The field this year was highly competitive with nominations from across Australia. After considerable discussion the committee’s decision to award Luke Connal this year’s prize included the demonstrated strength and excellence of his research, his research leadership in the program, and also the commercial and industrial interest and potential of his work.

The David Syme Research Prize was established in 1904 through a donation to the University of Melbourne by David Syme, publisher of The Age newspaper. It is one of the Faculty of Science’s oldest and most prestigious awards and recognises the best original research in Australia undertaken in the previous two years in Biology, Physics, Chemistry or Geology.