Services for industry

The Centre for Materials and Surface Science has a strong history of contract research and development.

We can host complete R&D projects including project-specific staff, access to modern laboratory facilities and access to world-class analytical instrumentation. We have access to a broad range of fabrication capabilities through the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF), our core research partner.

We can provide project-specific inputs to activities hosted at company locations or at other research organisations. Inputs include a range of research services including advanced characterisation, fabrication, data analysis and reporting.

R&D projects can be undertaken in a wide range of areas, please see our Practical Applications page.

Victorian Government Grants, Vouchers and Assistance Programs

Victorian Government initiative offers a variety of assistance programs to help Victorian Businesses, such as innovative small technology companies, increase competitiveness by developing new technologies and approaches for use in their products.

Activities may include access to facilities, goods, services, advice or expertise from research providers such as La Trobe University's Centre for Materials and Surface Science. At the CMSS government assistance may be used for to cover the cost of access to instruments, consultation and R&D services.

Potential projects include:

• Evaluate processes and product design
• Undertake product testing, validating, prototyping, laboratory verification, verifying or demonstration to get a product and/or service to the market faster
• Access technology capability (people, equipment or facilities)

For more information please contact us or visit the Victorian Government Grants, Vouchers and Assistance Programs website.

ARC Linkage project grants

The Australian Research Council (ARC) offers funding to support research and development projects through its Linkage Grants. Funding can be used by external partner organisations (industry, government or community organisations) to collaborate with CMSS on projects that aim to acquire new knowledge (where there is risk or innovation involved) or address a specific need, with the aim of increasing the partner's competitive advantage. Partner organisations are required to contribute to the funding in cash and/or in-kind commitments.

For more information about ARC linkage projects contact us or visit the ARC Linkage Project website.

We offer testing services in the materials and surface science domain. We have served companies from a diverse set of industry sectors including:

• aerospace
• automotive
• biomedical
• building products
• communications
• forensic science and archaeology
• mining and mineral processing
• packaging
• pharmaceuticals
• polymers and materials manufacturing
• security documents
• semiconductor and electronics
• transport

The Centre for Materials and Surface Science host an extensive state-of-the-art analytical facility. Our instrumental capabilities are:

• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
• Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)
• Scanning Auger Nanoprobe (SAN)
• Scanning-Probe Microscopy (SPM)
• Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
• X-ray Powder Diffraction (XPRD)
• X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF)
• X-ray Diffraction (XPD)

Examples of contemporary applications for surface and interface analysis span multiple areas, a Practical Applications list can be found on our website.

For more information about how we can help you with testing and quality control solutions contact us.

In most cases characterisation tasks are carried out by our highly-trained instrument specialists. We offer training to frequent users of the facility by negotiation. Please contact us if you would like to enquire about a project or instrument training.