I have been privileged to Chair the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science Advisory Board for over two years now and as I prepare to vacate the role, I would like to commend the Centre on its considerable development and impact in that time.
Professor Mark Considine
Centre Director Paul Mulvaney has undoubtedly built a strong, collaborative environment, one that has seen the Centre’s motivated and talented members produce high-quality research publications, expand industry connections, and develop a strong and respected profile in the academic community. This Annual Report for 2020 demonstrates that clearly.
There is no doubt that 2020 has been a difficult year, but I have witnessed the concerted effort the Centre has made to ensure its members can still come together, albeit virtually, and innovate to progress their research, form new productive partnerships and achieve best practice in communications, outreach, and equity and diversity.
Through team work and dedication, and in pursuit of the important cause of sustainability and energy efficiency, the Centre has successfully brought together almost 200 members from five Australian universities. The quality of the Centre’s work has fully deserved the national and international recognition it has received.
Some of the Centre’s superb research is highlighted in the case studies presented in this report. However, what makes this Centre of Excellence so special is the synergy between theoreticians who model, predict and elucidate excitonic behaviour, researchers that synthesise and fabricate materials, and experimentalists who characterise and understand how and why those materials function optimally. The convergence of these complimentary capabilities has resulted in significant positive outcomes from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, which is delivering results that stand to benefit Australia and at the world at large.
I look forward to seeing this Centre maintain its established position as a world leader in renewable, efficient energy technology and advanced materials synthesis and manufacturing. I am privileged to have been a part of the journey so far. I wish the Centre all the best for the years to come.
Professor Mark Considine
Chair, Centre Advisory Board
February 2021