The SDR Scientific Education Award

The SDR Scientific Education Award rewards outstanding achievement in education in biochemistry or molecular biology, especially innovation and creativity in education, with a view to fostering leadership in this important area of the Society’s objectives. The Award will enable the recipient to participate in an international conference with a significant focus on education, or to spend a period of time at another institution (in Australia or overseas) for the purposes of undertaking developments in education in biochemistry and molecular biology. The recipient will present a lecture within the Education Symposium at the annual ASBMB conference. Applicants must have been members of the Society for at least 2 years before the year in which the Award application is to be considered. The contribution to travel expenses is provided through the courtesy of SDR Scientific.

For a list of previous award winners please click here

Application Information
- All applicants should have been members of the ASBMB for a minimum of 2 years
- All applications should include at least 2 supporters who should have been members of the ASBMB for a minimum of 2 years
- Applicants should prepare an application document to include all information detailed on the SDR Scientific Education Award Application Template.  This document should be saved as a single PDF file ready to be uploaded as part of the online application form.  
- Applicants should have a letter of reference for each of your 2 supporters saved ready to be uploaded as part of the online application form.

When you are ready to begin your application, please click the button below. 

The SDR Scientific Education Award Application

2023 Award Recipient

Maurizio Costabile
University of South Australia

A Year 7 experiment measuring the time taken for a balloon at varying levels of inflation moving between two chairs ignited my enthusiasm for science. While I didn’t obtain any accurate results, it didn’t matter; I was hooked and looked forward to science classes above other subjects. From that day, I wanted to be a scientist, but what kind? After completing my science degree, I narrowed the fields to Biochemistry or Immunology. I ended up completing Honours investigating the biochemistry of slime molds, followed by a PhD in Immunology. While completing my thesis, I was fortunate to be offered a Level A lecturing position at the University of South Australia (UniSA).

While employed to teach immunology, I began co-teaching biochemistry within a year, and my two passions were again united. I maintained my research links with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital while juggling my teaching load. Without formal teaching qualifications, settling into a good rhythm took me a little time. While I enjoyed my research, I began to identify a passion for teaching students. It was (and is) a joy to teach content that I find fascinating, fundamental to our lives, and interconnected to many other disciplines.

In time, through a combination of self-reflection and student feedback, my teaching became more refined. I enjoyed the challenge of identifying issues with student learning and devising ways to remedy these areas. Each year, I challenge myself to develop an innovation to improve my teaching and the student experience. I have been fortunate to have my teaching and innovations acknowledged through several local, national and international awards. I have received tremendous support from colleagues in this journey and now give back at every opportunity.

With the introduction of teaching-focussed academic roles at UniSA, I moved to this classification in 2019. Since then, I have been promoted to Associate Professor; only the second staff member to be promoted to this rank as a full teaching academic. This has brought additional leadership roles within the university, including two secondments to a Dean of Research role. I now focus on keeping my teaching excellence and disseminating my finding at conferences (e.g., ASBMB) and journal articles. It is always a pleasure to witness that lightbulb moment from our students and renew that science spark within ourselves.



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