The 2026 Prime Minister's Prizes for Science - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems Prize

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are Australia’s most prestigious and highly regarded awards for achievements in:

• scientific research and research-based innovation
• the practice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems
• excellence in science teaching.

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science will award up to $1.4 million each year for achievements across 3 prize categories:

• the Science Prizes
• the Science Teaching Prizes
• the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems Prize.

The Knowledge Systems Prize celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led projects that benefit Australian Indigenous peoples, communities or place, and contribute to solving a significant challenge through the practice and preservation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems.

We welcome nominations of diverse candidates and those from a different range of backgrounds and geographical regions.

There are 3 nomination types available for this prize: Individual; Team; and Community Groups.

The prize recipient receives a medallion, lapel pin, award certificate and prize money. Where we award the prize to a team, each member will receive a medallion, lapel pin, award certificate and an equal portion of the prize money. Where we award the prize to a community group (up to 4 representatives), the group will receive a medallion, lapel pin, award certificate and the prize money will be awarded to the community group.

We may recognise highly ranked nominees through the awarding of highly commended certificates.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for a Knowledge Systems Prize, nominees must:

• be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
• be an individual, a member of an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander-led team (including family groups), or a representative of a community group (see glossary in the guidelines)
• be an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia
• not be self-nominated
• not be nominated in more than one prize category. Where a nominee is nominated in more than one category, we will ask the nominee to select a single nomination to pursue. This will occur at Stage 1
• practice knowledge systems as part of a project with a demonstrable benefit to Australian Indigenous peoples, communities and/or place and to Australia more broadly.

Where a nomination is for a team or a community group, up to 4 nominees may be named per nomination. All nominees must be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. For nominations of community groups, the selected nominees will be representatives for the whole community group.