rogge FRSN, who has just been named as the new Dean of Science at UNSW Sydney.  He takes over as Dean from another RSNSW Fellow, Professor Emma Johnston AO FRSN FAA FTSE, who is now the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Re...

A new non-fiction writing prize for the Australasia/Oceania Region will recognise a dynamic writer who aims to ignite positive social change through published work on any theme exploring key business and society issues. The  AU$10,000 Bruce Piasecki and Andrea Masters Award for Business and Society Writing seeks to inspire future generations t...

Society Fellow, Professor Maria Kavallaris AM FRSN FAHMS, has been acknowledged for her life's research in cancer biology and therapeutics by the awarding of a Republic of Cyprus President's Medal for Outstanding Contributions by the President, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus on 28 July 2022.  Professor Kav...

The Royal Society of NSW records with great sadness the passing of one of its Fellows, Emeritus Professor Robin King FRSN FTSE, and his wife Penny in a tragic accident that occurred on Monday, 25 July 2022.  On that day, Penny and Robin set out for a walk at the northern end of Moonee Beach on the Central Coast of NSW.  They wer...

A number of Society Fellows are amongst the Finalists of the 2022 Australian Museum Eureka Awards—the country’s most comprehensive national science awards, honouring excellence across the areas of research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science. Presented annually in partnership with some of the nation’s leading scientif...

An international team, including Society Fellow Professor Eddie Holmes FRS FRSN FAA of the University of Sydney, has determined that the earliest cases of COVID-19 arose in a wholesale fish market in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Their results linked these cases to bats, foxes, and other live mammals infected with the virus being sold in the ...

The Society's 1304th Ordinary General Meeting, held in the Gallery Room of the State Library of NSW, on 6 July saw an audience of nearly 50 people enjoy an excellent and thought-provoking lecture on "This is going to be different: Learning to live with Chinese Power" presented by Professor High White AO FASSA, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studie...

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW extends its warmest congratulations to Emeritus Professor Bill Sherwin FRSN of UNSW Sydney on being awarded the 2021 Australian Museum Research Institute Lifetime Achievement Award. Professor William (Bill) Sherwin is a molecular ecologist who has dedicated almost 40 years to scientific research, applying mat...

Most face-to-face events and all online events conducted by the Royal Society of NSW are recorded and made available for subsequent viewing on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/royalsocnsw. There were two events, held in July 2022, for which recordings are now available. On 6 July 2022, Professor Hugh White AO FASSA, Emeritus Professor of Strat...

The Society’s bicentennial year culminated in a black-tie gala dinner on the evening of 24 June 2022 when 274 members and guests gathered to celebrate the achievements of the Society over 200 years. Preceding the dinner were pre-dinner drinks held in the University's Chau Chak Wing Museum, during which a number of Society-related objects from ...

Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), an Australian startup company with state-of-the-art research and atomic manufacturing facilities in Sydney, founded by Society Distinguished Fellow, Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons AO FRS DistFRSN FAA of UNSW Sydney, has just announced the world's first integrated circuit at the atomic scale. This technical brea...