News and views

Delivered 8.30am Wednesday 27 May 2015, Shine Dome, Canberra

The Australian Academy of Science is encouraging young scientists to apply for a chance to visit the National Institutes of Health in the United States under one of its international scholarship programs.

Five Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science have been chosen to advise government through a new science council chaired by the Prime Minister.

Academy Fellow and mathematician Professor Nalini Joshi has been awarded the London Mathematical Society Hardy Fellowship for 2015.

A delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology visited the Academy on 4 December to share Australia’s experience in science, technology and innovation (STI) reform. The visit preceded the start of a new US$100 million FIRST Project (Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology) with World Bank financing. This project will design and pilot STI policies, make R&D institutions more effective, and encourage innovative technology enterprises.

Long-time science journalist Dr Peter Pockley, a pioneer of science Peterpockley programs at the ABC, died at his home in Sydney yesterday.

The Academy's educational program Interviews with Australian Scientists has a new interview available with Dr Cyril Appleby, Plant biologist, in conversation with Jim Peacock.

To celebrate World Immunisation Week (20-27 April) the Australian Academy of Science, in conjunction with The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, has distributed copies of The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers to approximately 5000 pharmacies around Australia.

Meteorologist Professor John Zillman has shaped science and innovation policy in Australia and internationally, and contributed significantly to raising global awareness of climate change. He became a Fellow of the Academy in 2006.