The Royal Society of Victoria is our State’s scientific society, founded in 1854. The Society convenes an independent community of science practitioners, educators, industrialists and enthusiasts to promote the understanding and utilisation of scientific knowledge for the benefit of the State of Victoria. Membership is open to any individuals or organisations keen to be involved.
We broker engagement between practitioners of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine (STEMM) and the broader Victorian community, seeking to improve general scientific literacy, evidence-based decision making and the translation of scientific knowledge into purposeful actions in our State.
Headquartered on Wurundjeri land in a heritage-listed building at 8 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, the Society provides a statewide program of outreach, partnerships, lectures, forums, programs and projects. A further overview of who we are and what we do is available at our About Us page.
- Tuesday, 4 February, 2025
- The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV), and the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria (STAV) warn of a crisis in science and mathematics education. With declining participation rates in senior secondary courses, Victoria is not developing enough STEM-skilled professionals to meet the state’s current and future needs.
- While DNA analysis tells us the order of the amino acids in a protein, it’s much harder to predict its three-dimensional shape which is vital for understanding its function, production and interactions. In 2020, the AI program ‘AlphaFold’ was released. This program can predict the structures of proteins with high accuracy, fuelling a new revolution across many fields of biomedical research, and winning its creators a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- By creating functional, lab-grown organs tailored to individual patients, bioprinting not only reduces reliance on donors but also mitigates the risks of rejection and a lifetime of immunosuppressive medications. Bioprinted organs can also mimic the intricate structures and functions of human tissues for testing personalised therapies, particularly for treating complex conditions.
- Herbicides were initially seen as an easy remedy to manage agricultural weeds, but over time they have unintentionally fuelled the rise of 'superweeds'—plant species that quickly evolve herbicide resistance, transforming a solution into a growing problem. Ryegrass is the target weed for the Adaptive Evolution Lab at the University of Melbourne, working to uncover its adaptive, evolutionary defence mechanisms.
- What can AI do for genomic medicine? If an AI model produces a result that is outside our current understanding, but not necessarily in violation of it, can we trust it? Focus group participants who were presented with this scenario didn’t always have a clear answer. For many participants, this generally reaffirmed the need for human oversight of these tools.
- Prior to the mid-20th century, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis was a death sentence. Although we still have no cure for diabetes, advancements in insulin therapy have meant that the lives of diabetics aren’t cut tragically short. The discovery of insulin and its role in treating diabetes, and the development of ways to provide patients with regular doses of it were decades in the making.
- Biotechnology is nothing new. Humans have been using yeasts for baking and brewing for thousands of years, and utilising plants in remedies for injury and illness. Even the development of the lemon through the hybridisation of two different citrus species is an example of early biotechnology – life didn’t give us lemons; humans brought them into existence.
- Thursday, 30 January, 2025
- Over my career I have worked collaborately in multidisciplinary teams and applied geospatial solutions to solve problems in the environmental, defence, emergency management and transportation fields. I have also worked on technology projects across the three tiers of government and also on international projects.
- Thursday, 30 January, 2025
- I have over 30 years’ experience in industrial Research and Development roles at IBM and significant executive management experience leading Research and Development projects worldwide. Originally trained as a PhD Physicist in the UK, I have always valued the role professional societies play in the dialogue around the impact of science on society.
