Current projects
See the projects you can apply to join as part of the Laby Research Scholars Program this year.
Accelerator physics
Technology for Ultra Rapid Beam Operation (TURBO) – modelling and constructing a rig for magnet measurements
Supervisor: Suzie Sheehy, Jacinta Yap, Adam Steinberg
Keyword: Accelerator Physics, Particle Therapy
Particle therapy is an advanced and highly precise type of radiation therapy which uses hadron beams for the treatment of cancers. There are several advantages over conventional X-ray photon radiotherapy methods however the cost, complexity and technological limitations restrict widespread availability. A limiting constraint in current clinical systems is the time associated with adjusting the magnets to deliver beams of different energies. The Medical Accelerator Physics group are developing a potential solution, TURBO – a large energy acceptance system using fixed-field alternating gradient optics, where beams of varying energies can be transported using the same fixed magnetic fields. TURBO could enable the possibility of rapid beam delivery and advanced techniques: cheaper, faster and more effective treatments in the future. The design and construction of a technology demonstrator beamline in the UniMelb Pelletron lab is currently underway.
This demonstrator will use permanent magnet arrays, utilising many individual blocks of magnetic material that can be reused. Each of these blocks must be characterised, measuring the magnetisation axis and remanent field. The student will contribute to the development of a magnetic field measurement rig, using a repurposed 3D printer to actuate a Hall probe around each magnet block. This will combine both computational and experimental work. Depending on the interests of the student, the project may include: 3D printing new parts for the rig; soldering and writing motor control software for an Arduino; simulating expected results given realistic positioning errors; and fitting experimental data to simulated results to determine the fields of real magnets.
X-LAB
Supervisor: Roger Rassool, Matteo Volpi
Keyword: Accelerator Physics
The new X-band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB) is pleased to announce the successful delivery of a 100 keV electron beam, along with its first results from high-gradient prototype structure testing.
In just two years, a full test stand facility has been established, and we have now also commissioned an injector that will provide a 100 keV electron beam for the upcoming beamline. One of the key projects within this laboratory involves repurposing half of the CERN X-band test stand XBOX3, now known as Mel-BOX.
This initiative aims to validate the performance of high-gradient traveling wave accelerating structures, which are crucial for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) beam-based acceleration baseline, operating at a frequency of 12 GHz.
The commissioning of the 100 keV photogun and the conditioning of high-gradient accelerating structures will provide students with the opportunity to work in either area, making a tangible near-term impact on accelerator physics in Australia.
Astrophysics
The SpIRIT nanosatellite - Australia's first space telescope
Supervisor: Michele Trenti
Keyword: Astrophysics, Space Science
The SpIRIT (Space Industry – Responsive – Intelligent – Thermal) nanosatellite mission is the first project funded for launch in orbit by the Australian Space Agency. The shoe-box sized satellite carries a sophisticated gamma and x-ray instrument for high energy astrophysics - the HERMES instrument - built by the Italian Space Agency.
SpIRIT was launched in December 2023 and it is currently operating in orbit, commissioning instruments and acquiring data. This internship will give the opportunity to join the SpIRIT mission team and mission control centre, led out of the School of Physics at UoM, and to gain direct experience on in-orbit operations of a scientific and technology demonstrator satellite.
Specific projects possible for interns range from modeling and optimisation of science operations of the satellite to analysis and interpretation of scientific data and/or telemetered spacecraft data received from SpIRIT.
Powering Mars with Geothermal Energy
Supervisor: Rachel Webster
Keyword: Astrophysics, Energy Research
This research project will develop a simple model of the heat resource underground on Mars, and estimate whether this resource can be harnessed to power a human colony on Mars. This will involve delving into the latest NASA experiments measuring heat flow on the Red Planet, understanding other opportunities such as harnessing the (weaker) solar energy, and exploring the technology that would be required to make this idea a reality.
Analysing Samoan and Tongan Astronomy
Supervisor: Duane Hamacher
Keywords: Astrophysics, Cultural Astronomy
For this project in Cultural & Indigenous Astronomy, students collate a database of star knowledge from Tonga and Samoa in the Pacific using the published literature and archival records. You will then analyse the database using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify stars and celestial objects, show how they are integrated in calendars and navigation, and examine more deeply their cultural understanding and use. Students will utilise Stellarium and GIS software packages.
Biophysics
Quantitative imaging of three-dimensional genome architecture in a living cell
Supervisor: Elizabeth Hinde
Keywords: Biophysics
Live cell nucleus architecture has emerged as a key player in DNA target search and maintenance of genome integrity. In recent work we have developed a series of fluorescence microscopy methods to track the movement of molecules around the complex DNA networks within the nuclei of live cells. Based on fluorescence lifetime and fluctuation spectroscopy, this technology has the spatial and temporal resolution to map the impact genome organisation has on nuclear traffic.
From using these methods, we have discovered that DNA networks rearrange to genome structures that facilitate DNA repair and transcription factor recruitment to target DNA sites. The aim of this biophysical project is to investigate how genome organisation serves as 'road map' for DNA-binding proteins to navigate the nucleus and maintain genome function.
Condensed Matter Physics
High nuclear spin donors in isotopically enriched silicon
Supervisor: David Jamieson
Keywords: Condensed Matter Physics
This project will investigate some of the processes being developed in ECMP to construct ordered arrays of donor atoms in silicon that has been depleted in the 29-silicon isotope with nuclear spin 1/2 that would otherwise provide a spin bath that decoheres quantum states programmed into the donor spin qubit.
Brain-Machine interfaces for the treatment of epilepsy and depression
Supervisor: Steven Prawer
Keywords: Condensed Matter Physics, Medical Physics
We are developing a carbon fibre based brain machine interface to record signals from single neurons in the brain. The interface will be used to collect data that can be used to detect the likelihood of seizures. The device consists of electrodes and electronics, and is implanted into the brain. We need to protect the electronics from the fluids in the brain and hence the device needs to be encapsulated in a hermetic package. This project will be to design and test various hermetic packages and feedthroughs that will provide confidence that the devices implanted into the body will not deteriorate with time.
Optics
The search for Radiative Auger decay, tests of QED and Axions, and how they defend Australia's search for Rare Earth metals
Supervisor: Chris Chantler
Keywords: X-ray Optics, Synchrotron Science
Topics that are not covered on the undergraduate syllabus but are fully accessible in Masters (and Ph D) offer great opportunities in experimental and theoretical physics. Undergraduates get taught the photoelectric effect (absorption to the continuum) and time-independent quantum mechanics, but we know that the world requires time-dependent quantum mechanics (for any event in space-time).
A step beyond this, maybe with Wikipedia or a good third year textbook, and you can explain the origin of Auger decay and QED – though always better as a proper course in Masters [yes we have three – QM, QFT and QAO]. Perhaps surprising is that there is no explicit theory for the radiative Auger effect, and even more surprising that we can work on it theoretically and experimentally in an internship and in Masters (and of course in a Ph D).
To perform a direct test of QED is at least a Ph D, but to learn new insights on the current experimental unexplained anomalies can be an internship or a MSc – even to the point of productive new contributions to the literature (with two past interns making enough progress to become co-authors on a research paper).
The Mysterious Axions are one of the most ephemeral hypotheses currently on the table – but we can investigate them experimentally or perhaps more honestly analytically in an internship or MSc. Perhaps even more surprising is how this new understanding can be used to strengthen Australian Industry and the development of Australian companies searching for Rare Earth metals.
Particle Physics
Searching for Dark Mater with an Underground Experiment
Supervisor: Elisabetta Barberio and Phillip Urquijo
Keywords: Particle Physics
Decades of astrophysical and cosmological observations have confirmed the presence of dark matter, constituting a significant 85% of the Universe's matter. Yet, the elusive nature of dark matter continues to challenge our current understanding of physics. There is ongoing global efforts to unravel the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic substance.
One such exciting project is the SABRE South experiment. Being deployed 1km underground at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory in regional Victoria, SABRE South promises to either confirm or refute the only existing claim of a direct detection signal consistent with galactic dark matter. It will do this by deploying the same target material deep underground with extremely low background contamination. Its southern hemisphere location will aid in disentangling seasonal systematic effects in the event of a positive observation.
The experiment expects construction to be completed in 2025, making now a very active time in terms of experimental and computational work towards first commissioning. This project would give a student the chance to work in either area in a way that will deliver near-term tangible impact on Australia's largest dark matter experiment.