ARC Australian Laureate Fellows and Federation Fellows

Australian Laureate Fellowships

The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme is open to applications from outstanding researchers of international repute. It encourages proposals involving Australian and international researchers by providing eligible Australian Laureate Fellows with Project Funding in addition to a salary supplement and salary-related (on-cost) support. Visit the Research Branch for more information about applying for and Australian Laureate Fellowship.

Tony Thomas

Professor Thomas is the Elder Professor of Physics and Director of the Centre for the Structure of Matter (CSSM). He studies the structure and properties of fundamental matter, from the soup of sub-atomic quarks and gluons present at the birth of our universe to the nuclear reactions in our Sun that make life possible on Earth. He is one of Australia's most highly-cited scientists, with a phenomenal track-record of published discoveries that have impacted and influenced our interpretation of the particles that make up atoms. Professor Thomas's intellectual talent has changed the way ideas about nuclear physics are approached, and the way subsequent experiments that can be conducted to obtain invaluable but elusive proof. Such advances have allowed progress at the world's leading facilities such as CERN to continue.

Professor Thomas leads the University of Adelaide's involvement with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-Scale. This new centre will bring together international experimental and theoretical particle physicists to focus a worldwide effort in the era of discovery that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will bring.

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Federation Fellows

The Federation Fellowships scheme ceased in 2008. Federation Fellowships were awarded to researchers of international standing who play a leadership role in building Australia's international research capacity. The University of Adelaide is proud of our previous Federation Fellows.

Tanya Monro

Professor Monro has made important and pioneering advances in fundamental and applied aspects of microstructure optical fibres and photonics that have led to a number of ‘world firsts’.  Her research has led to the realisation of a whole new family of optical materials: the first non-silica holey fibres and the first all-glass microstructured fibres. Since then she has driven the establishment and success of the Centre of Expertise in Photonics, and is the Director of the Institute for Photonic and Advanced Sensing.  

Mark Tester

The Federation Fellowship was awarded to Professor Tester for work on "Salinity tolerance and long-distance transport in cereals", which aims to generate cereals which have increased tolerance of saline soils and to generate plants with altered concentrations of a range of nutrients in both leaves and grain. Prof Tester now works in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and is a team leader in the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) at the Waite campus.

Alan Cooper

Professor Cooper, one of the world leaders in the field of fragmentary DNA research and Professor of Ancient Biomolecules at the University of Oxford, was awarded a prestigious five-year Federation Fellowship 2004 to establish the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD).

Ancient DNA research requires specialist facilities. The Federation Fellowship forms the core of new research initiatives where a dedicated high-technology laboratory has been designed to serve as the focus for ancient DNA research in Australia. The success of this project testifies to the strength of the collaborative efforts of the University and organisations such as the South Australian Museum and the Botanic Gardens.

Graeme Hugo

Professor Hugo, was the first researcher based at a South Australian university to be awarded a Federation Fellowship. He has an international reputation in the field of population change, mobility and their effects. Since 1995 he has been the Director of GISCA - The National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems. Professor Hugo was awarded his Fellowship to undertake research on "The new paradigm of international migration to and from Australia: dimensions, causes and implications".

 

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NHMRC Australia Fellowships

The purpose of the NHMRC Australia Fellowship scheme is to provide support for the most outstanding health and/or medical researchers both nationally and internationally to undertake research that is of major importance in its field, and of significant benefit to Australian health and medical research. Click here for more information on Australia Fellowships.

 

James Paton

Professor Paton has an international reputation as a leader in bacterial pathogenesis and infectious diseases research. He has been at the forefront of his field for over 2 decades, and is a prolific publisher, with articles appearing in some of the world’s most respected and high-impact journals including Nature Medicine, Annual Review of Microbiology, and Nature. Professor Paton has worked with the World Health Organisation, in the development of improved therapeutic and preventative strategies, and been awarded research funding exceeding $43M. Combined with his considerable collaborative experience, this has led to major contributions to knowledge of significant importance to human health. Professor Paton’s Fellowship will allow him to accelerate his research into new generation vaccines and therapeutic approaches for bacterial infections.