Matt is studying diffusion of polymers on surfaces close to their glass transition for his doctorate. Matt is using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to this end, and is pictured with the kit. FCS is a single molecule technique that works by detecting the fluorescence as laser dye-tagged molecules drift in and out of a confocal volume. The kit we use is a Zeiss LSM510 confocal microscope/confocor 2 FCS combi. Matt is a graduate of the University of Sheffield and had the unusual good sense to want to do a PhD in the area of Soft Matter. I guess doing Physics with Astronomy as a degree made him realise what was and what wasn't interesting. Anyway, well done Matt. You have taste and sense.
Email: m.mears_AT_sheffield.ac.uk