Professor Tanya Monro has made important and pioneering advances in fundamental and applied aspects of microstructure optical fibres and photonics that have led to a number of ‘world firsts’.  For example, her research has led to the realisation of a whole new family of optical materials: the first non-silica holey fibres and the first all-glass microstructured fibres.  These fibres have unprecedented optical nonlinearities and properties that have only just begun to be exploited. 

Since early 2005, Professor Monro has held the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) Chair of Photonics at the University of Adelaide, having joined the University from University of Southampton.  Since that time her research group has grown to over 20 people, and she has driven the establishment and success of the University’s world-class, interdisciplinary Centre of Expertise in Photonics, the activities of which span the disciplines of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and the Biological Sciences.  

Professor Monro’s Fellowship project on light-matter interactions using optical fibres is ambitious and forward-looking, combining fundamental research in optics with work toward innovative and beneficial real-world applications.  A key focus of the research is to enable the development of beneficial applications such as water quality and fuel contamination monitoring, as well as protein and cell sensing applications in the biosciences.  

Professor Mark Tester is internationally recognised for his outstanding research work on the link between the physiology and genomics of plant nutrition. He received his B.Sc. at the University of Adelaide in 1984 and lectured at the University from 1990 - 1992 before going to Cambridge University in 1993. He returned to Australia as a result of the award of the Fellowship to work in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and became a team leader in the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) at the Waite campus.

The Federation Fellowship was awarded to Professor Tester for work on "Salinity tolerance and long-distance transport in cereals". The primary objective of Professor Tester's research is the generation of cereals which have increased tolerance of saline soils and to generate plants with altered concentrations of a range of nutrients in both leaves and grain. Research in this area has major agricultural significance in Australia.

Professor Alan Cooper, one of the world leaders in the field of fragmentary DNA research and Professor of Ancient Biomolecules at the University of Oxford, was awarded a prestigious five-year Federation Fellowship 2004 to establish an ancient DNA (aDNA) research laboratory at the University of Adelaide.

Professor Cooper completed a PhD in Biochemistry and Genetics at Victoria University of Wellington before moving to the United Kingdom. He became the youngest ever full Professor in the Department of Zoology at Oxford, and one of the youngest ever professors at the University. He was also the Director of the Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre. Professor Cooper brings unique expertise, built up over a 15-year research career, to Australia where fragmentary DNA research is still in a very embryonic state. Adelaide is well-placed to become an international centre for genetic paleoenvironmental research.

Ancient DNA research requires specialist facilities. The Federation Fellowship forms the core of a new research initiative at the University where a dedicated high-technology laboratory has been designed to serve as the focus for aDNA research in Australia. The success of this project testifies to the strength of the collaborative efforts of the University and organisations such as the South Australian Museum and the Botanic Gardens.

Previous University of Adelaide Federation Fellow