The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science.
In the 1990s, membership and attendance at the annual meetings decreased as specialised scientific societies increased in popularity. Proposals to close the Association were discussed, but it continued after closing its office in Adelaide. It now operates on a smaller scale but is beginning to grow.[citation needed] The Annual Meetings are no longer held.
It holds lectures, for the medals and for other named lectures, both nationally and at state level.
Each year it organises Youth ANZAAS, an annual residential scientific forum attended by senior secondary students from Australian schools and High schools.
The Association awards two important medals; the Mueller medal, named in honour of Ferdinand von Mueller, botanist and pioneer environmentalist, and the ANZAAS medal.
The ANZAAS medal is awarded annually for services in the advancement of science or administration and organisation of scientific activities, or the teaching of science throughout Australia and New Zealand and in contributions to science which lie beyond normal professional activities.
Sculptor Andor Meszaros designed the Medal, which was first awarded in 1965.
The Medal is awarded annually to a scientist who is the author of important contributions to anthropological, botanical, geological or zoological science, preferably with special reference to Australia.[7] It is named after Ferdinand von Mueller, the German/Australian botanist who was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Initiated in 1902, it was designed by Walter Baldwin Spencer.
Youth ANZAAS is an annual residential scientific forum for senior Australasian secondary school students from Years 9, 10, 11 and 12. This event is designed to provide students with a broad perspective on the aims and practice of scientific endeavour, ranging from satisfying curiosity and the drive to discover, to the application of science in the real world. It gives students the opportunity to visit world-class facilities where cutting edge research is undertaken and meet leading scientists.
The ANZAAS – Australian Synchrotron Inaugural Winter School was launched in July 2009. The four-day program aims to give young researchers – Honours, Masters and early PhD students – an understanding of synchrotron techniques and operation for research purposes. Participants attend lectures, tour the facility and perform beamline experiments that complement their lectures.
16th Meeting ... Wellington, New Zealand. January 1923 – Conference President – Sir George Handley Knibbs
17th Meeting ... Adelaide, South Australia. August 1924 – Conference President – General Sir John Monash
18th Meeting ... Perth, Western Australia. August 1926 – Conference President – Prof. Edward Henry Rennie
19th Meeting ... Hobart, Tasmania. January 1928 – Conference President – Richard Hind Cambage
20th Meeting ... Brisbane, Queensland. May–June 1930 – Conference President – Ernest Clayton Andrews
Report of the ... meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. 1930–1997
editFrontispiece from the report of the association's second meeting, held in Melbourne in January 1890 Estimate of ANZAAS congress attendees. Red points denote congresses held in New Zealand.
Elkin, A.P. (1962), A Goodly Heritage: ANZAAS Jubilee Science in New South Wales, Sydney, V.C.N. Blight, Government Printer
MacLeod, Roy (1988), The Commonwealth of Science – ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia 1888–1988, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-554683-0.