The University of Newcastle has been awarded a record $14 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for 38 projects across the fields of health, science, engineering, history and education.

Today’s funding announcement from the ARC comprises $11.5 million for Discovery Projects,
$2 million for Linkage Projects and $526,000 under the Indigenous Researchers Development Scheme.

With more than $1 million over three years, Laureate Professor John Aitken* will undertake two projects that continue his world-recognised fertility research.

The first project, with funding of more than $735,000, will explore the development of a method to simultaneously control fertility and prevent the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. His second project will look at the effect of men’s age and lifestyle factors (for example alcohol and cigarette smoke) on their children’s health.

Other Newcastle projects announced by the ARC today included:

• $850,000 to develop a framework that quantifies security risks for a range of terrorist threats to infrastructure and transport systems (Professor Mark Stewart)

• $750,000 to investigate a new flotation device, used in the minerals industry, that is up to 100 times faster in recovering the finest valuable particles (Laureate Professor Graeme Jameson)

• $676,000 to examine safer and more efficient methods to design geotechnical structures (Professor John Carter, Dr Majidreza Nazem and Dr Andrew Abbo)

• $660,000 to investigate ways to improve the efficiency of EnergyAustralia’s electricity grid (Dr Jamil Khan, Dr Kaushik Mahata, Professor  Minyue Fu, Mr Keith Lynch, Mr Phillip King and Mr Andrew O'Brien)

• $544,000 to examine how people assess the confidence with which they can make rapid choices about their memories (Professor Andrew Heathcote, Professor Anthony Marley, Assistant Professor Richard Morey and Professor Jeffrey Rouder)

• $362,000 to explore the role Soviet women played during World War II, where they played a crucial role in the defeat of Nazism and Stalin’s Red Army (Dr Roger Markwick and Professor Beate Fieseler)

• $300,000 to investigate complex ambulance response time factors to improve health outcomes for stroke patients (Laureate Professor Graham Goodwin and Professor Arie Feuer).

Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mike Calford, said today’s announcement by the ARC consolidated Newcastle’s position in the top 10 Australian universities for research.

“Newcastle consistently punches well above its weight in research output.  We have a proven track record in engineering, science and health research.  Today’s announcement demonstrates our strength in education and social science research as well.

“Of the nine Indigenous Researchers Development Scheme projects allocated nationally, two were awarded to Newcastle equating to some 25 per cent of the funds available.  Newcastle also scooped one of just three of the Australian Research Fellowships under this scheme.”

For a complete list of projects visit www.newcastle.edu.au/service/grants-and-contracts/news/arc-announcements.html

* Members of Professor John Aitken's research teams include Dr Mark Baker, Professor Kenneth Beagley, Professor Adam McCluskey and Professor Bruce King.

For interviews contact Megan Cunneen on 02 4921 5351 or 0448 369 871.