Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher

Associate Professor Simon Ho has received the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher for his work on molecular clocks over the past 5 years. The prize was presented at an awards ceremony at the Sydney Town Hall.

Molecular clocks provide a tool for biologists to estimate evolutionary rates and timescales. By knowing the rate at which DNA mutates, we can understand the evolutionary history of humans, track changes in past population sizes of megafauna, and estimate when viruses and other pathogens emerged.

The Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher is sponsored by Macquarie University. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the country’s most comprehensive national science awards. The Eureka Prizes have been rewarding science since 1990 – celebrating 25 years in 2014.