PhD Scholarship – Superconducting Dynamos
PhD Project: Imaging overcritical currents in a high-Tc superconducting dynamo Superconducting dynamos are unusual devices which enable large DC currents to be injected into a closed superconducting coil. These small high-current (>1 kA) devices have the potential to revolutionise the design and use of superconducting magnets. However, the precise mechanism by which the dynamo operates […]
Postdoctoral Fellowship – Flux pumps
Postdoctoral Fellowship – Superconducting flux Pumps (2.5 years–fixed term) We are seeking a qualified and highly motivated researcher to work on the study and development of kA-class superconducting ‘flux pumps’. These unusual devices are attracting international interest due to their ability to inject very large currents (>1 kA) into high-Tc superconducting coils. The successful applicant […]
Current MSc Scholarships
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology is New Zealand’s premier research organisation in materials science and nanotechnology. MSc studentships are now open across our research areas and partnership institutions. Successful candidates will become members of the MacDiarmid Institute, a national Centre of Research Excellence which provides collaborative opportunities and a thriving environment to work in. As […]
Commercialisation Manager at the MacDiarmid Institute for Advance Materials and Nanotechnology
The MacDiarmid Institute is a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) and is hosted by Victoria University of Wellington. The MacDiarmid Institute has researchers based in seven partner organisations – University of Auckland, Massey University, University of Canterbury, University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, GNS Science and Callaghan Innovation. The Commercialisation Manager may be based […]
MacDiarmid Institute Postdoctoral Fellowships
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology is New Zealand’s premier research organisation concerned with high quality research and research education in materials science and nanotechnology. Postdoctoral fellowships are now open across our partner institutions. Successful candidates will be a member of the MacDiarmid Institute, a national Centre of Research Excellence which provides collaborative opportunities […]
Current PhD Scholarships
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology is New Zealand’s premier research organisation in materials science and nanotechnology. PhD studentships are now open across our research areas and partnership institutions. Successful candidates will become members of the MacDiarmid Institute, a national Centre of Research Excellence which provides collaborative opportunities and a thriving environment to work in. As […]
Nanocamp 2014 in Review
By Associate Professor Michele Governale From the 15th to the 17th of January SCPS hosted the 6th edition of Nanocamp, a week-long science camp sponsored by The MacDiarmid Institute for students starting their last year of high school in 2014. The selection process to be admitted to Nanocamp is extremely competitive, with the best science students in the country […]
BlueFern Super Computer Facility
In 2007 the BlueFern computing facility upgraded to the first IBM Blue Gene Supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere. The MacDiarmid Institute’s contribution made this purchase possible. About the Equipment: The IBM Blue Gene Supercomputer is essentially a huge calculator which processes very complicated calculations very quickly. It is a purpose designed research tool and one […]
Time Resolved Raman Experiment
About the Equipment: The set up includes two lasers, which deliver short pulses of intense light to a sample. The first is used to push the material into its excited state and the second to analyse its structure and properties. The time lapse between the two pulses can be adjusted to probe different points during […]
Triple Additive/Subtractive Raman Spectrometer
Raman spectroscopy is an extremely common technique in many areas of science and industry but the new triple additive/ subtractive Raman Spectrometer is no common machine. It is the ultimate tool for pushing the limits of the technique. “As far as equipment is concerned we have nothing to envy of anybody,” says Victoria University physicist […]
Optical Tweezers
About the Instrument: About fifteen years ago some researchers were playing around with laser beams when they discovered that a tightly focused beam could suck a microscopic object into its focal point and trap it there. When they moved the laser, the object moved with it. They had discovered optical tweezers. The modern instrument is […]
Luminescence Spectrometer
It is an essential tool for Victoria physicist, Andy Edgar and his group, who are developing scintillating and luminescent materials for X-ray imaging and detection, for applications in medicine, materials testing and security. About the Equipment: The new spectrometer fires a beam of ultraviolet light at a sample to excite the electrons and measures the […]
SC1000B Gatan Digital Camera for Transmission Electron Microscope
About the Instrument: “If you can imagine replacing a digital camera from six years ago with a new one, that’s the difference,” says Richard Tilley, the former head of the Electron Microscope facility at Victoria University. The new TEM camera is used for recording both images and electron diffraction patterns. It’s more sensitive than the […]
Hyperpolarisation Instrument
About the Instrument: This purchase came about because the group had a sabbatical visitor who was an expert in spin exchange hyperpolarisation –Thomas Meersman from Colorado State University. “I knew this man was coming.” Paul said, “It was the one opportunity we had in a lifetime of getting into this game. He said he would […]
Rigaku Spider X-ray Diffractometer
About the Instrument: This is an extremely versatile tool for determining the structure of crystalline materials, including small or weakly diffracting crystals. The combination of a very intense X-ray source, excellent optics and a curved image plate detector gives the instrument great versatility and sensitivity. “If it’s crystalline and we can see it under the […]
GREAT60 Amplifiers and Controllers
The two high field superconducting magnets in the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) lab at Victoria University serve as workhorses for Paul Callaghan’s world renowned Soft Matter and Porous Media Group. Although one of the magnets already had GREAT60’s, the purchase of a second set brings the whole lab up to a consistent world-class standard. “What […]
Quantum Design PPMS with Evercool Dewar
About the Instrument: “The PPMS is an entire lab combined into one instrument,” says Jeff. It measures specific heat, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, magneto-resistance, Hall effect, thermo-electric power, magneto-thermo power. There’s also a vibrating sample magnetometer which allows you to measure magnetic properties. It offers a range of temperatures from 1.5 K to 800 K […]
Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
About the Instrument: The mass spectrometer makes high sensitivity measurements of the composition and relative amounts of gases released in chemical reactions. It works by sucking tiny volumes of gas through a fine glass capillary from the reaction flask into a vacuum chamber where gas particles are spread out according to their mass and detected. […]
Quantum Design Helium Recycler for SQUID Magnetometer
About the Instrument: The new Quantum Design Helium Recycler removes this cost altogether. It has its own refrigerator and simply recycles the helium. “I’ve been trying for years to get this helium recycler” says Callaghan Innovation researcher Jeff Tallon, “and the business case for it is unbeatable.” The SQUID is a very sensitive instrument for […]
Ultra-High-Vacuum Deposition System
The new facility has already helped them secure two research grants from the NERF and Marsden funds to develop spintronic applications. About the Equipment: This Ultra-High Vacuum system is designed for growing pure crystalline films of just about any material. It includes an ionising gas source to introduce nitrogen or other gases into the chamber […]
Low Temperature ‘Mini-lab’ with Closed Cycle Cryostat
About the Equipment: “It’s just like a fridge,” says Ben. “you press a button and you can go down to 3.5K (-269.5°C)… The other neat thing is that you can hold the temperature steady anywhere in between.” As Ben explains, there are two types of measurements available. “One is temperature dependent resistivity – that’s fantastic […]
UV Tuneable Laser Source
“You just realise that you’ve got this new capability that you had no way of getting out of universities. It almost seems like toys for us to play with!” – Roger Reeves. About the Equipment: The tuneable laser source produces any wavelength of light from red to UV. It is made up of two lasers […]
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Instrument
About the Instrument: The SPR instrument detects extremely low concentrations of biological compounds in solution. It contains a sensor surface onto which specially designed ‘bait’ ligands, are attached to selectively trap target compound molecules as they float past in solution. The SPR device uses a very clever mechanism, involving ‘surface plasmon resonance’ to measure how […]
Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS)
It also acts as a bridge to the Australian National synchrotron, the ultimate X-ray analysis tool, which the New Zealand government recently invested in. Both instruments have had co-investment from other Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) and are strengthening links across the New Zealand science community. About the Instrument: SAXS gives you information about structure […]
Cryo-attachment for Scanning Electron Microscope
Electron microscopes are used by researchers all around the country and have been a major factor in the Institute’s success so far. The cryo-attachment is one of two new features of the electron microscope facility at Victoria University. It allows researchers to take images of soft materials and fluids. About the Instrument: Without a cryo-attachment […]
Electron Beam Annealer for UHV Triple Beam Line System
The MacDiarmid funding paid for the revamp and allowed the system to get up and running in as short a time frame as possible. About the Instrument: The system consists of three beam lines feeding in at different angles to a central ultra-high-vacuum chamber. The first beam line is an ion implanter to shoot an […]
Nano-particle Size Analyser, Zetasizer and Vibrating Blade Viscometer
About the Instrument: The nanoparticle size analyser and zetasizer measures particle size from 0.6 nanometres (about six to ten atoms in a row) up to 0.2 microns and the surface charge or zeta potential of any sized particle that can be suspended in liquid. Neatly contained in a compact unit, it is accurate, reliable and […]
Eco Chemie Autolab Potentiostat with Low Current Module
“It was quite a dire situation,” says Alison. “If I’d been left with no instrumentation, my research would have ground to a complete halt. I can’t think how we could have bought a new instrument without the MacDiarmid funding.” In 2003 they bought a new potentiostat with an impedance analyser and high current module. “But […]
WRC Mössbauer Spectroscopy System
When the MacDiarmid Institute called for applications for this round of equipment, a new chemistry lecturer had just arrived at Otago University from Europe. Dr Guy Jameson is an expert in Mössbauer spectroscopy, a technique that chemist Professor Sally Brooker had identified as a missing link in her research programme. With the MacDiarmid funding they […]
