Amanda Barnard AM

FRSC FAIP, Senior Professor, Deputy Director, and Computational Science Lead

Research

Professor and Deputy Director Amanda Barnard’s research interests primarily lie in:

  • Applied machine learning and artificial intelligence
  • Data science and eResearch
  • Computational methods for the physical sciences, including theoretical development and simulation
  • Informatics applied to materials, nanotechnology and health
  • High performance computing

Biography

Professor Amanda Barnard is one of Australia’s most highly awarded computational scientists. She currently leads research at the interface of computational modeling, high performance supercomputing, and applied machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). She was awarded her BSc (Hons) in applied physics in 2000, her PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics in 2003, and DSc in 2020 from RMIT University. After graduating she accepted a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory (USA, 2003-2005), and the prestigious Violette & Samuel Glasstone Fellow at the University of Oxford (UK) with an Extraordinary Research Fellowship at The Queen’s College (2005-2008). Prior to joining ANU she was an ARC QEII Fellow, Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Science Leader, and then Chief Research Scientist in Data61 at CSIRO (2009-2020).

With more than 20 years experience in high performance computing and computational modeling and informatics, Prof Barnard sits on boards for various institutions. She has been recognised for leadership, and has been awarded in five scientific disciplines. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics (FAIP), the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and in 2022 was appointed a Member the Order of Australia (AM).

Activities & Awards

  • 2022 Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - Office of the Governor General, AUST
  • 2019 AMMA Medal - Association of Molecular Modellers of Australasia
  • 2018 Fellow - Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK
  • 2018 100 Woman of Chemistry - Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
  • 2017 Woman of Achievement - Black & White Foundation, Vision Australia, AUST
  • 2014 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (Theory) - Foresight Institute, Palo Alto, USA
  • 2014 ACS Nano Lectureship (Asia-Pacific) - American Chemical Society, USA
  • 2012 Fellow - Australian Institute of Physics (FAIP), AUST
  • 2010 Distinguished Lecturer - IEEE, South Australia, AUST
  • 2010 UNSW Eureka Prize for Scientific Research - Australian Museum, AUST
  • 2010 Frederick White Prize - Australian Academy of Science, AUST
  • 2009 Chief’s Science Research Award - CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering, AUST
  • 2009 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year - Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science & Research, AUST
  • 2009 Mercedes-Benz Australian Environmental Research Award - Banksia Foundation, AUST
  • 2009 Future Summit Leadership Award - Australian Davos Connection, AUST
  • 2009 Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics - International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
  • 2009 J G Russell Award - Australian Academy of Science, AUST
  • 2008 Alumnus of the Year Award - RMIT University, AUST
  • 2008 Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship - Australia Research Council, AUST
  • 2008 L’Oreal Australia “For Women in Science” Award - L’Oreal - UNESCO, AUST
  • 2005 Extraordinary Junior Research Fellowship - The Queen’s College, Oxford, UK
  • 2005 Violette & Samuel Glasstone Fellowship - University of Oxford, UK
  • 2004 Innovation Award (Student Category) - RMIT University, AUST
  • 2004 University Research Prize - RMIT University, AUST
  • 2003 CNM Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship - Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), USA

Boards

  • Governance Board, AgriFood Innovation Institute, AUST (2023 - current)
  • Advisor to the Board of Directors, Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, AUST (2023 - current)
  • Independent Director, Board of Directors, New Zealand eScience Infrastructure (NeSI), NZ (2019 – current)
  • Advisory Board, Our Health in Our Hands (OHIOH), AUST (2019 – current)
  • Advisory Board, ChoiceFlows Inc., North Carolina, USA (2019 – current)
  • External Advisory Board, AIBN Centre for Theoretical and Computational Molecular Science (CTCMS), University of Queensland, AUST (2014 – current)
  • Academic Board, Australian National University (2021 – 2022)
  • Scientific Advisory Board, Centre for Biomedical Data Visualisation (BioViS), Garvan Institute, AUST (2017 – 2020)
  • Course Advisory Board (Masters program), Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe University, AUST (2015 – 2017)
  • External Advisory Board, Centre for the Study of Choice (CenSoC), University of Technology - Sydney (UTS), AUST (2011 – 2013)

Panels

  • College of Assessors, New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), NZ (2020 – current)
  • Expert Panel, Competitive Research Programme, National Research Foundation, Singapore (2019 – current)
  • Selection Panel, Frederick White Medal, Australian Academy of Science (2019 – 2023)
  • Assessment Panel, New Zealand–Singapore Data Science Research Programmes, Innovation & Employment and Singapore Data Science Consortium (2020)
  • Assessment Panel, New Zealand Data Science Research Programmes, MBIE, NZ (2019)
  • Mid-term Review Panel, Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs, 10 in total), Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), NZ (2017)
  • Jury, L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowships, AUST/NZ (2016 – 2020)
  • Panel of Expert Advisors (Physical Sciences), The Nature Index, Nature Publishing Group, UK (2013 – 2020)
  • Panel of Judges, Eureka Prize for Early Career Research, Australian Museum, AUST (2011 – 2016)

Committees

  • AI Flagship Scheme, National Computational Infrastructure, AUST (2023 – current)
  • Chair, Jubilee Joint Fellowship Program, Australian National University, AUST (2021 – current)
  • Chair, Pioneering Women Program, School of Computing, Australian National University, AUST (2021 – current)
  • Chair, Tenure Track Recruitment Committee & Panel, School of Computing, Australian National University, AUST (2021 – current)
  • Program Committee, Pawsey Supercomputing Centre for Extreme Scale Readiness (PaCER), AUST (2020 – current)
  • Chair, Australian Leadership Computing Grants (ALCG), National Computational Infrastructure, AUST (2020 – current)
  • Chair, Higher Degree Scholarship Committee, School of Computing, Australian National University, AUST (2021 – 2023)
  • Deputy Chair, Change Management Group, Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre Capital Refresh, AUST (2018 – 2023)
  • Chair, User Reference Group, Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre Capital Refresh, AUST (2018 – 2020)
  • Materials Research Society (MRS) Award Nominations Subcommittee, USA (2019 – 2020)
  • Chair, National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS), AUST (2018 – 2019)
  • Procurement Steering Committee, National Computational Infrastructure, AUST (2018 – 2019)
  • Data61 Executive Science & Technology Sub-Committee, CSIRO, AUST (2017 – 2018)
  • Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre Partner Allocation Scheme, AUST (2015 – 2019)
  • Data61 Rewards (Promotions) Committee, CSIRO, AUST (2017 – 2018)
  • Data61 Scholarship Committee (VIC/TAS/WA, NSW/SA), Data61, CSIRO, AUST (2016 – 2018)
  • Athena Early Adopters Committee, Pawsey Research Supercomputing Centre, AUST (2017)
  • Deputy Chair, National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS), AUST (2016 – 2017)
  • Pawsey Research Supercomputing Uptake Strategy Group, AUST (2015 – 2016)
  • National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS), AUST (2012 – 2016)

Editorial Boards

  • Editor-in-Chief, Nano Futures, IOP Publishing (2021 – current)
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Matter, Cell Press (2021 - current)
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Advanced Theory and Simulation, Wiley-VCH (2021 - current)
  • Executive Editorial Board, Nano Futures, IOP Publishing (2018 – current)
  • Executive Editorial Board, Journal of Physics: Materials, IOP Publishing (2018 – current)
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Nanoscale, Royal Society of Chemistry (2013 – current)
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence in Electrochemical Energy Storage, Batteries & Supercaps, Wiley-VCH (2022)
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on Advanced Material Modelling, Machine Learning and Multiscale Simulation, Journal of Physics: Materials, IOP (May 2019)
  • Senior Associate Editor, Science Advances, AAAS (2014 – 2017)
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on Modelling for the Nanoscale, Nanoscale, RSC (February 2012)
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on CVD Growth of Nanodiamond, Advanced Materials-CVD, Wiley (September 2008)
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on Theory and Simulation of Nanomorphology, Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience (March 2007)
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, American Scientific Publishers (2005 – 2011)

You are on Aboriginal land.

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

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