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 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.