Mathematics professor Nalini Joshi named NSW Scientist of the Year
Nalini Joshi believes mathematics is not only about measurements and calculations but is also one way humanity can create ideas and solve some of the universe’s biggest problems.
Mathematics professor Nalini Joshi passionately believes mathematics is not only about measurements and calculations but is one way humanity can create ideas and solve some of the universe’s biggest problems.
“I want to reach out to all the young people who may be daunted by the future and say that it is possible to find answers to questions about the universe by shining the clear light of mathematics on them,” the University of Sydney academic said.
Professor Joshi says being awarded 2025 NSW Scientist of the Year is not only a recognition of her own work but also an important recognition “that maths is an indelible part of science”.
“That kind of recognition is not only long overdue for mathematics in Australia but also the nature of mathematics and how it works in unlocking certain doors for science,” she said.
Professor Joshi, who has spent decades working on nonlinear mathematical problems, was Sydney University’s first female professor of mathematics in 2002, but she says it took her a long time to even realise it.
“I was just looking forward to being able to do the work I wanted to do and to shape applied mathematics here and reach the very brilliant students we tend to attract here. And make it more inviting for people from under-represented backgrounds like myself,” said Professor Joshi, who was born in Burma (now Myanmar) and moved to Australia as a child.
She has developed new mathematical approaches to nonlinear problems, which are unpredictable phenomena that occur in real life, such as how light signals travel in optical fibres and the formation of large surface waves called rogue waves in deep water.
“How do you predict how a virus moves through a population where you may not have conventional tools to describe it?” she said. “I have contributed new tools that go outside of conventional toolboxes.
“It takes time to notice that there is a problem that escapes the conventional tools and then to work out creative new imagined methods to get over those problems. This is why I work in mathematics. It’s a treasure hunt for new ideas, that’s what I do, and I know there are some very, very big problems facing us in the future, like climate change.”
Professor Joshi has mentored more than 30 researchers and established Science in Australia Gender Equity in 2022 to support women in research.
“I would be very uncomfortable doing this work and not being able to bring along other people with me. So mentoring, collaborative leadership, communicating with the next generation, these are all things I feel are deeply important.”
She said to any young people who wondered how they could have an impact when the world seemed so daunting: “If we’re brave enough to look at a problem and make inroads into how we might be able to solve (it) with evidence-based ideas, I think there is a hope out there.”
During the past few years she has been advocating for more mathematical capability in cyber security in Australia to prepare for the advent of extremely powerful quantum computers.
She will receive a trophy and $60,000 in prizemoney.
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