Events

Annual General Meeting & Conference

The Annual Conference will be held Tuesday 21 – Wednesday 22 October 2025 in Canberra

• The AGM was held on-line on Monday 28 April 2025. The opening Panel discussion “Looking backwards and forwards at the importance of university science” was presented by Professor Emma Johnston, VC University of Melbourne; Professor Aidan Byrne, Former Provost of UQ and Professor Liz Johnson, Senior DVCA of Deakin University. View the summary of the Panel Discussion here
• 2024 Annual Conference held 22-23 October. View the program
• 2024 AGM held 9 May via videoconference. The opening address by Prof Alan Finkel – ‘Raising the bar of aspiration‘ is available here.
• 2023 AGM and Annual Conference held 24-25 October. View the program
• 2022 held in Canberra. View the Program. View the speaker presentations here.
• 2021 held online. View keynote speaker presentations and summary of discussions
  • Policy and Financial Challenges – Prof Frank Larkins
  • In defense of basic research – Prof Iain Young
  • The future of science in Australian universities – Prof Aidan Byrne
  • Australian University Science on the Global Stage – Jonathan Chew, Navitas
  • Indigenous Science – Prof Cristina Varsavsky, Lisa Godhinho, Angela Ziebell
  • University Science – Industry Engagement – Prof Tony Patti, Prof Stella Valenzuela, Assoc. Prof Craig Priest

• 2020 held online
• 2019 held in Canberra.
• 2018 – held in Sydney
• 2017 – held in Sydney
• 2016 – held at the Synchrotron in Melbourne
• 2015 – held at Mt Stromlow Observatory Canberra

Research Leaders conferences, webinars and forums

National Research Forum

The 2025 ACDS National Research Forum (NRF) will be held Tuesday 2-Wednesday 3 September 2025 at the University of Tasmania .

• 2024 held at La Trobe University
• 2023 held at University of Adelaide.
• 2019 – held at Macquarie University
• 2018 – held in Melbourne
• 2017 – held in Sydney

Research Network Discussion Forum Webinars

Research Network Discussion Forums for 2025 will be held online – details will be available here soon

Previous Research Network webinars:

• March 2024 – Researcher development – how do we do it? How do we develop our ECRs/MCRs? What is our best practice? How do we train our staff to mentor people.
• May 2024 – Building a Positive Research Integrity Culture – How is Research Integrity Managed in our Institutions?”.
• June 2024 – Assessing research quality and impact – how do different institutions assess these, and what metrics are used to calibrate “success”?
• November 2022 – CSIRO Chief Scientist – Dr Bronwyn Fox
• August 2022 – Australia’s Chief Scientist
• Covid 19 lockdown: its impact on Australian university science research – May 13, May 27 and June 10.  Further details are available here.

Teaching and Learning Leaders Conference

The ACDS 2025 Teaching and Learning Leaders Conference will be held on 1-2 July at Flinders University (city campus)

• 2024 held at the University of New South Wales
• 2023 held at Monash University 20-21 June
• 2022 held at the Australian National University
• 2021 Science education leadership webinar series
• 2020 Science education leadership webinar series
• 2019 – held at Newcastle University
• 2018 – held at the University of Adelaide
• 2017 – held at Monash University
• 2016 – held at the University of Sydney
• 2015 – held at the University of Queensland

Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME)

ACSME 2025 will be held at The University of Melbourne 30 Sep- 2 October 2025, with the theme, “The impact of a STEM education”. Further details are available here.

• 2024 held at the University of Canberra and online 18-20 September
• 2023 held at the University Tasmania and online 30 August – 1 September
• 2022 held in Perth and on-line 28 – 30 September
• 2021 held online
• 2020 held online
• 2019 held at the University of Sydney 
• 2018 held at Flinders University
• 2017 held at Monash University
• 2016 held at the University of Queensland
• 2015 held at Curtin and Murdoch University