News

News:

28.Oct.2024 : Publication in Nature

Congratulations to David, for publishing an article in Nature Communications Chemistry entitled "Imaging in-operando LiCoO₂ nanocrystallites with Bragg coherent X-ray diffraction".

30.Sep.2024 : Tomas and Alex Join the Group

Today we welcome Tomas Orjuela Cortes and Alexander Payne as third year project students in our group.

24.May.2024 : PhD Thesis Defense

Congratulations to Ahmed, for a successful defense of his PhD thesis entitled "Three-Dimensional Bragg Coherent X-Ray Diffraction Imaging of Multifunctional Multiferroic Nanocrystals".

07.May.2024 : Publication in Nature

Congratulations to Ahmed, for publishing an article in Nature Computational Materials entitled "Imaging and ferroelectric orientation mapping of photostriction in a single Bismuth Ferrite nanocrystal".

29.Apr.2024 : Publication in Nature

Congratulations to Ahmed, for publishing an article in Nature Communications entitled "Three-dimensional domain identification in a single hexagonal manganite nanocrystal".

04.Dec.2023 : PhD Vacancy on Machine Learning for Bragg CDI

We have a new PhD studentship vacancy on Machine Learning for Bragg CDI. Please see our vacancy page for further details on how to apply.

19.Sep.2023 : Royal Society Career Development Fellowships

The Royal Society has announced a Career Development Fellowship scheme aimed at addressing the under-representation of British African - Caribbean young scientists in the UK.

06.Feb.2023 : Sidoine Joins the Group

Today we welcome Dr Sidoine A. S. Bonou as a Visiting Scientist in our group. Sidoine is coordinator of X-TechLab, Sèmè City, Benin. He has broad expertise in X-ray diffraction.

05.Jan.2023 : Mansoor Joins the Group

Today we welcome Dr Mansoor Nellikkal as a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist in our group. Mansoor has expertise in Machine Learning and materials fabrication.

01.Oct.2022 : CDI Suite

We are pleased to announce CDI Suite, the enterprise grade version of Bonsu.

We are in the process of licensing to a number of commercial partners with the support of the UoS Technology Transfer Office. Elapsed time since this process began:

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15.Jun.2022 : UK XFEL Project Awarded £3.2M Grant

UK XFEL project, who's science case was co-authored by Marcus Newton will receive £3.2M for 3 years for Conceptual Design and Options Analysis. This is an important milestone in the development of a UK XFEL.

28.Feb.2022 : First Light of XRDI Facility

The long wait for x-rays in our laboratory is finally over as we have now completed the first stage of commissioning of our X-ray Diffraction Imaging (XRDI) facility. Our XRDI Facility is used primarily for materials structure characterisation and single nanocrystal orientation mapping.

03.Dec.2021 : David to Hercules

Congratulations to David for securing a place on the Hercules synchrotron training course, coordinated by the Université Grenoble Alpes France in partnership with ESRF.

27.Sep.2021 : Daniel Joins the Group

Today we welcome Daniel Ladega as a PhD candidate in our group. His research will focus on the study of ultra-fast processes in quantum materials using X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities.

02.Feb.2021 : Ahmed to Hercules

Congratulations to Ahmed for securing a place on the Hercules synchrotron training course, coordinated by the Université Grenoble Alpes France in partnership with ESRF.

01.May.2020 : UKRI FLF Funding Awarded

Our proposal to study multifunctional materials with coherent x-rays was funded by UKRI. More information can be found here

03.Sep.2019 : GCRF Funding Awarded

Our proposal to establish a synchrotron network in sub-Saharan Africa was funded. The aim of this project is to expand the knowledge base and build capacity in the synchrotron community amongst the collaborating sub-sahara research teams and to develop sustainable partnerships. More information is found on the project website

30.Apr.2019 : Image recovery of a progressively deformed nanocrystal

Our work on image recovery of a progressively deformed nanocrystal is published in Physical Review Materials.

18-19.Sep.2018 : Diamond-II Workshop on Imaging

The aims of this workshop are to introduce Diamond-II, to discuss its potential benefits for the existing facilities, and to develop the science case for the machine upgrade. Dr Newton was invited to give a talk on advances in coherent X-ray imaging.

15.Aug.2017 : Our landmark paper on structural phase transitions published

Our ab-initio simulation work on the structural phase transition in vanadium dioxide was published in physical review B. This study on the non-diffusion limited structural phase transition in vanadium dioxide confirmed a number of discrete stages during the transition which were observed experimentally in a previous study.

20-24.Mar.2017 : Collaboration with the University of Nairobi, Kenya

As a component of the recently funded GCRF collaboration with the Department of Physics at the University of Nairobi, Dr Newton was invited to visit the Chairman and engage the Director General of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI).

26.Sep.2016 : Masters Students Join the Group

Adam Pietraszewski, Anthony Kenny, Simon Payne and Charlie Turner joined our group on the Masters programme - a very warm welcome!

26.Sep.2016 : Commonwealth Scholarships

If you are from a Commonwealth country and would like to study at postgraduate level at the University of Southampton, you may be able to apply for a scholarship under one of the UK Commonwealth Scholarship Commission schemes. These scholarships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with the aim of contributing to the UK’s international development aims and wider overseas interests, supporting excellence in UK higher education, and sustaining the principles of the Commonwealth. Further details are found here.

11.Jul.2016 : EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account grant funded

Our EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account grant application on energy harvesting materials was funded. Special thanks to the EPSRC and the University of Southampton for viewing this research theme favourably.

04.Jul.2016 : EPSRC Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) grant funded

Our EPSRC Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) application application on energy materials was funded. This research will be conducted jointly with the Department of Physics, University of Nairobi. Special thanks to the EPSRC and the University of Southampton for viewing this research theme favourably.

06.Apr.2016 : Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant funded

Our research grant on nanoscale piezoelectric materials for energy harvesting was approved. Special thanks to the Technology Strategy Board for viewing this research theme favourably.

10.Mar.2016 : Applications are invited for Ph.D. studentships in Renewable Energy Materials

Two fully funded PhD studentships on Nanoscale Piezoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting are now available. For further details, please see here.

15.Dec.2015 : Diamond Light Source Summer Placements 2015 – Open for Applications

Applications are now open for undergraduate summer placements at Diamond Light Source. This scheme offers penultimate year students 8-12 week paid placements at Diamond, and we are offering projects in physical science, life science and scientific software in 2016. Further details are found here.

11.Nov.2014 : Dr. Newton delivers the opening presentation for the annual Physical Crystallography Group meeting

This year we celebrate 100 years of Physical Crystallography. Dr Newton was invited to deliver the opening plenary presentation for the Physical Crystallography Group's winter meeting held on remembrance day. His presentation was entitled "Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging and Dynamics with an XFEL".

31.Jan.2014 : Diamond Light Source Summer Placements 2014 – Open for Applications

The Diamond Student Summer Placement scheme allows undergraduate students studying for a degree in Science, Engineering, Computing or Mathematics (and who expect to gain a first or upper-second class honours degree) to gain experience working within a scientific environment at Diamond. These 8-12 week placements are paid positions and will provide successful students with an opportunity to work on a research or development project within Diamond. The placements will be paid at a rate of £14,069pa on a pro-rata basis. They are available to students within the European Union, who are registered as undergraduate students at the time of the placements – typically during the summer following their penultimate year. Further details are found here.

20.Jan.2014 : Applications are invited for Ph.D. studentships in ultra-fast X-ray imaging

For further details on open positions, please visit here.

31.Mar.2014 : Royal Society Research grant funded

Our research grant on time-resolved measurements of nano-scale crystals using X-ray Free Electron Lasers (X- FEL) was funded. Special thanks to the Royal Society for viewing this research theme favourably.

23.Dec.2013 : Adventure in Research grant funded

Dr. Newton was awarded funding from the Annual Adventures in Research Scheme to conduct research into the emerging field of Nanoinformatics. The proposed research project will be carried out in collaboration with Prof. Masaharu Yoshioka of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University.

14-15.Oct.2013 : Dr. Newton attends the Royal Society meeting on X-ray Lasers in Biology

Organised by Prof. John Spence and Prof. Henry Chapman, this meeting focussed on hard X-ray laser imaging for structural and dynamic biology.