Core laboratories and facilities

The Animal Facility provides animals and services for medical research, GMO colony maintenance and technical services, all of which are in accordance with the South Australian Animal Welfare Act, 1985, and the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes, 2013.

Contact details

Ms. Roxanne Collingwood
Manager
Phone: +61 8 8204 4380
Email: roxanne.collingwood@flinders.edu.au

Ms. Erin Plews
Senior Animal Technician
Phone: +61 8 8204 7499
Email: erin.plews@flinders.edu.au

The Autism Research Laboratory (ARL) has its roots in the early detection and Intervention of children on the Autism Spectrum.  Previous outcomes have included an early screening tool, intervention manual and book to assist parents and educators.

The ARL has extended its focus to include persons with ASD across all ages to include a number of projects looking at adult outcomes, the presentation of females, comorbidities and interactions within the criminal judicial system. 

The ARL is currently host to 7 students conducting higher degrees within the lab so many of the projects are student led with an emphasis on input from community stakeholders.

Contact details

Robyn Young
Phone: +61 8 8201 5104
Email: robyn.young@flinders.edu.au

Neil Brewer
Phone: +61 8 8201 2725
Email: neil.brewer@flinders.edu.au

The Biomedical Engineering Laboratory Group supports laboratory, diagnostic and analytical equipment within the Flinders Medical Centre.

Our services include:

• Maintenance contracts
• Diagnostic equipment training
• Overseas consultation.

Instruments

The Laboratory Group has seven technical staff that manage scientific and medical instrumentation used in teaching, research and diagnostic laboratories. This includes:

• Centrifuges
• Waterbaths
• Radiation counters
• Chromatography equipment
• Blood gas analysers
• Ion selective electrode equipment
• Microscopes
• CO₂ incubators.

Contact details

Robin Woolford
Director, Biomedical Engineering

Flinders Biomedical Engineering
Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Drive, Bedford Park
SA 5042

The Brain and Cognition Laboratory seeks to understand cognitive and visual processes, how they operate and how they are represented in the brain. Using the approach of Experimental Psychology, we are interested in topics uncluding: asymmetries in behaviour and cognition, spatial attention, numerical cognition, face perception and adaptation, body image, learning, belief updating and decision making.

We employ techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioural psychophysics to investigate these processes. Our research is relevant to improving human performance and human/machine interactions and mental health.

Contact details

Professor Mike Nicholls
Dean of Research
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Flinders University

The College of Science and Engineering's College Store is available to all staff, honours and RHD students. This facility replaces the stores that were operating in the Schools.

Our services include:  

• ordering lab consumables, chemicals, stationery and safety equipment etc. as well as non-standard supplies and specialised equipment.
• liaising with suppliers and reps to ensure best prices when purchasing items.
• organising freight, both domestic and international.
• organising SPOT devices and remote first aid kits for field trips.
• managing hazardous substances waste disposal.
• general workplace health and safety guidance and assistance.  

How to work with us

1. Visit the store during opening hours to collect the items that are required.
2. Items are scanned out (self-service or with assistance).
3. Chemicals and other hazardous materials will not be released unless an up-to-date risk assessment is shown.
4. Orders to locations outside the Physical Science Building can be emailed to the store and a delivery of the order will be arranged to the purchaser at an agreed time the following day (it is hoped an online inventory can be made available next year).

Contact details

Dr Melissa Schlein
Stores and Logistics Officer

Mr Patrick Chadwick
Stores and Logistics Assistant

The SE College, Engineering Services Team (EST) is a multidisciplinary team of practitioners with capability to engineer systems and equipment in support of teaching and research. Within the team, we have design, development, construction, coding, maintenance and project management skills.

Our services include:

• engineering support for teaching and research across College, Science and Engineering.
• project work requiring design, development and construction.
• maintaining, repairing, testing & calibrating laboratory and workshop equipment.
• managing the teaching resources at Tonsley in Electrical, Electronic, Robotic, Computer Systems, Biomedical, Mechanical, Civil and Maritime Engineering programs of study.
• supporting, advising, consult & making recommendations to staff and students on project work and other technical matters.
• student facing teaching activities where engineering practitioner expertise is required: Soldering, Mechanical practice, Electronic Design, 3D printing and PCB design.

How to work with us

1. Contact us to lodge your request or discuss your requirements, by email, phone or visiting the Tonsley or Bedford Park workshops between 8:30am and 4:30pm.
   
2. Smaller requests will be dealt with as soon as possible however we will work with you to scope, cost and schedule larger projects before proceeding further.
   
3. You may track the progress of your job using the on-line system or request an update via email or phone.

Job submission

Website: http://cseengservices.flinders.edu.au
Email: CSE.engservices@flinders.edu.au

Contact details

Geoff Cottrell
Manager, Engineering Services

Tonsley (08) 8201 3575
Bedford Park: Mechanical +61 8 8201 2203
Bedford Park: Electronics +61 8 8201 2289

The CSE Field Store manages shared (teaching and research) field equipment that supports field activities across the College.

Our services include:

• provision of field equipment for teaching and research activities.
  
• maintaining, repairing, testing & calibrating field equipment.
• advising and consulting on field equipment matters.
• assisting student-facing teaching and research activities where field equipment expertise is required: drones, GPS, groundwater pumps etc
• assisting with field equipment bookings.

How to work with us

1. Contact us to discuss your requirements, by email or phone
2. Three days’ notice is required for small and simple field trips
3. Two to four weeks’ notice is required for large, complex and/or specialist field trips.

How to book equipment

1. Submit a request for field equipment via the online field equipment portal accessible at (Online portal to be available in July/August 2019)
2. You may track the progress of your job by requesting an update via email or phone.

Contact details

The Flinders NMR Facility provides nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for academic and industrial clients requiring analysis on solution or solid samples.

Our services include:

• characterisation of small and large molecules in solution.
• solution and solid state samples.
• molecular characterization and identification, degradation studies, materials characterization, kinetic of reactions, protein folding.

Instrumentation

• Bruker 600 MHz spectrometer
• Bruker 400 MHz spectometer

Contact details

Physical Sciences Building (Bldg 54)
Flinders University
Bedford Park, SA 5042

Associate Professor Martin Johnston
College of Science and Engineering

The Food Research Laboratory conducts research on eating behaviour and physical activity. Our research applies cognitive psychological theory and experimental methodology to the study of health behaviours, such as snacking, dieting, exercise, food cravings and soft drink consumption.
 
The Laboratory facilities are conducive to individual and small group testing. The laboratory space comprises individual, partitioned work stations equipped with computers and touch screens. There is also a separate kitchen facility with a fridge, freezer, oven, cooktop, sink and bench-tops to enable the preparation and storage of food and beverages used in this research.

Contact details

Professor Eva Kemps
eva.kemps@flinders.edu.au

Ms Sarah Hollitt
sarah.hollitt@flinders.edu.au

The Forensic and Clinical Cognition Lab marries experimental and clinical approaches to study the ways that our memories—particularly what and how we remember about adverse personal experiences and our reactions to those experiences—shape our resilience in the present and in the future.

We currently research factors—such as warnings, arousal, and hemispheric asymmetries in the brain—that shape the way we attend to, react to and remember emotional material. We also examine the role of involuntary or spontaneous remembering and related concepts, including mind-wandering and meta-awareness, in determining psychological well-being. Finally, we work to understand other puzzles of memory in legal contexts, such as memory distortion for crime, and how alcohol affects eyewitness memory.

Contact details

Melanie Takarangi, PhD
College of Education, Psychology & Social Work
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide, South Australia, 5001

In collaboration with Cisco, the new Flinders Digital Health IOT Laboratory is an initiative of the Digital Health Research Centre and is shared with the prodigious Flinders Medical Devices Research Institute. 

It is a unique space with a strong collaborative and innovative environment promoting Medical Simulation, Digital Health Design, and IoT in Health.  It is an opportunity to explore, embrace and shape how we use emerging technologies to improve healthcare in a safe and secure manner.

Contact details

Ginger Mudd
Research Officer
Digital Health Research Centre

The Materials Characterisation Facility provides advanced capabilities in the analysis of the chemical thermal and physical properties of a wide range of materials. 

We support the research activities of both Flinders and external researchers trough access to leading edge facilities in polymer and materials science, including training.

Our industrial experience means that we can apply these techniques to a wide range of industrial problems and standard analysis methods.

Analyses:

• Thermal analysis
• Chemical analysis (FTIR)
• Polymer molecular weight and distribution
• Rheological/Mechanical
• Sample preparation

Instrumentation

• Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)
• Thermogravimetric Analyser (TGA)
  
• Simultaneous Thermal Analyser (STA)
  
• Nicolet Nexus 870 step-scan FTIR with DRIFT, ATR, photoacoustic, polymer stretching
  
• Thermo Nicolet Continuum FT-IR Imaging Microscope

Contact details

Earth Sciences Building (Bldg 45)
Flinders University
Bedford Park, SA 5042

Flinders at Tonsley is home to the national headquarters of the Medical Device Partnering Program, an ideas incubator fostering collaborations between researchers, industry and end-users to develop medical technologies with global market potential.

The MDPP is able to leverage a diverse range of expertise to contribute to product conceptualisation, and with a dedicated laboratory on-site, the MDPP can deliver a confidential, focused 250-hour project, combined with a product opportunity assessment, for clients.

The MDPP provides a mechanism to develop proof-of-concept, prototyping, clinical evaluation and commercisation planning. Ideas that are brought to the MDPP cover a range of solutions including therapeutics devices, diagnostics, hospital equipment and accessories, surgical instruments, assistive technologies and software and simulation tools.

Contact details

Dr Aaron Mohtar
MDPP R&D Manager

The Medical Device Research Institute (MDRI) is a multi-disciplinary Institute with the expertise and capabilities to deliver innovative solutions to the medical and allied health sector.

The MDRI Development Laboratory specialises in the research and development of general medical devices and assistive technologies, instruments, software and systems for understanding, diagnosing, treating and monitoring medical conditions. Each research project aims to solve problems identified by end users such as health professionals, hospital groups and patient groups and relies heavily on close input from the other research areas within the MDRI.

Contact details

Dr Aaron Mohtar
MDRI Lab Manager

The Neurology Laboratory, situated in the Centre for Neuroscience, focuses on neurological disease, biobanking, neuro-oncology and multiple sclerosis.

Research platforms

• SA Brainbank
• SA Neurological Tumour Bank
• Multiple Sclerosis Laboratory

Contact details

Associate Professor Mark Slee

The Laboratory, run by Dr Tim Chataway, focuses on the manufacture of novel polyclonal antibody reagents for research use. Services include immunisation of animal species (Rabbit and Sheep), serum/antibody collection, purification, testing and characterisation in collaboration with the College of Medicine and Public Health’s Animal Facility and common service instrumentation.

Excess reagents are on-sold and distributed worldwide via reagent companies, bringing in funding for University research and production of new reagents.

For more information and/or to obtain a quote please contact us.

Contact details

Dr Tim Chataway
College of Medicine and Public Health

Phone: +61 8 8204 3108
Email: tim.chataway@flinders.edu.au

Ms Nusha Chegeni
College of Medicine and Public Health

Phone: +61 8 8204 6103
Email: nusha.chegeni@flinders.edu.au

Under the direction of Professor Reg Nixon The PTSD Research Unit undertakes research to improve our understanding of the causes and maintaining factors of posttraumatic stress disorders, in particular the cognitive and memory processes underlying these problems.

The Unit also has a focus on researching and improving evidence-based therapies for posttraumatic stress. Depending on the project, therapy typically involves between 10 — 15 sessions. We see adults and children (depending on therapist and project availability).

The Unit undertakes research in the context of a wide range of traumatic experiences, including but not limited to: natural disasters, interpersonal trauma in both child and adulthood, accidental injury, and trauma experienced through employment (e.g., first responders, current and past military service members).

For enquiries regarding research, media and PhD supervision, please contact:

Professor Reg Nixon
Senior Lecturer and Rehabilitation Engineer
Phone: +61 8 8201 2748
Email: reg.nixon@flinders.edu.au

For enquiries or self-referral to treatment studies, please contact:

PTSD Referral Line
Phone: +61 8 8201 5995
Email: traumaunit@flinders.edu.au
 

Justice, emotions and morality are important and interconnected parts of human behaviour and experience. For example, when we feel wronged we often experience anger, perceive an injustice and demand repair. When we have done wrong we may feel guilt or shame and offer reparation. Or, when we sense that a situation could be better or fairer, we may experience hope and engage in behaviour to advance this cause. These processes have practical implications across a range of settings such as justice, organisations, relationships, and motivation (for social action or personal change).

The Psych-JEM lab at Flinders University is a team of social psychologists including academics, postgrad students, honours students and undergraduate research assistants, engaging in research on the psychology of justice, emotions and morality. Our research employs a range of methods, including experimental designs in lab and field, survey and correlational studies, and qualitative methods.

Our research

Our research is concerned with a variety of human behaviours in interpersonal and intergroup relations, including: apology, confession, defensiveness, forgiveness, self-forgiveness, self-punishment, shaming, restorative justice, reconciliation, whistleblowing, social discrimination, dehumanisation, hope and collective action.

Contact details

Michael Wenzel
Phone: +61 8 8201 2274
Email: michael.wenzel@flinders.edu.au
 
Lydia Woodyatt
Phone: +61 8 8201 2449
Email: lydia.woodyatt@flinders.edu.au

The Psychology of Justice, Emotions and Morality (Psych-JEM) lab at Flinders University is a team of social psychologists including academics, postgrad students, honours students and undergraduate research assistants. Our research employs a range of methods:

• experimental designs in lab and field
• survey and correlational studies
• qualitative methods.

Research participation

The psychology of justice, emotions and morality lab at Flinders regularly conducts empirical studies on a range of issues, for which we seek participants.

If you are a Flinders student and would like to participate in studies that we conduct on a regular basis in our lab on campus, you may express your general interest by sending your preferred email contact to socpsy@flinders.edu.au. We will add you to our email list and inform you about upcoming studies.

Contact details

Associate Professor Michael Wenzel

The psychology and media laboratory contains a set of computers with facilities for the editing of images and video.

Work in the psychology and media laboratory is largely directed towards projects investigating the role of media (print, televised, social) in body image being conducted by Professor Marika Tiggemann and her team.

Contact details

Marika Tiggemann PhD FASSA
Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor
Professor of Psychology
College of Education, Psychology & Social Work

The Rehabilitation and Motion Analysis Laboratory at Tonsley incorporates a 10 camera Vicon system (Vicon Bonita 10, 1MP Optical Camera, 250 fps) for motion capture and analysis, 4 AMTI force plates (AMTI OR6-7-1K-SYS Force Platforms) within a flexible grid arrangement for flexible ground reaction force measurement, a ceiling mounted hoist (rated at 250kg) to provide assistance for partial weight bearing activities, and a 16-channel combined wireless EMG and tri-axial accelerometer system for muscle activity measurement.

The Laboratory also includes a custom made, adjustable instrumented staircase, enabling motion and kinetic analysis of a wide range of typical activities (level gait, sit-to-stand, stair ascent, stair descent, deep knee bend, etc), including dual-camera 2D gait recording with our autonomous robot.

The lab is open for research, clinical and teaching purposes and we encourage you to contact us if you are interested in accessing these facilities.

Contact details

Dr David Hobbs
Senior Lecturer and Rehabilitation Engineer

Participation in protest and other forms of collective action is critical for a healthy, functioning democracy. However, political violence has enormous personal, social and economic costs. Therefore, our research applies social psychological theorizing and concepts to understand i) when, why and how people decide to join collective efforts to bring about a desired social change; ii) the factors that shift people towards violent extremism.
 
The social change lab adopts cross-sectional and experimental methods to study how exposure to different stimuli and different social contexts shapes people’s engagement (or disengagement) with social justice issues. With the advent of new forms of technology (social media: Facebook, Twitter) our analysis also increasingly focuses on the role of social interactions in shaping people’s responses towards inequality and injustice.

Contact details

Associate Professor Emma Thomas
Associate Professor of Psychology

The Social Work Skills and Simulations Lab offers an exciting experimental space for innovative participatory research undertaken with industry partners.

The custom-built lab in Social Sciences North (Room 256) offers 7 interview rooms equipped with the latest in audio-visual equipment. The lab will enhance the placement preparation and employability of Flinders student social workers by focussing coaching sessions on real-world professional skills development.

Training will take place in a safe environment where students, working in pairs and small groups, receive feedback from staff and peers, without affecting the wellbeing of vulnerable client groups.

Key features

• Seven interview rooms for practice and situation simulation, featuring:
  • four 2-person rooms
  • three 4-person rooms
  • the ability to stream or record interview sessions (360^o video and audio recording)
• Central area with large screen and computer and network access, available for lectures, presentations, demonstrations, and video linkups.
• Eight computer hot-desks for student use.
• Simulation capability where students practising clinical or language skills can be monitored from one screen, with feedback given.

Contact details