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More entries needed from women for he Australian Museum Eureka Prizes
Roger Muller
Manager, Australian Eureka Prizes
Be part of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes by entering yourself or nominating someone for one of these prestigious prizes. Entries in all prizes close on Friday 5 May 2006. http://www.amonline.net.au/eureka/
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2005 Eureka prize winner Professor Veena Sahajwalla |
The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are Australia’s premier
and most comprehensive science awards. About to enter their 17th year, the
prizes acknowledge and reward outstanding science, leadership and innovation,
education and science communication. The largest single group of prizes on offer
are those focussed on specific areas of research.
And it is here that women have performed particularly poorly. In 2005, only 3
women were represented among the winners of 11 research prizes. In 2004, the
position was worse, with only 1 prize out of the 8 research prizes on offer
being won by a woman (though women were involved in winning teams for 2 other
prizes). In the past 6 years, only 6 women have won a Eureka research prize, out
of a total of 39 prizes awarded!
“There is simply no way this track record of Eureka wins adequately or
accurately reflects the role and importance of women in Australian science”,
said Frank Howarth, Director of the Australian Museum. “There is a desperate
need to correct this imbalance by encouraging women in science to stand up and
be counted alongside their male counterparts by entering the Prizes” he said.
Defying this trend is Professor Veena Sahajwalla of the University of New South
Wales, who was awarded a Eureka Prize for Scientific Research in 2005. Veena is
Director of Sustainable Materials Processing Research in the School of Materials
Science and Engineering and her research focuses on the sustainability of
materials processing, including recycling of waste plastics in steelmaking and
lowering of energy and emissions in metals processing. A passionate communicator
in the area of science and engineering, Veena actively encourages women to
consider materials science and engineering as a career path and established the
Materials - Network of Women (NOW) at UNSW in 2004.
The 2006 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes will be launched early in 2006. Among
the 20 or more prizes that will be on offer are $10,000 awards for biodiversity
research, water research, medical research, environmental research, scientific
research and research in ethics. It is time that a determined effort was made to
ensure that the 2006 Eureka Prize winners more accurately reflect the input
being made today by women in science.
