The University of Western Australia has a continual roll call of awards, scholarships and prizes presented to staff and students.

To recognise these achievements, an article is published on the UWA news page on the website and in UWA Forward on the first week of every month. If you know of great awards or achievements across the University please email [email protected].

Name: Matthew Vereker, School of Music
Achievement: Electronic Music and Sound Design student Maver (AKA Matthew Vereker), was the winner of the Electronic Music category in the 2021 West Australian Music (WAM) Song of the Year competition for Coppola (featuring Marksman Lloyd). Maver is quickly proving to be one of the state’s most promising local producers.

Name: Dr Joanna Melonek, a research fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology within the School of Molecular Sciences at UWA
Achievement: Dr Melonek was named as this year’s Peter Goldacre Award winner for her research on restorer-of-fertility-like genes and their application to hybrid breeding in crops. The award is one of the highest recognitions for an emerging plant scientist given each year by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists and is made on the merit of original research in one area, the findings of which have been published, or accepted for publication, in the three years preceding the year of the award.

Name: Associate Professor Parwinder Kaur, School of Agriculture and Environment
Achievement: Associate Professor Parwinder was awarded the Innovation Prize at The Biodiversity Conference 2021. Her talk Biotechnology and Bioprospecting: To better understand, conserve and utilize biodiversity highlighted the research of DNA Zoo Australia, an initiative aimed at generating and sharing knowledge about Australian species in extraordinary detail at the DNA level.

Name: Professor Markus Schlaich, Dobney Chair in Clinical Research, Medical School
Achievement: Professor Schlaich was awarded the prestigious Arthur C Corcoran Memorial Lecture Award by the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Hypertension. The Corcoran Lecture is presented annually at the AHA Hypertension Scientific Sessions by a distinguished honoree from the field of hypertension. A European Society of Hypertension (ESH) accredited hypertension specialist with a strong background in clinical research, Professor Schlaich has a specific interest in treatment modalities targeting the sympathetic nervous system.

Name: Jay Jegathesan, HDR Coordinator, Graduate Research School
Achievement: Mr Jegathesan has made the global finals in the Sprint category of the World Monologue Games, an acting competition and virtual showcase, which allows professional and budding actors from anywhere in the world to participate from their homes.  Mr Jegathesan was the 2020 bronze medallist in the Endurance category of the games. This year’s global final will be livestreamed on November 13.

Name: Australian Consortium for 'In-Country' Indonesian Studies (ACICIS)
Achievement: ACICIS, a non-profit consortium of universities that develops and coordinates high quality, in-country study options in Indonesia, won an International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) Excellence Award for Innovation in International Education. IEAA's Excellence Awards recognise the outstanding contributions by individuals and teams to international education in Australia.

Congratulations UWA staff and students.