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Australia's bright sparks awarded major grants


Some of the Fellows

Australian Education and Science Minister Brendan Nelson (centre left) with some of the two dozen Federation Fellows (Pic: Andrew Tatnell, Big Island)

Some of the nation's best and brightest scientists, in fields ranging from brain development to bushfire research, have won large cash grants from the Australian government to stay in the country and further their research.

The grants, the latest round of the Federation Fellowships for outstanding researchers, were awarded to 24 scientists in Canberra yesterday by the Australian Minister for Education and Science, Brendan Nelson.

The fellowships, in their second year, provide winners with an annual salary of A$230,000 for five years, with host institutions receiving 26% of the amount to cover support costs.

They are funded through the Australian Research Council (ARC) under a government science funding package designed to attract and keep Australia's leading researchers, as well as encourage leading international scientists to move to the country.

Of the two dozen winners, six are Australians who have been persuaded to return home, while 10 are in an younger age group that traditionally leave to chase better-paid opportunities overseas. Four have been 'poached' from one of the world's top universities, Cambridge.

The ARC's Professor Doug McEachern said fellows were chosen by a "high-powered selection committee", and then approved by the ARC board and the minister. In what he described as an extremely rigorous selection process, the track record of the applicant, the significance and innovation of their proposed project and its national benefit to Australia were all scrutinised.

Although there were 25 fellowships available, only 24 of the 97 applicants - a third of which were from outside the country - were considered worthy of the awards.

They were:

·  Professor Hans Bachor, Australian National University: Quantum and atom optics

·   Professor Perry Bartlett, University of Queensland: Cellular plasticity in the brain

·   Professor Marcela Bilek, University of Sydney: Creation of functional surfaces for biodevices and aerospace applications

·   Professor Kevin Burrage, University of Queensland: Stochastic Modelling of Genetic Regulatory Networks

·   Dr Calum Drummond (currently vice-president of research at Cap-XX Pty Ltd), CSIRO Molecular Science: Manipulation of nano-scale assembly, structure and interaction

·   Dr William Ducker (currently at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, USA), University of Melbourne: Biologically-inspired recognition and processing in colloidal systems

·   Dr Roger Francey, CSIRO Atmospheric Research: New methods assisting the detection and attribution of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels

·   Professor Andrew Holmes (currently at the University of Cambridge, Britain), University of Melbourne: Probing the interface between polymeric photonic materials and biology

·   Professor Martin Johnson (currently at the University of Cambridge, Britain), University of Sydney: Biological basis for healthy start to life

·  Professor Bruce Kemp (currently at St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research), CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition: How organisms coordinate energy supply and demand

·  Professor Max Lu, University of Queensland: Molecular-engineered nanomaterials for advanced fuel cells

·  Professor Barry Luther-Davies, Australian National University: Creation of novel photonic and nanostructured materials by ablation of solids with ultra-fast lasers

·  Professor Amanda Lynch (currently at University of Colorado, USA). Monash University: Complexity in climate impact assessment

·  Dr Richard Manchester, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility: Precision pulsar timing and its applications

·  Professor Thomas Maschmeyer (currently at the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands) University of Sydney: From nanostructured functional materials to sustainable processes

·  Professor Iain McCalman, Australian National University.Spectacle and multimedia in late 18th century Europe

·  Dr Anton Middelberg (currently at the University of Cambridge, Britain), University of Queensland: Engineering nanostructured bio-inspired products

·  Professor Gerard Milburn, University of Queensland: Principles of quantum nanotechnology

·  Professor John Quiggin, University of Queensland: Sustainable reform of the Murray-Darling system

·  Professor Marilyn Renfree, University of Melbourne: Genes to phenotype - exploiting the marsupial model

·  Professor Peter Robinson, University of Sydney: Physics of self-organisation - from space plasmas to brain dynamics

·  Professor Jeffrey Shaw (currently at the ZKM - Centre for Art and Media, Germany), University of New South Wales: Navigable cinematic systems

·  Associate Professor Michelle Simmons, University of New South Wales: Atomic-scale devices in silicon - the ultimate limit of microelectronics

·  Dr Mark Tester (currently at the University of Cambridge, Britain), University of Adelaide: Salinity tolerance and long-distance transport in cereals

Tags: environment, health