Nicola Gaston Explained

Nicola Gaston
Nationality:New Zealand
Fields:Chemistry, Physics
Workplaces:Auckland University, MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Victoria University of Wellington
Alma Mater:University of Auckland, Massey University
Website:,

Nicola Gaston is a Professor and a former President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists. She is a materials scientist who has worked on nanoparticles and low-temperature liquid metals, and who has spoken out on sexism in the scientific research establishment. In 2023 she was awarded the Thomson Medal. In 2024 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Academic career

Gaston has a PhD from Massey University.[1] She is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland.[2] She was previously a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.[3] [4]

After being a Principal Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute since 2010, she was appointed co-director in 2018.[5]

Her research interests include understanding how and why the properties of clusters of atoms, such as their melting points, depend on size and electronic structure.[6] For example, adding an extra atom of gallium to a cluster can change its melting point by 100 Kelvins.[7] [8] The anomalously high melting temperatures of gallium nanoparticles have been shown to be due to a lower entropy of the liquid state.[9]

Her work on structural self-organisation and pattern formation at the surface of[10] [11] and within low-temperature liquid metals[12] has led to the discovery of structures such as snowflakes, made of zinc metal. [13]

Awards

Gaston was awarded the CMMSE prize in 2016 for important contributions in the developments of numerical methods for physics, chemistry, engineering and economics.[14] In 2023, she was awarded the Thomson Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in recognition of her leadership in highlighting and addressing gender equity issues in the science sector, in supporting researchers to speak out for the public good, as well as for her work as co-director of the MacDiarmid Institute and as president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists.[15] In 2023 Gaston was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for her work on low-temperature liquid metals.[16]

Public profile and advocacy for science

Gaston has been a strong advocate for women in science, arguing that science is sexist in national media.[17] [18] She argues that although women may be well-represented in junior university positions, even forming the majority in some scientific disciplines, through unconscious bias or stereotyping they are lost to academia, which ends up dominated by men in senior positions.[4] One reason is the unforgiving nature of the research establishment to gaps in a CV caused by child-rearing. Gaston explored these impediments to the participation of women scientists in her blog, "Why Science is Sexist", and in 2015 published a book of the same name with Bridget Williams Books.[19]

As President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists Gaston publicly criticised the adoption of the National Science Challenges, due to the possible conflicting roles of the Prime Minister's Science Advisor and the marginalisation of Māori.[20] She however subsequently praised the stability of funding provided for the National Science Challenges as well as the development of the National Statement of Science Investment in mitigating some of the concerns surrounding the adoption of the National Science Challenges.[21]

In her role as Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute, Gaston has argued that government investment in cleantech industries should be ambitious, to take advantage of the country's natural advantages in renewable energy. [22] [23] She has also argued for the value of investment in science and education as a positive sum game. [24]

In 2023 Gaston was highly critical of the government's failure to deliver on their long-held goal of increasing R&D funding to 2% of GDP.[25] She subsequently argued that a lack of investment would lead to an inevitable downsizing of the university sector, without any strategic direction, and that this would lead to a loss of capability and capacity. [26] In 2024, in advance of the government's review of the university sector, she argued for the role of universities in countering the 'brain drain' of highly educated people from the country. [27]

Selected publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Gaston . Nicola . 2003 . Doctoral thesis . Mercury clusters from van der Waals to the metallic solid . Massey Research Online, Massey University . 10179/1840 .
  2. Web site: Professor Nicola Gaston – The University of Auckland. 22 July 2017. unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz.
  3. News: Morton. Jamie. 10 March 2014. Women in science. The New Zealand Herald. 23 August 2019.
  4. News: Tuckett. Graeme. 26 February 2015. The Interview: Nicola Gaston. Fishhead: Wellington's Magazine. 23 August 2019.
  5. Web site: Webb-Liddall. Alice. 2018-06-20. Nicola Gaston on taking the wheel at the MacDiarmid Institute. 2021-10-12. The Spinoff.
  6. News: 10 August 2016. The science of stuff used to make things Nine To Noon, 11:31 am on 10 August 2016 RNZ. Radio New Zealand. 22 July 2017.
  7. Web site: Nothing but 100 percent positive experiences from start to finish | New Zealand eScience Infrastructure. 1 June 2014. nesi.org.nz.
  8. Web site: Gallium nanoparticles and better chips Science Interviews Naked Scientists. 22 July 2017. www.thenakedscientists.com. June 2015 .
  9. Steenbergen . Krista G. . Gaston . Nicola . 2016-01-13 . A Two-Dimensional Liquid Structure Explains the Elevated Melting Temperatures of Gallium Nanoclusters . Nano Letters . en . 16 . 1 . 21–26 . 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02158 . 1530-6984.
  10. Tang . Jianbo . Lambie . Stephanie . Meftahi . Nastaran . Christofferson . Andrew J. . Yang . Jiong . Han . Jialuo . Rahim . Md. Arifur . Mayyas . Mohannad . Ghasemian . Mohammad B. . Allioux . Francois-Marie . Cao . Zhenbang . Daeneke . Torben . McConville . Chris F. . Steenbergen . Krista G. . Kaner . Richard B. . 2022-02-03 . Oscillatory bifurcation patterns initiated by seeded surface solidification of liquid metals . Nature Synthesis . en . 1 . 2 . 158–169 . 10.1038/s44160-021-00020-1 . 2731-0582.
  11. Tang . Jianbo . Lambie . Stephanie . Meftahi . Nastaran . Christofferson . Andrew J. . Yang . Jiong . Ghasemian . Mohammad B. . Han . Jialuo . Allioux . Francois-Marie . Rahim . Md. Arifur . Mayyas . Mohannad . Daeneke . Torben . McConville . Chris F. . Steenbergen . Krista G. . Kaner . Richard B. . Russo . Salvy P. . 2021 . Unique surface patterns emerging during solidification of liquid metal alloys . Nature Nanotechnology . en . 16 . 4 . 431–439 . 10.1038/s41565-020-00835-7 . 1748-3387.
  12. Idrus-Saidi . Shuhada A. . Tang . Jianbo . Lambie . Stephanie . Han . Jialuo . Mayyas . Mohannad . Ghasemian . Mohammad B. . Allioux . Francois-Marie . Cai . Shengxiang . Koshy . Pramod . Mostaghimi . Peyman . Steenbergen . Krista G. . Barnard . Amanda S. . Daeneke . Torben . Gaston . Nicola . Kalantar-Zadeh . Kourosh . 2022-12-09 . Liquid metal synthesis solvents for metallic crystals . Science . en . 378 . 6624 . 1118–1124 . 10.1126/science.abm2731 . 0036-8075.
  13. Web site: 2022-12-08 . How to make tiny metal snowflakes . 2024-05-29 . en-US.
  14. Web site: Schedule & CMMSE Prize CMMSE'17. cmmse.usal.es. 22 July 2017.
  15. News: Jamie . Morton . 2023-11-09 . 'Tenacious boldness': Top honour for change-making NZ scientist . . 2023-11-08.
  16. Web site: University of Auckland researchers elected to the Royal Society Te Apārangi - The University of Auckland . 2024-04-04 . www.auckland.ac.nz.
  17. Web site: On The Spot | Nights, 8:12 pm on 26 July 2013 | Radio New Zealand. 26 July 2013 . radionz.co.nz. 1 June 2014.
  18. News: Sunday Morning: Nicola Gaston. 14 June 2015. Radio New Zealand. 23 August 2019.
  19. Book: Gaston, Nicola . Why Science is Sexist . 2015 . Bridget Williams Books . 978-0-908321-65-0 . 1 . 10.7810/9780908321650.
  20. Gaston. Nicola. New Zealand: Free up systems for funding and advice. Nature. 2014. 508. 7494. 44. 10.1038/508044b. 24695303. 2014Natur.508R..44G . free.
  21. News: More transparency wanted around Government's national science challenges. Flahive. Brad. 17 November 2018. Stuff. 23 August 2019.
  22. Web site: Gaston . Nicola . 2019-12-09 . Not-so-modest proposals for Tiwai . 2024-05-29 . The Spinoff . en.
  23. Web site: Gaston . Professor Nicola . 2020-08-04 . Five alternatives to aluminium at Tiwai . 2024-05-29 . Newsroom . en-US.
  24. Web site: Gaston . Professor Nicola . 2023-10-05 . Party pledges won't fix science funding sinkhole . 2024-05-29 . Newsroom . en-US.
  25. Web site: Gaston . Nicola . 2023-05-15 . The research sector needs investment now – for the good of our planet and people . 2024-05-29 . The Spinoff . en.
  26. Web site: Gaston . Nicola . 2023-05-31 . When downsizing means destroying our universities . 2024-05-29 . The Spinoff . en.
  27. Web site: Gaston . Professor Nicola . 2024-05-21 . The real value of universities . 2024-05-29 . Newsroom . en-US.

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