Expanded access for New Zealand researchers to the Australian synchrotron

New Zealand researchers will gain expanded access to the Australian Synchrotron in a new partnership recently negotiated with ANSTO.

The Australian Synchrotron is one of the largest items of science infrastructure in the southern hemisphere. It is very large (about the size of a football field) and produces a powerful source of brilliant light that scientists can use to gather information about the structural and chemical properties of materials at the molecular level.

New Zealand researchers have been using the Australian Synchrotron since 2007, but in a new deal negotiated by the New Zealand Synchrotron Group (NZSG) on behalf of its member institutions, researchers will receive a 33% increase in time on the 10 current beamlines and exclusive access to the 8 new beamlines that are to be built at the Synchrotron over the next few years. New Zealand will contribute funding of A$26 million over the next 9 years towards the cost of construction of the new beamlines and the facility’s operating costs.The cost is being shared between NZSG’s member institutions and the government.

Access to the Synchrotron will enable researchers to probe matter and analyse a host of physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes across a wide range of fundamental and applied sciences including in health and medical research, materials science, manufacturing technology, and in engineering.

In addition to the beamtime reserved for staff and students from the 10 New Zealand institutions that are contributing funding, a small amount of time has been set aside for paid access which NZSG also coordinates. NZSG is keen to see new users and institutions become part of the arrangement especially as the new beamlines at the Synchrotron will provide new measurement techniques and capability of potential applicability to a wider range of sciences and their applications.

For more information about the Australian Synchrotron, the funding and access arrangements for New Zealand researchers and about paid access to the Synchrotron, please contact NZSG at: synchrotron@royalsociety.org.nz

NZSG Web Site