Prof. Paul Dastoor

Biography

Paul Dastoor is a Professor in Physics in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the director of the Centre for Organic Electronics at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

He received his B.A. degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge in 1990 and his PhD in Surface Physics, also from the University of Cambridge, in 1995. After completing his doctorate he joined the Surface Chemistry Department at British Steel in 1994 before taking up his present appointment at the University of Newcastle in 1995. He was an EPSRC Visiting Research Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK in 2002 and a CCLRC Visiting Research Fellow at the Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire, UK in 2004-05.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Cambridge - UK
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Cambridge - UK

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Research

Research keywords

• Photovoltaics
• Polymers
• Surface Physics

Research expertise

Since arriving in mid-1995, I have established and developed a completely new research group within Physics at the University of Newcastle. This group is now the largest research group in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and one of the largest groups in the Faculty of Science and Information Technology. The projects currently undertaken within my research group encompass both fundamental and applied physics fields. It is my firm belief that there is considerable synergy between research projects and students when a strong and active research interest is maintained in both fundamental and applied physics topics. These projects have attracted significant external funding and high-quality research students and involve multi-disciplinary collaborations with other researchers in Australia and overseas. Indeed, the research funding for these programmes has been awarded by a wide variety of funding agencies (both domestic and overseas), including the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, AusIndustry, the Australian Synchrotron Research Programme, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK and the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC), UK. My expertise covers surface analysis, electron spectroscopy, thin film growth, organic electronics, organosilane chemsitry, polymer films, atom beam optics and microscopy and medical devices. My research can be grouped in 3 main areas: (1) Helium Atom Microscopy, (2) Polymer Adsorption on Metal Surfaces and (3) Organic Electronic Devices.

Helium Atom Microscopy

Atomic scattering from surfaces has matured into a unique analytical technique for the study of formation of thin film structures. The wave properties of atomic beams mean that it is possible, in principle, to build a microscope that uses helium atoms (rather than, say, light or electrons) to image a surface. Furthermore, because atoms have a greater mass than electrons, their wavelength is much shorter than that of an electron and thus could image even smaller objects. In principle, it should be possible to image structures with a resolution less than a nanometre. My research at Newcastle is part of a large multinational collaboration with the University of Cambridge, which is at the forefront of international efforts in nanotechnology and provides Australian science with an opportunity to contribute to the development of a unique instrument with unprecedented resolution the Scanning Helium Microscope (SHeM).

Polymer Adsorption on Metal Surfaces

The second project area, investigating polymer adsorption on metal surfaces, arises from the technological problems faced within the steel industry in attempting to produce painted products. Current production techniques involve pre-treating the steel surface with environmentally hazardous chemicals. However, silane-based polymers are an alternative non-toxic pre-treatment and my research studies how these materials interact with oxide surfaces. In a major achievement, we have demonstrated that we can control the adsorption and subsequent orientation of molecules on surfaces. This research has lead to new projects aimed at developing molecular nanowires on surfaces using selective adsorption of these silane molecules as templates and involves accessing synchrotron research facilities to perform near-edge X-ray absorption experiments (NEXAFS) in Hsinchu (Taiwan), Pohang (South Korea) and Tsukuba (Japan). Access to these facilities is peer-reviewed and highly competitive.

Organic Electronic Devices

In 1998 I began a new research programme in the area of organic electronic devices. Since then, this research programme has grown dramatically to encompass a multinational, multidisciplinary collaboration with the University of Wollongong, University of Sydney and Massey University in New Zealand. I have established extensive fabrication and characterisation facilities.

Languages

• French

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
020400	Condensed Matter Physics	50
030699	Physical Chemistry Not Elsewhere Classified	30
030399	Macromolecular And Materials Chemistry Not Elsewhere Classified	20

Centres and Groups

Centre

• Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER)
• PRC - Priority Research Centre for Organic Electronics

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Australian Institute of Physics
• Member and Chartered Physicist - Institute of Physics (UK)
• Member - Standards Australia CH-016-05 Surface Analysis

Other

• Member - Standards Australia CH-016 Spectroscopy

Appointments

EPSRC Visiting Fellowship Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom)	01/01/2002 - 01/01/2003
Visiting Fellowship Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (United Kingdom)	01/01/2002 - 01/01/2003
Visiting Fellowship Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) (United Kingdom)	01/11/2004 - 01/02/2005
Vice-Chair, Policy and Review Board Australian Synchrotron Research Program (ASRP) (Australia)	01/06/2005

Invitations

OECD Global Science Forum on Scientific Challenges for Energy Research 2006 Invitee OECD, France (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2006
ARC Federation Fellowship Nominee University of Newcastle, Australia (Joint University of Newcastle/CSIRO Federation Fellow Nominee)	2006

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Administrative

Administrative expertise

I was the 2005 Chair of the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics. This committee is the State decision-making body for the Australian professional organisation representing physicists but unfortunately had been inactive for a number of years. In only a few months, I effectively reactivated the Branch and built an organised and more vigorous committee. For the first time in several years there were several high profile AIP events organised for 2005, including Prof. Malcolm Longair (Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Cambridge) who presented a series of public lectures at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to commemorate Einstein International Year of Physics. I was entirely responsible for all of the planning of this event, including attracting Prof. Longair to Australia, negotiating with the Powerhouse Museum, attracting external sponsorship and presenting budget proposals to the Federal AIP Executive. This event was repeated in Newcastle and considerably enhanced the profile of Physics in our region.

In 2003 I became the Newcastle member of the ASRP Board. The Board is the executive of the ASRP, determining policy and strategy. I have been an active member of this Board as evidenced by the fact that I was elected Vice-Chair in 2004. I have been an active participant in determining the future role of the ASRP with the advent of the new Australian synchrotron in 2007. For example, I was asked to be part of the initial contact group to develop increased interaction with the Australian synchrotron. In addition, I was asked to join the subcommittee specifying and overseeing the contract for the new soft X-ray end-station. This contract was worth over $1 million and I played a major role in ensuring that all of the user communitys requirements would be met by the new facility.

I was invited to be a member of the local organising committee for the ICSM-7 conference that took place in Wollongong in 2004. This is a biannual conference that attracts delegates (typically 800 1000) from the area of conducting polymer science from around the world. The role involved monthly meetings over the 12 months leading up to the conference organising all aspects of the conference. I played an active role in the organisation of this conference as evidenced by my role in assessing whether the conference submissions warranted acceptance as papers.

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Physics

Teaching expertise

I have established a very a strong foundation in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching as evidenced by:

• Preparing and delivering 15 undergraduate level and 1 Honours level subjects
• Designing and developing new, non-physics, first year subjects
• Designing and developing a restructured new First-Year Advanced Physics Course (PHYS1210 and PHYS1220)
• Designing and developing a new teaching initiative (Integrated Learning) in the Department of Physics
• Receiving a University of Newcastle Teaching Excellence Award and a competitive Teaching Development Grant.
• Publishing a refereed conference paper on the implementation of the new Integrated Learning Initiative
• Consistently achieving excellent student assessments of my teaching performance

Teaching interests

Philosophy of Teaching: Students learn best in an environment where they can clearly identify the relevance of their studies, through practical application, real-life illustration and relationship with state-of-the-art knowledge and research.