University of Western Australia
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: Paul Low
Achievement: Professor Paul Low, Head of UWA's School of Molecular Sciences, has been announced as the recipient of the Inorganic Chemistry Divisional 2024 Burrow Award. Professor Low’s research interests are in organometallic chemistry and bridge-mediated electron transfer. His position at Durham University was pivotal to his work in molecular electronics and mixed-valence chemistry. In 2013, Professor Low was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship, in 2016 he was awarded a Fredrich Wilhelm Bessel research award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the RACI H.G. Smith Memorial Medal in 2020. The Burrow Award is given to academics who have made important contributions to coordination chemistry and is based on the candidate’s scientific work published in the past 10 years and their standing in the international community.
Name: Raymond Edney
Achievement: Yinggarrda educator, teacher and artist Mr Raymond Edney has been awarded runner up in the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences (ACDHS) National Allied Health Awards in the category of First Nations Leadership/Engagement. The award celebrates First Nations individuals who exhibit outstanding leadership qualities and active engagement in initiatives that promote community development, cultural preservation, or advocacy. Mr Edney is engaged by the Western Australian Centre for Rural Health of UWA to provide On Country Cultural Awareness Training to our rural placement allied health, nursing and pharmacy students in Carnarvon, Western Australia.
Image: Mr Raymond Edney with WACRH rural placement students in Carnarvon.
Name: Mark Nicol
Achievement: Professor Mark Nicol, from UWA’s School of Biomedical Sciences, and his team have been awarded a Nature Accelerator Award from the Nature Publishing Group. This award will help them commercialise their live biotherapeutics discoveries to protect children against respiratory infections. The prize provides a research group leader the tools, training/mentorship, and connections to translate groundbreaking research for maximum impact. This includes funding, expert insights, science communication guidance, mentorship from industry leaders, specialised training, and a translational science intensive residential program in London, UK.
Name: Eric Luan, Claire Basso, Robert Cameron and JD Otto
Achievement: Eric Luan, Claire Basso, Robert Cameron and JD Otto won the inaugural Australian Space Architecture Challenge for their concept Happy Homesick. The challenge aligns with the goals of Australian Civil Space Strategy and the Moon to Mars initiative to advance Australia’s position in the global space economy. The competition aims to gather the emerging talent across this wide range of fields. Students were challenged to play at the boundaries of reality and imagination and contribute a vision of the future of human habitation on the Moon in 2069. The winning concept investigated what a truly lunar or Martian architecture might look like, and whether a human born in space could feel at home there.
Name: Rebecca Glauert
Achievement: The Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas has been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2024 Research Australia Health and Medical Research Digital and Data Health Innovation Award. Associate Professor Rebecca Glauert, from UWA’s School of Population and Global Health, is the project lead for the Atlas, which is a free mapping resource with location-specific data of children and young people’s health and wellbeing indicators. The awards honour the remarkable achievements of individuals and teams who drive innovation and advancements that enhance our lives. The Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas was developed by The University of Western Australia and QUT and is supported by the Ian Potter and Minderoo Foundations and partners from across Australia.
Name: Amy Page
Achievement: Dr Amy Page, from UWA's School of Allied Health, is a finalist for the 2024 Research Australia Health and Medical Research Medicines for the Health Services Award. Dr Page’s research aims to reduce medicines-related harm while balancing symptom control to align with individualised treatment goals for older people to improve wellbeing. Dr Page has been involved in investigating strategies in hospitals, general practice, community and aged care facilities to optimise medicine use. In August, Dr Page was named the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Pharmacist of the Year for 2024.
Name: Melanie O’Brien
Achievement: Associate Professor of International Law Melanie O’Brien has been awarded the Aurora Mardiganian Commemorative Medal by the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, for exceptional contributions to the research and recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as well as steadfast support for the Artsakh cause. Aurora Mardiganian survived the Armenian Genocide as a teenager, through which she suffered death marches, the murder of her family, and sexual slavery, to bravely tell her story in her memoir, Ravished Armenia, which was turned into a film that raised funds for orphans of the genocide. The medal was created to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian genocide in 2015 and recognises significant contributions to raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide.
Image: Associate Professor Melanie O'Brien.
Name: Ivan Lin
Achievement: Associate Professor and Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist Dr Ivan Lin of the WA Centre of Rural Health is a finalist nomination in the category of Allied Health Researcher of the Year in the Department of Health (WA Health) WA Excellence in Allied Health awards. The awards recognise the work of allied health workers across WA who have made an outstanding contribution to their field.<
Name: Josie Quin-Conroy and Linda Wilson
Achievement: Josie Quin-Conroy, from UWA's School of Psychological Science, and Linda Wilson, from UWA's Schools of Social Sciences and Humanities, were runners-up in the Matariki three-minute thesis competition. The students gave a three-minute account of their doctoral research topic and its significance in the competition. Josie’s thesis was Thinking with Both Sides of the Brain, she has invited hundreds of 3- to 7-year-old children to come into the lab to find out which side of their brain they think with. Linda’s thesis was Beyond the birds and the bees: Engaging beekeeper's knowledge of the environment to improve management of public lands in South-west Western Australia. Matariki Network of Universities is an international group of leading universities working together to create excellence in research and education and promote global social responsibility.
Name: Neil Robinson
Achievement: Forrest Fellow Dr Neil Robinson, from UWA’s Department of Chemical Engineering, has been named on this year’s MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (Asia Pacific) list. Dr Robinson was recognised for his research developing new materials and measurement approaches to tackle global issues in energy, sustainability and decarbonisation. The annual list recognises outstanding innovators who involved in the development of new technology or the creative application of existing technologies to solve the world’s biggest problems in industries such as biotechnology, materials, computer hardware, energy, transportation, communications, and the internet.
Name: Luke Twomey, Matt Hipsey, Owen Nevin, Matthias Leopold, Carolyn Oldham, Jo McDonald, Nik Callow, Don McFarlane, David Caddy and Siobhan Hickling
Achievement: Ten UWA academics have been invited to become members of the Environmental Protection Authority Scientific Advisory Council. The new members include: Dr Luke Twomey, from UWA's Ocean Institute; Dr Matt Hipsey, UWA's School of Agriculture and Environment; Professor Owen Nevin, from UWA's School of Biological Sciences; Professor Matthias Leopold, UWA's School of Agriculture and Environment; Professor Carolyn Oldham, from UWA's School of Engineering; Professor Jo McDonald, from UWA's School of Social Sciences; Associate Professor Nik Callow, UWA's School of Agriculture and Environment; Dr Don McFarlane, UWA's School of Agriculture and Environment; Professor David Caddy, from UWA's School of Social Sciences; and Dr Siobhan Hickling, from UWA's School of Population and Global Health. The UWA researchers will provide input in their areas of expertise.
Congratulations UWA staff, alumni and students.
Pictured in photograph at the top of the page (l - r): Associate Professor Ivan Lim, Associate Professor Rebecca Glauert and Professor Paul Low.