Congratulations to Tom Bonin for his new appointment as Accelerator Facilities Officer at our University of Melbourne node! 🎉 He will offer critical support for a number of high-profile projects including the pelletron accelerator. We’re happy to have you as part of our #HIA team!

Emeritus Prof. John Newton was the head of the Department of Nuclear Physics at the ANU in the 70s. A memoir by Katja Curtin et al was recently published in the Historical Records of Australian Science. science.org.au/our-focus/hi... @science.org.au @scienceanu.bsky.social @physicsanu.bsky.social

We had a fantastic time hosting a group of interns from Nova Systems at the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility. This group learned how we use the accelerator and the space irradiation beamline to test the radiation hardness of aerospace devices. #NCRIS #NCRISImpact #NSQN #HIAFSIBL

HIA has been successful in our bid to join the European Union and CERN's RADNEXT 2030 project as an associated partner. Thank you to Daniel Söderström from CERN for visiting HIAF and InSpace's Anupam Kumar Pilli for coordinating this with us. #NCRIS #NCRISImpact

Australia has secured a position at the forefront of the quantum revolution. Find out more about how Australia’s long-term strategic investments through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCIRS) are helping to create a quantum future riconnected.org.au/case-studies...

We came together to review and update HIA’s 5 year business strategy. It was fantastic to have so many voices from across the network come together and contribute to such an important plan. A big thanks to Tania Willis for being our facilitator, and Jessica Brosnan from NCRIS for speaking with us.

ANU researchers are pioneering new extraction techniques combining chemistry and nuclear physics at #HIAF delivering ultra-precise results from even tiny samples. In Megavolts, Dr Michaela Froehlich shares why it matters from reindeer antlers 🦌 to corals 🪸 and sea water 🌊.

A huge congratulations to all the students who graduated from the ANU Research School of Physics last week!! 🎓🎉👏 We're celebrating 7 outstanding PhD graduates from NPAA as well as 2 Honours students who have continued as current PhD students in the department. Congrats and best wishes grads! 🎓

Work hard, play hard! 🚀 ✨ A big week for our space radiation experts at the School of Space Qualification in Sydney—busy by day, connecting by night.

Nuclear Physics News 35-4 features the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility and Dept of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications at the ANU. This is the most up to date portrait of HIAF and is an excellent resource for potential collaborators and students. more: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

On Monday HIAF hosted students from the National Youth Science Forum Year 12 program. The Nuclear Physics Dept has a long history with NYSF, with many alumni going on to work in the department. We’re always happy to host such passionate students and potential future colleagues! #NCRIS #NCRISImpact

Nuclei are more than a ball of protons and neutrons but models of nuclear structure still aren't perfect. The Nuclear Structure group at the ANU made an addition to their detectors to improve our understanding of the quantum nature of nuclei More: journals-aps-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/prc/abstract...

As we enter 2026, we celebrate a project started in 2025, due to be completed later this year: a positive ion source for iiLab brought to life by Technical Officer Tom Kitchen from a 40-year-old scientific paper 📰 Read more here: accelerators.org.au/how-a-40-yea... #NCRIS #NCRISImpact

As we wrap up 2025, we’d like to thank everyone whose commitment, generosity and expertise made it such a successful year for HIA.📩 Read our CEO end-of-year message and the latest newsletter: mailchi.mp/8c76ecb5d20a.... Wishing the HIA community a safe, restful and enjoyable holiday season✨

The latest research from the ANU shows that on the way to nuclear fusion, atomic nuclei start mixing a lot earlier than we thought! ⚛️ This result comes from experiments at Italy's INFN and Australia's HIAF using the detectors pictured below. More: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #NCRISImpact

Last Friday the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility was delighted to host students from the Curious Minds Girls in STEM program 👩‍🔬🔬 They got a tour of the facility and learned all about how accelerators work and what they're used for, and they sat down for a QnA about nuclear physics and working in #STEM

How can particle accelerators help us see dark matter? 👀 Researchers at the ANU are using accelerator mass spectrometry to test the purity of crystals. These will be used to detect dark matter 1km deep underground in a gold mine in Stawell Victoria. Read More: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

HIA had a busy week in Melbourne last week attending both the Quantum Sensing Science Conference #QSSC2025 of which HIA was a sponsor, and the Australian Space Research Conference #ASRC2025 Both conferences demonstrated impressive cutting-edge research from Australian scientists ⚛️🚀🦘

We were pleased to support the Research School of Physics in delivering the ANU Quantum Open Day. It was a great success: over 300 visitors attended talks by researchers, visited labs, engaged with our experiments, games, demonstrations, and plenty of N₂ ice cream 🍦 and holographic chocolate 🍫 !

Watch the latest Megavolts episode below to see some of the groundbreaking work coming from #HIAF's Space Irradiation Beamline 🚀 #NCRIS #NCRISImpact #HIA

Quantum measurement of crashing black holes and neutron stars: A journey of the tiny ⚛️, the enormous 🌌, and in between 🚶 📅 ANU Quantum Open Day, Saturday 29 Nov 🕐 2:30 pm 🎙️ Dr Sheon Chua from ANU CGA 📘 Full program of talks & activities: physics.anu.edu.au/news_events/...

🎤🐈‍⬛🎲 Quantum randomness explained! Catch Dr Jess Eastman & Dr Zain Mehdi this Sat 29 Nov @ 1:10 pm as they talk about Schrödinger’s cat, Einstein’s dice, and all things wonderfully weird in quantum physics! physics.anu.edu.au/news_events/...

ANU Quantum Open Day talks lineup 🎤 ⚛️ A quantum world in the centre of the atom by Professor Cedric Simenel 12:20 pm at the School of Physics, ANU. After the talk, come and explore the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility! Book your tickets now before they’re gone! www.eventbrite.com/cc/anu-quant...

ANU Quantum Open Day talks lineup 🎤 🌊💻 Harnessing the wave-like personality of electrons and nuclei to build quantum computers by Dr Danielle Holmes whose visit is supported by @optica-opn.org Sign up for a tour of one of the many quantum science labs at ANU www.eventbrite.com/cc/anu-quant...

Our Melbourne node hosted the #NCRIS Comms Network Forum this week. Its been 2 yrs since our last in-person meeting! It was great to reconnect with old and new colleagues, exploring shared challenges and opportunities, and generating plenty of ideas for professional development and collaboration.

MegaVolts 13 Asteroid strikes, ancient glaciers, landslides! UNSW Prof Tim Barrows uses HIAF’s AMS to reveal history of earth: scraped by glaciers, crumbled in landslides & pounded by asteroids physics.anu.edu.au/news_events/... @aip.org.au @hia-accelerates.bsky.social @scienceanu.bsky.social

ANU Quantum Open Day talks lineup 🎤 💎 Diamond Quantum Technology – from spins to sensors by Dr Marcus Doherty, CSM You can catch his talk from 11:10-11:40 am on Nov 29 at the Research School of Physics Register for the event and a tour of Quantum Brilliance here: www.eventbrite.com/e/tour-5-qua...

'Melbourne’s particle accelerators have been the hidden engines driving research for almost a century.' The Secret History of Melbourne's Particle Accelerators by Dr Adam Steinberg tells 80 years of history and physics at Melbourne: pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the...

Celebrate the International Year of Quantum at The Australian National University with the ANU quantum open day! 🎉 @scienceanu.bsky.social Expect talks, snacks, games, experiments, a quantum questions desk, and tours of labs at ANU doing cutting edge quantum science 🔬 @anff.org.au @aip.org.au

Congratulations to the RadInnovate team on a successful launch of their new ARC Training Centre! 🎉⚛️ #HIA looks forward to supporting students of the training centre and offering our capabilities to the next generation of Australian nuclear scientists and policymakers www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...

Extra! Extra! Read all about the latest from #HIA in our newest quarterly newsletter! 📰 In this edition we celebrate the Melbourne Pelletron's 50th, the success of HIAS2025 (proceedings open), and a few of our new and old users and staff. 🎉 Read it here: mailchi.mp/81b03126cc50... #NCRIS #IYQ2025

This week #HIA supported the ACT Space Companies Showcase and delivered tours to attendees of the 8th Scientific Detector Workshop. We thank all HIA staff and students who got involved and demonstrated HIAF’s capabilities to this international research community. #NCRIS

If you missed the highly engaging public lecture by Dr Adam Steinberg last month, grab some popcorn 🍿 and get ready for an hour of entertainment as he explores the past and present of Melbourne’s accelerators and the science behind them. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYjm...

A huge thank you to everyone who attended the 9th Heavy Ion Accelerator Symposium! We were joined by over 100 interstate and international attendees from 16 countries with 70 talks delivered by researchers and students from a variety of fields within nuclear and accelerator physics. #HIAS2025

Congratulations to Dr Daniel Bennett for his new appointment as a Radiation Effects Specialist at #HIA with the Space Irradiation Beamline! In his new role, he will lead engagement with users on the space irradiation beamline and work to improve current and future test capabilities.

Come to HIAS to explore the products and services of our exhibitor sponsors. You can meet them Monday to Friday 8-12 Sep in the foyer of the Physics Building, 160 Mills Rd, Acton 2601. Radiation Saunders radsaunders.com Device Technologies www.device.com.au Scitek scitek.com.au #HIA #ANU #HIAS

HIAF’s Space Irradiation Beamline (SIBL) team were delighted to host Dr Steven Hobbs and Dr Jon Clarke from Mars Society Australia last month. The RPi cameras they tested will be used to develop hyperspec cameras for cubesats and rovers, and in MAS's science outreach programs. #NCRIS #NCRISImpact

We continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University of Melbourne's Pelletron this year. For Dr Vera Hansper a physics PhD with the Pelletron took her around the world 🌏 working with hot stars ☀️ to cold cryostats ❄️ at @bluefors.com! Read more: accelerators.org.au/from-stars-t...

We are hiring at our University of Melbourne node! Manage world class accelerator facilities and support groundbreaking research programs as our next Accelerator Facilities Officer. Apply now: unimelb.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UoM_Ex... #HIA #Hiring #UniMelb

Congratulations, Ed from everyone at #HIA! You can read more about Ed's fundamental research on nuclear fusion and this well deserved achievement in the article below.

Last week alumni and friends gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pelletron accelerator at #HIA’s University of Melbourne node. Thanks to alumni, friends & speakers who joined us to share memories, reconnect, and look to the future of the Pelletron. #HIA #NCRIS #UniMelb

Celebrating 50 years of the #UniMelb Pelletron! Join us THIS Fri 1 Aug for: Alumni & Friends Reception: events.humanitix.com/pelletron Public Lecture by Dr Adam Steinberg @afsteinberg.bsky.social: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-scienc... Thanks to all involved in this video's production. #HIA #UNSW

3 weeks to go before early bird registration for the 9th Heavy Ion Accelerator Symposium closes! Register before July 29th to secure the best rate via: payments.anu.edu.au/HIAS2025 Enquiries and questions about #HIAS2025 can be directed to: [email protected] #HIA #HIAS #ANU #NCRIS

#HIA CEO Tom McGoram & #HIAF R&D lead Peter Linardakis attended the Asian Forum for Accelerators and Detectors at Tohoku University in Sendai, presenting about #HIA capabilities and connecting with our Asia-Pacific community. Highlights were tours of NanoTerasu, RARIS and a visit to RIKEN in Tokyo.

Farewell to Roland Szymanski after 43 years at the University of Melbourne School of Physics #Pelletron. He & his father Benno dedicated 50+ yrs to the facility since its 1970s install. Thanks, Roland, for your service to this facility #NCRIS #HIA #unimelb For more: www.youtube.com/shorts/cFznG...

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the #UniMelb Pelletron, the School of Physics is hosting celebratory events on Friday 1st August. RSVP for Alumni and Friends Event: events.humanitix.com/pelletron RSVP for the lecture by @afsteinberg.bsky.social : www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-scienc...

Last week, #HIAF welcomed the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (@plants4space.bsky.social) Director, Matthew Gilliham (@ionplants.bsky.social) and CI, Jenny Mortimer (@jennymortimer1.bsky.social) to discuss how our space beamline can help them send plants to space! 🌱🌌 #HIA #P4S #NCRIS

LineUp announced for Quantum Physics in the Pub - It's going to be a fun night! #CBR - www.linkedin.com/events/quant...

Dr Kaitlin Cook from @hia-accelerates.bsky.social and @physicsanu.bsky.social explains the science behind uranium enrichment. Read the article, first published by The Conversation: science.anu.edu.au/news-events/...

Registration for the 9th Heavy Ion Accelerator Symposium is now open! With over 40 international speakers from 15 countries, this is a networking opportunity not to be missed! Early bird registration is available until the 15th of July: payments.anu.edu.au/general-even... #HIAS #ANU #NCRIS