The National Museum of Australia’s entrance and iconic loop. Photo: John Gollings.
The National Museum of Australia and the Australian Academy of Science through its National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science invite submissions for the
2011 National Museum of Australia Student Prize
for the History of Australian Science or Australian Environmental History
The Prize will be a certificate and $2,500
Closing date for submissions Friday 25 February 2011.
The prize will be awarded for an essay based on original unpublished research undertaken whilst enrolled as a student (postgraduate or undergraduate) at any tertiary educational institution in the world.
The essay should be 4,000 – 8,000 words in length (exclusive of endnotes). Essays must be written in English and fully documented following the style specified for the Australian Academy of Science’s journal, Historical Records of Australian Science (see http://www.publish.csiro.au/media/client/HRnta.pdf for details).
Essays may deal with any aspect of the History of Australian Science (including medicine and technology) or Australian Environmental History. ‘Australia’ can include essays that focus on the Australian region, broadly defined, including Oceania. Essays that compare issues and subjects associated with Australia with those of other places are also welcomed. The winning entry, if it is in a suitable subject area, may be considered for publication in Historical Records of Australian Science.
The judging panel will have three members:
– Chair (or nominee), National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science (Chair of panel).
– Editor (or nominee), Historical Records of Australian Science.
– Director of Research (or nominee), National Museum of Australia.
In the e-mail covering your essay you should indicate:
Full name
Contact details (postal and e-mail addresses and telephone number)
Title of submission
University course (and year of course if undergraduate)
Student number
Your submission must be accompanied by a letter or e-mail from your academic supervisor attesting that the essay meets the eligibility criterion set out above.
Please send your submission electronically in WORD or PDF format to Connie Berridge, National Committees Officer, National Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science, Australian Academy of Science, connie.berridge@science.org.au
Judges’ decisions are final. The judges retain the right to split the prize, or not to award it. The winner will be contacted by mail and/or e-mail, and will be announced on the websites of the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Academy of Science in June 2011.
The next issue of the Journal of the History of Biology is a special issue on Environmental History. Libby Robin and Jane Carruthers are the guest editors, and there is a strong Australian and South African focus. Authors are Brett M. Bennett, Etienne Benson, Karen Brown, Laura Cameron & David Matless, M. Timm Hoffman & Richard Frederick Rohde, and J. Donald Hughes.
Kirsty Douglas is a heritage specialist with a background in geology and history. She has been an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National University and completed her PhD in history at the same institution in 2004.