So. The Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (the acronym of which sounds horribly like a town in Norfolk )not only exists (and no, I’m not going to even consider what strange bedfellows this beast is party to) but has a Science and Research Division, in which there is a
Science Awareness Section.
The SAS (hah) has a manager, who is getting a tad narked that no one is listening:
You may be aware that the nomination period for the 2008 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science closes on 9 May.
Let’s pretend, for a minute, that I was.
To date, the number of nominations received has been disappointing, and is clearly not reflective of the number of potentially suitable nominees currently active in research.
Hey, this is Australia. We’re all drinking beer at the beach.
It continues
We had hoped, in fact, to see an increase in the number of nominations for the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, as a result of an amendment to the eligibility criteria for these Prizes.
The prize, I’ve discovered, consists of a shiny medallion and a lapel pin.
There is also a fifty grand ‘grant’ which apparently the winner is free to spend on anything they want, but it would take a brave indeed young post-doc to take that literally and buy, say, a sports car . (Hey, Henry posts pictures of his dog, I’m posting pictures of my car).
A shiny medallion and a lapel pin? Naw, chuck another prawn on the barbie, blue. What’s a ‘lapel’ anyway?
Sounds rather like the Mrs Joyful Prize for Raffia-Work. If I nominate you and you win, please can I borrow the lapel-pin for kitten-impaling purposes? The skewer is getting a little rusty.
Hah hah! Excellent notion.
Only downside in the plan is that you have to prove you’re an Australian citizen. And they ask to see the deportation documents, too, so I can’t fake it.
Just nip over here and steal a sheep. Easy.
Do they still deport for that? Or just send you to
WalesCoventry?No, you were right the first time. I visited Coventry last week and so no evidence of Drizabone coats or cowboy hats with corks suspended from the brim.
Wellies. What about wellies (aka ’gumboots’)?