Research strengths
The School of Physics and Advanced Materials’ research focal point is centred around two research strengths and one research facility. They are the UTS Institute for Nanoscale Technology, the Centre for Materials and Technology for Energy Efficiency, and the Micro-structural Analysis Unit
The Institute for Nanoscale Technology (INT)
INT brings together researchers from mathematics, physics, computational science, chemistry, microscopy, biology, materials science and engineering who are excited by the science and possibilities of materials and phenomena at the nanoscale (1 to 100 nm sizes). The interaction of light with nanoscale structures is an important theme, but other INT projects consider topics as diverse as photocatalysis, nanocomposite materials and biomedical implants.
INT members aim to understand, analyse, model, develop, characterise and exploit nanoscale, mesoscale and microscale materials and structures with a special focus on developing useful optical and chemical functions.
Micro-Structural Analysis Unit (MAU)
MAU is a centralised modern, state-of-the-art facility that was established to facilitate high quality research and support over a broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs. It is one of four Centres of Expertise within UTS Science and is the nexus of multi-disciplinary research at UTS.
Centre for Materials and Technology for Energy Efficiency (MTEE)
Given anticipated future human energy and environmental requirements, there is an important and growing need for fundamental and applied research to enable the production of clean, efficient and economical sustainable energy.
The quest for sustainable energy enables the MTEE research team to apply their extensive and complimentary expertise and capabilities in materials research for energy efficiency applications. The centre’s core research areas include:
- solid state lighting,
- electro-chemical energy storage,
- photovoltaics,
- plasmonics,
- daylighting physics and,
- related computational modelling.
A key strength of the MTEE Centre is the enabling of cutting-edge research on critical issues in this challenging and emerging field that would not be possible otherwise.
