PMPS

Last Wednesday the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science (PMPS) were awarded. Since 2002 the Australian government awards these prizes for outstanding contributions in research and teaching of science. This year the recipients were the following:

Prime Minister's Prize for Science

Kenneth Freeman 

Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year 

Mark Shackleton 

Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year 

Eric May   

Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools 

Michael van der Ploeg 

Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools 

Anita Trenwith

What I really love about this award is that there are prizes not only for researchers, but for school teachers as well. Having an engaged and inspiring school teacher in no matter which subject can create this little spark that makes the students really interested and curious. And self-motivated curiosity is what we all want to see in our uni students. But it is as well something that I whish everybody to have. There are so many people, who don't have "their own field" and lack this deep interest in something. They don't get excited and curious and want to know more about something just out of general interest. This is very sad as there is nothing more satisfying than successful learning. Having a great teacher early in life can make a huge difference and its great that this is officially valued by the government through this prize!

More info about the whole thing can be found here: Link to the PMPS website