Official photo of the recipients at Parliament House with the Prime Minister, Minister and Chief Scientist

Left to right: Professor Chris Greening, Ms Donna Buckley, Associate Professor Lara Herrero, Dr Cathy Foley AO Chief Scientist, Hon Anthony Albanese MP Prime Minister of Australia, Hon Ed Husic MP Minister for Industry and Science, Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu, Mrs Judith Stutchbury, Professor Glenn King and Professor Michelle Simmons AO

The 2023 recipients continue to represent the very best in Australian science, innovation and education. Their achievements showcase quantum technology, conservation efforts, medical discoveries and creative ways of inspiring our next generation.

Award-winning wildlife scientist, Dr Vanessa Pirotta, hosted the 2023 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at Parliament House on Monday 16 October. Guests from across the Australian science, research, technology and education community attended the presentation dinner.

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia and the Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science announced the recipients. Highlights from the presentation dinner will be available soon.

2023 prize recipients

Professor Michelle Simmons AO
2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science
Prof Simmons was recognised for creating the new field of atomic electronics. Her discoveries are powering the transition from the digital to the quantum age.
Professor Glenn King
2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation
Prof King was recognised for pioneering using peptides from Australian funnel-web spider venom for sustainable crop protection and potentially human therapeutics.
Mrs Judith Stutchbury
2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools
Mrs Stutchbury was recognised for creating experiences for her students to learn about marine conservation and protecting endangered species in the Great Barrier Reef.
Ms Donna Buckley
2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools
Ms Buckley was recognised for inspiring students with diverse, creative backgrounds to apply mathematics to real-world problems like cybersecurity. She’s also introducing them to careers in science.
Professor Chris Greening
2023 Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year
Prof Greening has redefined life through his world-first discovery that microbes live on air. He discovered that microbes help regulate climate change, removing harmful gases from the air.
Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu
2023 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year
Prof Lu was recognised for discovering interlayer exciton pairs, which can help unravel the phenomenon of superfluidity. This is paving the way for a new generation of electronic devices.
Associate Professor Lara Herrero
2023 Prize for New Innovators
Assoc Prof Herrero took less than 10 years to translate research into a world-first drug with the potential to treat viral arthritis by repurposing a known drug.

Event highlights

Transcript

[Music plays and an image appears of a Prime Minister’s Prize for Science medallion on the left, and text appears on the right:  The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science 2023]

[Image changes to show Prime Minister Anthony Albanese talking to the camera, and then images move through of various prize recipients smiling, working in the lab, and on computers and machines, and text appears: The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia] 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: It is my great honour to be with all of you tonight as we celebrate the superheroes of Australian science, some of our nation’s leading scientists and science teachers, 

[Images move through to show a turtle being measured, various recipients smiling, test tubes in a machine, a bee in a test tube, a computer, and school students working and looking at computers]

people advancing the frontiers of discovery and inspiring a new generation to discover a love of science. 

[Music plays and images flash through of close views of researchers at work in a lab, a test tube with pink liquid being held up, researchers talking around a whiteboard, and two researchers looking at a machine, and text appears: Dr Vanessa Pirotta, MC]

[Images move through to show a teacher working with students, Dr Vanessa Pirotta talking to the camera, and school students working together again]

Dr Vanessa Pirotta: Sharing what we discover is inspiring and a very important part of our work especially for the next generation.

[Images flash through of various scenes from the awards ceremony videos, Ed Husic talking to the camera, various pieces of research equipment, researchers working, and school children, and text appears: The Hon Ed Husic, MP]

The Hon Ed Husic MP: We want to be a nation that invents and manufactures these technologies listening to scientists and acting on their advice.

[Images move through of Anthony Albanese shaking hands with various recipients, and then various recipients smiling and posing for photographs]

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: The breadth and the quality of all the nominees gathered here tonight speaks for just how important science is to the whole of our nation’s future. 

[Images continue to move through of various award winners]

[Music plays and the image changes to show a Prime Minister’s Prize for Science medallion on the left, the Australian Government Coat of Arms at the bottom right, and text appears on the right: Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science 2023]

More information

The prime minister and the minister announced the prize recipients on 16 October 2023
Read more about the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science