Why Sydney

Sydney has world-class microscopy facilities

Sydney's universities accommodate a variety of high-end microscopy facilities, while other research organisations also house important capabilities for advanced characterisation. Some of these facilities are detailed below.

Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, The University of Sydney

The Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis is the largest and most comprehensive facility of its type in Australia. It is the headquarters of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF), and it is a node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals. It has a staff of well over 40 and a cohort of nearly 25 PhD students.

Researchers accessing the centre can use an outstanding array of nanostructural analysis equipment within the Key Centre, as well as at its partner nodes. Capabilities include advanced transmission and scanning electron microscopy; modern optical, fluorescence and confocal microscopy; scanning probe microscopy; and atom probe tomography and X-ray tomography. The centre is a major contributor to the University of Sydney's research output, and plays a vital role in supporting the microscopy and wider community through training, award courses and consulting.
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis website

Electron Microscope Unit, The University of New South Wales

Providing researchers from across the university, and beyond, with access to advanced instruments for electron microscopy, the Electron Microscope Unit is a major part of the Analytical Centre at UNSW. A core strength of the unit is in scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and associated diffraction and spectroscopic techniques, electron microprobe, and focused ion beam (FIB) milling. Other instruments include scanning probe microscopes and transmission electron microscopes. The Electron Microscope Unit is the other Sydney-based node of the AMMRF.
Electron Microscope Unit website

Microstructural Analysis Unit, University of Technology, Sydney

Established in 1993 as centralised facility with the Faculty of Science, the Microstructural Analysis Unit supports research and teaching across the physical, chemical and biological sciences. Recognised strengths of the unit include SEM, scanning probe microscopy and chemical spectroscopies, all of which are pivotal to the university's focus on forensic science. Support of industry is a core goal of the unit.
Microstructural Analysis Unit website

Optical Microcharacterisation Facility, Macquarie University

This facility provides optical microprobes for the imaging and spectroscopic analysis of materials, for researchers from the physical sciences through to the biological sciences. Instruments include Raman and fluorescent microscopes for mapping chemical properties and for time-resolved spectroscopy. The Optical Microcharacterisation Facility is a Linked Laboratory of the AMMRF.
Optical Microcharacterisation Facility website

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

ANSTO is a large organisation on the outskirts of Sydney that houses Australia's only research reactor – its only nuclear reactor, for that matter – and therefore offers unique research capabilities for neutron-beam experiments, as well as a variety of other characterisation technologies. The research reactor, OPAL, has six neutron-beam instruments online for various types of diffraction and scattering experiments; another three under construction for doing neutron spectroscopy. OPAL also produces medical radioisotopes for Australia and other countries.

The National Deuteration Facility (NDF) at ANSTO provides equipment for the biological or chemical deuteration of molecules to increase contrast for neutron-beam experiments. The NDF is part of the National Characterisation Capability – as is the AMMRF – which is funded by the Commonwealth Government under its National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

ANSTO also has microscopy and microanalysis facilities in its Institute of Materials Engineering, a centre for research in nuclear materials. Its facilities include several electron microscopes as well as systems for X-ray diffraction and various spectroscopic techniques.
ANSTO website

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