September 4, 2026
The Royal Society of New South Wales was delighted to learn that two of its Fellows, Professor Maree Teeson AC FRSN FASSA FAHMS from the University of Sydney and Professor Yansong Shen FRSN FTSE from UNSW Sydney, were awarded Eureka Prizes in the 2026 round.
Professor Maree Teesson received a double accolade, winning the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science and the Eureka Prize for Societal Impact in Science as part of the OurFutures Vaping Program team.
Professor Teeson is an international leader in mental health and substance use research, especially the overlap between these disorders.
As Director of the University of Sydney Matilda Centre, the largest research centre of its kind, Professor Teeson has advanced prevention and treatment, including school-based programs reaching 300,000 students in Australia and overseas.
Professor Yansong Shen, who was the winner of the RSNSW 2024 Edgeworth David Medal, has developed a low-cost, scalable, portable process to recover the valuable metals and silicon from used solar panels.
With an estimated 60–78 million tonnes of panels requiring recycling by 2050, this end-to-end technology could recover valuable metals, including silver, and support more sustainable solar-waste management.
Professor Shen is the Director of the UNSW SCoPE Lab for Green Metals and also the Director of the ARC Research Hub for Solar Panel Recycling,
The Council of the Society warmly congratulates Professor Teeson and Professor Shen on their achievements and on this further recognition of the impact of their outstanding research.
