Eureka! science Oscar for Tony Weiss
Australia’s highest-profile science awards, the Eureka Prizes, has recognised four University of Sydney researchers at the “Oscars of Australian science” including Professor Tony Weiss.
Tony Weiss in his lab
University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Michael Spence said: “What stellar recognition for our academic community with seven nominations over five categories, resulting in four wins. To have this acknowledgement from the science community is testament to the impact not only of our research and innovation but our culture of fostering leadership. We are immensely proud of all our Eureka Prizes winners, all of them having excelled in their own fields in their unique ways.”
Presented annually, the prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Prizes rewards excellence in the fields of scientific research and innovation, science leadership, school science and science communication.
The awards, now in their 19th year, were presented at a gala dinner at the Sydney Town Hall at the largest national celebration of Australian science.
With four winners from five finalists the University of Sydney has taken the lion’s share of prizes in 2018.
Sydney’s research and its impact were recognised for:
An adhesive surgical glue already sold to an international pharmaceutical company (Weiss)
Use of renewables and recyclables in the chemical, material and energy spaces, with discoveries resulting in 23 patents and the founding of four companies (Maschmeyer)
Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), which is transforming the research landscape by increasing the encouragement, support and retention of female researchers in STEM (Joshi)
Leadership beyond research to encompass teaching, outreach and mentoring (New)
Professor Iain Young, Dean of the Faculty of Science, said: “We are delighted to be recognised for our leadership in this annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. I’d like to congratulate all four of our outstanding winners.”
Professor Tony Weiss’s work over two decades has made him a world leader in his field and his patented biomaterials inventions recently led to Allergan – the multinational behind Botox – acquiring his university spin-off Elastagen.
Professor Weiss from the Charles Perkins Centre and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, said he was thrilled to receive the Eureka Prize. “I am delighted to thank the many amazing people who have contributed along the way,” he said. “This is a wonderful recognition of the value of biomedical innovation in Australia.”
