In the latest endorsement of big science, four of Australia¡¯s old guard of astrophysics have shared the country¡¯s top research award for their role in one of the breakthroughs of the century.

David McClelland and Susan Scott of the Australian National University (ANU), the University of Western Australia¡¯s David Blair and University of Adelaide¡¯s Peter Veitch have received the 2020 Prime Minister¡¯s Prize for Science, for contributing to the first observation of gravitational waves.

The quartet had spent almost two decades collaborating with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) ¨C one of the world¡¯s biggest and most sensitive scientific instruments ¨C before its 2015 detection of space-time ripples.

These phenomena had been described 99 years earlier by Albert Einstein, who doubted the waves¡¯ infinitesimally faint footprints could ever be detected. When they finally were ¨C the result of a collision of black holes 1.3 billion years ago, which released 10 octillion times the energy contained in the world¡¯s nuclear arsenal ¨C the signals that reached Earth were strong enough to shift test mirrors in the interferometers by a thousand billionth the width of a human hair.

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The detection won three American LIGO founders the Nobel Prize in Physics two years later. The Nobel Foundation statutes limit awards to three recipients, but co-winner Rainer Weiss said the prize was recognition for decades of effort by about 1,000 people.

They included a 56-strong Australian contingent from six universities and science agency the CSIRO. The four recipients of the Prime Minister¡¯s Prize helped refine the instrument¡¯s mirrors, laser beams, sensors and data analysis techniques. Professor Weiss described them as ¡°the central intellectual leadership¡± of gravitational wave research in Australia.

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ANU astronomer Ken Freeman, who nominated the quartet for the prize, said the discovery would not have been possible without their contribution: ¡°Much of modern big science, like gravitational wave research, must be done in very large international teams often with hundreds or more of collaborators.¡±

Professor Blair said the prize was a ¡°fitting tribute to all of the students and scientists who participated in this amazing quest¡±, likening the achievement to the 19^th-century invention of the radio. ¡°We succeeded in making the first gravity radio. Before then, humanity was deaf to the sounds of the universe.¡±

University of Sydney chemist Thomas Maschmeyer has claimed the Prime Minister¡¯s Prize for Innovation, for translating his research into two pioneering sustainability technologies?that have generated about 90 jobs.

His catalytic hydrothermal reactor (Cat-HTRTM) enables the transformation of residues and wastes ¨C such as used plastic, shredded tyres and paper by-products ¨C into synthetic oil?that can be used to produce fuels and chemicals.

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Professor Maschmeyer¡¯s zinc-bromine gel battery design allows for low-cost, high-efficiency energy storage, particularly in hot and remote areas. Spinout company Gelion Technologies¡¯ first commercial installation was the batteries powering six ¡°off-grid smart benches¡± at Sydney¡¯s main campus. They provide night-time lighting from energy generated via the benches¡¯ photovoltaic solar roofs, which double as shelter.

Professor Maschmeyer said that by ¡°indulging my deep passion for gaining an understanding of our environment¡±, he was helping to protect it. ¡°There is a real thrill in trying to make sense of nature and unearthing a few of its secrets along the way.¡±

Prizes have also gone to UNSW Sydney renewable energy engineer Xiaojing Hao, Flinders University organic chemist Justin Chalker and Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com