Hunt Is On For New Zealand’s Top Emerging Scientis

Hunt Is On For New Zealand’s Top Emerging Scientist

Early career scientists involved in ground-breaking research have the chance to win one of New Zealand’s most valuable science prizes to further their work.

Entries are now open for the 2010 Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize, which is worth $150,000, and close on 30th April. The prize money is split between the winning scientist, who receives $50,000, with $100,000 going towards their research. Eligible scientists are those undertaking research for a PhD or within five years of being awarded their PhD.

John Watt, a PhD candidate at Victoria University received the inaugural Prime Minister’s emerging scientist prize for his research into using nanoparticles of a valuable metal called palladium to remove toxic pollutants from vehicle exhausts. John was also the 2009 and final recipient of the prizes’s predecessor, the MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Award.

The MacDiarmid Awards and the family of Masterton-born Nobel Prize winner Professor Alan MacDiarmid have gifted the MacDiarmid name to the Prime Minister’s prize for an emerging scientist.

John Watt is encouraging eligible scientists to consider putting their name forward, saying even the process of entering is valuable. “You have to articulate what you are doing and why it is important to a non-scientific audience which really makes you focus on your overall aims.”

He says whoever goes on to win the prize will receive a wide range of career opportunities as well as funds to progress their scientific research.

The judging and selection process for the prize will be similar to that used for the MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards. There are three stages, with entrants initially being asked to submit a written description of their research project. Those who are short listed go on to provide a poster and short essay or a video clip of their research. Finalists are then selected to present their work to a panel of judges, which will include some of New Zealand’s most distinguished scientists.

The prize is one of five presented annually as part of the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes which were introduced in 2009. They offer total prize money of $1 million which is shared between an overall winner, the emerging scientist, a young scientist, a science teacher and a science communicator.

To find out more visit: www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz

ENDS

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