The winners of the 2026 UWA Vice-Chancellor's Research Awards, which recognise the innovation, global impact and mentorship of researchers and support staff, were celebrated at a ceremony last night.
Professor Anna Nowak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), said the quality of applications received reflected the high calibre of UWA's academic and professional staff.
“Congratulations to all of our award winners, to those recognised with commendations, and indeed to all nominees,” Professor Nowak said.
“The recipients represent a broad range of disciplines, highlighting the strength of our research and its ability to deliver benefits for communities around the world, as well as advance discoveries in space and beyond.”
The award recipients and special commendations for each category are:
VC's Senior Research Award
Winner
Winthrop Professor Mohammed Bennamoun, Physics, Mathematics and Computing.
Special Commendation
Professor Pilar Blancafort, Medicine.
VC's Mid-Career Research Award
Joint winners
Professor Claudia Lagos Urbina, Physics, Mathematics and Computing / ICRAR
Professor Christopher Blyth, Medicine.
VC's Early-Career Research Award
Joint winners
Dr Yiran Liu, Engineering
Dr David Preece, Psychological Science.
Special Commendation
Dr Fiona Panther, Physics, Mathematics and Computing.
VC's Award for Collaborative Indigenous Research Partnerships
Winning team
Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes, Medicine; Ms Annette Stokes, Earth and Oceans; Associate Professor Caitlin Wyrwoll, Human Sciences; Dr Sarah Bourke, Earth and Oceans; Dr Aleksey Sadekov, Earth and Oceans; Professor Desiree Silva, Medicine.
Special Commendation team
Professor Michael Douglas; Professor Samantha Setterfield; Dr Mitchell Cowan, Agriculture and Environment; Dr Claire Doll, Business; Miss Rebecca Dobbs, Agriculture and Environment; Mr Victor Cooper, Ms Connie Nayinggul, Ms Margaret Rawlinson, Ms Bernadette Calma.
VC's Award for Research Technical Support Excellence
Winning team
Mr Chris Bording, Ms Lucie Ketelsen, Mr Jack Bryant, Ms Sarah Matheson, Mr Richard Larkin, Miss Nina Lamplough, Mr Goran Mitrovic, University IT.
VC's Indigenous-led Research Award
Winner
Professor Clint Bracknell, Music.
VC's Award for Research Mentorship
Joint winners
Dr Kate Averis, Humanities
Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg, Medicine.
Special Commendation
Dr Saeed Anwar, Physics, Mathematics and Computing.
VC's Award for HDR Supervision
Joint winners
Associate Professor Ionat Zurr, Design.
Associate Professor Yu Suk Choi, Human Sciences.
Special Commendation
Dr Catherine Noske, Humanities.
VC's Award for Research Impact and Innovation
Winning team
Professor Girish Dwivedi, Medicine; Associate Professor Barry Cense, Engineering; Dr Hadi Afsharan, Medicine; Winthrop Professor Mohammed Bennamoun, Physics, Mathematics and Computing.
Special Commendation teams
Professor Phil Watson, Earth and Oceans; Professor Nicole Jones, Earth and Oceans; Dr Scott Draper, Engineering; Mr Chris Pestell, Earth and Oceans.
Professor Donna Geddes, Dr Sharon Perrella, Dr Zoya Gridneva, Dr Xuehua Jin, Ms Jacki McEachran, Dr Lisa Stinson, Dr Ching Tat Lai, Miss Ashleigh Warden, Mrs Simran Sandhu, Miss Sarah Abelha, Molecular Sciences.
VC's Award for Research Support Excellence
Winning team
Ms Helen Tanner, Ms Sonali Dodangoda, Mr Jason Rickersey, Mr Sam Yeo, Mrs Hinke Visser, Miss Nakeesha Radice, Office of Research.
Special Commendation
Mrs Aline De Souza Andrade, Agriculture and Environment.