Media Release 8th November, 2011
Top scientists to receive awards
The 2011 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes will be presented in Auckland on 16th December.
This is the third year of the prizes which combine recognition and prize money of $1 million.
The Prime Minister awards five prizes with the top award, valued at $500,000, recognising a transformational science
discovery or achievement which has had a significant impact on New Zealand or internationally.
Other prizes go to an emerging scientist, a young scientist at senior secondary school level, a science teacher and a
science communicator.
In 2010, the Prime Minister’s Science Prize was won by the Magnetic Resonance Innovation team from Victoria University,
led by Professor Sir Paul Callaghan.
The 2009 inaugural winners of the prize were Dr Bob Buckley and Dr Jeff Tallon from Industrial Research Limited for
their world-leading superconductivity research and commercialisation activity.
The prizes were introduced as part of a drive to raise the profile and prestige of science.
Visit www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz to find out more about the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes.