Open Access Lab
About us
Located within the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), MMIC Open Access Lab was originally established as the HMSTrust Analytical Laboratory in 2015 through a generous $1.2 million grant from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, financial support from Monash University and in-kind equipment support from Shimadzu and Perkin Elmer. In 2025, the HMSTrust Analytical Laboratory merged with fellow MIPS facility, MMIC, to leverage combined capabilities in advanced instrumentation and expertise in pharmaceutical development and translation.
This laboratory is a not-for-profit facility and our fees are set to create an affordable pathway for the development of new pharmaceutical and diagnostic products. At the same time we strive to provide exceptional training to the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists.
Accessing our open access facility
Researchers from both within and outside of Monash University can access our advanced suite of analytical and characterisation equipment. This mode of access is ideally suited to researchers who invest the necessary time in building their expertise or have pre-established competency. In all cases, researchers will need to complete the necessary inductions and training prior to access. Training may be subject to a fee in addition to access.
Our Open Access Lab is accessible for non-Monash researchers from 8am to 6pm, during normal business days.
Our instrumentation includes analytical, physical and chemical characterisation and sample preparation techniques.
If you are interested in contracted services, contact us here.
Key Instrumentation
All instruments are maintained under a Quality Management System (ISO 9001) with regular system checks, cleaning and verification of performance.
To access our instruments or services, contact us.
| Instrument Category | Instrument Name/Model | Capabilities/Description |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid Chromatography | Shimadzu Nexera UHPLC/Bioinert | UV-Vis, PDA, fluorescence, RI, CAD detection. |
| Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and fraction collection | ||
| Mass Spectrometry | Triple quadrupole LCMS/MS (Shimadzu LCMS 8050/8060 series) | Quantitative, ultrasensitive assay of drug(s) in various biological and non-biological matrices |
| Shimadzu TQ8050 GC-MS | Quantitative ultra-trace analysis to femtogram level; HS-20 headspace autosampler for volatiles. | |
| Shimadzu ICP-MS-2050 | Quantitative, ultrasensitive elemental analysis | |
| Axial MALDI-TOF-MS | Protein/polymer characterisation; imaging without drug labelling; drug disposition/metabolism/tissue targeting. | |
| Bruker TimsTOF-MS | Separates ions by mobility and mass to deliver ultra‑fast, high‑resolution proteomics and metabolomics analysis in complex samples. | |
| XRD | Shimadzu XRD-7000L | Crystallographic characterisation and assessment. |
| Thermal Analysis | Mettler Toledo DSC 5+ | Measures heat capacity changes; detects melts, crystallisation, glass transition and phase changes. |
| Mettler Toledo TGA 2 | Measures mass change vs temperature/time; sub-ambient to 1000°C. | |
| Microscopy & Spectroscopy | PerkinElmer Spotlight 400 FTIR microscope with ATR | Optical images, IR spectra, and chemical distribution maps. |
| PerkinElmer Raman 200 microscope | Raman spectra at any point; spectral mapping. | |
| PerkinElmer Frontier FTIR | IR spectra of gas/liquid/solid samples. | |
| PerkinElmer EnSight plate reader | Absorbance, fluorescence, TRF, phosphorescence for cell-based/biochemical assays. | |
| Moisture Analysis | Metrohm Karl Fischer analyser | Volumetric & coulometric titration; water content 0.001–100%. |
Contact us
To enquire about our instruments, access pricing or request access, please contact:
mmic.openlab-contact@monash.edu
For iLab users, request access via our booking system iLab.