Royal Society of NSW News & Events

Immediate past-President Brynn Hibbert is the winner of the first round of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute's competition for stories about the periodic table, run as part of the International Year of the Periodic Table.  You can read his story about Sir Humphry Davy and the discovery of iodine here.

The following letter by our President, Emeritus Professor Ian Sloan AO, was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 4 March 2019 under the above headline (which was the main letters headline for the day). “The Royal Society of NSW, Australia’s oldest scientific and cultural organisation, applauds the recommendation of the Upper House’s Par...

Australia Day honours have been awarded to the following: Jillian Broadbent AO FRSN, elevated to AC Leonard Fisher FRSN, appointed OAM (Barney) Bevil Milton Glover FRSN, appointed AO Adrian Hibberd FRSN, appointed AM Robert Bain Thomas AM FRSN, elevated to AO If you know of any Members or Fellows we have missed, please email the Royal Society at ro...

Royal Society of NSW Scholarship Award Winners for 2018 Fiona McDougall, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Evelyn Todd, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney There was also a 3-minute thesis (3MT) talk: “Finding the best-fitting jeans for railway foundations” by Mr Chuhao Liu, 2018 3MT winner, Univers...

Professor Mark Compton FRSN has been announced as the next Lord Prior of the Order of St John, also known as St John International.  The Order is devoted to the relief of sickness and injury, receiving a royal charter from Queen Victoria in 1888.  It is perhaps best known in Australia for St John Ambulance.

Wednesday 6 February 1270th OGM and open lecture: 2018 Scholarship presentations Evelyn Todd, University of Sydney “Using genetics to improve athletic performance in throughbred horses” Fiona McDougall, Macquarie University “Human-associated bacteria and antibiotic resistance in grey-headed flying foxes” Venue: State Library of NSW, Shakespeare Pla...

Emeritus Professor John Carter AM FRSN and Professor Mark Hoffman FRSN have been appointed by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to investigate the structural integrity of the Opal Tower apartment building at Homebush.  We wish them speedy success. (Following initial investigations, Professor Stephen Foster was also engaged to assi...

The Society's awards for 2018 (Clarke Medal, Edgeworth David Medal, History & Philosophy of Science Medal, James Cook Medal, Poggendorff Lecture and RSNSW Scholarship) were announced by the President at the OGM on 5 December. Full details are available here.

Government House and group outside Anne Williamson and Phil Waite Ian Wilkinson and others in lecture President with Brian and Brynn Louise Young Virginia Judge Mary-Anne Williams lecturing

“Towards a prosperous and sustainable Australia: what now for the lucky country?” Hosted by His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (ret’d.), Governor of NSW and Patron of the Royal Society of NSW Thursday 29 November 2018Government House, Sydney A day dissecting the big questions facing Australia today and into the future. Austra...

Distinguished Fellow of RSNSW, Professor Kurt Lambeck AO FRS FAA has been awarded the 2018 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. The award, made at the Prime Minister’s Prize event at Canberra’s Parliament House on 17 October, recognises Lambeck’s 50-year contribution to Australian and global science through his geodesy research.According to the priz...

Council member Dr Chris Bertram FRSN was presented with the David Dewhurst Award at the recent Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference. The David Dewhurst Award is given annually by Engineers Australia (Australia's peak body for engineers, representing over 100,000 members) to a biomedical engineer who has made exceptional, sustained and signi...

Professor Nalini Joshi AO FRSN has been elected Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union, from the start of 2019. She becomes the first Australian to hold this position.  Besides being a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW, Professor Joshi is a member of its governing Council.

Padua – Florence – Paris – London A tour for the Royal Society of NSW in conjunction with the State Library of NSW Foundation Owing to a cancellation, two places are available. 19 September – 4 October 2019 Overview Explore the history of science, from Vesalius in Padua to Galileo in Florence and the flourishing of modern science in Paris and Londo...

Two of our members have recently been elected as Fellows of the prestigious Royal Society of London. They are Michelle Simmons DistFRSN (who is already Australian of the Year) and Graeme Jameson FRSN from the University of Newcastle. And recently elected FRSN Veena Sahajwalla has just been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. W...

At the 151st AGM held on 4 April 2018, Emeritus Scientia Professor Ian Sloan AO FRSN was installed as President of the Society.  As Professor Sloan was overseas and unable to attend the meeting, he addressed the audience in a video.  The text of his address is given here. If you are seeing this video, then I must have been elected as Pres...

The Society's annual RSNSW and Four Academies Forum took place on 29 November last, hosted by His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales at Government House.  The abstracts of the presentations can be accessed here.

In accordance with the Society's rules, the list of candidates is displayed here. The election took place at the annual general meeting on Wednesday 4 April 2018 at the Union University & Schools Club, 25 Bent Street, Sydney.  Polling opened at 5.30pm and closed at 6.15pm. The results of the election were as follows. Aslaksen Erik Councill...

Monday 5 February SMSA/RSNSW Enlightenment series lecture 3 “Learning, adaptation and the Enlightenment: the museum” Kim McKay AO, Director of the Australian Museum Venue: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts Time: 6 for 6.30pm Wednesday 7 February 1260th OGM and open lecture: 2017 Scholarship presentations Grace Causer, University of Wollongong & ...

“Semiconductor nanostructures and quantum phenomena”   Professor Sir Michael Pepper FRS  Pender Chair in Nanoelectronics  University College London Dirac Lecture and Medal Presentation Professor Pepper was also presented with an Honorary Degree from UNSW after his lecture. Thursday 21 November 2013 Law Theatre, UNSW In...