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Professor Robert G. Clark was appointed Chief Defence Scientist (CDS) of Australia and Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in October 2008.

Professor Robert Clark

As CDS he is a member of Australia’s Defence Committee, the Australian Principal of the five-nation Technical Cooperation Program and is a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council ( Australia). CDS is responsible for providing scientific and technological advice to the Ministers of Defence, Secretary of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force.

Robert Clark's early career, from the age of 15, involved 10 years' service in the Royal Australian Navy (1969 to 1979). During this time he undertook his BSc degree at the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay and the University of New South Wales. He received the EE Mayo Prize for top academic performance at the Naval College and the RAN (RNZN) Navigation Prize. He went on to serve in eight RAN ships and completed an Operations and Weapons course on exchange with the Royal Navy, UK and qualified as a Ships Diving Officer. He was promoted to Lieutenant before leaving the RAN to complete a PhD in Physics at UNSW and the Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford.

After a postdoctoral research position at the Clarendon he was appointed to the Faculty position of University Lecturer in Physics at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Member of the Governing Body of The Queen's College, Oxford in 1984. He headed a research group in experimental quantum physics at the Clarendon and was responsible for physics and engineering at The Queen’s College.

He returned to Australia in 1991 to take up the Chair position of Professor of Experimental Physics at UNSW, where he founded and established the National Magnet Laboratory and Semiconductor Nanofabrication Facility. In 2000 he established the Australian Research Council Special Research Centre for Quantum Computer Technology (ARC Centre of Excellence from 2003), one of the world's largest Centres devoted to this new science spanning six Australian universities with close links to Australian and US government agencies, and served as its Director till he joined DSTO.

Over the years Professor Clark has contributed to numerous national and international bodies. These include the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council's Nanotechnology Working Group, the Australian Academy of Science, the US Government Quantum Computing Roadmap Technology Expert Panel, and the Review Committee for Los Alamos National Laboratory's Physics Division.

He has the rare distinction of being awarded the Australian government's Federation Fellowship on two occasions. He has also been awarded the Australian Defence Medal and the Australian Centenary Medal.

Most recently Professor Clark was awarded the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science for his pioneering role in making Australia a world leader in nanotechnology and quantum computing.

Awards and Honours

1984 – Appointed to Faculty position at the University of Oxford and The Queen’s College, Oxford

1988 - Wolfson award for prestigious research, University of Oxford.

1991 - Conferred UK Mott Lecturer at the European Physical Society Meeting for research in condensed matter physics.

1994 - Elected Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Indiana University, USA.

1998 - Awarded Walter Boas Medal, Australian Institute of Physics.

2000 - Conferred title of Scientia Professor by the University of New South Wales; reconfirmed for 2007-11.

2001 - Elected Fellow, Australian Academy of Science; recipient of inaugural Australian Government Federation Fellowship for 2002-06.

2003 - Awarded Australian Centenary Medal; named in Australian 'Smart 100' list for innovation and achievement by the Bulletin magazine.

2006 - Awarded Australian Defence Medal.

2007 - Awarded second Australian Government Federation Fellowship for 2007-12.

2008 - Awarded Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science