Research Student Excellence Awards
Top graduate research students are recognised for their outstanding work.
Examiners are asked to indicate whether students should be awarded a Dean’s Commendation and/or University Research Medal when they make a recommendation on a student’s thesis as part of their examination.
Dean's Commendation for doctoral or master by research thesis excellence
All students that meet the criteria for a Dean’s Commendation will receive a letter of congratulations from the Dean of Graduate Studies. Acknowledgement of the Commendation will also be added to their academic transcript. The Research Student Handbook details the eligibility criteria for a Dean’s Commendation.
University Research Medal
Established in 2009, the University awards up to 15 doctoral research medals and up to 2 master by research medals for the highest quality theses (in the top 3%) examined each year. Medals are presented at the relevant April/May Graduation Ceremony in the year following the one for which the medal was awarded, or privately by appointment. Recipients are eligible for VIP seating for two guests. The Research Student Handbook details the eligibility criteria and selection process.
Previous winners of the University Research Medal
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2023
2023 Doctoral Research Medal winners
Student name School Dylan Henderson Elder Conservatorium of Music Catherine Robinson Adelaide Law School Ariane Gienger School of Social Sciences Catherine Storer Adelaide Dental School Laurine Kaul Adelaide Medical School Jean Jacques Noubiap Nzeale Adelaide Medical School Emma Solly Adelaide Medical School Syeda Fatima School of Public Health Kunsheng Hu School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials Xin Xu School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials Qiang Dan Gao School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Emily Mackie School of Agriculture, Food and Wine Roland Croft School of Computer Sciences Sarah French School of Physical Sciences Laura Nath School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences 2023 Master Research Medal winners
Student name School Alanah Varricchio School of Biomedicine William Allan School of Mathematical Sciences -
2022
2022 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student name School Emma Gregan Elder Conservatorium of Music Ruchira Ranaweera School of Agriculture, Food and Wine Hang Thi Nguyen School of Animal and Veterinary Science Matilda Handsley-Davis School of Biological Sciences Kamrul Hassan School of Chemical Engineering Xinlong Wang School of Computer Science Bing Yan School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Weijie Gao School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Zhi Lian School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Byron Guerroro Hinojosa School of Mechanical Engineering Emily Aldridge Adelaide Medical School Anna Emilie Williamson Adelaide Medical School Sarah Halliday School of Psychology Kate Obst School of Psychology 2022 master Research Medal winners
Student name School Jessica Pohlmann School of Humanities Shaykhah Abdulaziz K Almaghrabi School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering -
2021
2021 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student name School Mark Anthony Reyes Cayanan
School of Humanities
Daniel Pitman
Elder Conservatorium of Music
Ali Farajpour Ouderji
School of Mechanical Engineering
Md. Saiful Islam
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Laiquan Li
School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials
Jieqiong Shan
School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials
Zhi Tian
School of Computer Science
Lemma Negesa Bulto
Adelaide Nursing School
Annabel Sorby-Adams
Adelaide Medical School
Matthew William Richard Stevens
School of Psychology
Christina Frances Stothard
School of Psychology
David John Brunton
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Laura Burchill
School of Physical Sciences
Lauren Ashleigh Marie Murray
School of Physical Sciences
Alexander Theodore Salis
School of Biological Sciences 2021 master Research Medal winners
Student School Benjamin Nagy School of Humanities Marne Durnin School of Agriculture, Food and Wine -
2020
2020 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name School Larissa Boechat Chequer Australian School of Petroleum & Energy Resources Sunita Maria Christina De Sousa Adelaide Medical School Nhi Hin School of Biological Sciences Emily Ireland Adelaide Law School Huanyu Jin School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials Siew Yee Lim School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials Sonia Samanthi Mayakaduwage School of Agriculture, Food & Wine Madeline Leah Melrose Elder Conservatorium of Music Vikrant Minhas School of Biological Sciences Pedro Henrique Ribeiro Santiago Adelaide Dental School Stephanie Joan Thomson School of Humanities Blesson Mathew Varghese School of Public Health Anthony Joseph Vasileff School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials Max Robert Verdugo Ihl School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials Ossama Yahiaoui School of Physical Sciences 2020 master Research Medal winners
Student Name School Alec Hannaford Gunn School of Physical Sciences Ben Moore School of Mathematical Sciences -
2019
2019 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name School Matthew Aubert School of Agriculture, Food and Wine Skye Badger School of Animal & Veterinary Science Dylan Crismani Elder Conservatorium of Music Habtamu Tesfaye Edjigu School of Economics Andrew Jackson School of Humanities William M. Keyser School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials Cheryl Suwen Law School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials Linh Anh Le School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering Craig Liddicoat School of Biological Sciences Hanh Hong Nguyen School of Biological Sciences Keith Ransom School of Psychology Emily Skelly School of Biological Sciences Patrick Taggart School of Animal & Veterinary Science Rui Wang Adelaide Medical School Yi Yang School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering 2019 master Research Medal winners
Student Name School Kimberly Becker School of Mathematical Sciences James Biddle School of Physical Sciences -
2018
2018 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name School Camille Roulière School of Humanities John Feenstra School of Mathematical Sciences A.S. Nazmul Huda School of Electric and Electronic Engineering Phuong Dong Le School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering Jinlong Liu School of Chemical Engineering Azmeraw Amare Adelaide Medical School Robert Bryant Adelaide Medical School Caroline Giezenaar Adelaide Medical School Alistair Jukes Adelaide Medical School Qazi Haque School of Economics Sarah Moulds Adelaide Law School Alexander Chambers School of Physical Sciences Erinn Fagan-Jeffries School of Biological Sciences Phong Nguyen School of Physical Sciences Naomi Tucker School of Physical Sciences 2018 master Research Medal winners
Student Name School John McCarthy School of Mathematical Sciences Timothy Hersey School of Economics -
2017
2017 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Aidan Coleman
School of Humanities
Alessandro Lovat
School of Education
Alkiviadis Kontonikas-Charos
School of Physical Sciences
Atma Ivancevic
School of Biological Sciences
Clara Stockigt
School of Humanities
Dana Michalski
School of Psychology
Daniel Headland
School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Eleonora Dal Grande
School of Medicine
He Shuai
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Luke George
School of Physical Sciences
Jingrun Ran
School of Chemical Engineering
Md Julker Nine
School of Chemical Engineering
Nghia Trong
School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
2017 master Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Aoife McFadden
School of Physical Sciences
Lachlan Bubb
School of Mathematical Sciences
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2016
2016 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Alison Kirkby
School of Physical Sciences
Amina Omarova
Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC)
Bonnie Henderson
School of Physical Sciences
Carolyn Collins
School of Humanities
Francesco Arboit
School of Physical Sciences
Hannah Wardill
Adelaide School of Medicine (formally School of Medicine)
Hui Zhang
University of Adelaide Business School
Jana Sisnowski
School of Public Health
Jasmine Palmer
School of Social Sciences
Jingrun Ran
School of Chemical Engineering
Morgan Disspain
School of Biological Sciences
Rebecca Harper
Adelaide School of Medicine (formally School of Medicine)
Sara Borazjani
Australian School of Petroleum
Stephanie Begg
School of Biological Sciences
Yulong Yang
Australian School of Petroleum
2016 master Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Konstantin Shamray
Elder Conservatorium of Music
Rebecca Chao
School of Physical Sciences
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2015
2015 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Andrea Barclay
School of Nursing
Carly Osborn
School of Humanities
George Opie
School of Medical Sciences
Kieren Mitchell
School of Biological Sciences
Kuljit Singh
School of Medicine
Manuel Peter Samonte Solis
Law School
Mary Mather
School of Humanities
Matthew Doyle
School of Biological Sciences
Michelle Turvey
School of Biological Sciences
Mohammadreza Bonyadi
School of Computer Science
Phiala Shanahan
School of Physical Sciences
Rajeev Kumar Pathak
School of Medicine
Robert Klaebe
School of Physical Sciences
Tushar Kumeria
School of Chemical Engineering
Ye Wang
School of Chemical Engineering
2015 master Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Tianyu Xie
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Zhigang Lu
School of Computer Science
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2014
2014 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Simon Divecha
Business School
Liudmila Tarabashkina
Business School
Jillian Schedneck
School of Social Sciences
Edward Cleland
School of Medicine
Ashley Day
School of Psychology
Emma Kemp
School of Psychology
Rajiv Mahajan
School of Medicine
Nicola Vincent
School of Psychology
Ji Liang
School of Chemical Engineering
Seyed Mostafa Rahimi Azghadi
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Tao Zhang
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Owen Burnell
School of Biological Sciences
Sarah Catalano
School of Biological Sciences
Lun Cui
School of Biological Sciences
John Wilford
School of Physical Sciences
2014 master Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
William Crawford
School of Mathematical Sciences
Kerry Peek
School of Translational Health Sciences
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2013
2013 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Mayank Kaushik
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Justin MacDonald
The Australian School of Petroleum
Markus Wagner
Computer Science
Tongzhi Wu
School of Medicine
Elizabeth Harford-Wright
School of Medicine
Kara Holloway
School of Medicine
Marwa El-Ashmouni
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Jennifer Davidson
School of Agriculture Food and Wine
Claire Weekley
School of Chemistry and Physics
Dion Bennett
School of Agriculture Food and Wine
Ismail Ismail
School of Agriculture Food and Wine
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2012
2012 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name School Abbas Zeinijahromi Australian School of Petroleum Andrew Lowther Earth and Environmental Sciences Anna Leonard Medical Sciences Benjamin Whelan Physics Chaohua Dong Economics Christina Adler Earth and Environmental Sciences Daniela Ribeiro Dentistry Gabrielle Appleby Law Guiqin Cai Earth and Environmental Sciences Justin Hardi Mechanical Engineering Omid Kavehei Electrical and Electronic Engineering Ove Gustafsson Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Rowan Valentine Medicine -
2011
2011 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name School Samuel Cohen Applied Mathematics Olga Muzychenko Business School Stephen Warren-Smith Chemistry and Physics - Physics Nicholas Payne Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Shaghik Atakaramians Electrical and Electronic Engineering Andrew Lloyd Genetics Thomas Raimondo Geology and Geophysics Peter Burdon Law Kayla de la Haye Psychology Caroline Miller Public Health Lisa Yelland Public Health Andrew Foreman Surgery Zoe Jordan The Joanna Briggs Institute -
2010
2010 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Adriel Cheng
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Alan Goldstone
History and Politics - Politics
Alana Hansen
Public Health
Caroline Bull
Microbiology and Immunology
Danielle Moreau
Mechanical Engineering
Jing Ma
Medicine
Kate Vandyke
Medicine
Matthew Haskett
Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Nganying Serina Chan
Centre for Asian Studies
Peter Moran
Chemistry and Physics - Physics
Renate Faast
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Sally Gibson
Gender, Work and Social Inquiry
Sarah Biggs
Paediatrics
Simon Skrodal
Education
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2009
2009 doctoral Research Medal winners
Student Name
School
Anna Sheppard
Molecular & Biomedical Science
Catherine Leahy
Population Health & Clinical Practice
Clancy James
Chemistry & Physics
Dominique Wilson
Humanities
Fang Xia
Chemical Engineering
Hayley Stevenson
History & Politics
Joanna Drimatis
Elder Conservatorium of Music
Jonathan Carroll
Chemistry & Physics
Julie Stevens
Medicine
Mark Christensen
Business School
Mohsen Forouzangohar
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Sally Martin
Medicine
Soon Kong Lee
Mechanical Engineering