From July 13-16, a group of Australian and New Zealand students gathered at the synchrotron to use a light source many millions of times brighter than the sun to analyse biological and mineral samples smaller than the point of a needle.

Among the aspiring young scientists was Haishun Jin, a master's degree student in physical chemistry from Auckland University in New Zealand.

Ms Jin used a technique called soft X-ray spectroscopy to investigate the surface qualities of a mineral sample down to almost unimaginably tiny detail - a millionth of a millimetre.

"It's so exciting to learn about this scientific technique in such a practical way," she said.

"I have learned so much here at the Australian Synchrotron and now I want to know even more. I think that in the future, my analytical work in science will benefit greatly from the techniques of soft X-rays, for surface analysis, and also from hard X-rays, for analysing the deep cores of samples. I can't wait to come back."

The students were taking part in the inaugural Australian & New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science Australian Synchrotron winter school.

The four-day program focused on developing knowledge of advanced synchrotron techniques and provided practical experience for young researchers.