Australian Academy of Science President Professor Suzanne Cory today warmly congratulated Australian astrophysicist Professor Brian Schmidt on winning the Nobel Prize for Physics.
The Nobel Foundation last night announced Professor Schmidt, a Fellow of the Academy, had won the Prize with US astrophysicists Professor Adam Reiss and Saul Perlmutter, for a discovery that has completely changed our understanding of the universe.
“This is an absolutely wonderful day for Australian science,” Professor Cory said.
In the 1990s two research teams raced to unlock the secrets of the expanding universe. Perlmutter headed the US team and Schmidt the Australian team – Reiss played a critical role with Schmidt. Astoundingly, they discovered that the expansion of the universe was accelerating, rather than slowing or maintaining a steady rate, as had previously been thought.
“This finding has transformed modern cosmology,” Professor Cory said.
“It is an enormously important discovery.
“Australian scientists salute Brian Schmidt on the award of this supreme accolade.”
Professor Schmidt is head of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University.
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