Science students feted for research 

Two Canterbury University PhD students have been shortlisted for an international nanotechnology award.

James Muys and Dave Melville will head to Padua in Italy later this year to try to convince the 2005 Nanochallenge Business Plan Competition that their entry is worth the 300,000 ($535,000) prize.

Muys hoped to see his research into the atomic force microscope (AFM) applied practically to help detect cancer more accurately, at an earlier stage. His product uses AFM to take images of biological structures such as cells on a tiny scale.