Opening address
by Dr Jim Peacock

Welcome to the 50th Annual Symposium of the Australian Academy of Science.

This year the Symposium looks forward to the future of Australian science in this new millennium by featuring eight of our top young scientists. They are previous winners of the most prestigious national awards in the physical sciences and life sciences.

The skills required by a modern-day researcher are daunting. Not only must today's researchers excel at the bench and in their mind, they must also be excellent written and oral communicators, able to deliver absolutely riveting presentations using the latest audiovisual technology. They must develop an international reputation, build networks, work effectively in teams as well as individually, and often they must raise the funds to sustain their research.

Additionally, today's researchers are alert to opportunities to take their research out into the community in one way or another, and often they know how to prepare patent applications. They organise and work with undergraduates, attract and enthuse graduate students, and spend their weekends assessing research grant applications and research papers for editorial boards.

This speech sounds as though it was written by young researchers! But all of the above is true, and I think you will go away today with a sense that the people you are going to hear give us great hope for the future.

So, who would choose such a life as I have described? Or has life chosen them? Max Perutz, Nobel Laureate, describes the moment of discovery, that Eureka moment, in this way – and I like this vision – 'It felt like falling in love, and reaching the top of a high mountain after a high climb, all in one: an ecstasy induced not by drugs but by finding the answer to one of life's great riddles.' I think some of us in a little way would agree with his sentiments. And this is what drives our dedicated and creative scientists.