The David Sangster Polymer Science and Technology Achievement Award

David SangsterIn 1992 the Polymer Division created a new award, the Australian Polymer Science and Technology Achievement Award, to recognize the achievement of Australian polymer scientists while their careers are still developing. This was renamed the David Sangster Polymer Science and Technology Achievement Award at the 29th Australasian Polymer Symposium in Hobart in February 2007 in honour of David Sangster, an elder statesman of the Australasian polymer science community who has made exemplary contributions to the field of polymer radiation chemistry and emulsion polymerisation and has nurtured many generations of research students at the University of Sydney and many other universities.

The aim of this award is to encourage their work in polymer science or technology and to help them gain international recognition. This award is designed to fill a gap between the Treloar Prize and the senior awards of the Polymer Division, namely the Polymer Division Citations and the Australian Polymer Medal.

Nominations are sought for the award from people in industry, universities or government organizations working in fundamental or applied areas. If no applications judged to be of sufficient merit are received, the Division may chose not to award the David Sangster Award.

Previous Recipients

The previous recipients of the Award are:

  • 1992 Professor G Wallace, University of Wollongong
  • 1994 Dr. G Meijs, CSIRO, Division of Chemicals and Polymers
  • 1996 Dr. G. Spinks, University of Wollongong
  • 2000 Dr. A.K. Whittaker, University of Queensland
  • 2006 Professor F. Caruso, University of Melbourne
  • 2008 A/Professor M. Stenzel, University of New South Wales
  • 2009 A/Professor S. Perrier, Sydney University
  • 2011 A/Professor M. Coote, Australian National University
  • 2015 A/Professor K. Thurecht, University of Queensland
  • 2018 Dr Georgina Such, University of Melbourne
  • 2019 Dr James Blinco, Queensland University of Technology
  • 2022 Dr Peter Wich, University of New South Wales
  • 2024 Dr Matthew Griffith, University of South Australia

Conditions and Submissions

The conditions of the award are as follows:

  1. The award is made for individual achievement in the science or technology of polymers and to the landscape of Australian and New Zealand science.
  2. The recipient must be a corporate member of the RACI of at least 3 years standing and a current resident of Australia or New Zealand.
  3. At the closing date, the recipient should have 8 to 13 years full-time equivalent experience since gaining their highest academic qualification. Any relevant career interruptions will be taken into account.
  4. Submission is by application
  5. Each nominee must submit a 500 word statement describing his or her achievements in polymer science and technology, together with a curriculum vitae which includes a list of publications and patents.
  6. A nomination must be seconded by two RACI members and include the names of two referees who can comment on the nominees achievements. Referees may second nominations.
  7. The RACI Polymer Division shall appoint a sub-committee of RACI members to consider nominations and to make recommendations to it. No award shall be made if the standing committee considers that there is no candidate of sufficient merit.

Call date 16th May 2023

Closing date 30th September 2023

Nominations should be sent to Associate Professor Stuart Thickett stuart.thickett@utas.edu.au