‘Photon girl’ Tanya Monro is new Defence Chief Scientist

Physicist Tanya Monro, dubbed ‘photon girl’ for her work with light, is the new defence chief scientist.

Tanya Monro will be the new defence chief scientist.

In today’s Higher Ed Daily Brief: first woman in defence science post, new milestone for research

Monro becomes chief defence scientist

The University of SA’s deputy vice-chancellor for research, Tanya Monro, has been appointed the new defence chief scientist, the first ever woman to hold the post.

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said Professor Monro would bring “her extensive experience working at senior levels in both industry and educational institutions to this integral and nationally significant role”.

Her field of expertise is photonics which, broadly speaking, is the science of using light for applications such as communications and sensing. She was the inaugural director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics at the University of Adelaide, where she became known as ‘photon girl’.

Professor Monro will take up her new role in March, replacing Alex Zelinsky who has left the role to become vice-chancellor of the University of Newcastle.

Commercialisation uplift

Australia’s universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research agencies have lifted their commercialisation performance with over 18,000 research contracts and collaborations in 2016, which generated income of over $1.9 billion.

Federal Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said the new figures, from the National Survey of Research Commercialisation showed a 64 per cent increase in research contracts and collaborations and an additional $513 million in income generated from when the Coalition came into office in 2013.