Tanya Mary Monro FOSA FAIP GAICD (born 1973)Prof. Tanya Monro
Royal Institution of Australia, riaus.org.au is an Australian physicist known for her work in

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

. She has been Australia's

Chief Defence Scientist The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defence ...

since 8 March 2019. Prior to that she was the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation (DVCR&I) at the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

. She was awarded the ARC Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship in 2013. She was the inaugural chair of photonics, the inaugural director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics and the inaugural director of the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing (IPAS), and the inaugural director of the Centre of Expertise in Photonics (CoEP) within the School of Chemistry and Physics at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

(now known as the School of Physical Sciences). Monro has remained an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Adelaide following her departure from the institution. External roles include membership of the Australian Prime Minister's Commonwealth Science Council, the Board of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

, the South Australian Economic Development Board in which she chairs the Arts subcommittee, and the

Defence SA Defence SA is the Government of South Australia's lead agency for all defence matters. It is Australia's only stand-alone state defence organisation. It is a single point of contact for all defence stakeholders, streamlining their interaction across ...

board. Monro took up the role of

in March 2019, the first woman in this position.

Education

Monro was awarded a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree with first class honours in 1995 followed by a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in 1998 from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

for research on

waveguide A waveguide is a structure that guides waves, such as electromagnetic waves or sound, with minimal loss of energy by restricting the transmission of energy to one direction. Without the physical constraint of a waveguide, wave intensities de ...

s. Monro credits a teacher at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar with inspiring her interest in physics.

Career and research

From 1998 to 2004, Monro was a

Royal Society University Research Fellowship __NOTOC__ The Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) is a research fellowship awarded to outstanding early career scientists in the United Kingdom who are judged by the Royal Society to have the potential to become leaders in their fi ...

at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. She joined the University of Adelaide in 2005 as inaugural chair of photonics and Director of the Centre of Expertise in Photonics (CoEP) within the School of Chemistry & Physics in partnership with DSTO and the SA State Government. Since that time and while at the University of Adelaide she has been: ARC Federation Fellow; Director of the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing (IPAS)Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing
University of Adelaide and the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Nanoscale Biophotonics at the University of Adelaide. From 2014 to 2019 she was the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President, Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia.

Publications

Monro has published a few book chapters, and 600 papers including refereed journal articles and conference papers. These have led to over 13000 citations in journals and refereed conference proceedings. Monro has also registered 18 patent families.

Honours and awards

*2022 Appointed

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to scientific and technological development, to research and innovation, to tertiary education, particularly in the field of photonics, and to professional organisations". *2015 Fellow, Optical Society of America (FOSA) *2015 Beattie Steel Medal, Australian Optical Society *2013–18 ARC Georgina Sweet Laureate Fellowship *2012

Pawsey Medal The Pawsey Medal is awarded annually by the Australian Academy of Science to recognize outstanding research in the physics by an Australian scientist early in their career (up to 10 years post-PhD). This medal commemorates the work of the late Jo ...

*2012 Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)2012 Pawsey Medal for outstanding research in physics
, science.org.au *2011 Scopus Young Researcher of the Year, Physical Sciences, Australia *2011 Eureka Prize for Science Leadership, finalist *2011 Selected by the Australian Academy of Science to conduct a speaker series in the European region *2011 Australian of the Year, South Australia *2010 Telstra Business Woman of the Year, White Pages Community & Government Category (National & South Australian winner) *2010 Winner, Science category, South Australian of the Year Awards *2010 South Australian Scientist of the Year *2010 Finalist, Eureka Prize for Science Leadership *2009 Fellow, Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, ATSE (FTSE) *2009 Winner, Science Category, Emerging Leaders Award (by ''Weekend Australian Magazine'') *2008–13 ARC

Federation Fellowship Federation Fellowships are Australian professorial research fellowships that were instigated by the Australian Government as part of its Backing Australia's Ability initiative. They were initially designed to compete with prestigious overseas gran ...

Professor Tanya Monro
, Biographies of 2008 round of Federation Fellows,

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

*2008 Prime minister's Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year *2007–08 Awarded the Women in Physics Lecture Tour (Australian Institute of Physics) *2007 Rising Star Award, South Australia's "Top 50" across all fields under 35 *2006 Bright Spark Award (for Australia's Top 10 Scientific Minds under 45 – Cosmos Magazine) *2005 Inaugural chair of photonics *2000

*1998 Eleanor Sophia Wood Travelling Fellowship *1998 The Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics for the best PhD thesis by a student from an Australian university

Professional associations

*Fellow, Optical Society of America (FOSA) *Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA) *Bragg Fellow, RI Aus (Royal Institution Australia) *Fellow, ATSE (FTSE)

Personal life

Monro was raised in the Sydney suburb of

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

. She is an alumna of the National Youth Science Forum, a selective youth camp at the Australian National University for potential leaders in science. She married David in 1995. They moved to England in 1998. They have three sons, the first born in 2003, followed by twin boys born in 2006.Abbie Thomas (25 January 2012
"A fetish for photons"
ABC Science Monro is a science fiction fan, and played cello in the Burnside Symphony Orchestra in Adelaide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, Tanya 1973 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Companions of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Fellows of the Australian Institute of Physics Australian physicists Australian women scientists University of South Australia faculty University of Adelaide faculty Chief Defence Scientists People educated at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School Australian women academics Women in optics