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A CELEBRATION OF AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE
3 May 2004

A public symposium featuring some of Australia's top young scientists will be held at the Australian Academy of Science on Friday 7 May, as part of its Science at the Shine Dome events. This year the Academy celebrates its 50th anniversary and has decided that the annual symposium should sample the future of Australian science.

The eight speakers are all previous winners of the Prime Minister's junior science prizes.

Physical Sciences – Malcolm McIntosh Prize Winners

• Professor Peter Bartlett, Division of Computer Science and Department of Statistics, University of California at Berkeley, USA
• Professor Marcela Bilek, Head, Applied and Plasma Physics, School of Physics, University of Sydney
• Professor Brian Schmidt, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Australian National University
• Associate Professor Howard Wiseman, Senior Research Fellow, School of Science, Griffith University

Life Sciences – Science Minister's Prize Winners

• Dr Chris Helliwell, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Plant Industry
• Dr Bostjan Kobe, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences, University of Queensland
• Dr Joel Mackay, Senior Lecturer, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney
• Dr Una Ryan, Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University

Topics to be covered include novel technologies for combating parasites, quantum feedback control, understanding and controlling gene expression and understanding the universe.

Professor John White, convenor of the symposium and Professor of Chemistry at the Australian National University, says that the decision to showcase young researchers was deliberate.

'The Prime Minister's junior science prizes have been awarded for the last four years and we are delighted that we have the entire cast of winners assembled for this symposium. The outstanding talent amongst our younger researchers reassures us that the future of Australian science is in good hands.'

The symposium's sponsors are the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Media are invited to attend the symposium at The Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Canberra, on Friday 7 May. The symposium runs from 8.50am to 3.25pm.

The full program, including abstracts and brief cvs of speakers, is available on the Academy's website at www.science.org.au/sats2004.