Nineteen of Australia's top scientists, science educators and science communicators have been recognised in the 2012 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

 

The prize winners are:

 

2012 NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Eureka Prize for Environmental Research: Dr Dana Cordell and Professor Stuart White from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney, for their work identifying phosphorus scarcity, tracking its life cycle and developing global and regional scenarios for its sustainable production and consumption

 

2012 Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre at the University of Queensland Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research: Dr Marc Pellegrini, with support from Jesse Toe and Simon Preston, at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, for work that has shown that interleukin-7 (IL-7), can provide a pathogen-specific immune system boost in animals, potentially clearing HIV-like infections within weeks.

 

2012 Google Australia Eureka Prize for Innovation in Computer Science: Associate Professor Jon McCormack, Peter McIlwain, Aidan Lane and Dr Alan Dorin at the Centre for Electronic Media Art (CEMA) at the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, for the development of Nodal, the first software to successfully depict music graphically.

 

2012 ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology: Associate Professor Wei Shen with support from Professor Gil Garnier, Dr Xu Li, Junfei Tian, David Ballerini, Miaosi Li and Lizi Li at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash University, for development of he first equipment-free, bioactive paper-based diagnostic device for blood typing.

 

2012 NSW Health Jamie Callachor Eureka Prize for Medical Research Translation: Professor David Kaye, Head of the Heart Failure Research Group at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, who has created and translated into clinical use a catheter-based system to control the level of medication at specific sites in the body.

 

2012 Defence Science and Technology Organisation Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Support of Defence or National Security: Dr Yonggang Zhu, who g, has developed a field-deployable chemical detector that can ‘fingerprint' chemical warfare agents with high sensitivity, reliability and unprecedented speed.

 

2012 Macquarie University Eureka Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher: Dr Asselin-Labat of the Stem Cells and Cancer Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research who has contributed profound new knowledge on the normal developmental processes within the breast and how these are altered to produce cancers.

 

2012 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research: Professor John Webb, Professor Victor Flambaum, Dr Julian King and Dr Julian Berengut, from the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales, and Associate Professor Michael Murphy from the Centre of Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University of Technology, for their pioneering research which challenges the conventional view that the universe is homogeneous and measurable in any direction without variation - at least in relation to the fundamental laws of nature.

 

2012 Voiceless Eureka Prize for Scientific Research that Contributes to Animal Protection: Professor Phillips, Foundation Chair in Animal Welfare at the Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics at the University of Queensland who has used his research to engage the world's scientific, legal and business communities in order to improve the lot of animals.

 

2012 Rio Tinto Eureka Prize for Commercialisation of Innovation: Digitalcore, formed in 2009 and includes Dr Victor Pantano as Chief Executive Officer, Professor Mark Knackstedt as Chief Technology Officer, Professor Tim Senden and Dr Adrian Sheppard from the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the ANU, and Professor Val Pinczewski and Associate Professor Christoph Arns from the School of Petroleum Engineering at UNSW, for developing digital core analysis, which allows scientists to perform virtual experiments faster and cheaper than conventional core analysis, and for bringing the technology to the global marketplace.

 

3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science: Dr Matthew Hill, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, For his research using smart materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)to tackle climate change and efforts in assembling a national cross-disciplinary team to confront the global issue.

 

2012 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science:  Professor Suzanne Cory, for her passionate commitment to research and science communication.

 

2012 University of Technology, Sydney Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers: Professor Hilton, Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and Head of the Department of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne, for his unfailing commitment to furthering the careers of young scientists.

 

2012 Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Australian Science Research: Dr Rob Brander, senior lecturer in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of NSW, who has worked tirelessly to promote his scientific research to a wider general audience.

 

2012 Australian Government Eureka Prize for Science Journalism: Gisela Kaufman and Carsten Orlt of Kaufmann Production for the documentary, Project Manta, which screened on ABC Television in March this year.

 

2012 New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography: Jason Edwards for his photograph, titled First Documentation of a Humpback Whale Mating.

 

2012 NSW Trade & Investment Eureka Prize for Science or Mathematics Teaching: Geoff McNamara, Melrose High School in Pearce, ACT, for his innovative approach to teaching and creating a stimulating learning environment.

 

2012 University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize: Brandon Gifford, Year 11 student at Casino High School in northern NSW, for his video entitled The Legendary Lizard  which explains how the outermost layer (the epidermis) of lizards must be shed to rid them of parasites and ticks.