Young Scientist Research Prizes
Between 2011 and 2024, The Royal Society of Victoria awarded annual prizes to post-graduate, doctoral students in four categories: Biomedical & Health Sciences, Biological Sciences (Non-human), Earth Sciences and Physical Sciences.
These prestigious awards celebrated the innovation and achievements of Young Scientists in Victoria, attracting several hundred entries each year.
An exciting Evolution!
We are excited to reveal that in 2026 we are evolving these awards.
The awards will be changing in name and scope to reflect and celebrate the work of many more early career STEM professionals in Victoria, whatever their background.
We are aiming to announce the new awards in National Science Week in August.
The RSV Research Medal
The RSV Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research
In its Centenary year (1959) the Royal Society of Victoria instituted a Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research. The Award consists of a Silver Medal, which is awarded periodically for scientific research.
We will be seeking nominations for the next RSV Research Medal in 2027.
Award criteria:
The award of the Medal is based on demonstration of the candidate’s excellence and leadership in scientific research. The candidate’s research work shall have been carried out in Australia (including its territories), or on Australia, with preference for work done in Victoria, or on Victoria.
Nomination:
- Nominations are currently closed.
- Candidates cannot nominate themselves.
- Members of scientific societies, academies, universities and research institutes are invited to make nominations.
The nomination statement should demonstrate the candidate’s:
- Exemplary publication track record during the previous ten years. The track record will be judged on papers published and/or accepted for publication in refereed international journals. Work outside the ten year period will not be considered, subject to due consideration of career breaks for primary care responsibilities.
- Consistent excellence in innovation or ground-breaking research and patents, incorporating novel scientific techniques and methods – described in plain language.
- Impact of research beyond publication and citation rates. This could relate to advancing the discipline generally, changing public practice, influencing public discussion and opinion, or demonstrating direct interventions and improvement in management, exploration methodology, product performance, biodiversity conservation, patient outcomes etc.
- Exemplary leadership in science incorporating evidence of: a major contribution to the public promotion of science, advocacy for science, partnership building, collaborations, role model and influence across the scientific community.
Career record relative to opportunity will be considered by the assessors. Nominators should indicate whether the nominee is an early career researcher, has had career interruptions, or has had extended periods of part-time employment. For multi-authored publications, the contribution of the applicant should be indicated.
Submission:
The submissions should consist of:
- The nomination statement, signed by the nominator, covering points 1 to 3 above. This must be in 11 point font and cover no more than three A4 pages.
- A brief (no more than five A4 pages) Curriculum Vitae of the candidate.
- A list of publications, attached in supplement, should be constrained to the previous ten years.
Conditions:
The Royal Society of Victoria reserves the right to seek independent referees in considering the nominations received, and not to consider nominations that do not comply with the nomination format or do not address the award criteria.
If no candidate of sufficient merit is nominated, no award need be made in a particular year.
No posthumous award will be made.
The Award:
The successful candidate will receive an engraved silver medal which is presented by the Society’s patron, the Governor of Victoria or, in the event of Her Excellency’s unavailability, a senior leader of Victoria’s science community.
The medallist will be required to present a lecture to the Society Members and guests at which the Medal will be presented.
Past Winners:
- 2026 - No award
- 2025 - No award
- 2024 - No award
- 2023 - No award
- 2022 - Prof Rachelle Buchbinder
- 2021 - Prof Andrew Ball
- 2020 - Prof Bronwyn Fox
- 2019 - Prof Andrew Pitman AO
- 2018 - Prof Anthony Burkitt & Prof Jamie Rossjohn
- 2017 - Prof Trevor Lithgow
- 2016 - Prof Lloyd Hollenberg
- 2015 - Prof David Karoly
- 2014 - Prof Jane Visvader
- 2013 - Prof Mark Burgman
- 2012 - Prof Frank Caruso
- 2011 - Adj Prof John Long
- 2010 - Prof Levon Khachigian
- 2009 - Prof Geoffrey McFadden
- 2008 - Prof Steven Prawer
- 2007 - Prof Matthew England
- 2006 - Prof Samuel F. Berkovic
- 2005 - Prof Pauline Y. Ladiges
- 2004 - No award
- 2003 - Prof Peter L. Dyson
- 2002 - Assoc Prof Brian Finlayson
- 2001 - Prof Alan F. Cowman
- 2000 - Dr Prem L. Bhalla
- 1999 - Prof Alan M. Bond
- 1998 - No award
- 1997 - Prof Henry G. Burger
- 1996 - Prof Bruce E. Kemp
- 1995 - Dr Paul A. Pearce
- 1994 - Prof Andrew Gleadow
- 1993 - Dr David Beardsell
- 1992 - Prof Thomas W. Healy
- 1991 - Dr G.E. Williams
- 1990 - Dr N. Gough
- 1989 - Prof Herbert H Bolotin & Dr P Hannaford
- 1988 - Dr J.M. Powell
- 1987 - Assoc Prof D.B. Webby
- 1986 - Dr S.J. Redman
- 1985 - Prof D.V. Boger & Dr P.M. Colman
- 1984 - Prof A.E. Ringwood
- 1983 - Prof A.A. Powell & Prof P.B. Dixon
- 1982 - Dr G.F. Mitchell
- 1981 - Dr R.D.B. Fraser
- 1980 - Dr J.M. Bowler
- 1979 - Prof M.J.D. White
- 1978 - No award
- 1977 - Dr W.F. Budd, Prof R.D. Brown & Prof B.H.J. McKellar
- 1976 - Prof R.L. Specht
- 1975 - Prof R. Taft
- 1974 - Dr A.W. Snyder
- 1973 - Dr D. Metcalf & Dr J.H. Willis
- 1972 - Prof C.D. Rowley
- 1971 - Prof A. Baklien & Dr B. Dawson
- 1970 - Prof G. Burnstock
- 1969 - Dr J.S. Deeble & Dr R.B. Scotton
- 1968 - Dr A. Walsh
- 1967 - Mr E.D. Gill
- 1966 - No award
- 1965 - Prof K.E. Bullen
- 1964 - Prof Sir Gustav Nossal
- 1963 - Prof D.J. Mulvaney
- 1962 - No award
- 1961 - No award
- 1960 - No award
- 1959 - Dr G. Baker
The Phillip Law Postdoctoral Award
This award was made possible from the generous bequest to the Society from the estate of the late Dr Phillip Garth Law AC.
It recognised excellence in scientific research by Early Career Researchers who were between three and seven years post completion of their doctorate.
It ran for ten years from 2013 to 2022.
Winners:
The Phillip Law Award was made for the first time in 2013 and the inaugural winner was Dr Marcus Kitchen for his significant contribution in the field of lung imaging, where for several years he has been investigating novel X-ray imaging techniques for studying lung development.
The winner of the 2014 Award (the inaugural Physical Sciences recipient) was Dr Madhu Bhaskaran for her microtechnology work, seeking to harness the mechanical energy from user interactions with electronics, generating electricity through pressure on crystals to effectively power devices with the user’s own interface activity.
The 2015 Award winner was Dr Marcus Doherty for his work in theoretical and collaborative research with the ANU’s Laser Physics Centre, investigating the properties of colour centres in semiconductors and their applications in quantum technologies, particularly quantum computing.
The winner of the 2016 Award was Dr Samintha Perera for her work in rock mechanics, coal mining and “slop stability,” CO2 sequestration and unconventional oil and gas extractions.
The winner of the 2017 Award was Dr Kaye Morgan for her work in novel soft-tissue, multi-modal x-ray imaging techniques.
The joint winners of the 2018 Award were Dr Sumeet Walia, for his work in nanoelectronics and mimicking neural processes with semiconductors, microchips and miniaturised energy sources, and Dr Nishar Hameed, for his work in producing smart, flexible and rapid-cure composites for integration to formable, fibre-reinforced composites, concrete preforms and graphene nanocomposites.
The winner of the 2019 Award was Dr Rajesh Ramanathan for his interdisciplinary work interfacing nanotechnology and biology, including sensor processes and diagnostics, antimicrobial and wound management and imaging methods to create a remarkable diversity of new biomedical applications and products.
The winner of the 2020 Award was Dr Nisa Salim for her work developing porous carbon materials, enabling the remarkable invention of “structural batteries and supercapacitors” – lightweight, high-tensile structural components of vehicles and devices that also serve to store and route energy for use by these same devices.
The winner of the 2021 Award (the inaugural Biomedical & Health Sciences recipient) was Dr Christopher Draper-Joyce for his work in therapeutic drug discovery through solving the structures of G Protein-Coupled Receptor G protein complexes, a family of cell surface receptors, with new methodologies, leading to applications in human dopamine control, novel antiviral agents, and other domains where techniques in pharmacology and structural biology can combine to deliver exciting new outcomes.
The winner of the 2022 Award (the inaugural Earth Sciences recipient) was Dr Ashleigh Hood for her work in mapping ancient ediacaran marine reefs around the world to better understand how the interaction of early life forms on land and in the seas drove the oxygenation of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, concluding that the second major spike in oxygen that delivered our modern ecosphere correlated with the evolution of trees and extensive root systems 380 million years ago, in the Devonian period of the Paleozoic era.
