Now in its fifteenth year, Fresh Science is a national event, which brings together scientists, the media and the public. It is designed to:
Previous Fresh Scientists have attracted national and international interest resulting in hundreds of media stories, including national television news.
For more information please visit our Fresh Science site.
Fresh Science is a communication boot camp for researchers no more than five years out from their PhD. We teach them essential communication skills and get their stories out to local, national and international media.
If you’d like to apply for Fresh Science 2012, go to our nominations page.
For more information about Fresh Science and its history click here.
Nominations are open now and will close on Monday 11 June.
Genetics can be used to shape plants underground so they absorb water better
Recent discoveries by a University of Queensland agricultural scientist provide the basis for custom designing plant roots. Her discovery is already being used by plant breeders to develop drought-resistant sorghum crops. Read the full article →
Two thymus glands fast-track immune defences -
Baby wallaby photos available
Until now, it was a mystery why many marsupials have two thymuses—key organs in the immune system—instead of the one typical of other mammals.
Now postdoctoral researcher Dr Emily Wong from the University of Sydney and her colleagues have found that the two organs are identical, which suggests why they are there.
Read the full article → 
The work should lead to a better understanding of autoimmune conditions, such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, she says, and may even provide new ways to target treatments. Read the full article → 
A new technology to stop falls before they happen could helping the elderly stay in their own homes longer
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have developed a simple way of predicting the likelihood of an elderly person falling in the near future, allowing action to reduce the chances of it happening. Read the full article → 
Australian researchers have revealed a new pattern of ocean circulation which will change our understanding of marine events.
Research at the University of Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology has overturned conventional ideas of ocean circulation. Read the full article → 
Cell death genes essential for cancer therapy identified.
New research has uncovered why certain cancers don’t respond to conventional chemotherapy, highlighting the need to match treatments to cancers better. Read the full article → 
HIV can hide out in the brain, protected from the immune system and antiviral drugs, Dr Lachlan Gray and his colleagues at Monash University and the Burnet Institute have found. Read the full article → 
Australian researchers have invented nanotech solar cells that are thin, flexible and use 1/100th the materials of conventional solar cells. Read the full article → 
Soil has the answer to burning climate questions
Decreasing the frequency of wild fires in northern Australia would lead to an increase in the amount of carbon stored in the soil, significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions, according to CSIRO ecologist, Dr Anna Richards. Read the full article → 
In flour it reduces heart disease risk say Melbourne and WA researchers
You can lower your risk of heart disease significantly, just by using flour containing 40 per cent lupin beans in the place of conventional wholemeal flour, according to research by Victoria University dietitian Dr Regina Belski and colleagues from the University of Western Australia. Read the full article → 
What sawfish really do with their saw
Scientists thought that sawfish used their saw to probe the sea bottom for food. But a Cairns researcher has found that these large (5 metres or more) and endangered fish actually use the saw to locate and dismember free-swimming fish – using a sixth sense that detects electric fields. She’s in Melbourne this week as a winner of Fresh Science. Read the full article → 
Melbourne scientists have developed an injectable material that encourages nerves in the brain and spinal cord to regrow. Their work could lead to new ways of treating nerve-based injuries or conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
Read the full article → 
By travelling backwards it’s pushing knowledge forwards
All planets move around their stars in the same direction as the star spins—at least that’s what we thought.
Read the full article →
The Deakin University invention uses waste heat to reduce friction by warming the engine oil. A prototype has been built and tested and the inventors are now talking to the car manufacturers and developing an aftermarket conversion kit. Read the full article →
Melbourne researchers have developed smart bandages that change colour to reveal the state of the wound beneath.
Their invention could reduce the $500 million cost of chronic wound care in Australia. Read the full article → Here are the Fresh Scientists of 2011.
You can meet this year’s Fresh Scientists on Monday 6 June over a beer at the Duke of Kent, more information here. Feel free to share this event with friends and colleagues, a flyer can be downloaded here.
The details of the discoveries are embargoed until we release each of their stories over the coming weeks. You can keep up to date via this website, twitter or facebook.
For more information or to arrange an interview email AJ Epstein, or phone +61 (3) 9078 5398
Fresh Scientists of 2011:
