January 2013
Contents / home
Beijing Science Festival
London, here we come ...
National Science Week gets Italian
Making technology accessible
How to build toys from trash
Speak up young scientists
Natural Science Olympiad winners
Laerskool Lynnwood wins AstroQuiz
Science Communication strategy
Summer School in Nanomedicine
Lights, camera, action!
Forum on stem cell research
What do we know about the universe?
SAASTA marks World Aids Day
Meet Dr Jane Olwoch
Taking science to the people
Young scientists in the bush
Vital role of our oceans
Innovative exhibit draws learners
Earliest known dinosaur discovered
Upcoming events
It's a fact!

Science Communication integral part of powerful microscope's strategy

 
  The high resolution transmission electron microscope can measure materials down to the atomic level. (Image: NMMU)
 
  The facility serves as a resource hub to promote knowledge and human capital development in areas of strategic importance to the country. (Image: NMMU)
 
  The facility is the most sophisticated building of its kind on the continent and had to be designed around the high resolution transmission electron microscope. The structure was built in such a way to protect the microscope from mechanical and acoustic vibrations and magnetic fields, as the slightest deviation could result in failure to see atoms. (Image: NMMU)
In October 2011, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) became the first institution in South Africa - and Africa - to host a Centre for High-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy* (HRTEM).

The hi-tech centre was established in collaboration with the National Research Foundation, the Department of Science and Technology, Sasol and the Department of Higher Education and Training. The significant investment in this invaluable equipment towards the study of nanoscale properties enables researchers to study materials down to atomic level.

The facility serves as a resource hub to promote knowledge and human capital development in areas of strategic importance to the country, such as energy, nanotechnology, general and advanced material sciences, medicine, forensic sciences, hydrogen fuel cell technology, and many more. The technology also makes it possible to perform important research into national priorities, which include clean water, energy, mineral beneficiation and manufacturing.

The suite of instrumentation in the centre includes the only double aberration corrected transmission electron microscope on the continent, three other 'feeder' microscopes and sophisticated specimen preparation equipment.

Science advancement

In order to ensure the optimal use of these instruments for the benefit of scientific research, an advisory board has been appointed. Included among the panel of experts that make up the advisory board are Professor Angus Kirkland from the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford and Professor Peter van Aken from the Stuttgart Max Planck Institute. Both Peter and Angus were bestowed with honorary professorships by NMMU for their contributions to the establishment of the HRTEM Centre.

SAASTA also forms part of the advisory panel to ensure that the outreach, awareness, science advancement and communication objectives of the centre are fully supported. SAASTA is represented on the panel by Lorenzo Raynard, manager of its Science Communication Unit.

It is a significant feat to have science advancement formally institutionalised in the strategic governance structure of a national programme such as the Centre for HRTEM. This ensures that any science advancement possibilities that the centre may hold are fully exploited.

The initiative is a firm example of how the National System of Innovation is prioritising Science Communication in order to ensure that investment in R&D is paralleled with the investment in the translation of that research for its benefit across all relevant stakeholders. The science advancement activities ensure that information and data are provided that improve human knowledge and understanding of the research being conducted.

As part of the medium-term plan for the centre, a video link will be installed between the facility and other academic institutions in order to develop capacity across the country. This may hold the possibility for science centres to link up with these video links for their visitors and staff members to have the full experience of viewing, and working with the images that such powerful microscopes can generate.

Other initiatives that SAASTA has accomplished since the opening of the centre include the development of fact sheets that assist in popularising the complex research activities conducted at the centre, facilitating a tour of the facility, as well as discussions exploring potential collaborations between the centre and the Hydrogen South Africa initiative.

* High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is an imaging mode of the transmission electron microscope that allows the imaging of the crystallographic structure of a sample at an atomic scale. Because of its high resolution, it is a valuable tool to study nanoscale properties of crystalline material such as semiconductors and metals. (Wikipedia)