Tanya Monro


Tanya Mary Monro is an Australian physicist known for her work in photonics. She has been Australia's Chief Defence Scientist since 8 March 2019. Prior to that she was the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia. She was awarded the ARC Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship in 2013. She was the inaugural director of the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing . Monro has remained an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Adelaide following her departure from the institution. In 2020, she was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor at the University of South Australia.
Her previous board roles have included membership of the Australian Prime Minister's Commonwealth Science Council, the South Australian Economic Development Board, and the Defence SA board.

Education

Monro was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree with first class honours in 1995 followed by a PhD in 1998 from the University of Sydney for research on waveguides. Monro credits a teacher at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar with inspiring her interest in physics.

Career and research

From 1998 to 2004, Monro was a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton. She joined the University of Adelaide in 2005 as inaugural chair of photonics and Director of the Centre of Expertise in Photonics within the School of Chemistry & Physics in partnership with DSTO. Since that time and while at the University of Adelaide she has been: ARC Federation Fellow; Director of the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing and the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Nanoscale Biophotonics at the University of Adelaide. From 2014 to 2019 she was the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President, Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia.

Chief Defence Scientist (2019–present)

Monro was announced as Australia's next Chief Defence Scientist on 24 January 2019. Monro took up the role of Chief Defence Scientist in March 2019, the first woman in this position.
In this role she heads the Defence Science and Technology Group and serves as Defence's Capability Manager for Innovation, Science and Technology.
During her tenure Defence released and implemented the mission-directed S&T framework known as More, together: Defence Science and Technology Strategy 2030, which established the Science, Technology and Research Shots to focus effort on leap-ahead capabilities, including Remote Undersea Surveillance and Quantum-Assured Position, Navigation and Timing.
In 2023 the Australian Government established the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator to speed the pull-through of innovation into capability, with strategic guidance provided by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief Defence Scientist and the Deputy Secretary of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group. ASCA began operations on 1 July 2023 and is funded at $3.4 billion over a decade.
Under AUKUS Pillar II, Australia, the UK and the US agreed the Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation Project Arrangement in November 2024 to accelerate testing and evaluation of hypersonic systems through shared facilities and information exchange.
Monro has also overseen major Defence S&T programs in autonomous systems and quantum technologies. In April 2024 Defence, ASCA and Anduril unveiled the first Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle prototype; in September 2025 the Government signed a five-year contract valued at A$1.7 billion to deliver a fleet for the Royal Australian Navy. In September 2024 Defence announced contracts with Adelaide-based QuantX Labs to supply quantum optical atomic clocks to strengthen assured PNT for the ADF and support AUKUS Pillar II activities.

Publications

Monro has published a few book chapters, and is named on 275 papers including refereed journal articles and conference papers. These have led to over 21000 citations in journals and refereed conference proceedings. Monro has also registered a number of patent families. Although, not a single one of these patent families have resulted in any commercial applications or uses - this is very typical of blue sky researchers.

Honours and awards

Monro was raised in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown. She is an alumna of the National Youth Science Forum, a youth camp at the Australian National University students wishing to pursue a career in science. She married David in 1995. They moved to England in 1998. They have three sons, the first born in 2003, followed by twin boys born in 2006. Monro is a science fiction fan, and played cello in the Burnside Symphony Orchestra in Adelaide.