Professor Haymet delivered the keynote address at the award ceremony for the 2026 Marie Krogh Young Women in Science Prize.

It’s a pleasure to join you again for this celebration of excellence – and emerging talent! – in science and medicine.

I’m especially pleased to see Her Excellency Ingrid Dahl-Madsen, the Danish Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, and His Excellency Andrew Needs, the New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia.

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet.

I pay my respects to their elders – and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here this evening.

May I also echo the very warm welcome to our friends from across the Tasman.

The expansion of this prize to New Zealand recognises the depth of talent and collaboration across our region. 

Even though our two nations together represent a relatively small population, we often form a very strong and connected research community. 

At a personal level, I’ve spent much of my career in marine science – where Aussie and Kiwi researchers routinely worked together to understand the oceans we share.

Our nations share researchers, facilities, expertise – and scientific challenges. 

And some of those challenges are being addressed by you: tonight’s finalists.

Although your fields are diverse, you share a common purpose: using science to improve health, expand knowledge and deliver tangible benefits for society.

Put simply, your work makes a difference to science – and to citizens.

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As we see here tonight, women are making a growing contribution to Australia’s research workforce and delivering stellar results!

But despite progress – and I’ve seen a lot of it in my career – the pathway to senior leadership often remains somewhat uneven.

This year’s edition of Australia’s STEM Equity Monitor bears that out. 

It shows that in 2024, women made up 49 per cent of people in the university teaching and research workforce for science, tech, engineering, maths and medicine.

However, women remained under-represented at higher levels of this workforce.

Across science, tech, engineering and maths industries, women held just 27 per cent of senior management roles in 2025, and 13 per cent of CEO positions. 

And even in health, where women make up around three-quarters of the workforce, only 39 per cent of CEOs were women in 2025.

This indicates the challenge is not simply about female participation. 

It's also about career progression into leadership and decision-making roles – roles that help shape the priorities, direction and future of Australian research. And we know that progression can be affected by various factors. 

Career interruptions and caring responsibilities can play a part, alongside insecure career pathways, workplace cultures, and unequal access to mentoring and leadership opportunities.  

As I touched on in my remarks last year, diversity in STEM goes directly to how capable we are as a country.

If we don't draw on the full range of Australia's talent, we narrow the ideas and approaches we can bring to our hardest problems.  

So if we want to draw on that full breadth of Australia's scientific talent, we need to recognise that opportunities are still not distributed evenly. 

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Like all of us, tonight's finalists have travelled different paths in their careers.

And I'm especially pleased that these awards explicitly recognise non-linear and interrupted career pathways.

That is significant. 

Scientific talent should not be lost or overlooked simply because systems are better at rewarding uninterrupted careers than recognising excellence.

We also need to think carefully about HOW we recognise excellence. 

If we rely too heavily on publication counts or citation totals, we risk overlooking outstanding researchers whose careers have followed less traditional paths.

That's important not only for awards, but for workplaces too. 

To retain talented scientific minds, our institutions must continue supporting people through career transitions, parental and caring responsibilities, and other periods that may interrupt a career.

Consider the experience of Ruby Payne-Scott, a pioneering Australian physicist and one of the founders of radio astronomy.

The CSIRO rightly describes her as ‘a determined and bold physicist who paved the way for women researchers and recognised the future of radio astronomy’.

To avoid losing her permanent position in the 1940s, she was forced to keep her marriage a secret. When the marriage came to light, Ruby lost her permanent position, along with her pay level and her pension. And when she had a baby in the early 1950s, she had to resign from her employer altogether because maternity leave was not available.

Science was all the poorer for losing the contribution of such a talented researcher in the field of radio astronomy.

In the decades since then, Australian employers and scientific organisations have done much more to attract and retain talented people like Ruby.

But her story remains a salient reminder about how much science stands to lose when talented people are not supported through the transitions and turning points that every career contains.

Indeed, some of the most talented researchers have balanced competing responsibilities. 

They’ve changed sectors, taken career breaks, or followed paths that zigged and zagged along the way.

I suspect that will sound familiar to many people here tonight.

Regardless of whether a career path has been straight or winding, science is strongest when talent can thrive.

Many scientific breakthroughs began with people who followed paths that were anything but predictable – for example, Marie Krogh!

As her story demonstrates, powerful health research often begins with curiosity-driven science and ends with better treatments and outcomes for patients.

What is distinctive about tonight's prize is that it celebrates the full pathway from discovery to impact. 

It recognises original scientific research, but also the leadership and application that help translate knowledge into better health outcomes and better systems of care.

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Associate Professor Ines Pires da Silva was the inaugural winner of this prize last year. 

Her work shows what can happen when scientific discovery is carried through to clinical practice, health policy and patient care. 

Meanwhile, Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska is another great example of the link between discovery and impact. 

She is one of Australia’s foremost scientists in the field of air quality and human health.

Her work transformed our understanding of airborne disease transmission and informed public health policy around the world.

And it’s why she received the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science!

I encourage you all to nominate for those prizes when nominations open because awards like that – and tonight’s – shine a spotlight on the work of Australian scientists, researchers and innovators. 

And they send a signal to young Australians about the fascinating career pathways that STEM can offer. 

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Being a finalist in awards like this gives you national recognition – and gives you influence that I hope you will use to support others. 

To pay it forward, as the saying goes. 

But I’m not talking about simply being a mentor to others – someone who proffers advice and guidance when a sounding board is needed. 

No, I’m urging you to be a sponsor for them.

To actively advocate for others and to open doors for them.

I’ve done this during my career: identifying talented people – often women – and stepping up to create opportunities for them. 

For example, giving people access to leadership assignments and opportunities. 

Giving them access to your networks, or to funding sources. 

Or simply, turning your spotlight on them to ensure they get the credit they deserve for significant work they’ve done. 

Being a sponsor is one way that we can all, as individuals, make a difference to individual careers and the broader scientific community.

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You – and your research – are already making a difference.

Being selected as a finalist recognises not only your scientific excellence, but also your leadership and your impact.

The future of Australian and New Zealand science will be shaped by people like you.

So, I conclude by warmly congratulating all of this year's finalists. 

Your achievements deserve recognition; your work deserves support.

And your success matters not only to your institutions, but to the communities and individuals who will ultimately benefit from your research.

I look forward to learning more about your work this evening.

Congratulations, again – and thank you.