Our facilities

The School's chemistry and physics teaching and research programmes are supported by state-of-the-art facilities and specialised equipment.

NMR spectrometer room with two people working at computers

NMR spectrometers

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington hosts one of the largest NMR suites in New Zealand with five magnets operating between 400 MHz and 600 MHz.
Room with large electron microscope, a large screen, and other equipment

Electron microscopes

Our electron microscope suite includes two scanning electron microscopes and two transmission electron microscopes.
Three people in protective clothing operate equipment

Cleanroom fabrication facility

The cleanroom fabrication facility at SCPS houses a range of microfabrication and inspection equipment.
Several different shapes of glassware in a piewarmer with Wellington city visible in the background

Glassblowing

Find out about glassblowing facilities and services available through the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences.
Room filled with specialised hardware

Mechanical workshop

Find out about our mechanical workshop, where we design, manufacture, and repair a range of equipment.

Equipment database

Our online equipment database showcases a selection of the specialised equipment and facilities owned and operated by the University. You can explore them using our search tool.

Triple additive-subtractive Raman spectroscopy equipment

Specialist equipment

Our five nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers are used to determine molecular structures. We also use them to study molecular dynamics and organisation in soft matter and porous materials.

Ultrafast laser facilities are used to examine the electronic dynamics of photo-active materials.

The electron microscope suite is used extensively by researchers at the University, especially the Nanoparticle and Quantum Dot research group.

Our cleanroom fabrication facility is purpose-built for the fabrication of novel electronic devices.

The Raman Lab has a full range of equipment to examine the properties of superconductors and to develop methods for single molecule detection.

The Palaeomagnetic laboratory is equipped with spinner and cryogenic rock magnetometers, thermal and alternating field demagnetizing equipment, a pulse magnetizer, and magnetic susceptibility meters. We also have rock drills and lake sediment corers to collect palaeomagnetic samples.

The Radiation Detection and Imaging group has a range of dedicated equipment for sample preparation and X-ray imaging.

Additional equipment

The School of Chemical and Physical Sciences also has the following equipment:

  • Astronomy: Frame-transfer CCD photometer
  • X-ray diffraction: Powder XRD, Laue XRD
  • Irradiation: Frequency-doubled (Ar/BBO) visible/UV laser, two X-ray generators
  • Rheology: Controlled stress and controlled strain rheometers
  • Particle size analysis: Laser-based particle size analyser (SLS, DLS, and zeta potential)
  • Furnaces: Radio frequency induction furnace, electrically heated furnaces
  • Thermal analysis: Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA)
  • GCMS, HPLC, and GC analysis facilities