We’re pleased to announce that the team that developed dartR, a free and open-source software package for analysis of complex genomic data, has won the 2025 ARDC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software.
Awarded annually by the Australian Museum, the Eureka Prizes honour excellence across research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science in Australia. For the third year, the ARDC is the proud sponsor of the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software, which recognises the development, maintenance or extension of software that has enabled significant new scientific research.
dartR is a collaboration between the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra, CSIRO and Diversity Arrays Technology. The R software package enables analysis of large and informative multi-purpose genomic datasets.
By supporting decisions in conservation, agriculture and health, dartR has transformed how genetic data is used. It’s improving breeding programs, protecting endangered species and advancing research across more than 900 peer-reviewed studies.
Professor Bernd Gruber, an author and co-maintainer of dartR, said, “We are absolutely thrilled and honoured that dartR has been recognised with the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software. What began as a handful of scripts has grown into a global open-source community, helping researchers across very different fields like human health, agriculture and conservation of endangered species. This award is a recognition not just of our team, but of the many contributors and users worldwide who have made dartR what it is today.”
Keith Russell, Director, Outreach, ARDC, presented the award at the Sydney Town Hall on Gadigal Country on 3 September.
“We are delighted to award the Eureka prize for excellence in research software to dartR. The package is open-source and well maintained with a strong user community, reflected in the broad uptake by the national and international research community,” said Mr Russell.
Nick Jenkins, Research Software Specialist, ARDC, said, “So much critical research depends upon the tireless efforts of unsung heroes who build and maintain open source packages like dartR. This award is a chance to recognise the efforts of the dartR team, and all the finalists, in their contribution toward Australian and international research.”
dartR is a user-friendly software package that lets biologists easily perform complex population genetics and genomics analysis.
“dartR is used in a wide range of fields, including conservation biology, population ecology and landscape ecology,” said Ching Ching Lau and Professor Arthur Georges, members of the dartR team.
Applications of dartR include protecting endangered species, revealing historical population sizes and understanding evolutionary histories. It has a community of users from industry, research, government and education.
“Research software often operates behind the scenes, yet it is fundamental to turning data into knowledge and impact. The Eureka Prize celebrates and recognises those hidden engines of discovery. For us, developing dartR has been about making complex genomic analyses accessible and reproducible. This recognition validates the importance of open software as a cornerstone of modern science,” said Prof Gruber.
Learn more about dartR.
The ARDC would like to thank the Eureka Prize judges and also congratulate the other 2 finalists for the 2025 ARDC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software:
mixOmics, free, open-source software that integrates multi-omics data – including genes, proteins and microbes – into clear biological insights, driving breakthroughs in cancer, infectious disease and environmental sciencenapari, which helps scientists explore, annotate and analyse image data in 2D, 3D and beyond, across diverse fields including cell biology, astronomy, materials science and archaeology.Watch and read more about the finalists, and stay tuned for our in-depth interviews with the winner and finalists in the coming months by subscribing to the ARDC Connect newsletter.
Read about the 2024 winner, Professor Gordon Smyth, and finalists.
Also read our ongoing interview series about leading Australian research software engineers (RSEs).
Presented in partnership with some of the nation’s leading scientific institutions, government organisations, universities and corporations, the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes have celebrated since 1990 hundreds of Australian scientists and their world-leading, world-changing contributions.
The ARDC first sponsored the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software in 2023 to recognise and celebrate the development and maintenance of software in Australia that underpins research and scientific discovery. The award is part of the ARDC’s work with the research community to strengthen recognition of software, a critical enabler of data-driven research.
The ARDC sponsors other awards for research software and research software engineers in 2025, including the Award for New Developers of Open Source Software in Ecology by the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA). This award aims to support efforts to develop and share methodology, models and data in ecology and management of Australia’s ecological communities, and focuses on supporting researchers new to software development. The application deadline has been extended to Tuesday 30 September 2025 – enter now.
The ARDC is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.
