Congratulations to Professor Gottfried Otting and Professor Michelle Coote on being awarded the Australian Laureate Fellowship from 2017-22.

The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme reflects the Commonwealth's commitment to support excellence in research by attracting world-class researchers and research leaders to key positions in Australia.

The objectives of the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme are to:


attract and retain outstanding researchers and research leaders of international reputation
support ground-breaking, internationally competitive research
provide an excellent research training environment and exemplary mentorship to nurture early-career researchers
forge strong links among researchers, the international research community and/or industry
expand Australia's knowledge base and research capability
enhance the scale and focus of research in the Science and Research Priorities.

Congratulations to Professor Michelle Coote for being awarded the ARC Georgina Sweet Fellows.

Professor Michelle Coote's Laureate project plans to study how to control chemical reactions via pH-switchable electrostatic catalysis. The catalysis developed in this project aims to accelerate and control the chemical reactions used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and materials, providing significant practical benefits to the industry. This project also offers an opportunity to train the next generation of chemists in the principals of computer-aided chemical design.

Dr Lara Malins was awarded first prize in the APS Dr. Bert L. Schram Award.

Congratulations to Dr Jamie Hicks on being awarded the Mollie Holman Medal in 2016.

The Mollie Holman Medal was established in 1998 and is named after the late pioneering physiologist Emeritus Professor Mollie Homan AO, in honour of her significant contributions to science and education. These medals are among the highest academic honours we bestow, and mark the recipients as researchers of the higher order.

Each year, a maximum of ten medals are awarded to doctoral students, who have fulfilled their degree requirements and presented their faculty's best thesis of the year.

The Vice-Chancellor's commendations for thesis excellence are also awarded annually to outstanding doctoral and research master's thesis excellence. A maximum of five Commendations are awarded each year.

These schemes are managed by Monash Graduate Education. Guidelines and information on the nomination and selection processes can be accessed from the MGE intranet.

Congratulations to Professor Gottfried Otting on being elected as an International Society for Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR) Fellow in 2016.

In 2008, the ISMAR Council established the Fellowship program to recognize members of the magnetic resonance community for notable achievements. Fellows are elected on the basis of their contributions to the field of magnetic resonance, both through the impact of their research on the magnetic resonance community itself and through their efforts to advance the appreciation of magnetic resonance in the broader scientific community. Fellowship in ISMAR carries with it an associated responsibility to serve as an advocate for the field of magnetic resonance.

Every year, the ISMAR Fellows Committee solicits nominations for new Fellows from current ISMAR members. The Fellows Committee then selects up to 10 candidates and conducts an election, with all current Fellows being asked to vote on the candidates. A maximum of four new Fellows are elected annually.

Dr Jamie Hicks was awarded the Reaxys PhD Prize in 2016 for his presentation titled Utilising Extremely Bulky Amide Ligands to Stabilise Highly Reactive Two-Coordinate Transition.

Dr. Hicks was awarded USD $2000 and joined a private network of 300+ talented chemists from around the world, the Reaxys Prize Club.

The Reaxys PhD Prize recognizes accomplished young chemists for their innovative and rigorous research. This global competition is open to anyone who is doing or has recently completed a PhD in any discipline of chemistry.