About National Imaging Facility

Who we are

National Imaging Facility (NIF) is Australia’s advanced imaging network.

We provide open access to flagship imaging equipment, expertise, tools, data and analysis. We address Australia’s strategic science and research priorities, and this benefits Australian industry and helps keep Australians healthy.

Our purpose is to maintain Australia’s world-leading role in applying advanced imaging technology. Our mission is to make cutting-edge imaging capabilities accessible to Australian medical researchers, materials and agriculture scientists enabling them to solve challenges across research and industry.

What we do

NIF provides a full suite of advanced imaging capability including preclinical and clinical, human and animal imaging, radiochemistry, and imaging data analysis.

We focus on health and medical innovation, and also provide highly specialised capabilities for agriculture, materials science, museums and cultural applications.

We are the experts in developing new imaging technologies, processing and interpreting imaging data, and applying imaging to solve complex problems.

Our expertise, equipment and services are critical to Australia’s ability to translate health discoveries, undertake clinical trials and commercialise medical products. Our capabilities beyond health are unique in Australia.

NIF assembles partnerships that produce unique and valuable data assets. We produce quality-controlled and harmonised data that provides invaluable evidence to make new discoveries, validate new products and demonstrate new therapies.

The value of our contributions is increasing. Machine-learning techniques are already revolutionising how people interpret images, and NIF’s researchers are at the forefront.

How we work

NIF partners with state-of-the-art imaging projects led by teams with world-class capabilities. We operate efficiently at a national level, share innovative ideas and deep expertise, and work collaboratively across the research, health, innovation and industry sectors.

We partner with people who can translate their discoveries into real-world applications.

The NIF network operates across 13 nodes in major medical and innovation precincts. Our national-scale network ensures Australia’s imaging investments are efficient, use best practice, are accessible to research and industry, and give equitable attention to regional and rural communities.

As NIF evolves we are expanding to regional areas to enable researchers and industry to capture data that is representative of all Australians.

Our impact

NIF is unlocking solutions to the world’s biggest imaging challenges across commercial, clinical and research fields. We have helped Australians innovate in fields such as bioengineering, clinical science, biology, medical technology, pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies, agriculture, materials, museums and cultural collections.

Thousands of doctors, scientists and professionals across hundreds of Australian institutions, companies and research organisations use our work to help answer their questions. We work with engaged volunteers and patients who make a valuable contribution to health and discovery by being part of research.

The capabilities we provide result in better healthcare, better products, and important discoveries.

Who enables NIF?

NIF is a $300m portfolio of imaging capabilities which have received investment from the Australian government, under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), state governments, and its network of 13 university, medical research institute and government science agency partners.NIF is administered by The University of Queensland and is independently governed. Our partners are essential to delivering our mission. We work together to address Australia’s hardest imaging challenges.

Read more about NIF in our strategy document, Because Seeing Changes Everything.