We enjoyed another remarkable, whirlwind tour of the sciences at the Society last night, with these six outstanding early-career scientists presenting work that pushes the boundaries of knowledge across incredibly diverse fields of research. The applicant pool grew this year to 60 final year PhDs from across Victorian research institutions, meaning our six finalists had already distinguished themselves simply by being selected to present to us on the evening.

Imagine sweltering through four days of 40°C – 50°C temperatures. Or not being able to get home because flooding has disrupted rail and road networks. With the changing global climate, such scenarios are possible within the next 20 years. The question is: will Victoria be resilient to these challenges? This is the problem senior government officials and researchers gathered together to answer. RSV’s inaugural Future Thinking Forum saw representatives from over 35 agencies, including universities and government, meet to discuss Victoria’s capacity to cope with extreme weather. The proceedings began with the description of two possible extreme weather scenarios: a severe heatwave and an extreme flooding and wind event. These scenarios were not one of a distant future, nor were they from a dystopian, Eco-Disaster novel. They could be Victoria’s reality within the next two decades.

Nominations for the 2018 RSV Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research are now OPEN. The Medal has been presented over 59 years to the highest achieving Victorian scientists in research fields across four award categories.

Submissions are invited for high-achieving candidates in Category II: Biomedical and Health Sciences.

This canvasses the disciplines of Genetics, Immunology, Human Physiology, Human Anatomy, Pathology, Neurology, Epidemiology, Endocrinology, Radiology, Microbiology, Medical Parasitology, Nuclear Medicine, and related human sciences.