Professor Hearn is the senior author of over 565 original scientific publications, several books and is the named inventor/co-inventor of 32 patents/patent applications. His contributions to the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological sciences are widely recognised. Professor Hearn has been then recipient of numerous national and international awards and prizes, including the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis, six prestigious awards of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, namely the Leighton Memorial Medal, the Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the H.G. Smith Medal, the Applied Research Medal, the Analytical Chemistry Medal and the R.K Murphy Medal, in recognition of his contributions. He is a recipient of the Centennial Medal of the Commonwealth of Australia for service to the chemical and biotechnology industry and the public within Australia.