The conference, which is closing in on its 70th anniversary, brings together academics from across Australia and further afield for four days of thought-provoking discussions spanning the world of mathematics.

On opening the event at La Trobe鈥檚 Agora Theatre, AustMS President Aidan Sims FAA FAustMS congratulated the 2025 medal and prize winners for their outstanding contributions and achievements.

The Society鈥檚 most prestigious honour, the George Szekeres Medal, was awarded to聽, University of Western Australia. This medal recognises research excellence and outstanding support of the mathematical sciences. While Enrico boasts and outstanding track record for delivering outstanding scientific achievements, their most recent results concerning nonlocal minimal surfaces and phase coexistence models have been regarded as landmark in their respective fields.

Associate Professor, University of Queensland, was awarded the 2025 AustMS Medal. This medal is awarded to members of the Society within 15 years of completing their PhD in recognition of distinguished research in the mathematical sciences. Ramiro鈥檚 research focuses on the interplay between geometry, symmetry and differential equations, and involves the development and application of techniques from various areas of mathematics, including Riemannian geometry, Lie theory, gauge theory, algebraic geometry and partial differential equations. In his work, he has successfully addressed several longstanding open problems, establishing himself as a leading figure in the field. His contributions have appeared in the world’s most prestigious mathematics journals.

The 2025 AustMS Medal

The 2025 Gavin Brown Prize for best paper was awarded to聽, the University of Melbourne,聽for his paper: “A new cohomology class on the moduli space of curves”,
Geometry & Topology,聽27(7), 2695-2761. This influential paper charts new directions for research into geometry. The paper links a geometric construction in algebraic geometry to a universal object in integrable systems with immediate applications to a variety of problems in geometry.

See the full list of winners below:

2025 AustMS Medal
Ramiro A. Lafuente, University of Queensland

2025 George Szekeres Medal
Enrico Valdinoci,聽University of Western Australia

2025 Gavin Brown Prize
Paul Norbury,聽University of Melbourne
For the paper: “A new cohomology class on the moduli space of curves”
Geometry & Topology,聽27(7), 2695-2761.

2024 Mahony-Neumann-Room Prize
Russell Edson, Judith Bunder, Trent Mattner, Anthony Roberts
For the paper: “Lyapunov exponents of the Kuramoto鈥揝ivashinsky PDE”
The ANZIAM Journal,聽61(3) (2019), 270-285.

2025 Mahony-Neumann-Room Prize
Justin Forlano, Tadahiro Oh, Yuzhao Wang
For the paper: “Stochastic nonlinear Schr枚dinger equation with聽almost space-time white noise”
J. Aust. Math. Soc.聽109聽(2020), no. 1, 44鈥�67.

AustMS Award for Teaching Excellence
Emily Cook, Swinburne聽University of Technology

AustMS Award for Teaching Excellence (Early Career)
Ravindi Nanayakkara, PhD, AFHEA,聽La Trobe University

About AustMS

The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. Founded in 1956, their mission is the promotion and extension of mathematical knowledge and its applications. They represent all professional mathematicians in Australia, both pure and applied.

Story by Robbie Byrne. Photos by Blue Treee Studios

Main image (L-R): Yuri Nikolayevski (Conference Director), Ravindi Nanayakkara (AustMS Award for Teaching Excellence recipient, Early Career), Emily Cook (AustMS Award for Teaching Excellence recipient), Justin Forlano (2025 Mahony-Neumann-Room Prize recipient) and Aidan Sims (AustMS President).

Mathematician, Associate Professor Artem Pulemotov of the University of Queensland, Research Fellow, Dr Matthew Faria of the University of Melbourne and Applied Mathematician, Dr Shannon Algar of the University of Western Australia were announced as part of STA鈥檚 new STEM Ambassador cohort this week, which consists of 17 Ambassadors.

STA Chief Executive Officer, Misha Shubert welcomed the new STEM Ambassadors and congratulated them on their selection from a highly competitive field.

鈥淭he STEM Ambassador program empowers experts to become effective advocated for science and the sector, and to use their expertise to inform polity to shape Australia鈥檚 future,鈥� said Shubert.

For more information, see聽 STA’s .