July 15, 2026
Society Fellow Professor Nalini Joshi AO FRSN FAA has been awarded the 2026 Moyal Medal by Macquarie University. She will receive the Moyal Medal and deliver the Moyal Lecture at Macquarie University on 30 September.
In her lecture titled ‘Mathematics for Quantum Era Security and Trust’, Professor Joshi will explore how mathematics underpins the technologies reshaping our world. Late in 2025, Professor Joshi was named the Director of the newly established ARC Centres of Excellence in Mathematics for Quantum Era Security, which is building critical expertise to protect against the expected breakdown of cybersecurity protocols on quantum computers and to build trust in artificial intelligence. In that centre, MathQuEST, deep, untapped reservoirs of mathematical problems and structures will be mined to establish complexity foundations for security and create accelerated methods for AI. The centre is assembling leading researchers from diverse disciplines to deliver a mathematically trained, technologically agile workforce, ensuring Australia’s preparedness for grand challenges arising from future quantum computers with dual-use impact across agriculture, defence, health and industry.
The Moyal Medal is awarded annually by Macquarie University for research contributions to mathematics, physics or statistics – the areas of research of the late Professor José Enrique Moyal, who was Professor of Mathematics at Macquarie University between 1973 and 1977.
Professor Joshi is a former President of the Australian Mathematical Society and served as the first Australian Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016 for distinguished service to mathematics. She was recognised in the October 2019 NSW Premier’s Prizes for Science & Engineering for ‘Excellence in Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry or Physics’, awarded the George Szekeres Medal from the Australian Mathematical Society in 2020, the ANZIAM Medal by Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2021, and the Royal Society of NSW Pollock Award and Lectureship in the Physical Sciences and Mathematics in 2024. In 2025, she became the first mathematician to be named NSW Scientist of the Year, recognising both her groundbreaking research and her contributions to the broader scientific community.
The Council of the Society warmly congratulated Professor Nalini Joshi on being awarded the Moyal Medal — the latest accolade in a stellar career.
