A Light to the Future: The science case for New Zealand investment in the Australian synchrotron.

15 December 2003

Executive Summary

This document addresses an unparalleled opportunity to invest in New Zealand science and technology, through partnership in a regional science facility of international significance the Australian Synchrotron. Synchrotron science already impacts on a wide spectrum New Zealand R&D no other experimental facility or technique would contribute as broadly, across so many disciplines, and with such scope for further uptake.

The Australian Synchrotron is now under construction at a site on the campus of Monash University, Melbourne. A synchrotron is a multi-functional multi-user large science facility that provides an extremely intense light source covering a broad band of electromagnetic radiation, from deep infrared through to very hard X-rays. The light, which is generated by electrons orbiting a central ring at near the speed of light, is wavelength-selected and directed to experimental stations through a series of beamlines radiating from the central electron storage ring. These beamlines support a broad range of applications spanning long term strategic science, to commercially driven projects in areas including protein crystallography, medical imaging, materials science, and pure spectroscopy.

The Australian Synchrotron will feature the latest 'third generation' design with world-class capability, comparable to the new synchrotrons currently under construction in the UK, Canada and the USA. The electron storage ring, which will cost A$157M, has been fully funded by the State Government of Victoria. First light is due in 2007. The approximately A$50M needed to construct the initial ten beamlines and the experimental stations, is being advanced in a national science case to funding bodies in Australia. In parallel, we present the New Zealand science case for investment in the synchrotron, through one-off funding into the beamline pool, and through ongoing support of capability development in synchrotron science.

New Zealand scientists currently use synchrotron facilities in some nine countries, for the determination of the structures of proteins and other biomolecules for purposes such as drug design, the analysis of advanced materials, bio-medical imaging and the fundamental spectroscopy of novel molecules. These are areas identified as being of substantial strategic importance to New Zealand and, thus, synchrotron access is increasingly important. However, by international standards, New Zealand's use of such facilities is small, due to access limitations and some lack of awareness of the developing capabilities and importance of synchrotrons in cutting edge science. This large investment in national science infrastructure is seen in Australia as essential to keep that country in the forefront of world-class scientific and industrial research in the 21st century. Access to the facility should be viewed in the same light with regard to New Zealand's aspirations in science and industrial research.

The Australian facility brings world-class capability much closer to our shores and will offer major advantages in capability, accessibility, international collaboration, security of intellectual property and the development of New Zealand science and scientists. Thus it is important that this access is secured in a manner which will best serve New Zealand's needs and maximise the human development potential. The Australian facility offers major advantages over the use of internationally scattered facilities, in terms of performance, convenience of access, and concentration of resources in one location.

International experience from over 40 operational facilities reveals that synchrotrons are of immense value to a large section of the scientific community. Local access demonstrably builds scientific and technological capability and human capital,. It is estimated that once fully established the Australian Synchrotron will be used by more than 15% of the entire 'principal investigator' research community in Australia. The same potential exists in New Zealand and indeed there are reasons, based on the local emphasis in biotechnology, why the New Zealand uptake may be even higher.

This report summarises the current status of the project and the planned capability of the Australian Synchrotron in the context of other synchrotrons around the world, including several of the latest 'third generation' design that are currently under construction. It outlines the returns to New Zealand that should be expected from an investment in the facility, in terms of the new science it enables. Potential benefits to national wealth and capability include the development of new industries and jobs that fall across a variety of sectors from biotechnology to advanced materials.

Full report on A Light to the Future: The Science Case for New Zealand Investment in The Australian Synchrotron and Synchrotron Science (pdf, 6.15MB, 15 December 2003)