Physicist named first Australian Blaise Pascal Medal recipient

CANBERRA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- A physicist from the Australian National University (ANU) has become the first Australian to win one of the world's most prestigious science awards.

The European Academy of Sciences (EAS) announced Susan Scott as the 2022 recipient of the Blaise Pascal Medal for Physics in recognition of her research and leadership in science.

"Distinguished Professor Susan Scott is an internationally recognized mathematical physicist who has made ground-breaking discoveries in general relativity, cosmology and gravitational wave science spanning more than three decades," the EAS said in awarding the medal.

"She played a leading role in Australia's participation in the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, and the development of the field of gravitational wave science in Australia following on from that discovery."

According to a media release by the ANU on Wednesday, Scott was a leader of the international research team that in 2015 detected gravitational waves for the first time.

First theorized by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by massive objects moving with extreme accelerations.

Their discovery, considered one of the most significant in science of the 21st century, has paved the way for further breakthroughs.

Scott, a chief investigator at the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, said receiving the Blaise Pascal Medal was a "tremendous honor."

"As a teenager I read a number of works of Blaise Pascal and was in awe of him as a scientist. His contributions were marked by their inventiveness and diversity, ranging from projective geometry, probability theory, calculating machines to fluid dynamics," she said in a media release.

"All these years later it is very special to have this connection to the great scientist through this award."