John Robert de Laeter researched nuclear physics at McMaster University and his scientific interests were broad he also refined the isotopic composition of elements..
After researching nuclear physics at McMaster University in Canada on a National Research Council of Canada Fellowship, de Laeter returned to Australia in 1968 as inaugural head of the Department of Physics at West Australian Institute of Technology (the predecessor of Curtin University). De Laeter's scientific interests were broad, but centred on the application of mass spectrometry techniques in cosmochemistry and nuclear physics. He is credited with refining the isotopic composition and atomic weight measurements of elements, including antimony, barium, tin and ytterbium. 
