Professor Gary Bryant, Associate Dean (Physics)
Gary Bryant is Associate Dean (Physics) in the School of Science, and has been at RMIT since 1996. His PhD is from the UNSW (1991) and he conducted research in the USA, Germany the UK and France. His research interests are in the application of Scattering techniques to problems in biological physics and soft matter, including the biology of extreme environments; and the study of dynamics of particles and motile organisms.
Professor Tamar Greaves, Assistant Associate Dean (Physics)
Tam Greaves is a Assistant Associate Dean (Physics) at RMIT University, and has been at RMIT since 2014. Tam completed her Ph.D. in Experimental Physics in 2004 at Monash University, Australia. In 2005 she joined the group of Prof. Drummond at CSIRO as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She is a frequent user of the Australian Synchrotron SAXS/WAXS beamline, past co-chair of the Program Advisory Committee for this beamline, and member of the advisory committee for the BioSAXS beamline which is being built over the next 3 years.
Professor Peter Daivis
Peter Daivis is a Professor in the Physics Discipline, of the School of Science at RMIT with a background in experimental, computational and theoretical soft matter physics. He began his scientific career with Masters and PhD degrees in experimental studies of diffusion in binary and ternary polymer solutions using dynamic light scattering and pulsed gradient spin echo NMR. As a postdoc, he switched fields to non-equilibrium molecular dynamics studies of molecular rheology and transport processes at ANU in the group of Prof Denis Evans, later co-authoring “Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics: Theory, Algorithms and Applications” with collaborator Prof Billy Todd. His current research interests include molecular rheology and slip, coupled nonlinear transport processes, phase transition dynamics and the fundamentals of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Associate Professor Andrew Martin
Dr Martin is an Associate Professor and former Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow at RMIT. He develops x-ray scattering techniques to probe the nanostructure of disordered materials in 3D, with diverse potential applications including liquid crystals, self-assembly, colloids and phase transitions.
Associate Professor Aaron Elbourne
Dr. Aaron Elbourne is a Research Fellow within the School of Science at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He is currently the recipient of a Jack Brockhoff Foundation Early Career Medical Research Fellowship and an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA). He obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2017 from The University of Newcastle, Australia under the supervision of Professor Erica J. Wanless. He began his postdoctoral fellowship in February of 2017. His research interests involve high-resolution atomic force microscopy, ion adsorption, solid-liquid interfaces, bio-interfaces, nanomaterials, liquid metals, and antimicrobial technologies.
Currently seeking PhD students.
Research Interests: Interfacial Nanostructure, Solid-liquid interfaces, Bio-Interfaces, Antibacterial and Antifgunal Agents, Atomic Force Microscopy, Nanoparticles, Nano-theraputics, Exosomes, Synthetic Biology
Dr Saffron Bryant, Senior Lecturer
Saffron did her bachelor in biomedical science in Townsville, her PhD in chemistry in Sydney, an industry-focused post-doc in the UK, and now works in the physics department at RMIT, making her both geographically and disciplinarily ‘well-travelled’. Saffron’s main research focus is applying deep eutectic solvents and ionic liquids to real world problems, including cryopreservation, antimicrobial treatments, and advanced materials synthesis. Saffron has experience in a range of techniques including cell culture and small angle scattering.
Dr Philipp Reineck, Senior Research Fellow
Philipp is an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Research Fellow at RMIT University and an associate investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics. Philipp graduated in Physics from the University of Munich (LMU) and received his PhD in Materials Engineering from Monash University, Melbourne, in 2014. His research interests span many areas including fluorescent nanomaterials, plasmonics, nanoparticle chemistry and self-assembly, nano-photonics and bioimaging and sensing. His current focus is the development of fluorescent nanomaterials - particularly nanodiamonds - for imaging and sensing applications.
Dr Andrew Christofferson, Senior Lecturer
Andrew received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Montana State University, USA, and a PhD in chemistry with a focus on computational chemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK. Following postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, China, he joined RMIT University as a research fellow in 2012. In his current position at RMIT he uses molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculations to complement the experimental data of his collaborators to determine atomistic models of self-assembled materials, polymers, biomaterial interactions, liquid metals, ionic liquids, and deep eutectic solvents.
Dr Hank (Qi) Han, Research Fellow
Qi (Hank) Han obtained his PhD degree at Deakin University in 2018, and is experienced in analysing protein structure and function and developing ionic liquid solvents for proteins and biopolymers. Currently, Hank is a research fellow at RMIT, working on developing solvent systems for protein stabilization and crystallization and understanding the solvent effect. He has extensive experiences in spectroscopies, small angle scattering and protein crystallography.
Dr Vaishnavi Krishnamurthi, Research Assistant
Project title: Understanding the fundamentals of liquid metal colloidal systems through neutrons.
Dr Vaishnavi Krishnamurthi received her PhD from RMIT University, Australia, in 2021. Her PhD research focused on synthesizing large-area 2D semiconductors for optoelectronic and neuromorphic applications. She is currently a research fellow at RMIT University, focusing on understanding the fundamental aspects of liquid metals and colloidal systems through neutron-based studies.
Dr Peter Sherrell, Senior Research Fellow
Peter Sherrell is a Senior Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow in the School of Science since 2023. He graduated his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wollongong in 2012. He was worked internationally at Linkoping University, Sweden (2013-2015), and as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at Imperial College London (2015-2018). In 2019 he returned to Australia at the University of Melbourne and was awarded the Elizabeth & Vernon Puzey Fellowship in 2020. His research focusses on developing electrified soft matter and integrating these into electrochemical and sensing materials & devices.
Dr Tu Le, Senior Lecturer
Dr. Tu Le is a leader in the field of Machine Learning for Materials Science and Engineering, with a focus on the development and optimization of advanced, functional materials for clean energy, environmental sustainability, and healthcare applications. Her research spans diverse domains such as metal organic frameworks for CO2 capture, liquid metal alloys for CO2 reduction, perovskites for photocatalysts, metallic materials for additive manufacturing, and polymers with antimicrobial activities. Her research portfolio, which highlights the proficiency in using ML to streamline the discovery and characterization of new materials, has been featured in high-impact journals such as Chemical Reviews, Materials Today, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, and Advanced Functional Materials. Le has a strong track record of industry engagement and was the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions such as the Jacques-Emile Dubois Award of the International Chemical Structure Association Trust, Fresh Scientist of Victoria State, Club Melbourne Fellowship Finalist, RMIT Vice Chancellor’s Fellowship, and CASS Foundation award. She was 1 in 6 representatives from Australia to attend the 6th HOPE meeting with Nobel Laureates in Tokyo (nominated and funded by the Australia Academy of Science and the Japan Society of for the Promotion of Science).
Professor Charlotte Conn
Charlotte Conn is a Professor of Biophysical Chemistry in the School of Science. Her research interests focus on the development and structural characterisation of advanced lipid-based nanomaterials using high-throughput experimentation, advancing our understanding of the interactions of these materials with a range of cell-types, and the application of these materials in the delivery of protein, peptide and RNA-based therapeutics. She currently sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for mRNA Victoria, the Scientific Advisory Board for ABITEC Corp., the Australian Synchrotron BRIGHT Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Program Advisory Committee for the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.
Dr Jiali (Maggie) Zhai, Senior Lecturer
Dr Jiali (Maggie) Zhai is an Associate Professor in School of Science, RMIT University. Her research interests focus on developing lipid and polymer nanoparticle delivery platforms for targeted delivery of bioactives and therapeutics, including mRNAs, proteins, chemotherapeutics, antimicrobials and imaging agents. She has pioneered the use of high throughput materials screening approach and synchrotron time-resolved X-ray scattering technique to elucidate the mechanisms of endosomal escape and nano-bio interactions. She serves as the Treasurer of the Australasian Colloids and Interface Society and the Chair of the Australian Synchrotron User Advisory Committee (UAC).
Dr Lei Boa, Senior Lecturer
Lei Bao is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at RMIT University, Australia. She joined RMIT in late 2014 after she completed the Endeavour Fellowship in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Melbourne. She held RMIT Vice-Chancellor Fellowship from 2015-2018 and received the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in 2019. Her research interests involve nanomaterials, self-assembly, nanodroplets, interfacial engineering, sensing, catalysis and nanomedicine.
Dr Izabela Milogrodzka, Research Fellow
Izabela Milogrodzka is a Research Fellow in the Soft Matter Group at RMIT University, focusing on improving cryopreservation methods for bovine oocytes and embryos. She has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Monash University and a strong background in biomaterials and soft matter science. Previously, as a Beamline Scientist at the Australian Synchrotron, she developed advanced SAXS/WAXS techniques to study structural dynamics in biological systems. Her research applies innovative materials science approaches to improve biotechnology and biomedical applications.
Dr Kenny Liu
Kenny was born and raised in Sydney, NSW, and completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of New South Wales with Associate Professor Jason Harper. During his studies, Kenny investigated the physicochemical properties of novel ionic liquids and how they could be used to control chemical reactions using several analytical techniques, specialising in several nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to study these systems.
Kenny is currently working with Professor Tamar Greaves at RMIT university as a postdoctoral assistant. His research currently focuses on the use of ionic liquids for biochemical applications such as enzymatic catalysis, developing high-throughput processes for preparation of ionic liquid systems, and investigating novel methods of characterising these ionic liquid systems.
Outside of work, Kenny enjoys playing tennis, rock climbing, playing board games, and trying to understand how to make a decent cup of tea or coffee.
