The Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) met at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday 11 March 2005.
The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard MP.
The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator the Hon Rod Kemp advised Council on follow-up activities in relation to the Science and Technology in Sport report from the PMSEIC meeting in June 2004. The Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP also advised Council on follow-up activities in relation to the Future Opportunities for Australian Astronomy report that was presented at the previous PMSEIC meeting.
The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP and the Hon Ian Macfarlane MP made presentations on various innovation and science issues.
Three reports were prepared by independent working groups for PMSEIC. Copies of the reports and presentations are available below. The views expressed in them are those of members of the groups, not necessarily those of the Australian Government.
A regular item on the PMSEIC agenda is "Exciting Science" which focuses on a cutting edge science with relevance to Australian society. For this meeting Professor Ary Hoffmann, Director, Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR), Latrobe University, and Federation Fellow, University of Melbourne presented on "New environmental monitors from insect DNA". This provided a practical example of exciting Australian science where insect DNA markers are being used for monitoring waterway pollution and climate stress.
Professor Hoffmann's presentation is also available below.
The next meeting of PMSEIC is scheduled for December 2005.
- Growing Technology-based SMEs
- Opportunities for Antarctic and Southern Ocean Science
- Nanotechnology
- Exciting Science - 'New environmental monitors from insect DNA' - Presentation by Professor Ary Hoffmann