Mass Spectrometry Facility - UNSW Canberra
Who we are
The Mass Spectrometry Facility at UNSW Canberra (Australian Defence Force Academy ADFA campus) is the newest node of the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre (MWAC). Established to support both academic research and national defence priorities, the facility is uniquely embedded within a military-academic environment, enabling high-impact collaborations across science, technology, and security domains.
As part of MWAC’s broader network, we are committed to scientific excellence, innovation, and collaboration—serving academic institutions, industry, and government partners. In cooperation with the Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Facility at the Sydney campus, we offer state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise in mass spectrometry.
Our capabilities span from routine to highly complex analytical challenges, supporting a wide range of applications across forensic science, energetic materials, environmental monitoring, drug research, and beyond.
Funding partners:
Capabilities
Host-guest characterisation (supramolecular chemistry)
Using mass spectrometry together with complementary techniques, we enable the detection, characterisation, and quantification of non-covalent complexes formed between host molecules (e.g., macrocycles, cages, MOFs) and guest species (e.g., ions, small molecules, drugs).
Instruments
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Overcome the most demanding quantitative workflow challenges with the Thermo Scientific™ TSQ Altis™ Plus triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. With superior acquisition speeds, enhanced sensitivity, prototypical selectivity, and exceptional robustness; the TSQ Altis Plus mass spectrometer delivers unprecedented accuracy and precision for low-level compound detection and quantitation in complex matrices that redefine ultimate instrument performance.
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Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ Diode Array Detectors (DADs) is designed for highest performance, reliability and flexibility. This detector offers excellent linearity and optimized noise performance. Detect trace analytes next to main compounds due to a wide dynamic range and a low limit of detection.
Our people
Fees
All UNSW academic users pay a part of the base hourly access cost with the balance being contributed by UNSW. The UNSW contribution applies to projects supervised by UNSW employed researchers or researchers employed within Affiliated Research Institutes and Centres. A project registration must be completed fully for the UNSW contributions to be applied.
In some cases where the projects involve extensive access, an access contract may be arranged with the Mass Spectrometry Facility - Canberra Node where the costs for instrument access, sample preparation and consumables are negotiated.
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The Mass Spectrometry Facility - Canberra Node has separate schedules of access fees for public and private sector researchers. These are referred to as 'Academic' and 'Commercial' (see below) respectively. Please note that (1) prices may change without notice and (2) all users are required to comply with the acknowledgement obligations described below.
Users who undergo training to operate instruments at the Mass Spectrometry Facility – Canberra Node (DIY access) are eligible for lower access rates. Users who require an MSF analyst to operate instruments on a fee-for-service (FFS) basis may access this service at a later date or coordinate with BMSF in Sydney.
Academic:
UNSW Internal Academic (UNSW & Affiliated): Schedule of Hourly Access Rates for Mass Spectrometry (ex. GST)
A minimum usage of $15 per session is applied to all UNSW users to recover consumables.Service
Base Acad. Rate UNSW Contrib. UNSW Academics FFS $210 -$140 $70 DIY $105 -$70 $35 Academic:
UNSW Internal Academic (UNSW & Affiliated): Schedule of Hourly Access Rates for Liquid and Gas Chromatography (ex. GST)
A minimum usage of $15 per session is applied to all UNSW users to recover consumables.Service Base Acad. Rate UNSW Contrib. UNSW Academics FFS $105 -$70 $35 DIY $53 -$35 $18 External Academic (Public Sector Researchers):
Schedule of Hourly Access RatesService Rate FFS $210 DIY $105 Instrument training $210 - Common solvents (e.g., ACN, MeOH) are included otherwise user will provide (e.g., special buffers).
- Base academic rates apply to all external academics.
- UNSW contribution applies to UNSW users and users from BMSF LIEF partners.
- Fees paid from non-UNSW cost centres are via an invoice and incur a 10% GST charge.
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Hourly access rates for Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry for Commercial (Private Sector) Researchers start from $410/hour (ex. GST). Costs will be experiment-dependent. Please contact BMSF for more information.
- Minimum amount. Does not include sample preparation, data analysis, clean-up time and consumables additional. A detailed costing will be provided for each project.
- An additional 10% GST applies to invoice totals.
Acknowledgement obligations
All research publications (be they collaborative or non-collaborative) that contain data obtained with resources at the MSF-Canberra are required to explicitly acknowledge this with the following wording or similar wording having the same meaning:
Mass spectrometric results (or specify this more precisely) were obtained at the Mass Spectrometry Facility within the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre of the University of New South Wales Canberra.
How to access
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Contact the facility via email to arrange a meeting and discuss your analytical needs. If available, please attach relevant literature to support your request.
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User Registration: Register online through the UNSW Analytical Centre Laboratory System (ACLS) selecting the Canberra Satellite Node.
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Project Registration: Download and complete the Project Registration Form. Ensure the signed form is submitted via email to the facility.
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Log in to ACLS and submit a training request via the Requests section. Upon completion of training, a certificate will be issued and recorded in ACLS. You will receive an email notification and further instruction once access to the facility is granted..
Meet the team
Mass Spectrometry Facility - UNSW Canberra
Dr. Morphy Dumlao (Lecturer)
School of Science, UNSW Canberra
Room 216, Level 2, Building 22
Email: m.dumlao@unsw.edu.au
Administration:
Email: msf.cbr@unsw.edu.au
Facility location: Room 103, Building 22
We like to hear from you. If you have questions, requests or ideas for collaboration, please complete the contact form and we will be in touch within five business days.
Resources
Get in touch about your project
We offer a range of services that can be tailored to your needs. Please send us an enquiry to get started.
