Cutting-Edge Glass Tech Project Gains Marsden Funding

It is one of 10 Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) projects to receive 2024 Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden Fund grants from the Royal Society Te Apārangi. The awards are worth a combined $7.34 million over the next three years.

Professor Tom Bennett, who has recently joined UC’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, is an expert in creating new hybrid glass materials using perovskite (a type of mineral).

Professor Bennett plans to use the three-year Marsden Fund Standard award to work on a selection of new structurally resilient hybrid glasses that could revolutionise glass science with their scope for use in LED lighting and solar cell technology. Pervoskite solar cells are predicted to have a market worth US$2.5 billion by 2032.

Professor Bennett is delighted by the Marsden funding boost, announced soon after he started working at UC. “I’m excited by my arrival in Aotearoa and really looking forward to working with the team here. The support of this grant is excellent news because I believe this project holds great potential for renewable energy and reduced energy consumption here and internationally.”

UC’s other successful Marsden-funded projects this year cover a broad range of topics including a project by Professor Jenni Adams using the world’s largest neutrino telescope to identify the origins of high-energy cosmic ray particles; research by Associate Professor Ashley Garrill that could help combat the microorganisms that cause destructive diseases in plants and animals; and work led by well-known Covid-19 modeller Professor Michael Plank that aims to accurately plot the rates of infectious disease across different population groups.

UC Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Peter Gostomski says the Marsden Fund grants are recognition of the high calibre of UC research. “The diversity and scope of the topics covered and the potential impact of these successful projects is really impressive.

“We’re very proud that our academics are carrying out this high-quality work that will benefit industry and communities in Aotearoa and worldwide.”

Marsden Fund Council Chair Professor Gill Dobbie says the fund, which is in its 30th year, allows recipients to carry out groundbreaking research responding to a huge range of nationally and internationally important challenges.

“In this anniversary year, we are excited by the potential of this latest cohort of projects to deliver truly excellent outcomes for all New Zealanders.”

Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden is managed by the Royal Society Te Apārangi on behalf of the New Zealand Government with funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Marsden-funded University of Canterbury research projects announced today:

Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden – Standard grants 

Professor Jenni Adams – In a galaxy far, far away: Where do high-energy cosmic ray particles come from? ($941,000)

Professor Tom Bennett – Building on the discovery of a new category of glass for use in LEDs and photovoltaic cells ($941,000)

Associate Professor Ashley Garrill – Unravelling the mechanisms that enhance the spread of pathogenic “biological bulldozers” ($940,000)

Dr Claudia Meisrimler – Shedding insight on how plants coordinate their reaction to stress on a molecular level ($940,000)

Dr Forrest Panther – Ngā Rōpū Kupu o Te Reo Māori: understanding the parts of speech in Te Reo Māori? ($852,000)

Professor Michael Plank – refining mathematical models of infectious diseases so we can better understand transmission in different population groups ($706,000)

Professor Mathieu Sellier – Can we control fluids sprayed by rotary atomisers by altering the shape of the rotating surface? ($942,000)

Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden - Fast-Start grants

Dr Bethany Growns – The differences between ‘super-matchers’ and forensic science experts when sampling visual information ($360,000)

Dr Kirsten Culhane (Faculty of Arts) – Examining which syllables are stressed in te reo Māori and why ($360,000)

Dr Samarth – How do plants hear the contrasting vibrations of a bee buzzing and a caterpillar chewing? ($360,000)

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