Professor Elizabeth New OAM (2000)
Professor Elizabeth (Liz) New OAM (2000) is one of Australia’s leading inorganic chemists who is internationally recognised for her research and teaching excellence. She is regularly invited to present at major international conferences and has won many national and international awards. Liz works to bring together researchers from different disciplines to discuss innovative ways to approach ideas and to lead new initiatives.
Liz enrolled into Year 5 at Â鶹ÊÓƵ School in 1994 and for her whole schooling she was consistently ranked ‘Highest Achiever’ at School. After school, Liz undertook her BSc (Adv, Hons1 and University Medal) and MSc at the University of Sydney before completing her PhD studies at the University of Durham (UK). She then worked for two years at the University of California, Berkeley as a Research Fellow, before returning to Sydney. In 2021 she was the ARC DECRA Fellow1 at the University of Sydney and later a Senior Lecturer and Westpac Research Fellow. In 2021 Liz became a Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney.
Liz and her team of 18 researchers are currently studying light-emitting molecules and their applications, including the fluorescent tracking of molecules in the body, to better understand health and disease. In furthering her research she pioneered the development of new molecular imaging tools to study the activity of anti-cancer drugs and to understand how oxidative stress is related to the diseases associated with ageing.
Passionate about university teaching, Liz has served on a number of national committees that aim to improve opportunities for future generations of scientists. She has had a major role in helping to shape the scientific leaders of tomorrow by establishing networks that promote development and support for scientists and academics.
Some of Liz’s awards2 for research and teaching include the 2016 RACI Chemistry Educator of the Year Award, the 2017 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship (awarded annually to one researcher internationally), the 2018 Australian Museum Eureka Prize ‘3M Emerging Leader’, the 2019 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, and the Chemosensors Young Investigator Award in 2020.
The statement released upon her winning the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes for excellence in the fields of research and innovation, leadership and science engagement, read: “Regarded as one of Australia’s brightest young inorganic chemists, Dr Elizabeth New’s leadership extends beyond her research to encompass teaching, outreach and mentoring. Committed to developing the next generation of scientists, she has built a strong network of collaborators and works tirelessly to improve research culture and environments.”
In 2020 Liz was awarded an inaugural . When asked how her Â鶹ÊÓƵ School education play a role in her life she said: “The skills in writing and in oral presentations that I use every day are skills that I learnt and developed at Â鶹ÊÓƵ School. At Â鶹ÊÓƵ School we were also taught that we could make an impact in any area in which we chose to work, and I think that mindset (which is unfortunately rare) was important in my decision to pursue studies in science and a career in academia, rather than other careers commonly seen as more lucrative.”
At the for her "service to science as a researcher in chemical biology and molecular imaging".
Footnotes
1. ARC DECRA is the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award awarded by the Australian Research Council.
2. A list of Liz’s many awards and research projects can be seen .