About Us

The Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis

The Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM) is the University of Sydney’s centralised microscopy facility. The centre provides Sydney’s research community with leading instruments and expertise for exploring the structure of samples, from physical to biological and everything in between, at length scales down to the molecular and atomic. The ACMM’s Director is .

The core activities of the centre lie in three areas: research services, research programs and research training.

1. The centre’s research services are the broad range of microscopy and microanalysis instruments and its highly-trained technical staff, which support the research needs of all the ACMM’s users.
2. The research programs of the academics and researchers in the centre involve the development and application of advanced methodologies in microscopy and microanalysis. This local (or 'native') research is an essential part of maintaining a world-class centre and ensures that the technical and scientific staff are able to solve the research challenges of the large user community.
3. Research training entails teaching users the theoretical basis, and practical use, of advanced microscopes and microanalysis instruments. This allows users to maximise the quality of their work within the ACMM and also provides a training ground for next-generation microscopists for Australian research and industry.

The Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM) is the largest and most comprehensive facility of its type in Australia. The centre is the headquarters the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF), and is a node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals. Researchers have access to an outstanding array of nanostructural analysis equipment, within the ACMM and at our partner nodes.

The centre is a major contributor to the University’s research output, and plays a vital role in supporting the microscopy and wider community through training, award courses and consulting.

The Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF)

Established in July 2007 under the Commonwealth Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the AMMRF is a joint venture between Australian university-based microscopy and microanalysis centres. The AMMRF is a national grid of equipment, instrumentation and expertise in microscopy, microanalysis, electron and X-ray diffraction, and spectroscopy that provide nanostructural characterisation capability and services to all areas of nanotechnology and biotechnology research.

Operating in nodes located in major capital cities (Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney) with links to smaller units in specialist facilities, the Facility provides access to a vast array of instrumentation. These include widely used optical, electron, X-ray and ion beam techniques and ‘flagship’ instruments that form world leading capabilities. Such capabilities include pulsed-laser local electrode atom probe, high-throughput cryo-electron tomography, high-resolution SEM and spectroscopy, high-precision ion microprobe and ultra-high-resolution TEM platforms.

By combining new flagships with existing capabilities, the Facility offers a complete, modern suite of instruments accessible to all Australian publicly researches on merit basis and a nominal fee schedule. Industry-based researchers can also access the facilities for proprietary research at commercial rates.

This collaborative facility, comprised of research expertise and research infrastructure, is accessible by all Australian researchers, enabling discovery, innovation and ingenuity in Australian science.

The AMMRF is based around a nodal structure of major microscopy centres, together with Linked Laboratories and Linked Centres.

The AMMRF is funded by

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals coordinates the principal materials research groups in Australia, and their internationally-competitive research strengths, to provide a research platform that will assist expansion of the light metals industry, both nationally and globally.

The Centre of Excellence comprises Monash University (Department of Materials Engineering), the University of Queensland (School of Engineering), the University of New South Wales, (School of Materials Science and Engineering), Deakin University (School of Engineering and Technology), the University of Sydney (Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis and School of Civil Engineering), and the University of Melbourne (Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering).

The Team

The centre currently has a cohort of more than 40 staff. Under the leadership of Prof. Simon Ringer, a team of six academics provides overall guidance. The academics collaborate on their research programs with approximately 15 research associates and over 20 PhD students.

These academics, researchers and students, and the users of the centre, are supported by 18 expert technical staff. The seven staff in the business & administration team ensure the smooth running of the ACMM and the AMMRF.

ACMM staff at one of the centre's Future Focus Days.