2015 Sydney Lecture Series

Meetings are held at various venues in Sydney (be sure to check the web-site a few days before the event for final venue details). Unless indicated, booking is not necessary. All welcome. Meetings usually commence at 6:00 pm for 6:30pm.

Entry is $5 for members of the Society and $20 for non-members to cover venue hire and a welcome drink. We often have dinner after the meeting (the cost is $75 per head). Pre-booking is needed to be sure of a place.

Wed 4 Feb 2015

1229th Ordinary General Meeting -Scholarship presentations

Speakers: Our 2014 Scholarship winners

Melanie Laird (University of Sydney, School of Biological Sciences)

Melanie is a University Medallist in her second year of a PhD under the supervision of Professor Michael Thompson, studying reproduction in marsupials.

Ruth Wells (University of Sydney, School of Psychology)

Ruth is enrolled in a doctorate of clinical psychology and Master of Science programme. With an exceptional display of initiative, Ruth built relationships with psychologists, psychiatrists, academics and health workers in Jordan over the internet; crowd funded her travel costs, and then completed the research project in Jordan where she explored barriers to mental health care for Syrian refugees living in Jordan.

Stephen Parker (UNSW, School of Chemistry)

Stephen Parker is in his final year of a PhD in the Nanomaterials group in the School of Chemistry atUNSW where he is making surfaces that can capture cells from a blood sample and then release a single targeted cell that has a particular characteristic.

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time:6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm.

Mon 16 Feb 2015

The Four Societies Lecture

"Latest developments in Small Modular Reactors"

In conjunction with the Nuclear Engineering Panel of the Sydney Branch of Engineers Australia, the Australian Nuclear Association and the Australian Institute of Energy

Speaker: Dr Adi Paterson- Chief Executive Officer, ANSTO

Venue: Clayton Utz, Level 15, 1 Bligh Street, Sydney Time:5:30 for 6pm Free admission but registration is required.

Wed 4 Mar 2015

1230th Ordinary General Meeting

"Super-resolution microscopy: Understanding how T cells make decisions"

Speaker: Scientia Professor Katharina Gaus ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging NHMRC Program in Membrane Interface Biology University of New South Wales

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: 6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm. (Book for dinner after the meeting: $75 per head.)

Wed 18 Mar 2015

Joint Meeting with the Australian Institute of Physics

"Quantum Emitters in wide band gap semiconductors"

Speaker: Associate Professor Igor Aharonovich- University of Technology, Sydney

Venue: Trinity Grammar School Professional Development Centre, 5 Thomas Street Lewisham

Time: 6:00 for 6:30pm. Refreshments served from 6:00 pm

Dinner following the presentation will be held at Maranello's Restaurant, 24 Lackey Street Summer Hill. Email to book for dinner:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wed 1 Apr 2015

Annual General Meeting followed by 1231st Ordinary General Meeting

"Is the brain the right size?"

Speaker: Scientia Professor George Paxinos AO DSc FRSN 

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: AGM at 5:45 pm followed by the OGM at 6:15 pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 5:15 pm. (Book for dinnerafter the meeting: $75 per head.)

Tue 5 May 2015

Annual Dinner, Royal Society of NSW 2015 Distinguished Fellows Lecture and presentation of Awards

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress: black tie.

Time: 6:30pm. for 7:00pm. (Book for the annual dinner: $95 per head.)

Wed 3 Jun 2015

1232nd Ordinary General Meeting

"Fred Astaire and the science of performance"

Speaker: Dr Kathleen Riley

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: 6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm.

Wed 1 Jul 2015

1233rd Ordinary General Meeting

"Science in literature"

Speaker: Dr James Ley

Editor, Sydney Review of Books

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: 6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm.

Wed 5 Aug 2015

1234th Ordinary General Meeting

"Complexity and cultural transitions 100,000 BP to the present"

Speaker: Professor Roland Fletcher

Professor of Theoretical and World Archaeology, University of Sydney

Venue:Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time:6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm. (Book for dinner after the meeting: $75 per head.)

Thu 6 August 2015

The 2015 Clarke Lecture

"From the Solar Nebula to the Deep Earth – a Geological Journey"

Speaker: Distinguished Professor Bill Griffin

Geology is a wonderful research field; it can take you on strange journeys. In the mountains of southern Tibet, large massifs (≥1000 k3) of ultramafic rocks, fragments of Earth’s mantle, contain mineral assemblages that require both exhumation from very great depths (>500 km down) and extremely low oxygen fugacity (reducing conditions) not ordinarily expected within the mantle. To learn the story of these remarkable rocks, we have had to investigate both the mechanisms that have brought them up to the surface, and the origins of super-reducing conditions in the mantle. This has involved field studies, geodynamic modeling, a range of techniques for micron-scale chemical, microstructural and isotopic analysis, and a bit of good luck. One of the keys to the Tibetan riddles lies near the Sea of Galilee in Israel, and involves a remarkable, still poorly-understood type of volcanic activity. The colloquium will try to lead you through this story, which is still evolving by the day; it illustrates the diversity of approaches required in modern geological research, and some of the excitement of that research work.

Bill Griffin was born and educated in the USA, and took his PhD from the University of Minnesota for studies of the Precambrian rocks of the Superior Craton. He then emigrated to Norway, and spent the next twenty years at the University of Oslo, mainly in the Geological Museum, the center of geochemical research in Scandinavia. He moved to Australia in 1985, to be with his new Aussie wife and to help develop geological applications for the CSIRO’s new proton microprobe. When the GEMOC Key Centre was established in 1985, he moved to Macquarie, seconded from CSIRO. After leaving the CSIRO in 2006, he accepted a contract from Macquarie University, and has been here since, currently as Distinguished Professor of Geochemistry. he was the Royal Society of NSW Clarke Medallist in 2013.

 When: Thursday 6 August

Where: Building Y3A, Theatre 1

Time: 5:45pm for registration and refreshments, 6:15pm start time.

Cost: Free Registration essential: Email the Events Team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Parking: Y1 and Y2 car-parks are available for this event. Parking permits will be issued upon registration.

Wed 2 Sep 2015

1235th Ordinary General Meeting

"Trait-based Ecology"

Speaker: Professor Mark Westoby, NSW Scientist of the Year for 2014

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: 6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm. (Book for dinner after the meeting: $75 per head.)

Tue 15 Sep 2015

Royal Society of NSW Forum

"The Future of Work"

A day-long Forum with contributions from eminent researchers in the social, technological and applied sciences and the humanities.

This is a joint event held in cooperation with the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Venue: Government House, Sydney (by invitation only)

Time: Reception: Monday 14 September, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

          Forum: Tuesday 15 September, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

Wed 7 Oct 2015

1236th Ordinary General Meeting

"The revolution in radio astronomy"

Speaker: Professor Elaine Sadler

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time: 6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm. (Book for dinner after the meeting: $75 per head.)

Wed 4 Nov 2015

1237th Ordinary General Meeting

"Big history"

Speaker:  Professor David Christian, Macquarie University 

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time:6:30pm. Enjoy a welcome drink from 6:00pm. (Book for dinner after the meeting: $75 per head.)

Wed 2 Dec 2015

1238th Ordinary General Meeting

Royal Society of NSW 2014 Jak Kelly Award and presentation (1239thOGM) followed by the Society's Christmas Party

Venue: Union Universities & Schools Club, 25 Bent St (cnr Bent and Phillip Streets), Sydney

Please note dress code: jacket and tie.

Time:6:30pm. (Book for function after the meeting: $35 per head.)

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