ANSTO media release: Best and brightest win postgraduate awards

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ANSTO media release: Best and brightest win postgraduate awards

Media Release 27 June 2002

Imaging and treating tumours, quantifying air pollution, analysing sea urchins, examining water flow in the Macquarie Marshes, investigating pre-historic settlements in the Caucasus, and the chemistry of DNA are amongst the subjects for this year's successful recipients of Postgraduate Research Awards from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE).

Eleven students have been announced as recipients of the 2002 Awards, which are designed to support research projects that are associated with nuclear science or its applications and require access to the specialised research facilities operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre. All successful recipients are candidates for PhDs with an Australian Postgraduate Research Award or university equivalent scholarship.

The award recipients are Timothy Jordan and Alison Lane of the University of Tasmania, Mark Alexander of the University of Sydney, Timothy Ralph of Macquarie University, Jennifer Brazier of the Northern Territory University, Simon Connor of the University of Melbourne, Matthew Rowles of Curtin University, Freya Mearns and Lisa Rodgers of the University of NSW, Craig Sloss of the University of Wollongong, and Andrew Whitten of the University of New England.

According to AINSE Scientific Secretary Dr Dennis Mather, three of these students attended Winter Schools at AINSE: Matthew Rowles in 1998, and Tim Ralph and Andrew Whitten in 2000.

"Also worthy of note is Jenny Brazier, who is the fourth student of Dr David Parry to receive an award. This is a much higher batting average than might be expected from Northern Territory University," Dr Mather said.

Postgraduate awards from AINSE, worth more than $13,000 per annum, include $5,500 which is put towards using any of more than a hundred facilities at Lucas Heights. This year's awardees will access the HIFAR research reactor's neutron and gamma ray irradiation facilities, the AMS facility attached to the tandem accelerator, radiopharmaceutical laboratories, SIMS and radiochemistry/geochronology facilities, plasma surface engineering facilities, ion and electron beam accelerators, computing facilities and a fully equipped coastal and marine survey vessel.

More information about AINSE Postgraduate Awards can be found at http://www. ainse.edu.au

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