Sydney Nano
Monthly Newsletter
March 2023
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Message from the Interim DirectorMarch has been a very busy month for the Sydney Nano community. I was thrilled that our inaugural Future Leaders Program and EMCR Development Node Bootcamp was such a success - you can read more about the bootcamp below. We also held our first Town Hall for the year, showcasing some exciting initiatives and research from our community.
There is much to celebrate in our community - we're particularly delighted to see the Snow Medical Funding success for A/Prof Arnold Lining Ju who was also successful in securing an MRFF grant as was our Deputy Director Prof Stephanie Watson, congratulations!
We have opened our Student Ambassador Secondary Scholarships, which will commence in July. I strongly encourage any eligible PhD candidates that are interested in research communication to apply, from any school or faculty. A reminder that applications for our HDR and ECR Mobility Awards are closing shortly, if you are interested in an overseas research exchange I recommend that you apply. We will also shortly be opening our next round of Taste of Research Awards, aimed at providing undergraduate students with real-life research experiences. A reminder that this award is open to all undergraduate Participants, from any discipline.
As we approach the upcoming break, I hope everyone has a chance to rest and spend time with friends and family. I look forward to connecting with many of you at our upcoming events, please also feel welcome to pop into the Sydney Nanoscience Hub to say hello.
Associate Professor Alice Motion
Interim Director, Sydney Nano
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NanoPitch: EOIs now open!Do you have the next big idea for health innovation? On Thursday May 11, Sydney Nano researchers will pitch their nanotechnology-enabled health innovation ideas to a panel of expert judges to find possible commercialisation partners and the chance to win $5000. To assist with the preparation of the pitch, successful applicants will be offered a series of one-on-one mentoring sessions. Submit your EOI to pitch here - applications close Wednesday 12 April. Download the flyer for more information (pdf, 433KB).
Not pitching? We warmly invite you to attend as an audience member and to network with the presenters, judges, and other industry leaders. RSVP here.
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Raising the Bar on tonight!On the evening of Tuesday 4 April, 30 researchers from the University of Sydney will be giving free talks at 15 pubs across Sydney. Register for one of the talks by Sydney Nano members below:
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Sydney Ideas Event Thurs May 4 - Nanotechnology: scalable solutions for climate changeCarbon removal, solar power and clean hydrogen – these are just some of the renewable technologies touted as solutions to fossil fuel. How can these different areas of science and technology work together to be part of a shared solution? Join Sydney Nano researchers Prof Anita Ho-Baillie, Prof Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou, and Prof Deanna D'Alessandro with host Interim Director A/Prof Alice Motion as we discuss the latest developments in nanotechnology at a Sydney Ideas public lecture on Thursday May 4. More information and register here.
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A/Prof Arnold Ju awarded prestigious $8M Snow FellowshipThe Snow Medical Research Foundation (Snow Medical) has awarded A/Prof Lining (Arnold) Ju and his team from the University of Sydney's School of Biomedical Engineering an $8 million Fellowship. The Fellowship will support the development of a micro-device that monitors and alerts people at risk of a heart attack or stroke to dangerous changes in the blood and possible clots. This research is also funded by a Sydney Nano Grand Challenge scheme entitled "Organ-on-Chip for Blood Clot assessment" - watch this short video explaining his research with co-lead Dr Freda Passam. Congratulations Arnold! Read more here.
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SXSW - Audience voting open now! South by South West (SXSW) Sydney is a week-long event in October 2023 where technology and innovation converge with culture for unexpected discoveries. Please consider voting for session proposals by Sydney Nano members - you can vote for as many as you'd like! Voting closes Tuesday 11 April 2023.
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Dr Maria Rumyantseva appointed as Sydney Nano Deputy Director A warm welcome to Dr Maria Rumyantseva from the University of Sydney Business School, who was recently appointed as the Sydney Nano Deputy Director for Industry, Innovation and Commercialisation joining Prof Stephanie Watson. Maria has a longstanding interest in how research is commercialised, with a special focus on commercialisation of science-based, new-to-market inventions. She works with scientists across the University evaluating commercialisation pathways of their discoveries. Maria is an asset to our team and we look forward to working closely with her. Congratulations Maria!
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Sydney Nano Scholarships and Awards - apply now!We are pleased to share Sydney Nano scholarship and award opportunities available to our members:
PhDs, postdocs, and ECRs:
- Sydney Nano HDR and ECR Mobility Awards. Valued at $5,000 with additional co-contributions from your supervisor, this award enables overseas research exchange at our priority partner institutions to advance your research work and value-add to your research experience. Applications close Saturday 15 April 2023. Read more here.
PhD candidates:
- Sydney Nano Student Ambassador Secondary Scholarships. This scholarship - valued at $5,000 per annum for two years - aims to support research students in developing their research communication and engagement skills while reinforcing the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience and technology. PhD candidates from any discipline are encouraged to apply. Applications close Monday 8 May 2023. For more information and eligibility, read here.
Undergraduates:
- Taste of Research Awards will be opening on Monday 17 April. This award - valued at $2,500 - provides undergraduate coursework students from any discipline with a six-week intensive research experience related to nanoscience and technology, supervised by an academic Member of Sydney Nano. Applications open Monday 17 April 2023 and close Tuesday 9 May 2023. For more information, head to our website.
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Sydney Nano BootcampIn March, Sydney Nano hosted a 3-day training bootcamp for PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and early-to-mid career researchers (EMCRs) to advance their careers, in any industry. Over the course of the bootcamp, our cohort received invaluable training from highly-skilled leaders with opportunities to "learn by doing" and to network with peers, consolidating their knowledge and fostering new ideas. These training sessions alongside our networking events have led to emerging multi- and interdisciplinary collaborations within the cohort. Read more about the bootcamp here.
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Sydney Nano March Town Hall
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Medical Research Grant Success! University of Sydney researchers were recently awarded $47 million for medical research from The Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grants. MRFF grants aim to transform health and medical research and innovation to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to health system sustainability. Congratulations to our Sydney Nano members:
- Prof Stephanie Watson | Bringing a corneal blindness treatment to the clinic | $413,046
- A/Prof Arnold Lining Ju | Implant to diagnose and monitor recurrent stroke | $1,199,996
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Prof Renae Ryan awarded 2023 Nancy Millis MedalCongratulations to Prof Renae Ryan on being awarded the 2023 Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science, a prestigious award from the Australian Academy of Science. Renae’s research focuses on neurotransmitter transporters – nanoscale vacuum cleaners that suck chemical messengers back into cells after they have sent their message on. Understanding these cellular communicators could help us prevent Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and even stroke. Learn more here.
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Prof Michael Kassiou to lead a NSW Organoid Innovation Centre
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Prof Stephanie Watson recognised for Outstanding Service in Prevention of BlindnessCongratulations to Prof Stephanie Watson on being awarded Outstanding Service in Prevention of Blindness from the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology. This award is presented to individuals or organisations whose contributions are instrumental in preventing blindness in the Asia-Pacific region.
Stephanie was also named in the 'Top Eye 100' in Asia Pacific, a prestigious list by the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO) of the top 100 most influential ophthalmologists for 2022.
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Dr Pooria Lesani awarded Fulbright Postdoctoral ScholarshipCongratulations to Dr Pooria Lesani, who is one of eight members of the University of Sydney community to be awarded a 2023 Fulbright Scholarship. Dr Lesani, who graduated with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2022 and currently works as a postdoctoral researcher for Prof Hala Zreiqat, will conduct interdisciplinary research at the California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA. The project will build knowledge about developing biocompatible nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery systems and their application for cancer therapy. Read more here.
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Award & Grant Opportunities - Sydney Nano Student Ambassador Secondary Scholarship | $5,000 p.a. scholarship for two years | Supports research students in developing an in-depth understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience and aims to increase the visibility of the study in innovative and creative ways | Applications close Monday 8 May 2023
- Sydney Nano HDR and ECR Mobility Awards | Enabling overseas research for PhD candidates (HDR), postdoctoral researchers, and early career researchers (ECR) | Applications close Saturday 15 April | HDR Award Info | ECR Award Info
- Sydney Nano Taste of Research Award | $2,500 award | 6-week research period for high-calibre, undergraduate students from any discipline | Applications open Monday 17 April 2023 and close Tuesday 9 May 2023
- Australian Museum Eureka Prizes | Rewarding excellence in the fields of research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science | Applications close Friday 14 April
- USDA Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems funding | Grants valued at up to $800,000 USD | More information (p. 71) | Applications close Thurs 14 Sept 2023
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In case you missed it...
- For International Women's Day 2023, we featured Dr Pegah Varamini, one of our outstanding researchers. Pegah is a senior lecturer at the Sydney Pharmacy School and the co-chair of NanoPharma at Sydney Nano. Watch the video to listen to Pegah's insights on gender equity and this year's theme for the UN International Women's Day, #CrackingTheCode.
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Media Highlights
- The Guardian, The New Daily and Cosmos reported that the Australian Academy of Science is calling for a nationally coordinated approach to carbon dioxide removal, quoting Professor Deanna D’Alessandro, Director of the Net-Zero Initiative from the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Science.
- The West Australian interviewed Professor Michael Kassiou from the Faculty of Science about his research discovering vital new drugs from mini organs in a dish.
- The Conversation published an article by Professor Brendan Kennedy from the Faculty of Science about why releasing water from Fukushima won’t kill the Pacific Ocean.
- SBS Mandarin interviewed Professor Wei Li from the Business School about China’s economy and the Two Sessions.
- Cosmos reported Professor Renae Ryan from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and Dr Rachel Wang from the Faculty of Science and the School of Mathematics received honorific awards from the Australian Academy of Science.
- Campus Morning Mail reported that Professor Renae Ryan from the Faculty of Medicine and Health won a 2023 Australian Academy of Science award.
- The West Australian reported that a group of carbon capture scientists led by Dr Fengwang Li from the Faculty of Engineering developed an alternative process to create widely used chemicals from captured CO2.
- Channel Seven interviewed Dr Michael Seymour from the Business School about artificial intelligence, machine learning and deepfakes.
- Seven News quoted Associate Professor Justin Beardsley from the Faculty of Science about ‘zombie fungus.’
- Weekend Australian published a story co-authored by Dr Mike Seymour, Professor Dan Lovallo and Professor Kai Riemer from the Business School on the benefits and challenges of AI digital humans.
- Sydney Morning Herald reported the Snow Medical Research Foundation awarded Associate Professor Arnold Lining Ju from the Faculty of Engineering and his team from the School of Biomedical Engineering an $8 million Fellowship for a hand-held heart test.
- Nine News Afternoon (live) and Nine News Sydney (syndicated nationally) interviewed Associate Professor Arnold Lining Ju from the Faculty of Engineering about Arnold's $8 million Snow Fellowship, announced yesterday. The Australian also published the story.
- The Daily Telegraph (syndicated across News Corp) interviewed Dr Mike Seymour from the Business School, who says digital humans are already used in some workplaces and will have a widespread presence within five years.
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Member Publications
- Bao, Y., Wang, Z., Shi, Z., & Gan, Y. (2023). A Modified Weber Number Capturing the Bouncing–Wetting Transition of Droplet Impact on Rough Surfaces. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2201873.
- Chappard, A., Leighton, C., Saleeb, R. S., Jeacock, K., Ball, S. R., Morris, K., Kantelberg, O., Lee, J., Zacco, E., Pastore, A., Sunde, M., Clarke, D. J., Downey, P., Kunath, T., & Horrocks, M. H. (2023). Single‐Molecule Two‐Color Coincidence Detection of Unlabeled alpha‐Synuclein Aggregates. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 62(15).
- Cheng, Y. T., Xia, Q., Liu, H., Solomon, M. B., Brisson, E. R. L., Blackman, L. D., Ling, C. D., & Müllner, M. (2023). Tunable Polymer Nanoreactors from RAFT Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly: Fabrication of Nanostructured Carbon-Coated Anatase as Battery Anode Materials with Variable Morphology and Porosity. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15(9), 12261–12272.
- Fares, M., Wu, X., McNaughton, D. A., Gilchrist, A. M., Lewis, W., Keller, P. A., Arias-Betancur, A., Fontova, P., Pérez-Tomás, R., & Gale, P. A. (2023). A potent fluorescent transmembrane HCl transporter perturbs cellular pH and promotes cancer cell death. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 21(12), 2509–2515.
- Holmes, N. P., Roohani, I., Entezari, A., Guagliardo, P., Mirkhalaf, M., Lu, Z., Chen, Y.-S., Yang, L., Dunstan, C. R., Zreiqat, H., & Cairney, J. M. (2023). Discovering an unknown territory using atom probe tomography: Elemental exchange at the bioceramic scaffold/bone tissue interface. Acta Biomaterialia.
- Li, X., Maskell, D. L., Li, C. J., Leong, P. H. W., & Boland, D. (2023). A Scalable Systolic Accelerator for Estimation of the Spectral Correlation Density Function and Its FPGA Implementation. ACM Transactions on Reconfigurable Technology and Systems, 16(1), 1–24.
- Liao, C.-H., Mahmud, M. A., & Ho-Baillie, A. W. Y. (2023). Recent progress in layered metal halide perovskites for solar cells, photodetectors, and field-effect transistors. Nanoscale, 15(9), 4219–4235.
Murthy, P. S., Wilson, L., Zhang, X., Liang, W., & Huang, J. (2023). Ni-doped metal-azolate framework-6 derived carbon as a highly active catalyst for CO2 conversion through the CO2 hydrogenation reaction. Carbon Capture Science & Technology, 7, 100104. - Persson, I., Laval, H., Chambon, S., Bonfante, G., Hirakawa, K., Wantz, G., Watts, B., Marcus, M. A., Xu, X., Ying, L., Lakhwani, G., Andersson, M. R., Cairney, J. M., & Holmes, N. P. (2023). Sub-4 nm mapping of donor–acceptor organic semiconductor nanoparticle composition. Nanoscale, 15(13), 6126–6142.
- Rochman, J., Xie, T., Bartholomew, J. G., Schwab, K. C., & Faraon, A. (2023). Microwave-to-optical transduction with erbium ions coupled to planar photonic and superconducting resonators. Nature Communications, 14(1), 1153.
- Shahrbabaki, Z., Farajikhah, S., Ghasemian, M. B., Oveissi, F., Rath, R. J., Yun, J., Dehghani, F., & Naficy, S. (2023). A Flexible and Polymer‐Based Chemiresistive CO2 Gas Sensor at Room Temperature. Advanced Materials Technologies, 2201510.
- Sun, H., Tang, R., Zhang, X., Zhang, S., Yang, W., Wang, L., Liang, W., Li, F., Zheng, R., & Huang, J. (2023). Interfacial energy band engineered CsPbBr3 /NiFe-LDH heterostructure catalysts with tunable visible light driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction capability. Catalysis Science & Technology, 13(4), 1154–1163.
- Sun, H., Tang, R., Zhang, X., Zou, S., Shi, Y., Chen, K., Sarina, S., & Huang, J. (2023). RuCu bimetallic catalyst on N-doped mesoporous carbon for high-performance CO2 methanation. Carbon Capture Science & Technology, 6, 100100.
- Wu, J., Shen, L., Huang, P., & Gan, Y. (2023). Selective adsorption and transport of CO2–CH4 mixture under nano-confinement. Energy, 273, 127224.
- Zheng, J., Duan, W., Guo, Y., Zhao, Z. C., Yi, H., Ma, F.-J., Granados Caro, L., Yi, C., Bing, J., Tang, S., Qu, J., Fong, K. C., Cui, X., Zhu, Y., Yang, L., Lambertz, A., Arafat Mahmud, M., Chen, H., Liao, C., … Ho-Baillie, A. W. Y. (2023). Efficient monolithic perovskite–Si tandem solar cells enabled by an ultra-thin indium tin oxide interlayer. Energy & Environmental Science, 16(3), 1223–1233.
- Zhong, R., Talebian, S., Mendes, B. B., Wallace, G., Langer, R., Conde, J., & Shi, J. (2023). Hydrogels for RNA delivery. Nature Materials.
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