The RDS/Irish Times Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence has been presented to Prof Derek Briggs, a Dublin-born palaeontologist.
Prof Briggs is Professor of Palaentology at the University of Bristol and currently a visiting professor at the University of Chicago's Department of Geophysical Sciences.
His study of the fossils of the Earth's earliest creatures was judged as having made an outstanding contribution to the development of his scientific discipline.
Prof Briggs, speaking at the presentation in the RDS in Dublin yesterday evening, said he was immensely proud and grateful to receive the medal, adding that it was a very exciting time to be an Irish scientist.
He noted a change in Government policy towards the funding of research. "There will be substantial rewards both scientifically and economically for the country . . . The omens are certainly very good," he said.
Prof Briggs said The Irish Times had been in the vanguard of the promotion of science in Ireland, and the newspaper's coverage had done much to raise the profile of Irish scientists both within the State and abroad.
The Irish Times Science Editor, Dick Ahlstrom, stressed the importance of greater public awareness of scientific issues.
"Our society is going to change whether we want it to or not . . . It's better to be a player in that than just to be a passenger," he said. He would be keeping an eye on the political parties' attitudes to scientific issues as the election approached.
Representing the judging panel, Dr William Harris, director-general of Science Foundation Ireland, said it was a tribute to Prof Briggs that his work rose above that of the other excellent scientists on the shortlist for the Boyle Medal.
"Such a hunt for knowledge requires painstaking effort," he said.
He hoped all those who worked at Science Foundation Ireland would be inspired by Prof Briggs's efforts.
