The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are a national tribute to excellent and dedicated work in Australian science and science teaching. Each comprises a cash component, a medallion and a lapel pin of the nature of those worn by recipients of Australian Honours such as the AO.
The major Prize, the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, is one of the nation’s most highly-regarded awards and the premier national award for scientific achievement. It is awarded for an outstanding specific achievement or series of related achievements in any area of science advancing human welfare or benefiting society, and has been awarded previously to such luminaries of Australian science as Frank Fenner, Donald Metcalf, Jacques Miller, Ian Frazer and Graeme Clark and John O’Sullivan.
The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and the Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year are awarded to scientists to recognise and reward outstanding early-career research and to demonstrate to the public, and to school students and science undergraduates in particular, that outstanding early-career achievement in science is not only possible but can be of world-class importance.
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools were introduced in 2002, to honour our inspirational science teachers. Many of today’s most prominent Australian scientists have credited their teachers with generating the interest and enthusiasm for science that they have carried with them throughout their subsequent careers.
