Who will be our Young Investigator of the Year?

Monday, 2 June 2008

One of South Australia's most prestigious prizes for early career scientists - the Young Investigator Award - is back for 2008, and applications are now being accepted.

Now in its ninth year, the Young Investigator Award is a highly successful event rewarding excellence in South Australia's young researchers in the field of women's and children's health.

The award highlights outstanding new science aimed at making a real impact on people's lives, and also the researchers' ability to communicate and 'sell' that science to the public.

The prizes for the Young Investigator Award are among the biggest of their kind anywhere in Australia. The winner receives the $10,000 The Hon. Carolyn Pickles Award, and for the first time this year both of the runners up will receive $3000 each.

"The amount of these prizes and the nature of the competition make the Young Investigator Award among the most prestigious award in South Australia for young achievers, if not the nation," says Dr Andrea Averis, Chairperson of the YIA 2008 organising committee and Director, Research Administration for the Children, Youth and Women's Health Service.

"This year we have increased the runners-up prizes, because the quality of the applicants in previous years has been very high and we believe the runners-up deserve a bigger prize in recognition of their efforts.

"It's clear from previous awards that there is a lot of talent in South Australia among our early career researchers. Excellent, world-class science is being conducted by Honours, Masters and PhD students every day. This award helps to recognise the quality of their science and also their ability to demonstrate to the community why that science is important," she says.

In order to win the Young Investigator Award, applicants chosen for the semi-finals must first present their work to a panel of science judges. The three finalists will then present their work to members of the public, and the winner is chosen by a panel of judges from the South Australian media.

"This gives new researchers excellent experience in two key areas: being able to present their work to their scientific peers, and being able to communicate their work to the public and the media. By the end of the awards process, the three finalists have developed unique skills that will greatly benefit them for the rest of their careers," Dr Averis says.

The Young Investigator Award is an initiative of the Children, Youth and Women's Health Service and the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide. The University of South Australia and Flinders University are also partners in the Award together with the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute and the Women's and Children's Hospital Foundation.

Entries close on 18 July.

Researchers working in the field of women's and children's health are urged to apply. For more information and eligibility, visit the website:
www.cywhs.sa.gov.au/yia/

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