2021 CSIRO Alumni Scholarship in Physics

The 2021 CSIRO Alumni Scholarship ceremony was held online due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This year’s winner was Alison Campbell and the award was presented by Dr Sarah Pearce, Deputy Director CASS and acting Chief Scientist of CSIRO. Alison’s project is “Frontiers in Organic Photovoltaics” and she is planning to use the scholarship funds to travel to the University of Cambridge to use their ultrafast spectroscopic equipment.

The event was opened by Dr Scott Martin. Dr Bob Steele, Chair of the CSIRO Alumni NSW Chapter, then spoke about the history of the scholarship and how previous winners have benefited from the award.

Dr Sarah Pearce spoke about the impact that scholarships have on the careers of young scientists. She reflected on how scholarships and travel have helped her own career; receiving a PhD scholarship in the UK and then being able to travel to the Washington to the World Space Congress and later to the International Space University.

Dr Pearce commented on the need to build capability in the next generation of scientists and engineers, who will lead Australia through the challenges of the future.

“The scientists we invested in decades ago are the people now leading us through a pandemic – we need to make sure we are creating the future science leaders who will take the reins and build on their legacy,” she said.

As she presented the scholarship, Dr Pearce congratulated Alison on the award, and on her future contribution to Australian science.

“I’m sure you will go on to achieve great things, and I look forward to seeing the impact of your research on our energy future,” Dr Pearce finished.