GS AUSTRALIA SPECIAL - In association with IDP Education

Australia has a solid reputation around the world for its research capabilities, which can be highlighted in the nation's success in the Nobel Prize

Nine Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Australians (or recipients with a close association with Australia) since the award was introduced in 1901. The first Australian to win a Nobel Prize, and still the youngest ever winner, was William Lawrence Bragg (Lawrence). Along with his father Sir William Henry Bragg, Lawrence Bragg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 for their analysis of crystallography and x-rays. Lawrence Bragg was born in Adelaide in South Australia in 1890 and was educated at a number of institutions including the University of Adelaide. Sir William Bragg's academic achievements included a Professorship of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Adelaide.

Sir Howard J Florey received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases. He shared the prize with Sir Alexander Fleming and Ernst Boris Chain of the United Kingdom. Sir Howard Florey was born in Adelaide in 1898 and attended the University of Adelaide before undertaking further education in the United Kingdom.

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1960 for immunology discoveries with Peter Brian Medawar of the United Kingdom. Sir Frank Burnet was born in Traralgon in Victoria in 1899. He completed a medical course at the University of Melbourne and spent much of his career working at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research at the University of Melbourne.

Sir John Carew Eccles received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1963, with Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Fielding Huxley from the United Kingdom. The trio were awarded the prize for their nerve cell research. Sir John Eccles was born in Melbourne in 1903. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with first class honours in medicine. After completing further studies in the United Kingdom, Sir John Eccles returned to Australia to head up a small medical research centre in Sydney.

Patrick White won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973. He was born in London in 1912 to Australian parents. He moved to Sydney at six months of age. He completed his secondary and tertiary education in the United Kingdom, before serving in World War II and then returning to Australia, where he wrote the majority of his works.

John Warcup Cornforth earned the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1975. Vladimir Prelog of Switzerland shared the prize. John Cornforth was born in 1917 in Sydney, New South Wales. He began attending the University of Sydney at the age of 16 and graduated with first class honours and a university medal. He carried out further study and research in the United Kingdom.

John C Harsanyi, and his colleagues John F Nash Jr of the United States and Reinhard Selten of Germany, was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1994. John Harsanyi was born in 1920 in Hungary. He moved to Australia in 1950 and began studying economics at the University of Sydney. He then worked at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University before undertaking further research in the United States.

Peter C Doherty was presented with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research into immune defences in 1996, sharing the accolade with Rolf M Zinkernagel from Switzerland. Peter Doherty was born in 1940 in Brisbane, Queensland. He graduated with a degree in veterinary science at the University of Queensland, before taking employment in Australia at the Animal Research Institute in Brisbane, the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University and other positions in Scotland and the United States.

Barry J Marshall and J Robin Warren received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for their research into the bacterium which causes stomach ulcers and gastritis. Barry Marshall was born in 1951 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1975 with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery.  J Robin Warren was born in Adelaide in 1937. He completed a degree in medicine at the University of Adelaide, before working at a number of hospitals in Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.

Australian governments, industries and educational institutions are committed to innovations and outstanding research achievements.

Article contributed by IDP Education Pty Ltd