The Victoria Prize was awarded today to Melbourne University physicist Prof Keith Nugent for his work on phase imaging and X-ray optics.

Nugent was a founder of Melbourne phase microscopy company Iatia and sits on the company's board. He wins $50,000 from the State Government, which is complemented by a further $100,000 Anne and Eric Smorgon Memorial Award given to the University of Melbourne in support of his work.

In addition to Nugent's prize, six young researchers have been awarded Victoria Fellowships worth $18,000 in support of a short-term international study tour. Among the winners are:

-- Howard Florey PhD student Daniel Scott, who will use his Fellowship to spend some time at Stanford University testing the in vivo effects of a protein he has discovered on two reproductive hormones, relaxin and insulin-like peptide 3;

-- Swinburne PhD student Richard Barber, who is using LIGA, a synchrotron technique, to build tiny 3D objects, and will travel to North America, Europe and Singapore to work with other LIGA researchers;

-- Swinburne PhD student Micah Atkin, who is developing lab-on-a-chip microfluidics for use in handheld diagnostics at ozmicrofluidics, a company he founded with a team from the university's Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, and will travel to facilities in the USA, Europe and New Zealand to study microfluidics manufacturing.