 Academy Coat of Arms | |
 Location of the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra | |
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| Formation | 1954 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Canberra,Australian Capital Territory |
| Membership | ≈500 Fellows |
President | Chennupati Jagadish |
| Website | www.science.org.au |
TheAustralian Academy of Science is a scientific academy. It was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of theRoyal Society ofLondon, after its forerunner, theAustralian National Research Council had been dissolved. The Academy Secretariat is inCanberra, at theShine Dome.
On 21 August 1919 the Australasian Research Council, based inSydney, was established in order to represent Australia on theInternational Research Council. The council was formalised by theAustralasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and renamed the Australian National Research Council (ANRC) in July 1921.[1]
In 1951, following a scientific conference organised by theAustralian National University, a new body, the Australian Academy of Science was proposed, after it was generally agreed that the ANRC "had failed to achieve the status that was required of a national body with such weighty responsibilities". The new academy was established in 1954, and, after it had assumed most of functions of the ANRC, the ANRC was dissolved in 1955, the final meeting taking place in Canberra on 16 August 1955.[1]
The academy was founded by a group of Australians, among them Australian Fellows of the Royal Society in London. The first president was SirMark Oliphant.[2]
The Australian Academy of Science is modelled after the Royal Society, and operates under aRoyal charter;[2] as such, it is an independent body, but it has government endorsement.
The objectives of the academy are to promote science and science education through a wide range of activities; officially "promoting, declaring and disseminating scientific knowledge".[3]
It has defined four major program areas:[citation needed]
The academy also runs the 22National Committees for Science, which provide a forum to discuss issues relevant to all the scientific disciplines in Australia.
The Australian Academy of Science has been producing educational resources since 1967. Its first published resource wasBiologicalScience: the Web of Life, authored by David Morgan.[4] The Academy supports the development of evidence-based education programs in science and mathematics. As of 2025, the Academy delivers three programs: Primary Connections forprimary school science education, Science Connections forsecondary school science education, and a combined mathematics program called reSolve.
In 2003, the Australian Academy of Science began research on how to best support teachers of science and mathematics subjects through pedagogical-based resources rather than content-based resources. By 2005, the Australian Government announced they would support the program Primary Connections through the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme[5] in establishing eight curriculum units, developed and trialed in 2005. The Australian Government wanted to use the program to “improve learning outcomes in science and literacy through a sophisticated professional learning program supported with rich curriculum resources that will improve teachers’ knowledge of science and science teaching".[5] 106 trial teachers participated in 56 trial schools across Australia. At this time, Primary Connections used hard-copy and digital materials constructed for teachers to adapt to primary school classrooms based closely onthe 5Es model of learning which had served as the foremost pedagogical structure for teaching in science education. Primary Connections has been reported to have a ‘positive impact on schools, teachers, and students’.[6] Currently, the Academy’s education programs are funded by the Department of Education to improve teacher confidence and capability in teaching mathematics and science.[7]
Since 2020, Primary Connections has had an increasing focus on interactivity for students, piloting online professional learning, and research and review of the development of STEM teacher resources. As part of a review of teacher needs, Primary Connections ended the sale of hard-copy resources at the end of 2020. In addition, the Primary Connections and its sister program Science Connections (launched in 2025) are constructed around a new learning structure: the Launch, Inquire, Act (LIA) Framework.[8]
The LIA Framework was designed to address a stated need from surveyed teachers for an online resource that “allows teachers to readily select, adapt and build their own program of work[9] within the framework of Australia’s science curriculum. Coinciding with the continuing uptake ofVersion 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum in 2024, a new suite of online resources are being developed for Foundation to Year 10 that align with the updated curriculum and with the LIA framework while maintaining more adaptable, clearly framed lessons for teachers during the implementation.[10]
The LIA Framework begins with the “Launch” phase, which was designed to engage students and provide both motivation and context for their learning. The Launch phase encourages students to begin scientific inquiry on a topic through common experiences that connect with their lives (for example, by having students walk into a darkened classroom with all electricity turned off to demonstrate the importance of electricity). This allows all students to develop a common language and provides equity in learning. Next is the “Inquire” phase, which consists of cycles of inquiry, promoting deepening understanding. Students improve their knowledge of a topic via questioning, investigations, and contextual integration (for example, how a torch can be made with a battery, wires, and a bulb: experimenting with different forms of circuits). The last phase, “Act”, aims to empower students to act on their newly acquired knowledge and skills. It encourages students to have agency by designing new ways to interact with the world via science (for example, using their circuitry experiments to design an electrical product to support people in a blackout).[10]
The Shine Dome (previously known as Becker House) is a well-known Canberra landmark, notable for its unusual structure, and colloquially referred to as "The Martian Embassy", an allusion to its shape and the fact that as the capital of Australia, Canberra is the home of foreign embassies.[11] It was designed by architect SirRoy Grounds, of Grounds, Romberg and Boyd. When completed in 1959 its 45.75-metre-diameter dome was the largest in Australia.
On 1 December 1956, the academy's building design committee met in Adelaide to look over plans submitted by six architects. The plan accepted involved a 710-tonne reinforced concrete dome, which had to be supported by 16 thin supports. The concrete is approximately 60 cm thick at the base supports, and 10 cm at the top. The dome supports itself, with no internal wall holding it up. It cost £200,000 to build. Thefoundation stone, laid on 2 May 1958 byPrime Minister of Australia,Robert Menzies, was originally part of the pier of theGreat Melbourne Telescope constructed in 1869 under the supervision of the Royal Society and transferred toMount Stromlo Observatory in the 1940s.
The building was named Becker House, for benefactor and Fellow of the Academy SirJack Ellerton Becker, in 1962. In 2000, it was renamed in honour of FellowJohn Shine, who donated one million dollars to renovate the dome.
The interior contains three floors: on the ground level, the main auditorium, theIan Wark Theatre, seats 156 people, theJaeger Room for functions and meetings, the Becker Council Meeting Room and offices; the upper level includes a gallery to the theatre and theAdolf Basser Library; and the basement houses storage for historical records of science in Australia.
In 2016, the dome appeared in the television documentary series about Australian modernist architectureStreets of Your Town presented byTim Ross.
On 20 January 2020 the Dome was seriously damaged by a hailstorm with smashed skylights and denting of the copper roof surface.[12]
The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of around 500 leading Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the academy. Twenty new Fellows may be elected every year.[13]
No more than two Fellows may be elected every three years on the basis of distinguished contributions to science by means other than personal research. A small number of distinguished foreign scientists with substantial connections to Australian science are elected as Corresponding Members.
Fellows are denoted by the lettersFAA (Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science) after their name.
When the academy was founded in 1954 there were 24 members, known as the Foundation Fellows:
| Name | Field |
|---|---|
| Keith Edward Bullen | Mathematics and geophysics |
| Frank Macfarlane Burnet | Virology and immunology (Nobel laureate) |
| David Guthrie Catcheside | Genetics |
| Thomas MacFarland Cherry | Mathematics |
| Ian Clunies Ross | Parasitology and science administration |
| Edmund Alfred Cornish | Statistics |
| John Eccles | Neuroscience (Nobel laureate) |
| Edwin Sherbon Hills | Geology |
| Leonard Huxley | Physics |
| Raymond James Wood Le Fèvre | Chemistry |
| Max Rudolf Lemberg | Biochemistry |
| Hedley Ralph Marston | Biochemistry |
| Leslie Martin | Physics |
| David Forbes Martyn | Physics |
| Douglas Mawson | Geology |
| Alexander John Nicholson | Entomology |
| Mark Oliphant | Physics |
| Joseph Lade Pawsey | Radiophysics and astronomy |
| James Arthur Prescott | Agricultural science |
| David Rivett | Chemistry |
| Thomas Gerald Room | Mathematics |
| Sydney Sunderland | Neuroscience |
| Oscar Werner Tiegs | Zoology |
| Richard van der Riet Woolley | Astronomy |
Source:[14]
Early career awards:[15]
Mid career awards:[26]
Career awards recognising lifelong achievement:[30]
Other awards include:
There are three otherlearned Academies in Australia, those of Humanities (Australian Academy of the Humanities), Social Science (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia) and Technological Sciences and Engineering (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering). The four Academies cooperate through theAustralian Council of Learned Academies, formed in 2010.
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Created: 16 March 2000, Last modified: 30 July 2024
16 March 2000, Last modified: 31 January 2025
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35°17′1.2″S149°7′21.4″E / 35.283667°S 149.122611°E /-35.283667; 149.122611
