The Premier's Science Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of the Western Australian science community. Award recipients exemplify the outstanding scientific research and engagement efforts taking place in the State.
The Awards cover all fields of science, including natural, medical, applied and technological science, engineering and mathematics.
The Awards are supported by the Western Australian Government and administered by the Science and Innovation team within the Department. For more information, please see the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation website.
Scientist of the Year Awards
2023 - Professor Kadambot Siddique
Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique AM, FTSE, CitWA, Director, The UWA Institute of Agriculture, is a renowned agricultural scientist, having dedicated more than 35 years to research, training, technology exchange and industry development.
He has worked closely with industry to significantly improve cereal and grain legume production in dryland environments, with his leadership and collaboration resulting in new crop varieties and agronomic packages for grain growers. He is an outstanding ambassador for WA, promoting sustainable agriculture and addressing global food security. His world-class research is evident through numerous publications, fellowships, awards and numerous highly cited papers.
Professor Siddique has been listed in two categories on the Clarivate List of Highly Cited Researchers and has been recognised in The Australian newspaper’s Research Magazine as a "Top Researcher" Australia in Botany (2021 and 2022).
- 2021 Professor Eric May
- 2020 Professor Ryan Lister
- 2017 Professor A. Harvey Millar
- 2017 Professor Christobel Saunders
- 2015 Professor Mark Cassidy
- 2014 Professor Ian Small
2021 Winner - Professor Eric May
Professor Eric May is an internationally recognised leader in the areas of fluid science, thermodynamics, metrology and natural gas engineering. His development and use of measurement technology has produced explanations for long-standing scientific mysteries, revealed unexpected physical phenomena, and helped improve industrial processes. Real-world outcomes of Professor May's research include reducing the cost and environmental impact of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from coal mines and optimising air conditioning cycles based on new, environmentally-friendly refrigerants. His work has also helped difficult offshore gas reserves be developed and advanced carbon capture and storage operations. He is now leading the new Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre with major industry partners to help grow Australia?s hydrogen export industry.
Mid-Career Scientist of the Year
2023 - Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg and Professor Hongqi Sun (Joint winners)
Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg, Chair of Paediatric Anaesthesia at UWA and Co-Lead of the Perioperative Medicine Program at Telethon Kids Institute, is a global research leader in paediatric anaesthesia and perioperative medicine.
Working as a Consultant Anaesthetist at Perth Children's Hospital ensures Professor Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg’s research remains consumer-focused and clinically translatable with an emphasis on improving clinical practice.
Professor Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg’s research impact is evident not just in Western Australia, but worldwide, and has led to improved clinical care and made undergoing anaesthesia safer for children.
Hongqi Sun, Professor of Chemistry from School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia (previously in School of Science at Edith Cowan University before July 2023), has significantly advanced energy and environmental catalysis by exploring novel nanomaterials. To date, he has published over 300 refereed journal papers, attracted over 32,600 citations and maintains an h-index of 99 (Google Scholar).
Professor Sun has secured over $5 million funding, including for the Australian Research Council, Cooperative Research Centres and industry projects. He has been a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher since 2019. Professor Sun is further a current member of Australian Research Council’s College of Experts, a delegate to Australia-US Hydrogen Research Partnerships, and was among The Australian’s Research Magazine's, 2020 Top 40 Australia’s Research Superstars.
HBF Mid-Career Scientist of the Year
2022 - Professor Ajmal Mian
Professor Ajmal Mian is a Professor of Computer Science at The University of Western Australia. His research aims to give machines the ability to see, make sense of their environment and describe it in natural language. Besides discovering new knowledge in Artificial Intelligence, Professor Mian collaborates with multiple disciplines to propose novel solutions in medicine, psychology, marine science, agriculture and mining. He is a Distinguished Speaker for the Association for Computing Machinery, President of the Australian Pattern Recognition Society and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He has published more than 240 scientific papers and is internationally recognised for his research in Artificial Intelligence and 3D vision.
Early Career Scientist of the Year
2023 - Dr David Gozzard
Dr David Gozzard is an experimental physicist at the University of Western Australia (UWA) developing laser measurement and communication technology for spacecraft. Dr Gozzard previously worked on developing synchronisation technology for the Square Kilometre Array, and is now translating that, and other astronomy technology, to enable robust laser links between the ground and spacecraft that will support high-speed communications and high-precision space science.
Dr Gozzard's research has the potential to make WA a world-leader in satellite communications. He is passionate about both research and science education, and is very active in outreach and teaching at UWA.
Woodside Early Career Scientist of the Year
2022 - Dr Qi Fang
Dr Qi Fang has been named by The Australian as one of "Australia's top 40 researchers who are less than 10 years into their careers" and awarded a prestigious Raine Robson Fellow. Dr Fang focuses on developing novel imaging tools for complete cancer removal during surgery. His research has contributed to the commercialisation of cancer imaging probes with a local start-up company OncoRes Medical. He is an inventor with two international patents developing next-generation cancer imaging devices, which have the potential to be widely used in rural and remote areas, improving equity of access to optimal cancer treatment across Western Australia.
- 2020 Associate Professor Edward Litton
- 2020 Dr Arman Siahvashi
- 2020 Dr Chris Brennan-Jones
- 2018 Dr Melissa O'Donnell
- 2016 Dr Scott Draper
- 2015 Dr Hannah Moore
ExxonMobil Student Scientist of the Year
2022 - Nikhilesh (Nik) Bappoo
Nikhilesh (Nik) Bappoo is a passionate biomedical engineer with a vision to develop and ethically commercialise novel solutions to unmet clinical needs, hence improving the delivery of healthcare. Nik specialises in blood flow simulations, from "engineering the placenta" to predict abnormalities during pregnancy, to predicting aneurysm growth and rupture. Nik's entrepreneurial mindset has led to the formation of VeinTech, a WA medical device company, aiming to reduce the high rate of failure of cannulation. He also manages product development and regulatory affairs for VitalTrace, another WA company developing a novel biosensor to improve childbirth outcomes for mothers and babies.
- 2020 Ms Niamh Troy
- 2020 Mr Todd Bond
- 2019 Ms Jessica Kretzmann
- 2018 Mr Arman Siahvashi
- 2017 Mr David Gozzard
- 2016 Mr Christopher Brennan-Jones
Shell Aboriginal STEM Student of the Year
2022 - James Hill
James Hill is a PhD student at The University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute who is investigating how negative attitudes and actions (stigma) relate to the disproportionately poor mental health outcomes of trans and gender diverse young people. Improving understanding of this group's experiences is essential for creating targeted interventions. James' goal is to become a researcher and clinical psychologist and work with Indigenous and LGBTQAI+ people to assist them in living full and healthy lives. He believes that engaging with communities and learning from lived experience is imperative for the development and creation of interventions.
- 2020 Ms Simone Harrington
- 2019 Ms Sharynne Hamilton
Chevron Science Engagement Initiative of the Year
2014 - Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) Science Engagement Initiative
CIBER's Science Engagement Initiative aims to increase community awareness about honeybees. It showcases the links from bees to pollination, food and honey and the industries and people that depend on them.
CIBER uses a variety of strategies to engage audiences, including an academy award nominated documentary, an annual public Honey Festival in the Swan Valley, a permanent honeybee exhibition at Scitech and a dedicated social media page encouraging users to follow ongoing activities.
