Science prizes open for nominations – please spread the word

Bulletins, Science stakeholder bulletins

It’s science prize season.

Several major Australian prizes are now open for nominations. The PM’s prizes alone have a prize pool of $500,000. And there are several prizes for early and mid-career scientists.

Please pass the following information on to individuals who you think might be interested and suitable for one or other of these prizes.

In particular please encourage early-career scientists to consider nominating for the $50,000 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientists, the $50,000 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientists, and the three $20,000 L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowships.

In this bulletin:

1. L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science $20,000 Fellowships

2. Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science

3. Fresh Science

4. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

5. Australian University Teaching Awards

6. 2009 Science and Innovation Awards: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

7. Clunies Ross Awards 2010

8. Other prizes

9. Science in Public

1.           L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science $20,000 Fellowships

L’Oréal Australia is offering three $20,000 fellowships to female scientists no more than five years past their PhD, excluding periods of maternity leave.

Applications are open now and close on close on Friday 1 May 2009.

Nominations for the 2010 UNESCO-L’ORÉAL International Fellowships close on 30 June 2009. The International Fellowships are worth US$40,000 over two years and are available to female doctoral and post-doctoral scientists under 35 years old with a focus on life sciences to study at an institution outside Australia. Three of the 15 International Fellowships will be awarded in the Asia-Pacific Region, which includes Australia.

Further details and online application form at: www.scienceinpublic.com/loreal

2.           Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science

Nominations are now open for the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science. These Prizes are awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to science and science teaching.

They include:

  • the $300,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science (awarded to Ian Frazer last year)
  • the $50,000 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year
  • the $50,000 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year
  • the $50,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools and
  • the $50,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.

Nominations close 5pm AEST on Friday 8 May 2009.

More information: www.innovation.gov.au/scienceprizes

Or contact the Secretariat on (02) 6276 1264 or pmprize@innovation.gov.au

3. Fresh Science

Fresh Science nominations have closed for 2009. The 16 winners will be announced in the next two weeks. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised later today, 8 April.

We were delighted with the quality of the 98 applications we received.

4. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

The Eureka Prizes reward excellence in the fields of scientific research & innovation, science leadership, school science and science journalism & communication.

There are 18 prizes on offer. Nominations close on Friday 1 May.

More information: http://amonline.net.au/eureka/

5. Australian University Teaching Awards

The Australian Learning and Teaching Council have five Award programs that recognise teaching excellence and outstanding contributions to student learning. These five Awards are:

  • Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Closes 1 May 2009.
  • Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning. Closes 10 July 2009.
  • Awards for Teaching Excellence. Closes 10 July 2009.
  • Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year
  • Career Achievement Award

More information: www.altc.edu.au/carrick/go/home/awards

6.           2009 Science and Innovation Awards: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is launching the 2009 Science and Innovation Awards. The awards offer young people, under 35 years old, up to $50,000 to advance Australia’s rural industries.

More information: scienceawards@brs.gov.au or on their web within the next week.

7.           Clunies Ross Awards 2010

The ATES Clunies Ross Awards recognise Australia’s pre-eminent scientists and technologists who have bridged the gap between research and the marketplace. Nominations are now open for the 2010 awards.

More information: http://cluniesross.org.au

8.           Other prizes

There’s no publically available comprehensive list of science prizes in Australia. So last year we put together a list last year which provides some indication and weblinks. It’s not up to date but is a useful reference.

It lists 116 prizes: 72 for science; 29 for science education and communication; and 15 other prizes for which scientists are eligible.

It includes the Australian Academy of Science Medals – most of which have a small cash prize as well as the acclamation of your peers. There are the NHMRC prizes and a series of specialist prizes. There’s also valuable government supported prizes in many states including Victoria (their major prize has just closed); WA and NSW.

The list is at http://www.scienceinpublic.com/australian_prizes.htm

9.            Science in Public

Science in Public is a science communication consultancy. We manage the L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Program and Fresh Science.

For the past five years we’ve assisted with the story telling and media for the Prime Ministers Prizes for Science.  And in the past we’ve assisted with the Clunies Ross Prizes (1998 to 2004); and the Eureka Prizes (2002-2006). But we don’t just do prizes, we offer a wide range of science communication services.

For more information about us and our projects, please visit www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog or contact either myself or Sarah Brooker on (03) 9398 1416, sarah@scienceinpublic.com.au, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au

Kind regards

Niall Byrne

Science in Public