New travel grant honours Professor Anne Cutler's legacy and supports next generation of researchers
Pictured (L to R): Professor Chris Davis, Sobhini Sinnatamby, Lu Lucuta, Professor Paola Escudero, and Associate Professor Mark Antoniou
Distinguished Professor Anne Cutler was a renowned speech scientist, mentor and colleague to many in the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development at Western Sydney University.
Professor Anne Cutler’s research revolutionised our understanding of how humans perceive and understand spoken language. Critically, she liberated the field from its narrow focus on English, championing the study of diverse world languages to uncover universal principles. At the same time, she was committed to mentoring future academic leaders, particularly women, and developed the habit of broadening her graduate students’ experience by sending them off to other labs for up to six months during their candidature. It is this deep-seated dedication to fostering emerging talent, alongside her scientific brilliance, that defines Anne’s legacy.
When Professor Cutler died in 2022, her estate decided to honour her work and legacy by creating the Anne Cutler Memorial Travel Grant. This grant serves as a living tribute to her enduring impact, aiming to carry forward her spirit of mentorship and empower future researchers and leaders. The grant provides one PhD Candidate per year the opportunity to spend 3 – 6 months of their candidature visiting an overseas lab and developing collaborations with international academics.
Professor Kate Stevens, Director, MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour & Development said philanthropy such as the Anne Cutler Memorial Travel Grant is an investment in research and knowledge creation that amplifies research quality and visibility as well as growing professional networks and opportunities.
“We are incredibly grateful to Anne’s estate for the career-changing opportunity this gift enables,” she said. “We are also excited to see this year’s winning candidate, Lu Lucuta, on this exchange, that will both enhance the quality of their research and doctoral thesis but also allow them to establish a strong international research collaborator network."
Lu Lucuta is a PhD candidate in Cognitive Neuroscience whose research investigates how the brain makes predictions when processing music and language. They will be visiting world leading researchers at the Université Bourgogne Europe (Dijon, France), the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (CNRL, Lyon, France), the Centre for Music in the Brain (MIB, Aarhus, Denmark), and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), as well as presenting at the International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON, Porto, Portugal). Lu will be heading over to Europe in July 2025.
“We hope this award inspires all our PhD Candidates to aim high and excel – to aspire to collaborate with the leaders in their field across the globe. It is already deepening a research culture where candidates are confident to reach out to potential international collaborators to start a conversation about the possibility of hosting them. As an annual award, it also helps candidates to plan from the outset of their candidature when, where and with whom they could collaborate.”
“Without this generous gift we would not be able to offer this annual opportunity for candidates to connect, learn and grow. Competitive research grants provide the resources to answer a research question, but philanthropy such as this, emboldens next generation researchers to dream big and, like Anne, dare to ask and answer new questions that lead to breakthroughs in knowledge.”
ENDS
2 July 2025
Latest News
ABC RN transcript: Vice-Chancellor Professor George Williams discusses higher education sector, student support, and the impact of AI
The following is a transcript of an interview that aired on ABC Radio National Saturday Extra between presenter, Nick Bryant and Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Professor George Williams AO.
Western Sydney University are the number one Australian solar car team at the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge
Western Sydney Solar Car team has crossed the finish line placing preliminarily sixth in the world overall, and the number one Australian team in the world’s most prestigious solar car challenge.
Western Sydney University Statement on Cyber Incidents
Western Sydney University has issued an update to its community following confirmation that previously stolen personal information was published online, including on the dark web.