The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science honour the country’s most outstanding scientists, innovators and science teachers. Working with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Damsel and Sprout was engaged to bring the science into the room itself: through theming, centrepiece design, and the technical delivery that holds a gala of this scale together.

Client: Department of Industry, Science and Resources
Year: 2024, 2025, 2026
Venue: Parliament House, Canberra
Format: National awards gala dinner
Audience: Australia’s science community, government and invited guests

What we delivered

• Theming and centrepiece design;
• Full set up and pack down;
• AV production + consultation;
• Stage management including rehearsal and prize winner management;
• Technical Direction

A night designed around a medallion

Everything about the Prizes points to one object: the medallion each winner takes home. So the medallion became the through-line of the room itself.

Tables lit from within

Every gala table carried a glowing golden orb, a sphere of warm light rising from a dark plinth, echoing the medallion at the heart of the awards. With the house lights down and the room washed in deep purples and magentas, the effect was striking: dozens of points of gold floating across the floor, drawing every eye toward the stage.

A stage with a centrepiece of its own

Above centre stage, a large-scale rendering of the Prize medallion hung between twin widescreens, flanked by the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. Screen content, lighting and staging were designed as one picture, so that every winner’s moment looked as good in the room as it did on camera.

A gala that ran to the second

Behind the design sat the machinery of the night: AV production, technical direction and stage management across a full national awards program. Winners announced, speeches delivered, every cue called on time and any changes seamlessly managed.