A meeting of representatives of the facilities forming the Microscopy and Microanalysis Consortium of the ACT was held the Faculty Board Room of the Research School of Biological Sciences on 28^th November 2000

Present: Vincent Otieno-Alego (Raman Imaging Microscopy Facility, UCan), Don Chaplin, Fred Johnson (ADFA), Terry Mernagh (Minerals Laboratory, AGSO), Sally Stowe (ANU EMU), Nick Ware (electron microprobe, RSES, ANU), Eric Hines (Entomology Div, CSIRO Black Mountain Microscopy Centre), Tim Senden (Scanned Probe Facility, RSPhysSE), Cathy Gillespie (JSCMR EM and Histology Facility, ANU).

Apologies: Dudley Creagh (Ucan), Rosemary White (CSIRO Plant Industry, Black Mountain Microscopy Centre), Chris Lennard (AFP Forensic Div), John FitzGerald (RSES , ANU), Phil Evans (CSEM, ANU).

1. Courses.

There was discussion of

• •The difficulties of scheduling courses to cater for both undergraduates and staff.
• •The desirability of courses being accredited,
• •The possibilities of combined sessions (for instance on RIM or SPM) in courses covering similar ground, such as the ANU EMU "Microscopy, Images and Analysis" series and undergraduate FEIT or Materials Science units.
• •The CIT EM Course

There is a recognised ongoing problem with funding to keep the SPM facility up-to-date, as several $10K of expenditure on equipment are needed every few years. Groups using the facility are asked to make what provision they are able to contribute to such upgrades.

The X-ray Tomography facility being built in RSPhysSE is nearing completion. Apart from its use in X-ray 3D and 2D microscopy, the software written for it could be adapted for electron tomography.

Large equipment bids which may be coming into consideration (SEM, FIB, UV-RIM, TEM upgrades) are listed on the MACACT website.

3. Functions of the MACACT website

It was considered that attempting to list microscopy-related equipment would not be worthwhile, and that the emphasis should be on facilitating personal contacts and linking to related sites such as CSEM. Links could be arranged in terms of areas of interest as well as insitutions, and attention paid to keyword metatags to make the site accessible to search engines. Members should provide updated links where possible.

4. MACACT Mode of Operation.

• •There was considered to be no need for a more formalised structure at this stage.
• • If any facility less directly concerned with the core microscopy/microanalysis interests of the Consortium wishes to become associated with it, the case will be considered on its merits. A broad range of specialisations was desirable to promote cross-disciplinary interactions.
• • Website information should be enhanced.
• •It was suggested that the group might be able to arrange advantageous prices for some common consumables by acting as a unit.
• •Although no very large item of equipment was currently a clear front-runner for a MACACT -backed bid at this time, mutual support on equipment bid to improve the ACT infrastructure was seen as a major function of the group

Sally Stowe

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