INTRODUCTION
The Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS) is a free science educational program run biennially by the Science Foundation for Physics within the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Created by Professor Harry Messel in 1958 the ISS was originally run to update science teachers about the latest scientific developments and innovations. However in 1962 the focus of the school shifted to honour excellence in Year 11 and 12 students and to encourage them to pursue careers in science.
Over the years the ISS has secured its place internationally as an outstanding program and now has over 4,000 ISS alumni, many of who have gone onto great achievements in science and related areas. Many other science enthusiasts have been inspired by the telecast lectures - shown on Channel 9 and the ABC the in 1960s and 1970s - the ISS book of lectures and today, through the podcast of ISS lectures.
Initially ISS students from New Zealand were invited to join their Australian cohort. The international reach expanded in 1967 to include ten students from the USA, initially as the Lyndon B. Johnson Australian Science Scholars. In 1968 ten more international students attended; five from Britain and five from Japan where the students received Japanese Prime Minister’s Australian Science Scholarships to attend. In 2007 India joined the ISS for the first time. 140 Year 11 and 12 students make up the ISS scholars attending from over all Australia, China, Japan, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, UK and the USA.
ISS students are selected in their home countries by their national scientific institutions and associations. Students are chosen on their academic ability and, depending on their country, must compete for an ISS scholarship through either essay writing, an interview or sitting an exam. In the USA the ISS is awarded as a prize in the National Science Bowl run by the US Department of Energy. ISS scholars live on campus for their two-week stay and for many it is an opportunity to visit Sydney, Australia for the first time as well as to meet like-minded peers from different countries and cultures.
The ISS program reflects the different theme of each ISS and comprises lectures, hands on experiments and challenges as well as social activities. Brilliant lecturers donate their time to teach these academically outstanding young scholars. Past ISS lecturers have included such notables as James Watson and Jerome Friedman, both Nobel Laureates, Sir Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, FRS, Lord May of Oxford, OM AC Kt PRS, Margaret Burbidge and more recently, in 2007, Professor Michael Oppenheimer and Lord Professor Robert Winston. Professor Julius Sumner Miller was also a guest of the ISS and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, the Foundation's Julius Sumner Miller and media personality is always a very popular guest speaker.
