1. Nominations will be called for not less than 6 months before each annual conference of the Society and will close not less than 4 months before the conference.
2. Applications will be evaluated by a committee of Society Council members, ex-Council members or former awardees, with a decision on awards made not less than 2 months before each conference.
3. Awardees will be presented with a medal and a cheque for $250 at the annual conference and will present a lecture at that conference.
4. The Bob Robertson Award is open to all financial members of the Society meeting the eligibility criteria and is designed to recognise outstanding contributions to biophysics. While research contributions are of primary importance, other contributions, including to biophysics teaching or service to the discipline, will also be considered. The research or other contribution should have been undertaken principally in Australia or New Zealand. There is no age limit on applicants for
   this award.

Eligibility Criteria & Application Procedure

1. Nominees should have been members of the Society for at least two years immediately preceding their nomination.
2. Nominators should be current members of the Society.
3. Nominations should be sent to the ASB Secretary by the advertised closing date (not less than 4 months before each conference).
4. Nominations should consist of a covering letter summarising the achievements of the nominee, a Curriculum vitae including a complete list of publications, and two confidential referees reports sent direct to the Secretary. Referees should address the specified selection criteria in a report of 2 pages or less. Nominators should seek the approval of the nominee prior to submitting a nomination.
5. If a candidate's nomination is not successful in any given year, the Award Committee will re-consider it the following year, preferably in an updated form. Once a nomination has been considered in two successive years, it would not normally be considered again in the next one or two years. A maximum of four nominations for a single candidate in a six-year period will be considered by the Award Committee.

Selection Criteria & Procedures

Selection criteria include:

1. Quality and impact of published work in journals of high international reputation
2. Service to the biophysics community
3. Excellence in teaching of biophysics

Selection procedures:

1. Awards will be decided upon by an Award Committee consisting of four Society Council members, ex-Council members or former awardees, together with the Society Secretary, who should normally not be a voting member.
2. No person shall serve on the Award Committee for more than two consecutive terms.
   
3. The composition of the Award Committee will be decided either by the ASB Council or by election at the AGM of the Society held during the annual conference.
   
4. When an award nomination is received for a member of the Award Committee, that member will step down from the Award Committee and be replaced by another member meeting the criteria for Award Committee membership. The replacement will be chosen by the ASB Council.
   
5. Where a clear decision cannot be made by the Award Committee, the application may be sent to a third referee, usually an eminent international scientist not connected with any applicant.
   
6. If the Award Committee judges that none of the nominations merits an award in a given category, then no award will be made in that round.
   

Recipient 2008: Professor Ray Norton
Recipient 2007: Professor Cris dos Remedios
Recipient 2006: Professor Peter Barry
Recipient 2005: Professor Philip Kuchel
Recipient 2004: Professor Peter Gage
Recipient 2003: Professor Alex Hope
Recipient 2002: Professor Hans Coster The 26th Annual Conference of the Society was held in Melbourne and saw the inauguration of an invited lecture in honour of Sir Rutherford (Bob) Robertson’s contribution to biophysics in Australia, as well as to Australian science generally. The inaugural medallist was Professor Hans Coster, who was presented with a medal and a cheque and presented a lecture at that conference. The medal was inaugurated to recognise outstanding contributions to biophysics and Hans’ entertaining lecture provided a fascinating insight into the contributions he has made to the field of membrane properties and structure, as well as to the development of biophysics in Australia. Congratulations Hans on this well-deserved award.