Professor Matthew Bailes from Swinburne University has been awarded the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.

The award acknowledges his groundbreaking discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs), which has reshaped the field, providing valuable insights into the composition and mass of the universe. 

Working with collaborators, Professor Bailes identified the first FRB in 2007, a signal that lasted a millisecond yet was trillions of times more luminous than any previously observed in our galaxy.

“Entangled in the fast radio burst signal is a measure of how many electrons there are in the universe,” Professor Bailes explained.

His research has allowed scientists to use FRBs to calculate the amount of normal matter in the universe, a challenge that has long puzzled astronomers.

Professor Bailes and his team made their initial discoveries using archival data from two major radio telescopes: CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, located on Wiradjuri Country, and the Molonglo radio telescope in New South Wales. 

These early breakthroughs were crucial in confirming the existence of FRBs, a previously unknown cosmic phenomenon. 

Despite early doubts - one signal initially thought to be an FRB was later traced to a microwave oven - his findings were vindicated by subsequent detections around the world, confirming the cosmic origin of these powerful bursts.

In addition to his pioneering work with FRBs, Professor Bailes leads the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav). 

At OzGrav, he spearheads research into gravitational waves - ripples in spacetime caused by massive celestial events such as black hole collisions. 

These discoveries provide new methods for studying cosmic events, adding to his already significant contributions to astrophysics.

The 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science is one of seven science and innovation awards presented this year.