2025 Category Winners
Professor Anita Ho-Baillie is a world-leading researcher in solar cell technology. Her work focuses on the development of multi-junction metal halide perovskite solar cells – known for their high efficiencies – particularly to address challenges of accessing cost-effective photovoltaics in space.
Anita launched Australia’s first perovskite space cell research program to develop lightweight, radiation-tolerant cells 100 times thinner and more efficient than current alternatives. This program has demonstrated proton radiation-tolerant cells tested at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and several other types of perovskite multi-junction cells suitable for space. In 2024, she demonstrated Australia’s first 30 per cent efficient perovskite-silicon tandem cell, certified by the Unites States’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory. At the time, the cell was one of only eight globally to achieve this efficiency. In the same year, her perovskite cells were launched to space aboard the CUAVA-2 satellite, as well as the Waratah Seed, Australia’s first payload-ride-share mission supported by the NSW Government. The solar cell development was in partnership with her startup, EurokaPower, that won the Waratah Seed payload competition and is a resident of the National Space Industry Hub in NSW.
Through her work, Anita has advanced Australia’s sovereign space capability, fostering international collaboration and training future innovators for highly efficient space cells to increase the sustainability of space operations, to reduce solar array mass and space debris.
Anita’s work has been recognised through many awards, including the Eureka Prize for Sustainability Research in 2025, Australian Space Awards Academic of the Year in 2025 and Scientist of the Year in 2024, and the Australian Academy of Science Nancy Millis Medal in 2024. Anita is also an Adjunct Professor at UNSW Sydney and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of NSW and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Anita has published 198 refereed journal articles, with over 26,000 citations and an h-index of 74 (Scopus September 2025).
Distinguished Professor Brajesh Singh is a world-leading soil ecologist whose research has advanced global ecosystem science. Brajesh’s work has brought about fundamental shifts in our understanding of functional soil ecology, demonstrating that functional redundancy in soil communities is overstated and loss of soil biodiversity leads to direct and proportional loss of ecosystem function. He has also demonstrated the use of soil microbial information to predict, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Brajesh translates his groundbreaking work in the fundamental theories of functional ecology and soil biology into practical applications to improve farm productivity and environmental sustainability. These include climate adaptation tools for agriculture, management solutions to increase soil organic matter, increased export market access for agriculture producers, and training for farmers, consultants and policy advisors in sustainable agriculture and the Sustainable Development Goals.
His research has been highly influential to global environmental management, with his work directly informing global policies on protection of soil biodiversity. He leads the Global Initiative of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, serving as Chair of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s International Network on Soil Biodiversity, and advising several other international organisations on soil health.
He was awarded the Humboldt Research Award in 2019, the JA Prescott Medal in 2020, the Dorothy Jones Award in 2023 and the Arrell Award for Research Innovation in 2024. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Australian Soil Science Society and the Australian Academy of Science.
Brajesh has over 325 journal publications in leading journals including Nature, Science and PNAS, accruing more than 50,000 citations, with an h-index of 107 (Google Scholar).
Scientia Professor Kaarin Anstey is pioneering how we manage cognitive ageing and dementia risk reduction. Her epidemiological studies and systematic reviews have identified the key modifiable risk factors for dementia, including obesity, smoking, alcohol use, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol in mid-life, adherence to the MIND diet, air pollution and hypertension.
Kaarin has translated this work into the Cognitive Health and Dementia Risk Assessment (CogDrisk) tool. A publicly available tool, it is currently being implemented in the Australian primary care sector, with over 23,000 general practitioners trained since 2023. Kaarin has also conducted clinical trials of dementia risk reduction interventions with a focus on modifying trajectories for people in preclinical stages of cognitive decline.
Kaarin’s expertise has global reach. In 2020, she led a Global Dialogue on Prevention by the World Dementia Council, and in 2023, she conducted an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation regional workshop on Dementia Prevention in Malaysia. Kaarin is the only Australian member of the World Health Organization’s Guideline Development Group for Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia and is the first Australian academic invited to join the World Dementia Council.
Kaarin was awarded an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship (2019-2024) and received the 2023 inaugural Royal Society of NSW Award in the Social and Behavioural Sciences. She has contributed over 570 journal articles and book chapters, which have been cited over 47,000 times, giving her an h-index of 116.
Distinguished Professor Vivian WY Tam is an award-winning researcher in construction engineering and management. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, her innovative technologies convert construction waste into high-grade resources to combat the climate crisis and build a low carbon, circular economy.
Vivian’s patented CO2 Concrete is created by injecting CO2 into recycled aggregate, reducing landfill and offering a durable, high-strength alternative to virgin concrete, with a 10 per cent reduction in cost and 50 per cent fewer carbon emissions. The invention was the Australian winner of the Holcim Accelerator Program in 2022, which fosters innovation in construction. CO2 Concrete represents a paradigm shift in the NSW and Australian construction industry landscape for future sustainable developments, first being used in the Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre and Edmondson Park’s community park.
The global impact of Vivian’s work has seen her ranked in Stanford/Elsevier’s World’s Top 2% Scientists since 2017. Within the field of built environment and design, she is ranked as the 12th most influential scientist in the world.
In addition to over 400 referred journal articles (eight of which are highly cited), around 40,000 citations and an h-index of 106, Vivian has featured in 21 industry-related articles and 100 articles in Climate Conversations.
Dr Jennifer Matthews is an emerging leader in marine biochemistry whose research is transforming our understanding of coral nutrition and physiology, creating science-led solutions for conservation and climate-resilient policy. She is Deputy Team Leader of the Future Reefs group at the University of Technology Sydney, an exceptional leadership role for an early career researcher.
Jennifer leads research on the effects of climate change on NSW’s marine ecosystems, including a major coral biodiversity mapping initiative in partnership with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Traditional Owners and citizen scientists. This work provides new insights into NSW’s valuable biodiversity while strengthening connections between science and communities. She also recently established cross-sector collaborations to develop a 'Reef e-nose', a novel tool for early stress detection, supporting more resilient marine management across NSW.
Jennifer has secured 14 competitive grants exceeding $3.4 million, including elite Human Frontiers Science Programme and UTS Chancellor’s fellowships, a Pure Ocean Innovation Grant (one of five awarded globally), and an Australian Research Council Discovery Project. With this support she has undertaken groundbreaking research, including the development of coral nanomedicines, such as a coral ‘baby food’. This invention significantly enhances coral reproductive success, with immediate applications for restoration and aquaculture.
Jennifer is a leader in promoting equity and dismantling hearing disability barriers, earning her recognition as a 2021 Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM. A passionate science communicator, Jennifer has delivered over 150 invited presentations across classrooms, community events, academia and media. Her work to date has been recognised with several awards, including the 2024 Royal Society of NSW Research and Service, and 2023 NSW Tall Poppy awards.
Her scholarly impact includes 35 publications in top journals including Nature and PNAS, over 1,400 citations, and an h-index of 17.
Dr Felix Rizzuto is an international expert in DNA nanotechnology and self-assembly. Felix has worked with academic, industry and international partners to develop synthetic molecules that respond to, adapt to and compute chemical signals. Since joining UNSW Sydney in 2022, Felix has focused on engineering nanorobots from DNA.
His research has shown that light is an ideal stimulus to switch between DNA conformers and propagate DNA nanomaterials, and that DNA can be reprogrammed to form architectures with useful biomaterials properties.
Felix has pioneered a suite of chemical tools that operate biocompatible nanomachinery for future time-delayed delivery, wound healing and tissue engineering functions, driving transformative advances across the materials, engineering and nanotechnology sectors.
His latest breakthroughs in DNA nanorobotics have led to molecular machines that can be activated and recycled with nothing more than a smartphone flashlight, paving the way for highly sensitive and user-controlled nanodevices. This work is positioning NSW and Australia as global leaders in the development of next-generation nanotechnologies for precision therapeutics, delivery and biosensing.
Felix has received over $2 million in research funding as lead investigator since 2022, including the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award, a Moderna Australia Fellowship and two Australian Research Council Discovery Projects.
Felix’s work has been published in Nature Materials, Nature Chemistry and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He has an exceptional publication record, with over 40 journal articles, 1800 citations and an h-index of 22.
Professor Paul Keall is a medical physics researcher leading scientists, clinical partners and international collaborators to create novel cancer imaging and targeted radiation therapy methods, translating many of these into clinical practice.
His research has improved the lives of millions of cancer patients and delivered benefits for NSW more broadly by employing highly skilled workers, training the next generation of scientists, creating new medical devices and clinical trials, and generating economic returns.
One of Paul’s most notable innovations is a pioneering method to image lungs during breathing with computed tomography. Called four-dimensional CT, it is now its own field of research and a globally used clinical tool. Collectively, his medical devices have resulted in over 40 approved and filed patents, with 20 licences to 10 companies. Five globally available products have directly resulted from these licences, with five more in development.
Paul has launched a NSW startup – SeeTreat – to reduce the burden of cancer by creating globally accessible personalised cancer therapy devices. SeeTreat employs over 20 highly qualified staff, including eight PhDs. He has also led 13 clinical trials, including eight first-in-human trials.
Before his current role, Paul was the Director of Radiation Physics at Stanford University. His contributions to cancer research are internationally recognised, with ExpertScape ranking him #1 worldwide of over 10,000 scientists and clinicians in image-guided radiotherapy. He has over 400 publications, with over 32,000 citations an h-index of 90.
Dr Brad Law has worked in public service as a wildlife research scientist for over 30 years. In this time, Brad has become an international leader in wildlife ecology and ecologically sustainable forest management. His work focuses on threatened species ecology and developing methods to monitor the long-term population trends of cryptic wildlife.
Over the last 10 years, Brad has led multifaceted research to better understand wildlife populations in public and private forests. His innovative ecoacoustics method has allowed for the cost-effective analysis of acoustic data on koalas from several thousand sites and has been rapidly adopted by ecologists. Extensive collaborations across government departments include Local Land Services, the Biodiversity Conservation Trust and DCCEEW, as well as scientists external to government.
Brad’s work has materially increased understanding of species populations in NSW, including being used under the NSW Koala Strategy to analyse data from the statewide baseline survey of koalas. His research is also providing unparalleled insights into the impact of and recovery from the 2019-20 Black Summer fires on wildlife. Brad is now harnessing AI to monitor additional forest species in relation to climate change using his team’s acoustic archives (‘Forest Voices’).
In 2021, Brad was elected Fellow to the NSW Royal Zoological Society and is Associate Editor of Australian Zoologist, Australian Forestry and the Australian Journal of Zoology. Between 2015 and 2021, he served on the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee. He is also committed to fostering the next generation of researchers, mentoring over 35 postgraduate students.
Brad has produced more than 190 journal papers, chapters and technical reports, receiving over 7,800 citations and an h-index of 48.
Ryland O’Connell is a technological and applied sciences teacher who, over the past seven years, has emerged as a passionate and innovative STEM educator within the NSW public education system.
As the STEM Project Officer for the STEM Industry School Partnerships (SISP) program, Ryland crafts engaging learning experiences that connect classrooms with real-world STEM applications. His initiatives include organising excursions to Charles Sturt University and the Dematic Engineering Factory, as well as leading regional programs such as 'Girls in STEM' and an Indigenous robotics club, ensuring that every student, regardless of background, sees a future in STEM.
Ryland has successfully mentored a FIRST Robotics team and coached a FIRST LEGO League team, guiding students to remarkable achievements, including an Australian Championship win and participation in international competitions in Houston. He also developed and facilitated workshops across multiple primary schools, presented at state-level STEM conferences, and secured a dedicated STEM classroom for the Hastings region.
The impact of Ryland’s programs has been profound. Students from disadvantaged communities now access learning opportunities previously thought unattainable. His leadership has notably increased engagement among girls and Indigenous students in STEM fields. Through his unwavering commitment – often sacrificing personal time – Ryland has built confidence, ignited ambition and expanded the horizons of his students. His dedication has fundamentally transformed STEM education in his community, inspiring the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators.