UNSW academics have been recognised with some of the Royal Society of NSW's most prestigious honours.
The oldest learned society in Australia has announced that five UNSW researchers have received major awards.
The top honour in the 2025 Royal Society of NSW (RSNSW) Awards , the James Cook Medal, was awarded to Professor Michelle Haber. Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao received the Edgeworth David Medal, while Professor Chuan Zhao, Scientia Professor Dennis Del Favero and Professor Richard Kingsford were also recognised.
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Dane McCamey congratulated the UNSW recipients.
"The Royal Society of NSW Awards are among Australia's most prestigious honours and it's wonderful to see our researchers recognised," Prof. McCamey said.
"We are very proud of the contributions these outstanding academics are making to improving the lives of people, our communities and the world we live in."
James Cook Medal
Professor Michelle Haber was awarded the James Cook Medal for her lifetime contribution and sustained, transformative impact on understanding and treating children's cancer. It's the Society's most prestigious award.
A world-renowned expert in childhood cancer, Prof. Haber is a conjoint professor at UNSW Medicine & Health and co-group leader of the Experimental Therapeutics and Molecular Oncology Group at the Children's Cancer Institute (where she was recently served as executive director).
For more than 40 years, she has contributed to breakthroughs in childhood cancer treatment both nationally and internationally. These include identifying new targets and drugs for children with neuroblastoma, establishing the minimal residual disease program that transformed diagnosis and treatment for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and conceiving and delivering the Zero Childhood Cancer Program in partnership with the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children's Hospital. The program is now recognised as a world-leading precision medicine initiative and is available to all children with cancer in Australia.
On receiving the James Cook Medal, Prof. Haber said: "I am truly honoured to receive the prestigious James Cook Medal from the Royal Society of NSW, a very special recognition. Over my career I've learnt that good ideas can take time to translate into reality, but by bringing the right people together in a collaborative environment, extraordinary things can be achieved.
"As we move into our new home, the Minderoo Children's Comprehensive Cancer Centre, where research, clinical care and education come together, we hope to transform the cancer journey for children and their families. I absolutely believe that one day we will cure all children with cancer."
Edgeworth David Medal
UNSW Engineering Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao was awarded the Edgeworth David Medal for her world-leading research in solar photovoltaics.
Prof. Hao is at the international forefront of developing cost-effective thin-film solar cell materials to harvest sunlight for future photovoltaic technology and applications. Thin-film solar cells are lighter and more flexible than traditional cells, with the potential for use along irregular surfaces and structures where weight is a concern.
She has made vital contributions to photovoltaics by providing unique solutions to improve the performance of emerging thin-film photovoltaic devices, and by developing efficient, inexpensive and environmentally friendly thin-film materials. Her work has significantly advanced global knowledge in the field and strengthened UNSW and Australia's leadership in photovoltaics.
RSNSW Liversidge Award and Lectureship in the Chemical Sciences
Professor Chuan Zhao from UNSW Science received the Liversidge Award and Lectureship in recognition of his distinguished research in the chemical sciences.
According to the Society, Professor Zhao has become Australia's leading electrochemist. His work has transformed the hydrogen industry. Through patented technologies and spinout companies, his breakthroughs have been translated into sustainable materials that improve the efficiency of water electrolysers used to produce hydrogen.
He is working to develop a new class of devices to split water and produce green hydrogen without fossil fuels, offering new electrochemical materials and methods for clean, sustainable energy. Cost-effective and environmentally safe production of green hydrogen will be an essential component of Australia's future energy economy, and Prof. Zhao's patented 3D-electrode technology is considered the global benchmark. It has been widely adopted by the hydrogen industry to reduce the cost of green hydrogen.
RSNSW Award in the Creative and Performing Arts
Scientia Professor Dennis Del Favero from UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture received the RSNSW Award in the Creative and Performing Arts.
Professor Del Favero is a distinguished and internationally acclaimed scholar in the visual arts. He has pioneered advances in intelligent visualisation systems and complex immersive environments across art, film, music, opera and theatre.
His research integrates artistic, conceptual and technological innovation in contemporary art using immersive aesthetics and AI. He has led major basic research projects whose outcomes have translated into field-leading applied research for museums, media, performing arts, mining and emergency services.
As Director of the iCinema Research Centre at UNSW, his work includes a 3D stage design prototyping system for Sydney Theatre Company and an immersive augmented reality display system for the Powerhouse Museum. His award-winning 3D visualisation technology has also been commercialised by the Australian and Chinese mining sectors to enhance hazard awareness and safety. He is currently developing the world's first AI-enabled, 3D-interactive visualisation of extreme fires for use by artists, fire scientists, emergency responders and broadcasters.
RSNSW Award in the Life Sciences
UNSW Science Professor Richard Kingsford received the Award in the Life Sciences for his transformational, long-term contribution to environmental science in NSW.
Regarded as one of Australia's leading experts on waterbird, wetland and river ecology, Professor Kingsford has spent more than 30 years restoring and protecting wetland ecosystems across NSW.
As director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW, he has worked extensively across the Murray-Darling and Lake Eyre Basins, making major contributions to understanding the effects of water resource developments on rivers and wetlands. This includes the impact of dams on downstream platypus populations and the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey, which is one of Australia's most important long-term datasets on the river and wetland health.
In his role as leader of the Wild Deserts project, Prof. Kingsford has reintroduced locally extinct mammals into Sturt National Park. This decade-long project in north-western NSW has already returned two of the targeted seven species of locally extinct mammals to the area - the Greater Bilby and crest-tailed mulgaras - with more reintroductions planned.
Read more about the 2025 Royal Society of NSW (RSNSW) Awards .
