Research focus heats up

Two leading researchers and international experts in their fields – Professor Mats Andersson (chemistry) and Professor Christian Leuprecht (law) – are the University’s latest Matthew Flinders Fellow appointments.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Robert Saint says the Matthew Flinders program continues to attract some of the world’s best to Flinders University.

“Since the University’s 50th Anniversary last year, nine Matthew Flinders Fellows have joined the ranks at Flinders as the University continues to build its research capabilities and support significant research outcomes,” Professor Saint says.

“These Fellows and other research leaders have joined an energetic and wide range of distinguished professors appointed in honour of the University’s namesake, British navigator Captain Matthew Flinders RN, who circumnavigated Australia on one of the boldest journeys of discovery.”

Professor Andersson comes to the Flinders School of Chemistry and Physical Sciences with a strong academic rating in organic chemistry and polymer design and synthesis.

He says polymers, other new materials and sustainable processing will give solar energy a brighter future.

“This technology is the way forward to take solar power to another level to make it much more affordable, efficient, environmentally sustainable and enduring,” he says.

“I want to see these applications become very useful in society and one day create new jobs and opportunities in South Australia,” says Professor Andersson who came to Adelaide after being awarded a South Australian Chair in Energy in 2013.

Recently leading future industries research at UniSA at Mawson Lakes, Professor Andersson has joined the teaching and research ranks at Science and Engineering after several years of collaborating with Flinders Professors David Lewis, Joe Shapter and Gunther Andersson.

“I have been very lucky with my collaborations over the years, and look forward to adding to the solar cell, nano-tech and clean technology research initiatives here at Flinders,” says Professor Andersson, an affiliate with the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg in Sweden with an h-index of 72 and a long list of scientific publications in his field.

“It’s very exciting to be part of this stage of solar R&D in Australia and more flexible and efficient solar systems will provide future employment and companies.”

Professor Andersson also finds it a ‘good fit’ to be born in May 1966, and is almost exactly the same age as Flinders University.

Some of his highly cited published papers include:

Two-in-one: cathode modification and improved solar cell blend stability through addition of modified fullerenes Z George, Y Xia, A Sharma, C Lindqvist, G Andersson, O Inganäs, E Moons, C Müller, MR Andersson Journal of Materials Chemistry A 4 (7), 2663-2669

High‐performance polymer solar cells of an alternating polyfluorene copolymer and a fullerene derivative M Svensson, F Zhang, SC Veenstra, WJH Verhees, JC Hummelen, JM Kroon, O Inganäs, MR Andersson Advanced Materials 15 (12), 988-991

Laminated fabrication of polymeric photovoltaic diodes M Granström, K Petritsch, AC Arias, A Lux, MR Andersson, RH Friend Nature 395 (6699), 257-260

Professor Christian Leuprecht from the Queen’s University

Meanwhile, leading Canadian political science researcher, Professor Christian Leuprecht, has joined the Flinders Law Centre for Crime Policy and Research as a Matthew Flinders Fellow in 2017.

He is an expert on security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance, and is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament.

His publications have appeared in English, German, French, and Spanish and include nine books and scores of articles that have appeared in Electoral Studies (2016), Government Information Quarterly (2016), Armed Forces and Society (2015), Global Crime (2015, 2013), the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (2014, Maureen Molot Prize for Best Article), Canadian Public Administration (2014), the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2012, 2003), Regional and Federal Studies (2012), and Terrorism and Political Violence (2011, 2016).

His editorials appear regularly across Canada’s national newspapers and he is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media.

Among his 2016 papers are the following:

Leuprecht C Political Demography of the New Security Environment. Editors Melvin Dubnick and Domonic Bearfield. The Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy 3rd ed . Eds. Domonic Bearfield and Melvin Dubnick. New York: Taylor and Francis; Vol 4, pp. 2983-2992.

Leuprecht C, Aulthouse A and Walther O The puzzling resilience of transnational organized criminal networks. Police Practice & Research.

Skillicorn DB, Leuprecht C and Tait V Beyond the Castle Model of CybersecurityGovernment Information Quarterly.

Professor Leuprecht will give a talk on Cybercrime and Cybersecurity: Beyond the Castle Model at Flinders at Victoria Square, city on Thursday 23 March, 5.30pm-7pm. More details

 

 

 

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