Gloria Zhao (Cohort 3) and Phil Diggle (Cohort 1), along with Prof. Mark Newton, were invited to attend the 2018 Gemological Institute of America (GIA) International Gemological Symposium. Phil delivered a talk on how to image diamond down the diffraction limit using confocal photoluminescence microscopy and how this has revealed new insights on the growth of synthetic diamond. Gloria gave a talk on phosphorescence and thermoluminescence of diamond. Both talks were very well received by the 200-plus audience members in the morning session of the first day of the symposium. The remainder of the first day saw talks from leading researchers in their field of diamond science from the synthesis, characterisation and the geology of diamond.

When: Saturday 25th August
Where: Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
Audience: All ages

What’s going on?: This will be one of our biggest events of the year. The CDT have been invited to MSI to run an event on one of the platform for investigation (PI) days. We shall be bringing all of our best displays and demo’s for a fun interactive day learning about all the best that diamond science has to offer.

Studentships available to start in September 2018

The DST biennial cohort building retreat took place in April 2018 at Gregynog Hall. Activities included a team building workshop with Michele Underwood, (Researcher Development Manager, University of Warwick), canoeing on Lake Vyrnwy (Bethania Adventure) and Innovation to Impact, a workshop run by Warwick Ventures. Evening activities included a pub quiz courtesy of Jenny and Martin (cohort 4) and Molecules with Silly or Unusual Names (Prof. Paul May, University of Bristol).