I have great pleasure in congratulating Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan on receiving the 2006 Prime Minister's Prize for Science. It was my honour to present him with a gold medal and a cheque for $300,000 at a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra this evening.
Professor Srinivasan - known to all as Srini - has revealed the working of the insect mind, and in the process has helped redefine robotics. What started 23 years ago as basic research with no apparent application, is now followed closely by robotics experts around the world. Professor Srinivasan's research team at the Australian National University routinely receives NASA and US military grants.
Designs for robots are often expensive and complex. A bee can take off, find targets, fly through tunnels, navigate home, and land without any of that complexity. It uses a minute brain of about a million nerve cells, which is the size of a sesame seed and weighs just a tenth of a milligram.
Now Professor Srinivasan is looking at bee emotions, work that is also likely to find application in the design of the machines of tomorrow.
I am also delighted to honour the other four recipients of science and science teaching awards. They include two of Australia's most promising young researchers and two exceptional science teachers.
Melbourne biochemist Dr James Whisstock has been awarded the $50,000 Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year. This 35-year-old scientist from Monash University is exploring how proteins - the building blocks of life - are managed in our cells. His particular interest is in serpins, which appear to control the demolition teams that clean up used proteins. When the process goes wrong then devastating diseases such as liver cirrhosis, thrombosis, dementia and Alzheimer's disease can result.
Sydney astronomer Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths is searching our galaxy with the help of "The Dish", CSIRO's 64-metre Parkes radio telescope. Her studies of the Milky Way over the past ten years have already led to the discovery of a new spiral arm, and changed many long-held ideas about the evolution of our galaxy. She received the $50,000 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.
The $50,000 Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools was awarded to Ms Marjorie Colvill from Perth Primary School in Tasmania. Thirty years of science teaching has given her a clear idea of the perfect science class: one in which students set up their own investigations and make their own discoveries. Ms Colvill has also shown that good primary science teaching enhances literacy.
Sydney teacher Ms Anna Davis was awarded the $50,000 Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools. Since her arrival at Casimir Catholic School in Marrickville in 1998, results across Year 12 science courses have improved by 17 per cent and students now achieve above the state average.
I congratulate all the recipients of this year's prizes. It is worth noting that all three scientists were born overseas, demonstrating that we are attracting leading scientists to Australia.
The awards illustrate the commitment and achievement of our talented scientists and recognise the important work that many of our dedicated teachers are doing in inspiring the next generation of Australian scientists and innovators.