Two of Deakin’s young Professors honoured at national researcher awards

The youngest ever recipient of Deakin University's most prestigious honour, the title of Alfred Deakin Professor, along with an accomplished researcher in the field of childhood obesity have continued their high achievements at the Scopus Young Researcher of the Year awards.

Alfred Deakin Professor Paresh Kumar Narayan was announced as second runner up in the Humanities and Social Sciences award for his work in financial econometrics.

And School of Health and Social Development Professor Steven Allender was announced as runner up for the second year in a row in the Medicine and Medical Sciences Award for his achievements in childhood obesity prevention.

The Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Awards are part of an initiative by global parent company Elsevier to recognise outstanding young scientists and researchers in Australasia who have made significant contributions in their areas of research.

The awards, given to researchers aged below 40, were announced at a special ceremony last week in Canberra.

Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said she was delighted for both Professors.

"Both of these hard working and focussed academics are leading the way in their fields and are also excellent role models for other young aspiring researchers," Professor den Hollander said.

"At Deakin we are very proud of the work we are doing in the area of childhood obesity research, particularly through the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention based at our Waterfront Geelong Campus, of which Professor Allender is a Co-Director.

The Centre was established in 2003 as part of Deakin University's Faculty of Health, and is one of four research groups that form the Deakin Population Health Strategic Research Centre.

The Scopus judging panel described Professor Allender as forging an "Impressive career in a high impact research area" and said his publications "reflect a high degree of collaboration".

Professor den Hollander said the university was also proud of the work Deakin was doing in the emerging field of financial econometrics, with Professor Narayan playing a key role in its advancement.

"As the Deputy Director of our university's new Centre for Economics and Financial Econometrics Research, Professor Narayan has achieved big things since he joined the Deakin family in 2007," Professor den Hollander said.

"I remember awarding Professor Narayan the title of Alfred Deakin Professor in 2011, making him the youngest ever recipient of this high honour at the age of 35 and I am not surprised that he continues to be acknowledged for his great work."

Professor Narayan was described by Scopus as "a prodigious publisher who makes significant contribution to his field of econometrics, largely through projects funded by international development agencies" and said he was "ranked very highly in his specialist field".

Professor den Hollander said the university looked forward to more of Professor Narayan's work through the new research centre, which is a merger between the financial econometrics and economics policy research groups.

"The group will later this year host the conference of the prestigious finance journal, the Journal of Banking and Finance, one of several symposiums and conferences associated with ranked international journals the centre has hosted in its short life."

Professor Narayan will also edit a special issue of the premier finance journal.