The Tall Poppy Campaign was created in 1998 by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) to recognise and celebrate Australian intellectual and scientific excellence and to encourage younger Australians to follow in the footsteps of our outstanding achievers. It has made significant achievements towards building a more publicly engaged scientific leadership in Australia.
The Tall Poppy Campaign recognises the achievements of Australian scientists through the prestigious annual Young Tall Poppy Science Awards. The Campaign’s Tall Poppies engages the winners of Young Tall Poppy Science Awards (‘Tall Poppies’) in activities to promote interest in science among school students and teachers, as well as an understanding and appreciation of science in the broader community.
2022 Applications Now Closed
Applications for the 2022 Young Tall Poppy Awards have now closed and all applicants should be receiving an acknowledgement shortly.
All applicants will be advised of the outcome of the respective State Selection Panels which generally meet between June and September as arranged.
Dates and venues for Award Ceremonies will be advised closer to the time.
2022 Young Tall Poppy Mentoring Sessions
The 2022 Tall Poppy Mentoring program will commence on 18th July.
The pilot program in 2021 was very successful with over 160 attendees participating and hearing from experienced researchers about how to develop their career and some of their stories about their journey.
These 1 Hr sessions are informal and conversational, and we ask the presenters – experienced Tall Poppy Alumni and researchers to talk about issues such as advice to your younger self, leadership in science and how to maintain the spark of enthusiasm the start of their career and/or
You are free to attend as many sessions as you like.
Session Details and Registration - NB Sessions are Sydney Times
- Monday 18th July - Professor Michael Milford
- Session Details – 1 – 2 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Michael Milford
Michael conducts interdisciplinary research at the boundary between robotics, neuroscience and computer vision and is a multi-award winning educational entrepreneur. His research models the neural mechanisms in the brain underlying tasks like navigation and perception to develop new technologies in challenging application domains such as all-weather, anytime positioning for autonomous vehicles. He currently holds the positions of Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, Joint Director of the QUT Centre for Robotics, QUT Professor, Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow and is a former Chief Investigator at the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.
- Monday 25th July – Associate Professor Nikki Verrills
- Session Details – 1 – 2 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Nikki
Associate Professor Nikki Verrills is a cancer biologist at the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI). Her research interests’ centre on understanding the molecular changes that occur as a normal cell becomes cancerous, and as cancer cells become resistant to therapy. Her major focus is on leukaemia and breast cancer. She is currently an ongoing academic (teaching and research) at the University of Newcastle, and Deputy Leader of the HMRI Precision Medicine Program. A/Prof Verrills has a passion for mentoring the next generation of researchers. She has supervised 12 PhD students to completion; 8 Honours students; and 10 postdocs, and is both an official and ad hoc mentor for numerous early-career researchers. She is also a wife and mother of two daughters and is passionate about (trying!) to maintain work-life balance. (Complete Bio on registration page). https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/nikki-verrills, https://hmri.org.au/researchers/nikki-verrills
- Monday 15th August – Associate Professor Misty Jenkins (Date and Time TBC)
- Session Details – 3 – 4 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Misty
Associate Professor Misty Jenkins, BSc(Hons) Melb PhD Melb, is Laboratory Head of the Immunology Division at WEHI.
Dr Misty Jenkins is a NHMRC fellow and laboratory head at the Walter Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, in Melbourne. Misty researches in the area of immunology and cell biology, and understanding how immune cells kill cancer cells. She has been a Fellow of The University of Cambridge, was the 2012 National Association of Research Fellows Investigator of the year, was awarded the L’Oreal for Women in Science Fellowship in 2013, and was awarded the Tall Poppy of the year award for science (Victoria) in 2015. (Complete Bio on registration page).
- Tuesday 23rd August – Dr Kate Schroder
- Session Details – 1 – 2 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Kate .
Professor Kate Schroder heads the Inflammasome Laboratory and is Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland, as an NHMRC Leadership Fellow. Kate’s graduate studies defined novel macrophage activation mechanisms and her subsequent postdoctoral research identified surprising inter-species divergence in the inflammatory programs of human versus mouse macrophages. As an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow in Switzerland, Kate trained with the pioneer of inflammasome biology, Jürg Tschopp. The IMB Inflammasome Laboratory, which Kate heads, investigates the molecular mechanisms governing inflammasome activity and caspase activation, the cellular mediators of inflammasome-dependent inflammation, and mechanisms of inflammasome inhibition by cellular pathways and small molecule inhibitors.
Moree detailed Bio information is available on the UQ Researchers page here
- Thursday 8th September – Dr Ian McLeod - Note New Date and Time
- Session Details – 12 Md - 1 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Ian,
Originally from New Zealand, Ian completed his BSc and MSc through the University of Auckland. Ian’s PhD research focussed on the impacts of sea surface temperatures on the early life history stages of coral reef fish and the consequences on these impacts on the connectivity of reef fish populations.
Since graduating in 2015 Ian has worked at JCU as a researcher and communications manager. He is now the Assistant Director at the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER) at JCU, and leads a range of projects focused on marine habitat conservation and restoration.(Complete Bio on registration page).
- Tuesday 20th September – Dr Kylie Dunning
- Session Details – 1 – 2 pm
- Registration Link here (includes Zoom details) - Click here for Registration
About Kylie,
Dr Kylie Dunning leads the Reproductive Success team within the Robinson Research Institute and the School of Biomedicine at the University of Adelaide. Kylie is a reproductive biologist who aspires to better understand the biology that underpins successful development of the oocyte (egg) and early embryo. Dr Kylie Dunning has made internationally renowned contributions to reproductive biology. She is an emerging leader and trailblazer in transdisciplinary research.
Find a Young Tall Poppy
To find a Young Tall Poppy by research area use a key word in the search box on this page.
