Develop new methods for quantifying the shape of leaves and explore how these are correlated with their physical and biological properties.

Plants have an amazing ability to control water transport through their stems and leaves, with some species able to keep functioning in very hostile conditions. This project will use 3D X-ray microscopy to explore the physical changes in plant cells as a result of water stress.

The energy lansdscape of folded spheres, assuming elastic membranes and sticky inner surfaces, will be explored. 

The notion of protein secondary and tertiary structure is a loose one, that deserves a deeper look. Some proteins are considered to be highly structured in their usual folded state, others lack well defined structures. We are interested in the basic question "what is structure in a folded protein chain"?

This computational and theoretical project will extract geometric information from sequences of newly obtained 3D x-ray microscope images to better understand how two immiscible fluids interact inside complex porous materials.

Fluid flow in porous media combines the impacts of many complex phenomena: fluid properties, solid structure, and the infacial interactions between fluids and solid phases. This project aims to uncover the reasons behind some fundamental differences between experiments conducted in glass bead packs and those conducted in geologic systems (rocks).

Nanobubbles are simply nanosized bubbles. What makes them interesting? Theory tells us they should dissolve in less than a second but they are stable for days. Additionally, they have lots of interesting properties being implicated in medical treatments and cleaning technologies.

When fluids flow through porous rocks, the relatively slow bulk fluid front advances via a series of very small, very rapid jumps. This project investigates how the distribution and occurance of these jumps are influenced by experimental conditions such as flow rate and intermittentcy.

We measure the basic forces that operate between molecules that are manifest at interfaces. These forces control the stability of colloidal systems from blood to toothpaste. We use very sensitive techniques that are able to measure tiny forces with sub nanometer distance resolution. Understanding these forces enables us to predict how a huge variety of colloidal systems will behave.

The ANU has constructed an X-ray micro-computed tomography facility with a unique helical scanning configuration that enables tomographic images of extremely high quality to be produced.  This experimental project will work with theoreticians to image the evolution of time-changing samples with unprecented time resolution.

The ANU X-ray micro-tomography facility images over a broad spectrum (or range) of X-ray energies. The behaviour of specimens of interest at different X-ray energies can tell us a lot about its composition. This project will explore 1) techniques to image specimens at various X-ray spectral-bands, and 2) methods to analyse the results.

Of great recent interest is the subject of rotaxanes.  Rotaxanes are molecules  where one or more ring
components is threaded onto an axle that is capped on both ends with stoppers to prevent the rings from
falling off. These systems exhibit complex and fascinating physics.

What is a granular material from geometry and physics perspective? We'll try to understand the fundementals of granular materials in this project.

The CT lab hosts several 3D X-ray imaging systems, each generating ~240GB/day of data. The student will: (i) explore various data compression schemes; (ii) theoretically and empirically analyse interactions between data compression, X-ray image processing, and 3D analysis; (iii) develop new 3D imaging methods, based on successful data compression schemes

A variety of projects are available that will contribute to the enumeration and characterisation of 3-periodic network structures via the tiling of periodic minimal surfaces and thereby enhance our understanding of self-assembled structures in nature.

Explore the geometry and symmetries of some periodic minimal surfaces and learn about their relevance in chemical and biological self assembly.

"Phantoms" are objects used for performance testing and/or calibration of 3D X-ray computed tomography (CT) systems. This project involves designing, 3D printing, and subsequently imaging phantoms at the micro-CT facility of the Applied Maths department.

Exploration of simpler entangled structures in 3-space is surpisingly undeveloped. Here we plan to catalogue simpler knots, links and tangled nets via two-dimensional geometry. 

This project will develop new methods for "intelligent" processing of 3D X-ray data (i.e. methods which use a priori information). These new methods will double as a non-traditional approach to automated image analysis; the project will compare this new approach with more traditional methods.

High-density objects in specimens of interest (e.g., metal-pins in biological specimens), can cause significant quality degradation of 3D images produced at our micro-tomography facility. This project explores/compares techniques in hardware to avoid the problem and techniques in software to correct for the problems caused by these objects.

Nanobubbles are simply nanosized bubbles. What makes them interesting? Theory tells us they should dissolve in less than a second but they are stable for days. Additionally, they have lots of interesting properties being implicated in medical treatments and cleaning technologies.

We measure the basic forces that operate between molecules that are manifest at interfaces. These forces control the stability of colloidal systems from blood to toothpaste. We use very sensitive techniques that are able to measure tiny forces with sub nanometer distance resolution. Understanding these forces enables us to predict how a huge variety of colloidal systems will behave.

When fluids flow through porous rocks, the relatively slow bulk fluid front advances via a series of very small, very rapid jumps. This project investigates how the distribution and occurance of these jumps are influenced by experimental conditions such as flow rate and intermittentcy.

Plants have an amazing ability to control water transport through their stems and leaves, with some species able to keep functioning in very hostile conditions. This project will use 3D X-ray microscopy to explore the physical changes in plant cells as a result of water stress.

Fluid flow in porous media combines the impacts of many complex phenomena: fluid properties, solid structure, and the infacial interactions between fluids and solid phases. This project aims to uncover the reasons behind some fundamental differences between experiments conducted in glass bead packs and those conducted in geologic systems (rocks).

This computational and theoretical project will extract geometric information from sequences of newly obtained 3D x-ray microscope images to better understand how two immiscible fluids interact inside complex porous materials.

The ANU X-ray micro-tomography facility images over a broad spectrum (or range) of X-ray energies. The behaviour of specimens of interest at different X-ray energies can tell us a lot about its composition. This project will explore 1) techniques to image specimens at various X-ray spectral-bands, and 2) methods to analyse the results.

Of great recent interest is the subject of rotaxanes.  Rotaxanes are molecules  where one or more ring
components is threaded onto an axle that is capped on both ends with stoppers to prevent the rings from
falling off. These systems exhibit complex and fascinating physics.

What are the underlying geometric and topological properties of periodic structures that guarantee large and stable porosity in nano-porous crystalline materials required for gas storage and efficient catalysis?

The CT lab hosts several 3D X-ray imaging systems, each generating ~240GB/day of data. The student will: (i) explore various data compression schemes; (ii) theoretically and empirically analyse interactions between data compression, X-ray image processing, and 3D analysis; (iii) develop new 3D imaging methods, based on successful data compression schemes

This project will develop new methods for "intelligent" processing of 3D X-ray data (i.e. methods which use a priori information). These new methods will double as a non-traditional approach to automated image analysis; the project will compare this new approach with more traditional methods.

High-density objects in specimens of interest (e.g., metal-pins in biological specimens), can cause significant quality degradation of 3D images produced at our micro-tomography facility. This project explores/compares techniques in hardware to avoid the problem and techniques in software to correct for the problems caused by these objects.

Develop new methods for quantifying the shape of leaves and explore how these are correlated with their physical and biological properties.

The energy lansdscape of folded spheres, assuming elastic membranes and sticky inner surfaces, will be explored. 

What is a granular material from geometry and physics perspective? We'll try to understand the fundementals of granular materials in this project.

The ANU has constructed an X-ray micro-computed tomography facility with a unique helical scanning configuration that enables tomographic images of extremely high quality to be produced.  This experimental project will work with theoreticians to image the evolution of time-changing samples with unprecented time resolution.

What are the underlying geometric and topological properties of periodic structures that guarantee large and stable porosity in nano-porous crystalline materials required for gas storage and efficient catalysis?

A variety of projects are available that will contribute to the enumeration and characterisation of 3-periodic network structures via the tiling of periodic minimal surfaces and thereby enhance our understanding of self-assembled structures in nature.

Explore the geometry and symmetries of some periodic minimal surfaces and learn about their relevance in chemical and biological self assembly.

The notion of protein secondary and tertiary structure is a loose one, that deserves a deeper look. Some proteins are considered to be highly structured in their usual folded state, others lack well defined structures. We are interested in the basic question "what is structure in a folded protein chain"?

"Phantoms" are objects used for performance testing and/or calibration of 3D X-ray computed tomography (CT) systems. This project involves designing, 3D printing, and subsequently imaging phantoms at the micro-CT facility of the Applied Maths department.

Exploration of simpler entangled structures in 3-space is surpisingly undeveloped. Here we plan to catalogue simpler knots, links and tangled nets via two-dimensional geometry.