Young scientists achieve remarkable results with summer scholarships

Ten of the brightest young scientists from Australia and New Zealand recently completed the annual Amgen Scholars Program at the University of Melbourne, which nurtures new leaders and innovators in biomedicine and biotechnology.

At the program’s final symposium on 20 February, the 2025 scholar cohort – comprising students from six universities – presented their research projects to an audience of experienced scientists from the University of Melbourne and partner organisations.

Beside 25 prestigious institutions in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia, the University of Melbourne is the only Australian institution to deliver this intensive, summer program, thanks to a $21 million grant from the Amgen Foundation in 2020.

Scholar Gordon Wu is a third-year Bachelor of Science student at the University of Melbourne, majoring in biomedical engineering.

“I applied for the Amgen Scholars Program because I wanted to use the theoretical knowledge that I’ve gained in my degree in a practical project, to get hands-on laboratory experience, and to see what it’s really like to work in research,” Mr Wu said.

Gordon Wu and supervisors Haniyeh Hemmatian (left) and Natalie Sims at the Amgen Scholars’ symposium.

“My project involved coding software that can analyse cells within bones, which was fascinating and highly relevant to my studies. I enjoyed a close relationship with my supervisors and great support from the lab team, and I’m proud to have contributed to their larger research program.

“It's been wonderful to meet the other scholars and share ideas about our projects and our career paths. I recommend this program as a great way to determine whether research is a potential career for you, as I now think it is for me.”

At St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Dr Haniyeh Hemmatian supervised Mr Wu in the Bone Cell Biology and Disease Unit, which is led by Professor Natalie Sims, the Institute’s Deputy Director.

“This was a great opportunity to design a well-structured, short-term project and develop my mentoring skills,” Dr Hemmatian said. “Gordon quickly understood the concepts and techniques and did a great job. We’ll use his code to analyse the data from our long-term project and we’d love to have him work with us again.”

“We’ve hosted four Amgen Scholars so far,” Professor Sims said. “They’ve all been different, and all excellent. In this program, the students apply for the project they're most interested in – they’re not randomly allocated – which means they’re highly motivated in their work.”

Scholar Lisa Ye and supervisor Charlotte Petersen displayed a poster about their research project at the symposium.

Lisa Ye is majoring in chemical engineering in the third year of her Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne. Her project explored the potential for targeted cancer treatments using gold nanoparticles to conduct lethal heat into tumour cells.

“As well as the real research experience – which is otherwise hard to get as an undergraduate – what attracted me to the Amgen Scholars Program was the opportunity to connect with like-minded students from across Australia and the Pacific region,” Ms Ye said. “We had a lot of fun socialising and exploring Melbourne together during the program.

“The work was challenging but my supervisor was super helpful. She gave me a lot of freedom but also guided my problem solving. I'll definitely look for future opportunities in research and I’m seriously considering a masters degree next.”

Lisa was supervised by Dr Charlotte Petersen, a lecturer in the School of Chemistry.

“This was my first time supervising an Amgen Scholar,” Dr Petersen said. “My colleagues’ great experiences with students in last year’s program inspired me to become a host.

“Lisa is enthusiastic, confident, self-motivated and willing to try everything – and she exceeded my expectations in how much she achieved in a short time. I certainly hope she goes into research because she would be brilliant at it.”

Gregory Llacer, Global Director of the Amgen Scholars Program, travelled from the US to see the students present their project objectives, methodologies and outcomes.

“These scholars have produced remarkable work, and I congratulate them,” Mr Llacer said. “While they are still undergraduates, this program is a springboard to their professional development and future success in science.

“There’s outstanding community engagement across disciplines at the University of Melbourne, which enables impactful research connected to real-world problems. The principal investigators who make their expertise, time and world-class facilities available provide an extraordinary experience for these young people.”