Professors Terry Flew, Catherine Stampfl and Geordie Williamson were among 17 fellowship recipients nationally. Over their five-year fellowships, the Sydney awardees will conduct world-class research in digital media, materials science and pure mathematics.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Emma Johnston congratulated the recipients on their success.
“These prestigious fellowships not only recognise the excellence of our academics but also highlight the
University of Sydney’s commitment to fostering cutting-edge research that addresses critical societal challenges and advances knowledge across all disciplines. I congratulate the recipients and eagerly
anticipate the remarkable contributions they will make during their Fellowships.”
Professor Terry Flew, from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, was awarded more than $3.1m for a
project that will investigate the role of digital media in enabling trust or promoting mistrust. With
declining confidence in social and political institutions linked to the rise of populism, misinformation and civic disengagement, the project will explore mediated trust at societal, institutional and interpersonal levels.
The research will leverage a novel framework of ‘ideas, interests and institutions’ applied to case studies
from news media, digital platforms, corporations and the World Health Organization; and develop
innovative methods for analysing the relationship between communications and trust. The research will
deliver world-first integrative approaches for Australian policymakers, industry and regulators to address crises of trust and our digital futures.
Professor Catherine Stampfl, from the Faculty of Science and the University of Sydney Nano Institute,
was awarded more than $2.9m as the recipient of the ‘Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship’ to
establish a new and powerful computational materials research platform that uses artificial intelligence
to help in the understanding and design of tailored structures with improved functionalities for
tomorrow’s materials.
By enabling the development of novel catalysts needed for the generation of green fuels and chemicals,
and developing quantum devices, this project promises timely support for Australia’s commitment to
renewable energies, low emissions and our emerging quantum future.
Professor Geordie Williamson, also from the Faculty of Science, was awarded more than $3.3m to
increase our understanding of the fundamental symmetries of discrete structures, like those present in
computer science and cryptography. Professor Williamson is the Director of the University of Sydney
Mathematical Research Institute.
His research will generate transformative new knowledge in pure mathematics concerning the
representations of finite groups, problems that have been unsolved for more than a century.
Expected outcomes of this fellowship include the development of new algorithms to compute beyond
what is currently possible in this field. Benefits will include the training of Australian scientists in
sophisticated mathematical theory and large-scale computation.