New Zealand was first approached by the government of Victoria in 2005 and asked if New Zealand wished to be a Foundation Investor in the planned Australian Synchrotron. There is strong demand for New Zealand to have access to such a facility from the research sector at a time when the New Zealand government was expanding the science and technology cooperation partnership with Australia. It was decided that New Zealand would join other Foundation Investor consortiums around Australia and would contribute A$5 million towards the cost of the first 10 beamlines at the facility.
The research sector and the government also agreed that an entity owned by the institutions that were contributing funding should be set up to hold New Zealand’s shares in the Australian Synchrotron and to coordinate all access to the Synchrotron by New Zealand researchers and manage the synchrotron science support activities. NZSG was established in 2006 and the Royal Society of New Zealand was contracted to provide secretariat services to support the Board and undertake the day-to-day operations.
The initial shareholders were:
- The University of Auckland
- The University of Waikato
- Massey University
- Victoria University of Wellington
- University of Canterbury
- Lincoln University
- University of Otago
- Ag Research
- GNS Science
- Plant & Food Research
Industrial Research Ltd (now Callaghan Innovation) became a shareholder a few months later. AUT University became a shareholder in 2016.
The cost of New Zealand’s involvement in the Australian Synchrotron was shared between the New Zealand government and the NZSG shareholders on a 50:50 basis. A$5.0 million was contributed towards the cost of the first 10 beamlines at the Synchrotron and A$4.125 million towards operating costs between 2008 and 2013.
In the very early days, the major challenge for NZSG was to build awareness in the capabilities of the new facility under construction and then to foster the development of expertise in new users. There were a small number of researchers in New Zealand who had used synchrotrons in other parts of the world whose experience was invaluable in developing a wider capability among the New Zealand research community.
As each new beamline came into operation, the number of users quickly grew. NZSG also began offering travel funding to the recipients of beamtime (funding for which was provided by the Synchrotron). Use of the facility quickly grew from 4 visits (10 people) in 2007/2008 to 87 visits (167 New Zealand researchers involved in the projects) in 2011/2012.
By 2013 the Victorian Government decided to be less involved in the operation of the Synchrotron and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) was contracted to operate the facility. New Zealand renewed the access arrangement until 2016 and contributed a further A$4.17 million towards the facilities operating costs. Plant & Food Research ceased contributing funds towards the Australian Synchrotron in 2013.
In 2016 ownership of the Australian Synchrotron changed. The Victorian government and the Foundation Shareholders transferred their shares to the Commonwealth government which agreed to provide operating funding for the next 10 years. New Zealand was able to secure dedicated rights for the same period. In 2017 a programme of expansion to the facility was announced and NZSG was able to secure additional access rights to both the existing beamlines and to the 8 new beamlines which were to be built. New Zealand has provided A$12 million towards the cost of the new beamlines and also pays an annual access fee – cost shared between the New Zealand government and 8 of the company’s shareholders.
Callaghan Innovation, GNS Science and Lincoln University are not part of the current funding arrangement.
Apart from the disruptions of the Covid period, a full programme of work on the existing beamlines has continued alongside the construction of the new beamlines. By June 2024, 4 of the new beamlines were in operation. In the 2023/24 year there were 74 visits (195 people).