Lidia Morawska (born 10 November 1952, Tarnów, Poland) is a Polish–Australian physicist, Australian Laureate Fellow and distinguished professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, at the Queensland University of Technology, director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH) and ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission (Thrive) at QUT. She is past co-director of the Australia-China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management, an adjunct professor at the Jinan University in China, and a Vice-Chancellor fellow at the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Her work focuses on fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health, with a specific focus on atmospheric fine, ultrafine and nanoparticles. Since 2003, she expanded her interests to include also particles from human respiration activities and airborne infection transmission.
In 2018, she received the Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research, as well as the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) 2017 David Sinclair Award. In 2020, she contributed to the area of airborne infection transmission of viruses, including COVID-19. In that same year she became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science () and received the QUT Distinguished Professorship, and received the 2021 International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate Special 2020 Award for an Extraordinary Academic Leadership. In 2021, she was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2024, she was elected as an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2025, she was awarded the Prime Minister Prize for Science by the Prime Minister of Australia The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, received a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Lublin University of Technology, Poland for her global work in air quality research and its effects on human health and the environment, and was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Life and career She was born in 1952 in Tarnów to father Henryk Jaskuła, a yachtsman and sailing captain, and mother Zofia. At the age of two, she moved with her family to Przemyśl where she grew up. She studied physics and received her doctorate in 1982 at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland for research on radon and its progeny.
From 1982 to 1987, she was a research fellow at the Institute of Physics and Nuclear Techniques, Academy of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow, Poland.
Prior to joining the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 1991, she conducted research first at McMaster University in Hamilton as a postdoctoral research fellow of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and later at the University of Toronto between 1987 and 1991.
She has conducted research in this field since 1991, when she established the Environmental Aerosol Laboratory at QUT, renamed the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health in 2002. She subsequently assumed a position as associate professor at the QUT in 2003.
She is a long-standing collaborator and advisor to the World Health Organization, contributing to all WHO air quality-related guidelines over the past two decades. She co-chairs the group responsible for the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, on which nations base their air quality standards.
In addition, was an Associate Editor of Science of the Total Environment journal, (2007-2021).
Research Her research interests and scientific contributions fall into eight main areas: (i) Instrumental techniques for ultrafine particle detection in the air; (ii) Combustion as a source of urban atmospheric pollution; (iii) The science of ambient particle dynamics; (iv) Indoor Air Quality; (v) Lung Deposition; (vi) Risk assessment and mitigation; (vii) Developing and utilising advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses; and (viii) particles from respiratory activities and infection control.
She has received funding from different sources and for different research projects including: +Funding for research projectsYearProjectFunding2023My Air Space: the Science of Buildings that Make us ThriveARC Laureate Fellowship2023ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission (Thrive)ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres2023Making Australia resilient to airborne infection transmissionARC Linkage Projects2020The Air is Fair, Here and There": Queensland Communities Assessing and Comparing Air QualityQueensland Citizen Science2019Overcoming cultural and developmental barriers to transition towards cleaner energy practices in Oceania: A pilot study in Solomon IslandsNHMRC CAR Seed Funding2019Airborne ultrafine particles in Australian citiesARC Linkage Projects2018Assessment of children's exposure to air pollution in Fiji, its drivers and the burden of disease attributable to itNHMRC CAR Seed Funding2017Establishing Advanced Networks for Air Quality Sensing and AnalysesARC Linkage Projects2015Revolutionising protection against air pollutionARC Discovery Projects2012Quantification of Airborne Engineered Nanoparticles: Developing a Scientific Framework to Inform their Regulation and ControlARC Linkage Projects2011Detection, Characteristics and Dynamics of Airborne Engineered Nanoparticles for Human Exposure AssessmentARC Discovery Projects2009Nanoparticles from urban transport: Quantification of formation and dynamics for application for health and environmental risk reductionARC Discovery Projects2009The Effects of Nano and Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions on Children s Health (UPTECH)ARC Linkage Projects2008A quantitative study into traffic generated nano and ultrafine particle dynamics and toxicity in transit hubs and transport corridorsARC Linkage Projects2007Optimisation of indoor air quality, thermal comfort and energy usage within buildings located in busy transit-oriented developmentsARC Linkage Projects2007Quantification of Current and Future Traffic Emissions of Greenhouse Gasses and Particulate Matter for Application in Transport and Urban PlanningARC Linkage Projects2005Quantification of interactions during the dispersion of corona ions and airborne particles near power linesARC Linkage Projects2005Development and validation of a model predicting charged aerosol characteristics in the proximity to high voltage powerlinesARC Discovery Projects2005Mechanisms of virus transport in indoor environmentsARC Discovery Projects2004Developing Scientific Basis For The Rapid Detection System Of Diesel Vehicles With High Level Of Exhaust EmissionsARC Linkage Projects2004Developing Scientific Basis for the Rapid Detection System of Diesel Vehicles with High Level of Exhaust EmissionsARC Linkage Projects2003An integrated model of bus emission impacts at and around bus stations and busways for transport and land use planningARC Linkage Projects2002The effect of fuel type on health and environmental risks caused by motor vehicle emissions ARC Discovery Projects2002Developing an air quality assessment model for application in human exposure assessment, housing/urban planning and policy settingARC Linkage Projects
COVID-19 research During the COVID-19 pandemic, she assembled and led a multidisciplinary group of 239 scientists guiding public health authorities worldwide to recognise the significance of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus-laden particles and the risk it poses to human health. Based on this work, the WHO and other national authorities such as the US Center for Disease Control, subsequently updated their advice regarding airborne transmission. In 2020, she became a Member of the Task Force on Workplace, School, and Travel Safety, The Lancet COVID Commission, looking into building-related risk factors which are a critical, but missing, component of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak investigations.
Ultrafine particle research Her "Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions and Children's Health" project demonstrated that exposure to airborne ultrafine particles emitted in large quantities from vehicles was independently, positively associated with both systemic and respiratory inflammation and therefore has significant deleterious health impacts. In 2015, this evidence convinced the World Health Organization and individual countries to review national standards to protect children by controlling their exposure to ultrafine particles. As a result, they changed their air quality guidelines to include recommendations regarding ultrafine particles. In 2019, she led the "Thinking outside the box" team which prepared a White Paper titled "Ambient ultrafine particles: evidence for policy makers”, and in 2021, had input into the good practices for the management of ultrafine particles in the new WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines.
Global Burden of Diseases studies Since 2012, she has also contributed work on international scientific programs, such as the Global Burden of Disease studies which quantitatively assess the impact of exposure to air pollution as a disease risk.
Honours and awards Her scientific career has been recognised and awarded in multiple occasions by various organisations, among those are: 2026: Ranked #4 in Australia, and #75 in the world in Research.com ’s Best Environmental Sciences Scientists 2025: Prime Minister's Prize for Science"Aerosol physicist Lidia Morawska wins 2025 Prime Minister's Prize for Science"; https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-11-03/lidia-morawska-prime-ministers-science-prize-air-quality/105959260 2025: Doctorate Honoris Causa from Lublin University of Technology, Poland 2025: President’s Prize, Australian Institute of Architects 2024: Planetary Health Award, The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation 2024: Forbes Polish Women Magazine list of 50 women over 50 2024: named in the ABC The Science Show’s Top 100 Australian Scientists . 2023: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards (Laureate for Asia and the Pacific – Earth and environmental science) 2023: Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture awarded by the Australian Academy of Science 2023: Lung Health Legends Award, Lung Foundation Australia 2022: American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) Susanne V. Herring Award 2021: Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the Innovators category 2021: ISIAQ Special 2020 Award for an Extraordinary Academic Leadership, International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate 2021: Honorary Fellow, Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand 2021: Researcher of the Year, Faculty of Science 2021 Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award, QUT 2020: QUT Vice-Chancellors' Award for Leadership Excellence, QUT Recognition Program 2020: Ranked 16,428 in the list of the 100,000 best scientists in the world according to the Stanford University 2020: Recognition by The Sydney Morning Herald as one of the best scientists in the area of health and science 2020: Nominee in the list of the Top 40 Australian scientists by the Australian Research Magazine 2020: Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science 2018: Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research by the Australian Museum of Eureka Prizes 2017: David Sinclair Award by the American Association for Aerosol Research 2017: Queensland University of Technology Vice-Chancellor's Performance Award 2011: Clean Air Medal by the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand
Selected works She is credited with more than 950 academic publications, including scientific articles, book chapters, and conference papers. Among the most cited publications are:
Selected publications on Covid-19:
Lidia Morawska, et al., “ Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings ”. Science, 383(6690): 1418–1420, 2024