Sydney Nano
Monthly Newsletter
April 2023
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Message from the Interim DirectorWelcome to another edition of our monthly newsletter and another month to celebrate the achievements of members of our community. Congratulations to Prof Marcela Bilek, Dr Anna Waterhouse, and Dr Shelley Wickham on being awarded a $3 million grant from AUSMURI for their multidisciplinary approach to nanotechnology research. Congratulations also to Dr Nick Hunt on successfully launching his spin-off company, Endo Axiom, after receiving funding from Australian biotech incubator Proto Axiom.
A reminder that applications for our Taste of Research Awards and Student Ambassador Scholarships are closing soon. These programs, aimed at undergraduate students and PhD candidates respectively, aim to provide students with unique opportunities to develop their research skills, broaden their networks, and prepare for their future career. While research must be related to nanoscience and technology, the connection may be from any discipline, and we warmly encourage all eligible candidates to apply.
We have two great public events coming up this month. This Thursday 4 May, its my pleasure to host the Sydney Ideas public lecture "Nanotechnology: scalable solutions for climate change" which will include thought-provoking discussions with leading Sydney Nano academics on the role of nanotechnology in shaping a greener future. The following Thursday 11 May is our inaugural NanoPitch event, where Sydney Nano researchers will have the opportunity to pitch their health innovation ideas to a panel of expert industry judges, followed by a networking session.
Finally, A/Prof Girish Lakhwani (Deputy Director Academic Partnerships) will be Acting Interim Director of Sydney Nano while I am on leave from the middle of May. Please do not hesitate to contact him with any queries and I wish you all the best for the month ahead.
Associate Professor Alice Motion
Interim Director, Sydney Nano
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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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NanoPitch & Networking Thurs 11 May - Driving Health InnovationHave you every wondered how nanotechnology sensors can be used for cancer detection? Or how nanorobots can fight viruses inside the body? Come along to our upcoming NanoPitch night on Thursday 11 May and get inspired by the next big ideas for health innovation! Hosted by Prof Stephanie Watson OAM and featuring expert judges Prof Tony Weiss, Prof Julie Cairney, and Dr John Kurek, this event will focus on key health areas including MedTech, Pharma, and BioTech, followed by a networking session with drinks and canapes. Download the flyer (pdf, 316KB) or head to our webpage to learn more. Registration is free but essential - RSVP here.
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AUSMURI Funding Success! Congratulations to Sydney Nano Members Prof Marcela Bilek, Dr Anna Waterhouse and Dr Shelley Wickham, who will share in up to $3 million funding from AUSMURI, a joint program of the US Department of Defense and Australia’s Department of Defence. The funding will support fundamental multidisciplinary science in the public domain surrounding nano-architectured materials that can respond to light in real time. Read more here. Congratulations Marcela, Anna, and Shelley!
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Dr Nicholas Hunt launches spin-off company Endo Axiom! Congratulations to Dr Nicholas Hunt on receiving $2.2 million funding from Australian biotech incubator Proto Axiom to launch spin-off company Endo Axiom with other University of Sydney academics Prof Victoria Cogger and Prof David Le Couteur AO. Endo Axiom will enable phase 1 clinical trial testing of their oral insulin and type 1 diabetes prevention technologies. Congratulations Nick! Read more here.
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Why apply to be a Sydney Nano Student Ambassador? Are you a PhD candidate looking to deepen your skills in research communication, project management, and leadership? Apply to be a Sydney Nano Student Ambassador! This secondary scholarship, valued at $5,000 p.a. 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. Read this interview with Jed Austin, current Student Ambassador and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney Business School, to learn more about how this scholarship can accelerate your career. Applications close Monday 8 May 2023. More information on eligibility here.
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Sydney Nano Taste of Research Award - closing soon! The Sydney Nano Taste of Research Awards - 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 close Tuesday 9 May 2023. For more information, head to our website.
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Gunther's Farewell and launch of Sydney Nano Connect Last month we sadly farewelled Dr Gunther Schmidt, who has been COO of Sydney Nano for the last seven years. Gunther has been an incredible asset to the team, bringing a wealth of knowledge and creating a warm and positive work environment. He has helped shape Sydney Nano into a multidisciplinary institute that strives to enable truly transformational research. This event also marked the launch of our inaugural alumni program - Sydney Nano Connect. Sydney Nano Connect will allow former Members, staff, and our wider community to connect with each other and keep up to date with Sydney Nano initiatives, news, and events. We look forward to re-welcoming our alumni on campus.
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Visit from Hon Paul Fletcher MPLast month Sydney Nano welcomed Hon Paul Fletcher MP to the Sydney Nanoscience Hub. Thank you to A/Prof Girish Lakhwani (Deputy Director Academic Partnerships) for hosting Paul on this visit. Paul had the opportunity to visit Dr John Bartholomew's research lab, focused on building hardware for the quantum internet. Thanks for visiting, Paul!
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Podcasts now available - Raising the Bar
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Sydney Nano Nomenclature Protocol for MembersA reminder on the benefits of listing Sydney Nano on your nano-related research outputs such as publications, presentations, grants, media articles in addition to acknowledging your School and Faculty. Sydney Nano endeavour to promote members' research through our internal and external communication channels and reports. This is a great opportunity to enhance visibility, reputation and potentially find new collaborators and partners who are looking for your expertise or research on related topics. Please refer to us as “The University of Sydney Nano Institute” but if space does not permit use “Sydney Nano Institute” or “Sydney Nano”. Please see Sydney Nano Nomenclature Protocol for more details.
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Visit from Student LeadersSydney Nano recently welcomed Year 12 Student Leaders to the Sydney Nanoscience Hub to learn about nanotechnology. Interim Director A/Prof Alice Motion gave the students a short talk on the multidisciplinary nature of the many research nodes that form part of Sydney Nano, including our flagship Grand Challenges.
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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 Taste of Research Award | $2,500 award | 6-week research period for high-calibre, undergraduate students from any discipline | Applications close Tuesday 9 May 2023
- Australia India 'Unnati' Research Collaboration Grants | Grants valued at $30,000 | Guidelines (pdf, 233 KB) | Applications close 5pm Mon 15 May 2023
- AmCham Alliance Awards recognising emerging and exceptional leaders in the first two-thirds of their career in Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Digital Economy, Energy and Clean Technology, Quantum, or Space | Nominations close Sunday 18 June 2023
- USDA Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems funding | Grants valued at up to $800,000 USD | More information (p. 71) | Applications close Thursday 14 Sept 2023
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Media Highlights
- The Sydney Morning Herald (syndicated nationally) featured a photograph of Associate Professor Lining Arnold Ju and his team in the Faculty of Engineering in its 'photos of the week'.
- The Conversation published an article by Dr Jarryd Daymond from the Business School about three ways to help the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund that is reviving manufacturing.
- 2GB interviewed Professor Deanna D’Alessandro from the Faculty of Engineering about Raising the Bar before the event on Tuesday.
- Create by Engineers Australia published a feature on Associate Professor Lining Arnold Ju from the Faculty of Engineering, who was last week announced as a Snow Fellow.
- ABC RN interviewed Dr Jarryd Daymond from the Business School about RBA’s interest rate decision last week, international banks and manufacturing revival.
- The Guardian featured an exclusive interview with Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski from the Faculty of Medicine and Health about his research that provides blueprints to create advanced human lung organoids. Yahoo syndicated the article.
- ABC Radio National interviewed Associate Professor Shumi Akhtar from the Business School about the International Monetary Fund’s downgraded economic growth forecast and the potential risk of mortgage defaults in Australia.
- The Conversation published an article by Professor Zdenka Kuncic from the Faculty of Science and the Charles Perkins Centre and PhD researcher Alon Loeffler about a network of silver nanowires that seem to learn and remember like our brains.
- The Australian reported that five Australian researchers, including three from the University of Sydney, have embarked on a research program to develop the fundamental science around responsive materials, quoting Dr Shelley Wickham from the Sydney Nano Institute.
- Create reported Professor Ali Abbas from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering had been announced as Chief Circular Engineer at Circular Australia.
- Cosmos interviewed Professor Stephen Bartlett about the Future Qubit Foundry to be launched at the Sydney Nanoscience Hub.
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Member Publications
- Cheng, Y. T., Xia, Q., Liu, H., Solomon, M. B., Ling, C. D., & Müllner, M. (2023). Polymer brush-grafted cellulose nanocrystals for the synthesis of porous carbon-coated titania nanocomposites. Polymer Chemistry.
- Conquest, O. J., Roman, T., Marianov, A., Kochubei, A., Jiang, Y., & Stampfl, C. (2023). First principles investigation of cobalt-phthalocyanine active site tuning via atomic linker immobilization for CO2 electroreduction. Journal of Catalysis, 422, 43–55.
- Fan, M., Feng, G., Xia, L., Zhang, Y., Liu, M., Li, Z., Jiang, Y., Yang, C., Law, W., Yong, K., Shen, Y., Xu, Z., & Xu, G. (2023). Controlling the Energy Relaxation: Organic Doping in AIEgenNanoparticles for Highly Enhanced Intravital Two‐Photon Imaging. Advanced Optical Materials.
- Gresham, I. J., & Neto, C. (2023). Advances and challenges in slippery covalently-attached liquid surfaces. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 315, 102906.
- 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, 162, 199–210.
- Jaiswal, A., Rani, S., Singh, G. P., Archana, T., Hassan, M., Nasrin, A., Gomes, V. G., Saxena, S., & Shukla, S. (2023). Carbon quantum initiators enabled direct laser writing: A technique for fabrication of dielectric, all-carbon chiral metasurfaces. Carbon, 208, 43–49.
- Lai, C. K., Merklein, M., Casas-Bedoya, A., Liu, Y., Madden, S. J., Poulton, C. G., Steel, M. J., & Eggleton, B. J. (2023). Optimizing performance for an on-chip stimulated Brillouin scattering-based isolator. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 40(3), 523.
- Lane, J. D. E., & Jolliffe, K. A. (2023). Squaramides for colorimetric and fluorescent anion sensing. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 21(15), 3226–3234.
- Lau, K., Fu, L., Zhang, A., Akhavan, B., Whitelock, J., Bilek, M. M., Lord, M. S., & Rnjak‐Kovacina, J. (2023). Recombinant perlecan domain V covalently immobilized on silk biomaterials via plasma immersion ion implantation supports the formation of functional endothelium. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 111(6), 825–839.
- Limantoro, C., Das, T., He, M., Dirin, D., Manos, J., Kovalenko, M. V., & Chrzanowski, W. (2023). Synthesis of Antimicrobial Gallium Nanoparticles Using the Hot Injection Method. ACS Materials Au.
- Lotz, O., McKenzie, D. R., Bilek, M. M., & Akhavan, B. (2023). Biofunctionalized 3D printed structures for biomedical applications: A critical review of recent advances and future prospects. Progress in Materials Science, 137, 101124.
- Lv, T., Zhang, W., Yang, Y., Zhang, J., Yin, M., Yin, Z., Yong, K., & An, Q. (2023). Micro/Nano‐Fabrication of Flexible Poly(3,4‐Ethylenedioxythiophene)‐Based Conductive Films for High‐Performance Microdevices. Small.
- 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.
- Pham, C. L. L., Titaux-Delgado, G. A., Varghese, N. R., Polonio, P., Wilde, K. L., Sunde, M., & Mompeán, M. (2023). NMR characterization of an assembling RHIM (RIP homotypic interaction motif) amyloid reveals a cryptic region for self-recognition. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 299(4), 104568.
- Phan, T. H., Shi, H., Denes, C. E., Cole, A. J., Wang, Y., Cheng, Y. Y., Hesselson, D., Roelofs, S. H., Neely, G. G., Jang, J.-H., & Chrzanowski, W. (2023). Advanced pathophysiology mimicking lung models for accelerated drug discovery. Biomaterials Research, 27(1), 35.
- Rath, R. J., Oveissi, F., Shahrbabaki, Z., Yun, J., Naficy, S., Dehghani, F., & Farajikhah, S. (2023). A paper-based sensor capable of differentiating ammonia and carbon dioxide gas. Materials Today Communications, 35, 105895.
- Salvati Manni, L., Davies, C., Wood, K., Assenza, S., Atkin, R., & Warr, G. G. (2023). Unusual phosphatidylcholine lipid phase behavior in the ionic liquid ethylammonium nitrate. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 643, 276–281.
- Wei, N., Wang, L., Yang, W., Zhang, D., Jia, Z., Liu, W., Zhang, W., Zang, J., Huang, S., & Huang, J. (2023). Insight into the Evolution Track for the Metathesis of Alkenes within Hierarchical Zeolite‐Based Catalysts. Chemistry – A European Journal.
- Yap, S. H. K., Chan, K. K., & Yong, K.-T. (2022). Innovative Optical Fiber Approaches for Water Quality Monitoring (pp. 39–69).
- Zhang, Y., Poon, K., Masonsong, G. S. P., Ramaswamy, Y., & Singh, G. (2023). Sustainable Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications. Pharmaceutics, 15(3), 922.
- Zhao, Y. C., Zhang, Y., Wang, Z., Jiang, F., Kyanian, K., Aye, S., Hong, T., Vatankhah, P., Nasser, A., Sun, A., Moldovan, L., Su, Q. P., Cho, A., Wang, Y., Passam, F., Ang, T., & Ju, L. A. (2023). Novel Movable Typing for Personalized Vein‐Chips in Large Scale: Recapitulate Patient‐Specific Virchow’s Triad and its Contribution to Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis. Advanced Functional Materials.
- Zheng, H., Wu, B., Wang, C., Li, S., He, J., Liu, Z., Wang, J., Duan, J., & Liu, Y. (2023). Moiré Enhanced Potentials in Twisted Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Trilayers Homostructures. Small, 2207988.
- Zheng, Z., Zhao, H., Sun, L., Bilek, M. M., & Liu, Z. (2023). The microstructural evolution of dual phase high entropy alloy thin films by annealing. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 953, 170102.
- Zhianmanesh, M., Gilmour, A., Bilek, M. M. M., & Akhavan, B. (2023). Plasma surface functionalization: A comprehensive review of advances in the quest for bioinstructive materials and interfaces. Applied Physics Reviews, 10(2), 021301.
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