PM’s Prizes
Prime Minister’s Science Prizes The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes were announced at a formal dinner on Wednesday 12 October 2011.
Click here to view the joint press release from the Prime Minister and Innovation Minister.
Click here to view the Innovation Minister’s speech.
Click here for citations.
Click here for the photo gallery and links to downloadable HD videos.
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were presented by the Prime Minister and the Innovation Minister at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 12 October. Read the full article →
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were presented by the Prime Minister and the Innovation Minister at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 12 October 2011. Read the full article →
The Prime Minister is pleased to announce this year’s Prize for Science has been awarded to Professors Ezio Rizzardo and David Solomon from the CSIRO and the University of Melbourne. Read the full article →
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science for 2011 were presented by the Prime Minister and Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 12 October.
Below is the text of the minister’s speech.
Changing the world one molecule at a time
In the coming years when you buy a tyre, lubricant, adhesive, paint, computer or any one of hundreds of other products, there’s a good chance that some of its component materials will have been produced using revolutionary chemical theories and processes invented in Australia by research teams led by Professors Ezio Rizzardo and David Solomon.
Their techniques are employed in almost every university chemistry department, and the laboratories and factories of DuPont, L’Oréal, IBM, 3M, Dulux and more than 60 other companies.
Read the full article →
A new chlorophyll – redefining photosynthesis
Among the single-celled cyanobacteria—formerly known as blue-green algae—which live in the ancient rock-like accumulations called stromatolites in Shark Bay, Western Australia, Associate Professor Min Chen of the University of Sydney last year found the first new form of chlorophyll in 67 years.
Read the full article →
How did the Universe light up – filling a billion years of cosmic history
The Universe was born in a hot Big Bang. But after 300,000 years of expansion it became a cold dark place—no galaxies, no stars, no light. A billion years later nuclear fusion lit up the Universe as hydrogen atoms clumped to form stars and galaxies.
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Puppets break the science language barrier
In 2003, Mrs Brooke Topelberg—only three years out from an education degree and just back from two years’ teaching in inner London—was appointed science coordinator of Westminster Primary School. The school is set in a high immigrant, low socio-economic suburban area in northern Perth. Science was a low priority at the school.
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A part of her students’ lives
Students at Adelaide’s Loreto College have been investigating extra-sensory perception, finding the best way to neutralise spills of household cleaners, and testing the antibiotic effects of Manuka honey. They present their results not just by writing reports, but using talks, videos, role-plays and stories. Their activities are typical of the practical, can-do attitude of their science coordinator, Dr Jane Wright. It’s an attitude she’s also applied in her leadership of her chosen profession.
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Left to Right: The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister of Australia, Professor John Shine, Senator The Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science & Research
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were presented by the Prime Minister and the Innovation Minister at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 17 November. The Prime Minister’s speech is here. The Minister’s media release and speech are here.
The winners are:
- Dr John Shine, director of the Garvan Institute in Sydney, received the $300,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for his science – discoveries of key gene sequences that led to cloned medicines – and his research leadership.
- Dr Katherine Trinajstic received the $50,000 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. This Perth palaeontologist from Curtin University is rewriting the story of the evolution of our deep ancestors and contributing to oil and gas exploration.
- Dr Benjamin Kile from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne received the $50,000 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year. His discoveries will extend the life of blood transfusion products and help explain how cancer starts.
- Dr Matthew McCloskey, director of studies at Sydney Grammar’s Edgecliff Preparatory School received the $50,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools for bringing real science experiments back into the classroom, building on his own experience as a research scientist and zoologist.
- Ms Debra Smith, head of science at Centenary High School in western Brisbane received the $50,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools for inspiring thousands of students and helping to redefine the senior science curriculum in Queensland and across Australia. Read the full article →
Left to Right: Dr Matthew McCloskey, Dr Kate Trinajstic, Professor John Shine, The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister of Australia, Ms Debra Smith, Dr Benjamin Kile (photo credit: Irene Dowdy/DIISR)
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were presented by the Prime Minister and the Innovation Minister at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 17 November. The MC for the evening was the ABC’s Bernie Hobbs.
2010 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science
Prime Minister’s speech
Parliament House, CANBERRA
WEDNESDAY 17 November 2010
Read the full article →
Left to Right: Dr Matthew McCloskey, Ms Debra Smith, Professor John Shine, Senator The Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science & Research, Dr Kate Trinajstic, Dr Benjamin Kile (photo credit: Irene Dowdy/DIISR)
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were presented by the Prime Minister and the Innovation Minister at the Prize Dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday 17 November. The MC for the evening was the ABC’s Bernie Hobbs.
Minister’s press release
Minister’s speech
Read the full article →
John Shine, winner of the 2010 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science (photo credit: Bearcage Productions)
GGAGG—five letters that launched a biotechnology revolution
As a PhD student at the Australian National University, John Shine discovered the importance of a brief sequence of genetic code. It took him three years to determine that sequence and what it does. At its core are five letters—GGAGG—which tell ribosomes, the protein factories in all living things, to start making a protein.
Read the full article →
Katherine Trinajstic, winner of the 2010 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year (photo credit: Ron D’Raine)
The first mother: how our deep ancestors lived, loved and died
Three hundred and eighty million years ago, on the Gogo Barrier Reef in what is now the Kimberley Ranges, our early ancestors were developing teeth, jaws, limbs, and even a womb.
Read the full article →
Benjamin Kile, winner of the 2010 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year (photo credit: Bearcage Productions)
Finding a cancer gene’s day job: making blood stem cells
Benjamin Kile is unravelling the secrets of blood in a series of discoveries at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne.
He has discovered why platelets—the blood cells responsible for clotting—have a short shelf life at the blood bank. There’s a molecular clock ticking away that triggers cell death.
Read the full article →
Matthew McCloskey, winner of the 2010 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools (photo credit: Pauline Valentine)
Scientists are created in primary school
Matthew McCloskey is in the vanguard of the renaissance of primary science teaching in Australia—bringing real science experiments back into the classroom, building on his own experience as a research scientist and zoologist.
Read the full article →
Debra Smith, winner of the 2010 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools (photo credit: Bearcage Productions)
Science teaching has to be practical
Over thirty years of teaching, Debra Smith has not only inspired thousands of students, she has helped redefine how science is taught in Queensland and across Australia.
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