Fang Ou receives scholarship

Fang is the proud recipient of the RHT Bates Postgraduate Scholarship from the Royal Society Te Apārangi..

Fang's PhD project focuses on developing quantitative methods for monitoring bacteria using a fibre-based spectroscopic system called the 'optrode.' Compared to conventional fluorescence detection methods such as microscopy and flow cytometry, the optrode is a more cost-effective and easier to use alternative, while also having a more compact and convenient design.

The optrode accurately measures the emission from fluorescently stained bacterial samples. Then, by applying data processing and computational modelling, these fluorescence signals can be reliably correlated to the amount or state of bacteria in the original sample.

The goal of this project is to optimise the optrode and develop processing methods for application in food sa

fety monitoring and antibiotic efficacy studies.