Dr Maria Luisa Buzzo of Swinburne University of Technology has been awarded the 2026 AIP Bragg Gold Medal for outstanding PhD research into the origins and evolution of ultra-diffuse galaxies, for the thesis entitled "The Origins of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies"

Ultra-diffuse galaxies are faint, low-surface-brightness galaxies whose origins have challenged standard models of galaxy formation. Luisa’s research has provided new insights into how these unusual galaxies form, evolve and interact with dark matter.

During her PhD, Luisa developed methods specifically designed to study ultra-diffuse galaxies, combining stellar populations, globular cluster systems and environmental information across large samples.

Her research showed that ultra-diffuse galaxies do not originate through a single formation process, but instead follow at least two distinct evolutionary pathways.

She also investigated dark matter-deficient dwarf galaxies, identifying common observable characteristics and developing a method to help find similar systems in current and future astronomical surveys. Her work also identified a likely progenitor system, providing an observational link to a possible formation mechanism for these unusual galaxies.

Working with data spanning ultraviolet to radio wavelengths, Luisa led much of the analysis and scientific interpretation underpinning the research and was first author on eight refereed papers arising from her thesis.

Her work provides new ways to test models of how low-mass galaxies form and evolve, while helping astronomers investigate the role of dark matter in shaping galaxies.

Luisa is one of 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

Professor Kirrily Rule of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Professor Maria Parapilly of Flinders University have been awarded the 2026 AIP Women in Leadership Medal.

The award recognises outstanding leadership by a physicist in academia, industry or government who has inspired or mentored early career physicists and/or developed more equitable workplaces in Australia.

Professor Kirrily Rule

For internationally recognised leadership in condensed matter physics and exceptional service to the field, mentorship of early career researchers, and true advocacy to make Australian physics communities more equitable.

Professor Rule is an internationally recognised physicist whose leadership spans research, mentorship and service. A former AIP National Honorary Secretary, she has led major conferences and mentored the next generation of physicists, including supervising 15 PhD students to completion.

She has championed more inclusive physics communities through initiatives including conference codes of conduct, childcare support and mentoring programs.

Professor Maria Parapilly

For exceptional leadership in advancing gender equity and inclusion, increasing participation among girls and underrepresented cohorts in physics by building their confidence to pursue physics at both school and university levels, and upskilling physics teachers to prepare students for a physics-driven STEM workforce.

Professor Parapilly has led programs reaching almost 2,000 girls and hundreds of teachers across Australia. Her work includes the STEM Enrichment Academy and professional development to strengthen physics teaching, with a particular focus on regional and underrepresented communities.

Kirrily and Maria are among 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

James Monro of The Australian National University and George Sanamyan of the University of Adelaide have been awarded the 2026 AIP Thomas H Laby Medal, recognising outstanding Honours or Masters research in physics.

The Thomas H Laby Medal is awarded annually for the best Honours or Masters thesis submitted by a student from an Australian university. This year, the medal has been awarded to two recipients.

James Monro, Australian National University

James has been awarded the medal for his thesis:

“Searching for Axion-Like Particles with Perturbed Alkali-Noble Comagnetometers”

His research explores the search for axion-like particles, hypothetical particles that could help physicists investigate some of the fundamental questions in particle physics.

George Sanamyan, University of Adelaide

George has been awarded the medal for his thesis:

“Dark Matter in Randall-Sundrum Model”

His research examines dark matter within the Randall-Sundrum model, contributing to theoretical efforts to understand one of the major unresolved questions in modern physics.

Congratulations to James and George on this recognition of their early research achievements.

James and George are among 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

Dr Theresa Fruth of the University of Sydney has been awarded the 2026 AIP Ruby Payne-Scott Award for Excellence in Early-Career Research for her contributions to the global search for dark matter: for outstanding contributions to experimental dark matter searches and leadership ensuring Australia’s position in the next generation of global dark matter experiments.

Dr Fruth is an internationally recognised expert in liquid xenon time-projection chamber technology used in experiments searching for dark matter.

Early in her postdoctoral career at University College London, she took on a technical coordination role with the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment, leading a team of up to 20 scientists, engineers and technicians to deliver an integrated detector at an underground laboratory in South Dakota.

Her work on LZ has included leading simulations that underpinned the experiment’s landmark dark matter search results. Her technical leadership was recognised with the Institute of Physics Astroparticle Physics Early Career Prize in 2020 and the LZ Good Citizenship Award in 2021.

Dr Fruth is now helping secure Australia’s role in the next generation of international dark matter research. She was lead editor of the XLZD Design Book, the strategic roadmap for a future global dark matter experiment, and was elected to its ten-member Executive Board.

In Australia, she leads the light-sensor working group for SABRE South, the first underground dark matter experiment in the Southern Hemisphere.

Theresa is one of 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

The AIP is offering a limited number of  AIP Student Travel Awards to attend the 2026 AIP Congress in Sydney, 7-11 December. To apply, you must have been a financial student member of the AIP for at least six months prior to the deadline and be giving a presentation (oral or poster) as part of the scientific program.

Applications close 31 October 2026.

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Join or upgrade to full membership now to ensure that you are eligible for support to attend future events. In addition to discounted registration to AIP events, financial members of the AIP can also receive physical copies of Australian Physics magazine, voting rights and many other member benefits.

Daniel O’Keeffe of the VicPhysics Teachers’ Network Inc. has been awarded the 2026 AIP Education Medal for his longstanding contribution to physics teaching, teachers and students in Victoria.

Dan receives the Award for outstanding service to the Physics teaching community, through the provision of excellent resources and services for teachers and students and through the continuous maintenance of and reporting on statistics on student participation in physics.

Dan has supported the physics teaching community for almost five decades, beginning with service on Physics Standing Committees in 1977. He later served on the AIP Victorian Branch Education Sub-committee and is currently Honorary Secretary of the VicPhysics Teachers’ Network Inc.

His contribution has ranged from helping develop the Extended Practical Investigation for the Victorian physics curriculum to organising Physics Teacher Conferences and professional development for beginning and returning physics teachers.

Since 2002, Dan has published a free online newsletter for secondary teachers, now reaching more than 1,500 subscribers, and established the VicPhysics Teachers’ Network website as a repository of teaching and learning resources.

He has also helped expand the Girls in Physics breakfasts from a single Melbourne event to an annual program encompassing Melbourne and regional Victoria, connecting female secondary students with women studying and working in physics-related fields.

Since 1976, Dan has maintained and analysed statistics on participation in secondary school science, providing a valuable long-term picture of physics participation and student pathways.

Dan is one of 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

Professor Andrew Dzurak of UNSW Sydney has been awarded the 2026 AIP Walter Boas Medal for Excellence in Research for pioneering advances in silicon-based quantum computing,  demonstrating new methods to control, scale, and manufacture high-fidelity spin qubits in semiconductor devices compatible with conventional chip-fabrication technology 

Professor Dzurak’s research focuses on building quantum computers using the same semiconductor technologies that produce today’s microchips, potentially enabling millions of quantum bits, or qubits, to be integrated onto a single silicon chip.

In recent years, his team has addressed several major barriers to making this technology practical.

In 2024, Professor Dzurak’s team reported in Nature that silicon qubits could operate reliably above 1 kelvin, potentially reducing the cryogenic cooling required for large-scale quantum computers.

His team has also tackled the challenge of controlling millions of qubits. Research published in Nature in 2025 demonstrated that classical electronics operating at cryogenic temperatures could control silicon qubits without compromising their performance, offering a pathway towards scalable control systems.

In further research published in Nature in 2025, the team demonstrated that silicon qubits manufactured using standard semiconductor foundry tooling could operate with fidelities above 99 per cent, an important threshold for quantum error correction.

Together, these advances are helping move silicon quantum computing from laboratory research towards practical, scalable machines.

Andrew is one of 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

Dr Kathryn Ross of Curtin University has been awarded the 2026 Australian Institute of Physics Physics Communication Award for helping reshape perceptions of scientists and highlighting the contributions of women and collaboration in science.

Dr Ross was recognised for shifting the perception of scientists away from the traditional “lone male genius” narrative towards a more accurate, relatable, gender-diverse and engaging picture of how science happens.

Through her science communication, she highlights the work of women in science while showing that scientific progress is rarely the work of one individual, but is built through collaboration, diverse perspectives and teams working together.

The AIP Physics Communication Award recognises and encourages outstanding communication of physics to the Australian public. It celebrates physicists who make physics accessible and engaging and help strengthen public understanding of the field.

Congratulations to Dr Ross on this recognition and her contribution to changing how Australians see scientists and science.

Dr Ross is one of 11 members recognised with 2026 AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication. Read more about the 2026 AIP Award recipients.

The 2026 AIP Awards will be presented at AIP Congress 2026 in Sydney this December.

Congratulations to the following members who have been recognised with AIP Awards for outstanding accomplishments in research, leadership, education and communication.

Professor Andrew Dzurak (University of New South Wales Sydney / Diraq) has been awarded the Walter Boas Medal for Excellence in Research, recognising “pioneering research advancing silicon-based quantum computing, demonstrating new methods to control, scale, and manufacture high-fidelity spin qubits in semiconductor devices compatible with conventional chip-fabrication technology.” Read more.

Distinguished Professor Susan M. Scott (Australian National University) has been awarded the Harrie Massey Medal and Prize, recognising “groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of general relativity, cosmology and gravitational wave science, and for her leading role in Australia’s participation in the first detection of gravitational waves.” Read more.

Professor Maria Parappilly (Flinders University) has been awarded the Women in Leadership Medal, recognising her “exceptional leadership in advancing gender equity and inclusion, increasing participation among girls and underrepresented cohorts in physics by building their confidence to pursue physics at both school and university levels, and upskilling physics teachers to prepare students for a physics-driven STEM workforce.” Read more.

Professor Kirrily Rule (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) has been awarded the Women in Leadership Medal, recognising her “internationally recognised leadership in condensed matter physics and exceptional service to the field, mentorship of early career researchers, and true advocacy to make Australian physics communities more equitable.” Read more.

Dr Sophie Zhao (Australian National University) will be touring Australia in 2027 as the Women in Physics Lecturer, sharing her research enabling quantum technologies using correlated light. Read more.

Dr Kathryn Ross (Curtin University) has been awarded the Physics Communication Award, recognising her work “shifting the perception of scientists away from a ‘long-male-genius’ narrative and towards a more accurate, relatable, gender diverse, and engaging narrative, highlighting the work of women in science and the importance of collaboration.” Read more.

Mr Daniel O’Keeffe (VicPhysics Teachers' Network Inc.) has been awarded the Education Medal, recognising his “outstanding service to the Physics teaching community, through the provision of excellent resources and services for teachers and students and through the continuous maintenance of and reporting on statistics on student participation in physics.” Read more.

Dr Theresa Fruth (University of Sydney) has been awarded the Ruby Payne-Scott Award for Excellence in Early-Career Research, recognising “outstanding contributions to experimental dark matter searches and leadership ensuring Australia’s position in the next generation of global dark matter experiments.”

Dr Maria Luisa Buzzo (Swinburne University) has been awarded the Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics, recognising the most outstanding PhD thesis in physics or its applications by a student from an Australian University, for the thesis titled: “The Origins of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies.” Read more.

Mr George Sanamyan (University of Adelaide) has been awarded the Thomas H Laby Medal, recognising the most outstanding Honours or Masters thesis in physics by a student from an Australian University, for the thesis titled: “Dark Matter in Randall-Sundrum Model.” Read more.

Mr James Monro (Australian National University) has been awarded the Thomas H Laby Medal, recognising the most outstanding Honours or Masters thesis in physics by a student from an Australian University, for the thesis titled: “Searching for Axion-Like Particles with Perturbed Alkali-Noble Comagnetometers.” Read more.

These awards will be presented at the AIP Congress in December.

The Editors of Australian Physics magazine are seeking a new member of the editorial team to assist with content planning, production, and responding to queries.

Please send expressions of interest to editors@aip.org.au.