Victoria hails MacDiarmid CoRE funding

victoria-university-of-wellington

Tue Jun 05 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Victoria hails MacDiarmid CoRE funding

Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 2:18 pm
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington

05 June 2007

A significant increase in funding for the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology, hosted by Victoria University, has highlighted its success as a Government-funded Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE).

The Minister for Tertiary Education, the Hon Dr Michael Cullen, today announced funding of $31.4 million of operating funding per annum for six years for seven Centres, and one-off capital funding of $20 million. The funding will go to six existing Centres and one new one.

The MacDiarmid Institute, named after Victoria alumnus and Nobel Prize winner, the late Professor Alan MacDiarmid, is to receive $39.1 million in operational funding for 2008-14 and capital funding of $9.8 million. The Institute is hosted by Victoria in partnership with other New Zealand universities and Crown research institutes.

Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Mackay, said the funding recognised the significant successes the MacDiarmid Institute had achieved in its first six years of operation.

"The Institute's researchers are undertaking exceptional research in the physical sciences. Under the able leadership of Institute Director, Professor Paul Callaghan, the team at Victoria and at our partner institutions are pushing the boundaries of knowledge in new materials and nanotechnology as well as establishing a fertile training ground for New Zealand's future physicists."

Professor Mackay thanked the Government for its ongoing support for the Institute.

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"A review of the MacDiarmid Institute by the Tertiary Education Commission in 2005 highlighted it as an exemplar and Dr Cullen's comments today, praising it and Professor Callaghan, are particularly heartening. Victoria and its partners look forward to working with the Government and Commission in ensuring that the Institute remains at the forefront of innovative scientific research."

Institute Director, Professor Paul Callaghan, said the capital funding would be put to good use.

"That the Institute managed to pick up almost half of the capital funding on offer is an amazing achievement. Only last year, for example, Dr Pablo Etchegoin, who has recently been appointed as Victoria's inaugural Professor of Nanotechnology, led a team that developed a method of detecting and tracking single molecules using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Their research provided the most conclusive experimental proof so far on the detection of single molecules with this technology and the capital grant will allow the Institute to buy the latest in SERS equipment.

"And last year Professor Richard Blaikie, at the University of Canterbury, was recognised by New Scientist magazine as providing the first convincing experimental evidence for negative refraction, a key optical effect in new nano-engineering methods. Now the University of Canterbury can undertake a major upgrade to their nano-fabrication facilities to world-class levels. In all the capital fund will enable the purchase of nearly 30 new instruments at Victoria, Canterbury, Massey and Otago universities."

ENDS

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