Royal Society of NSW News & Events

The Royal Society of NSW and Learned Academies Forum for 2019, with the theme of Making SPACE for Australia, was hosted at Government House Sydney by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC on 7 November 2019.  Videos of the presentations are available from the playlist on our YouTube channel.  Links to slides from the p...

   Diamonds and High Pressure Physics    Professor Jodie Bradby    The Australian National University Joint Open Lecture of the Australian Institute of Physics, Royal Society of NSW, and Royal Australian Chemical Institute Date: Tuesday 12 November 2019, 6.30pm Venue: University of Technology Sydney, Building 1 (Broadw...

The Royal Society of NSW is delighted that two of its Fellows were named as recipients of the 2019 NSW Premier's Prizes for Science and Engineering, announced at a ceremony held at Government House, Sydney on the evening of Tuesday, 29 October. Scientia Professor Rose Amal AC FAA FTSE FRSN of UNSW Sydney was named as the 2019 NSW Scientist of the Y...

     “An Accidental Astronomer”     Emeritus Professor Anne Green Date: Thursday, 21 November 2019, 6.00pm for 6.30pm Venue: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney An Accidental Astronomer As one of the first women radio astronomers, Anne Green faced unexpected challenges in undertaking panoramic and...

The Council of the Royal Society of NSW is delighted to announce the awarding of a Distinguished Fellowship to Professor George Paxinos AO FASSA FAA DistFRSN. The honour Distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales is a prestigious award, limited to 25 in number at any time, that recognises internationally-distinguished contributors...

The Royal Society of NSW is delighted that one of its Fellows and the recipient of its 2018 Edgeworth David Medal, Associate Professor Elizabeth New from the University of Sydney, has been awarded the 2019 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. The Society congratulates Elizabeth New on this momentous achievement, and the recogn...

The Council of the Society is delighted to announce the establishment of a new branch located in the Hunter region of NSW, confirmed recently at its meeting on 16 October 2019.   This follows an inaugural meeting, held in Newcastle on 9 October, at which a branch committee was elected and an invited lecture by the NSW Chief Scientist and Engin...

   The Beginning of Weather Forecasting:    Matthew Maury, Robert FitzRoy FRS, and    L. F. Richardson FRS       Professor Herbert Huppert FRS FRSN    University of Cambridge Joint RSNSW OGM and Open Lecture & Australian Academy of Science’s Selby Public Lecture 2019 Date: Wednesday 6 ...

     “Women at the Frontiers of Biotech”     Dr Susan Pond Date: Thursday, 17 October 2019, 6.00pm for 6.30pm Venue: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney Women at the Frontiers of Biotech Susan Pond outlined how biotechnology is being put to use for the good of humanity and the planet, and examined...

     “Industries of the Future”      Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte FRSN      NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Date: Wednesday, 9 October 2019, 6.00pm Venue: Newcastle Club, 40 Newcomen Street, Newcastle NSW Inaugural Meeting An inaugural meeting to establish the Hunter Branch of the Royal Society of New S...

An inaugural meeting to establish the Hunter Branch of the Royal Society of NSW is planned. Date: Wednesday, 9 October 2019 at 6.00 pmVenue: Newcastle Club, 40 Newcomen Street, Newcastle NSWEnquiries: Emerita Professor Eugenie Lumbers, Acting Honorary Secretary, 0416 154 106 Following the meeting, Professor Hugh Durrant-White, NSW Chief Scientist a...

  Bodies and Minds in Animal Evolution   Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith   The University of Sydney Date: Wednesday 2nd October 2019 Venue: Gallery Room, State Library of NSW (Entrance: Shakespeare Place, Sydney) Charting the evolution of different kinds of animal bodies helps us understand the evolut...

     “Electricity, astronomy, and natural history:     from colonial Sydney to Royal Sweden, and     a ladies' academy of science in between”     Anne Harbers Date: Monday 23 September 2019, 6pm for 6.30pm Venue: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney What did Fanny Macl...

The June 2019 issue (Vol. 152-1) of the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales has just been published. Much of the content of this issue is devoted to papers arising from the November 2018 Royal Society of NSW and Four Academies Forum, the focus of which was “Towards a prosperous yet sustainable Australia—what now for the ...

The President of the Royal Society of NSW, Emeritus Professor Ian Sloan AO, FRSN, has announced that the Society is seeking to appoint its first Executive Officer. The Exective Officer will report to the President and will have the opportunity to drive a program of transformation in a well-established, prestigious learned society, based in Sydney.&...

   “Physicians as public intellectuals: Indonesian  physicians in the Dutch East Indies”   Professor Hans Pols FRSN  Head, School of History  and Philosophy of Science  University of Sydney Date: Wednesday 4 September 2019, 6pm for 6.30Venue: Gallery Room, State Library of NSW Through...

  “Cereal killers: how plant diseases affect food  security”  Professor Robert Park  School of Life and Environmental Sciences  University of Sydney Date: Wednesday, 14 August 2019, 5.30 for 6–7 pmVenue: Level 5 Function Room, Building F23, University of Sydney (new building on left entering from Ci...

  “Democracy under challenge:  how can we restore a sense of citizenship?”  Professor Peter Shergold AC FRSN  Chancellor, Western Sydney University Wednesday 7 August 2019Gallery Room, State Library of NSW As in many liberal democracies, there is an increasing sense of concern in Australia that representative...

The Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, has now formally agreed to be the Patron of the Society. 

  “Computer modelling of epidemics”  Professor Mikhail Prokopenko Thursday 15 August 2019, 6pm for 6.30Venue: Tom Keneally Centre, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt St, SydneyCost: $15 for RSNSW Fellows and Members and SMSA members, $20 for othersBooking: here or call 9262 7300 Complex systems – including...