Victoria University researcher Dr Richard Tilley has been recognised for his contribution to science in this year’s New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS) Awards.
Dr Tilley, an Associate Professor in Victoria’s School of School of Chemical and Physical Sciences and leader of the School’s nanoparticle and quantum dot research group, is the recipient of the 2014 Research Medal, one of two awarded this year for outstanding research published by a scientist within 15 years of the PhD.
The other recipient is Professor Merryn Gott, from the University of Auckland, who leads a programme of research that looks at how to reduce suffering at the end of life within the context of rapidly ageing populations and constrained health budgets.
Dr Tilley’s research revolves around the synthesis, characterisation and application of nanoparticles and nanomaterials.
He has developed the synthesis and electron microscopy characterisation of nanoparticles in New Zealand, with applications such as the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, in collaboration with the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and Wellington Hospital.
Since his arrival at Victoria in 2003, Dr Tilley, who is also a principal investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, has propelled the University’s nanoparticle research capability to the forefront of international efforts.
The international quality of his research has been recognised by the award of a 2014 Marsden Fund grant, worth $730,000 over three years, for his project Nanoparticle-Nanorod Frameworks.
Dr Nicola Gaston, a senior lecturer at Victoria University and President of the Association, notes that the NZAS awards celebrate sustained excellence in a broad range of areas.
"I am particularly pleased to see the research medal awarded to a social scientist and a physical scientist, both of whom are making contributions in the medical arena, though in very different ways,” she says.
The Awards were presented at the Royal Society of New Zealand, in Wellington, on 12 November.
