Good news for users and other visitors

The 2009 Federal Budget had good news for the Australian Synchrotron and its users: $36.78 million for key onsite infrastructure additions and improvements, including onsite accommodation for users.

Boost for medical and imaging facility

The Australian Synchrotron's medical and imaging facility will be upgraded to become the most advanced instrument of its type in the world. The facility has been awarded $13.2 million from the NH&MRC and $1.5 million from the Victorian Government for a major expansion that will position Australia at the forefront of this field.

Asia Oceania Week (A-O Week) promises to be a big week for the Australian Synchrotron as it hosts the third Asia Oceania Forum on Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR) as part of a full week of activities that includes the annual Australian Synchrotron Users Meeting.

Australian researchers have developed a new way of determining the maturity of eggs. The technique, which has been trialled on mouse eggs using the infrared beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, was published recently in the international journal Analytical Chemistry. 

Ten young Australian researchers have just returned from an intensive ten-day training course at the SPring-8 synchrotron facility in Hyogo, Japan.

The Cheiron Synchrotron School provided the researchers with a comprehensive and practical background in the basics of synchrotron science, says Anand Chandra, a PhD student from the University of South Australia's Applied Centre for Structural and Synchrotron Studies.