Genetics Society of AustralAsia

The Genetics Society of AustralAsia (GSA) is a professional scientific society for researchers and educators in genetics across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region. According to its mission statement, the Society is dedicated to promoting research and education in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists and the broader public. It pursues these goals through an annual genetics research conference, sponsorship of other events, representation of the genetics community to policymakers and government leaders via its membership of Science Technology Australia, administration of a suite of awards, support for genetics educators, travel awards for students, and promotion of members' research. The Society's flagship activity is its annual conference, which brings together the genetics community from Aotearoa, Australia and the Asia Pacific region. The 2026 conference is scheduled for the University of Queensland, Brisbane, from 5–8 July 2026. Its programme covers symposia on Adaptation, Speciation & Gene flow, Comparative & Evolutionary Genomics, Conservation Genetics and Genomics, Invasion Biology, Pest & Pathogen Evolution, Quantitative genetics, Genetics and genomics in human health and disease, Molecular, developmental genetics and gene regulation, Genetics and Genomics in Primary Industries, Genomes, Pangenomics & Structural Variation, Bioinformatics, modelling and genomics technologies, and Genetics Education. GSA supports a range of annual awards at all career stages that celebrate excellence in genetics research, impact and teaching. Named awards mentioned in the Society's conference programme include the MJD White Medal, the Ross Crozier Medal, the Impact Award, the Alan Wilton Award and the DG Catcheside Prize. The Society also maintains an equity statement committing it to a culture of inclusion and equity, welcoming participation regardless of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, disability, physical appearance, faith, age, pregnancy, parental/carer status, socioeconomic background or political belief, and supporting diversity in membership, leadership, recognition and outreach. GSA is registered as a scientific society in Australasia and operates a public website at genetics.org.au. Its activities are directed at the genetics research community, educators and the broader public across its region.

The Genetics Society of AustralAsia (GSA) is a scientific society in Australasia. Its mission statement describes it as the professional organization for scientific researchers and educators in the field of genetics in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region. The Society is dedicated to promoting research and education in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists and the broader public. GSA carries out its mission through several ongoing activities. It supports an annual genetics research conference to promote interactions among geneticists and cultivate the genetics community, and sponsors other events to showcase research in genetics. It represents the collective interests of the genetics community to policymakers and government leaders via its membership of Science Technology Australia. It highlights and promotes genetics research by administering and supporting a suite of awards to genetics researchers, fosters communication among genetics educators, and fosters the next generation of genetics researchers by providing travel awards to enable students to attend the annual conference. It also promotes the genetics research of members of the society. The Society's annual conference brings the genetics community from Aotearoa, Australia and the Asia Pacific region together to share new and innovative research in genetics. The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, from 5–8 July 2026. Its symposia cover Adaptation, Speciation & Gene flow, Comparative & Evolutionary Genomics, Conservation Genetics and Genomics, Invasion Biology, Pest & Pathogen Evolution, Quantitative genetics, Genetics and genomics in human health and disease, Molecular, developmental genetics and gene regulation, Genetics and Genomics in Primary Industries, Genomes, Pangenomics & Structural Variation, Bioinformatics, modelling and genomics technologies, and Genetics Education. The programme includes plenary lectures from GSA award winners Prof Peter Dearden (MJD White Medal), Dr Joanna Achinger Kawecka (Ross Crozier Medal), Prof Carolyn Hogg (joint winner of the Impact Award with Dr Kym Ottewell), Dr Andrew Urquhart (Alan Wilton Award) and Dr Leo Featherstone (DG Catcheside Prize), as well as invited plenaries from Prof Loïc Yengo, Prof Sarah Medland and Prof David Lowry, and talks from invited session speakers including Dr Maddie James, Prof Amanda Spurdle, Assoc Prof Melanie Eckersley-Maslin, Assoc Prof Jack Wang, Dr Dan Bock, Dr Luke Isbel, Dr Selene Fernandez Valverde, Dr David Kainer, Dr Thomas Schmidt, Assoc Prof Soniah Shah, Prof Jessica Mar and Dr Scott Berry. GSA supports a range of annual awards at all career stages that celebrate excellence in genetics research, impact and teaching. The Society has an equity statement stating that it aims to promote a culture of inclusion and equity, and welcomes and encourages participation by members regardless of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, disability, physical appearance, faith, age, pregnancy, parental/carer status, socioeconomic background, or political belief. It states that it is committed to supporting diversity in all of its activities, including diversity in membership, leadership, recognition and outreach, to providing accessible opportunities wherever possible, and to making reasonable adjustments to support participation by members of all abilities. It also addresses gender equity.

• GSA 2026 conference scheduled at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, 5–8 July 2026

Professional scientific society promoting genetics research and education across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region.

• Annual genetics research conference

  Brings the genetics community from Aotearoa, Australia and the Asia Pacific region together to share new and innovative research in genetics.

• Awards programme

  A suite of annual awards at all career stages celebrating excellence in genetics research, impact and teaching, including the MJD White Medal, Ross Crozier Medal, Impact Award, Alan Wilton Award and DG Catcheside Prize.

• Student travel awards

  Travel awards to enable students to attend the annual conference.

• Policy representation

  Represents the collective interests of the genetics community to policymakers and government leaders via its membership of Science Technology Australia.

1. 1Genetics Society of AustralAsia – Building a community for genetics research across AustralAsiagenetics.org.au
2. 2About GSA – Genetics Society of AustralAsiagenetics.org.au
3. 3Genetics Society of AustralAsiawikidata.org