ProfessorStuart Thickett

Dr Stuart Thickett is an Associate Professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in the Discipline of Chemistry in the School of Natural Sciences. He is interested in the field of polymer, colloid, and materials chemistry with a specific focus on polymer kinetics and mechanism.

Biography
Before joining the University of Tasmania in 2015, Stuart received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from the University of Sydney in 2004 and 2008 respectively. He subsequently held post-doctoral positions at the University of Queensland, University of Toronto (Canada) and the University of Sydney, prior to being awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship to join the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales in 2012. He was appointed lecturer within the Discipline of Chemistry at the University of Tasmania in 2015 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2017 and associate professor in 2022. In September 2022 he was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship to investigate new 'green' methods of polymer synthesis.

Career summary

Qualifications

GradCertULT, University of New South Wales, Australia 19/12/2014
Ph.D. The Kinetics of Electrosterically Stabilised Emulsion Polymerisation Systems, University of Sydney, Australia 6/6/2008
BSc (Adv) (Hons), Propagation Kinetics of Acrylic Acid: An Experimental and Theoretical Study, University of Sydney, Australia 20/4/2004

Administrative expertise
In 2015 Stuart was appointed the Chair of the Australian Polymer Summer School (APSS), run by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Polymer Division. He has coordinated and organised multiplesummer schools at various venues around Australia.

Stuart is actively involved in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and has been the Tasmanian State Representative for the RACI Polymer Division since 2016 and the awards and web coordinator of the Polymer Division since 2021.

In 2025 Stuart was appointed to the ARC College of Experts for a three year period as a reflection of his national research standing.

Stuart is the national representative to the IUPAC Polymer Division for 2026-27.

At UTAS, Stuart convened and led the School of Natural Sciences Teaching Mentoring Co-Op from 2018-2022 and was the SNS LT committee representatitve from Chemistry in the same period.