AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL LINKAGE PROJECTS
Educational and career aspirations in the middle years of schooling: understanding the complexity for increased equity
Professor Jenny Gore
$634,880
This project examines the complex relationships among factors that shape the career and educational aspirations of students in the middle years of schooling across three NSW regions. The study will inform interventions designed to achieve greater participation in schooling and higher education for students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Maximising the kinetics of flotation processes
Professor Kevin Galvin
$200,000
The purpose of this project is to develop a new flotation technology that can be operated at feed rates vastly higher than existing technologies. The technology will be applicable to low grade feeds often discarded to tailings, delivering billions of dollars in additional exports of Australian resources and contributing to the growth in the mining services sector.
Enhancing the efficiency of equine reproduction: relevant to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeding industries
Professor John Aitken
$420,000
The purpose of this project is to link the equine breeding industry with a major centre of reproductive research. By creating this unique nexus, major efficiency gains will be achieved that will secure the international competitiveness of the industry and significantly enhance profitability.
Foundation systems for reactive soils using scarification and screw piles
Associate Professor Stephen Fityus
$533,256
This project will investigate the use of soil scarification, in combination with screw piles, as a reliable option for light-weight foundations on damaging reactive clay soils. It will also validate an innovative foundation alternative that will result in significant cost savings for residential foundations on reactive soils.
Development of a measure for assessment of the dynamic thermal response of buildings
Professor Behdad Moghtaderi
$330,000
This project will develop a unique measure for assessing the thermal behaviour of walls and buildings with the view to improving the accuracy and effectiveness of efforts being made in energy efficient housing. This should increase confidence for both consumers and manufacturers in the use of new energy efficient building designs.
Improving cancer treatment systems: a randomised controlled trial of a consumer action model for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy
Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher
$249,408
This project aims to assess the effectiveness of a model for improving cancer treatment systems, which emphasises meaningful engagement of cancer consumers in identifying, implementing and evaluating strategies of change. System changes are expected to reduce patients' unmet supportive care needs and improve overall quality of life.
LINKAGE INFRASTRUCTURE, EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES FUNDING
A prototype Scanning Helium Atom Microscope (SHeM) for soft materials
Professor Paul Dastoor
$250,000.00
The scanning helium atom microscope (SHeM) has been a tantalising prospect since the birth of quantum physics. The SHeM would have unparalleled resolution and would be completely non-damaging; potentially revolutionising the imaging of soft delicate materials. This project will develop the first SHeM instrument in Australia to study soft matter.
Simultaneous measurements of reaction kinetics and particle distributions for cutting-edge research into CO2 storage, catalysis and novel materials
Prof Bogdan Dlugogorski
$160,000
This integrated facility will support the development of new CO2 storage and utilisation technologies for Australia. It will also assist with developing technologies for corrosion protection, energy recovery from biomass, and mineral processing which will maintain the competitiveness of Australia in these industries.
FACSAria III - Fluorescence activated cell sorter
Professor Paul Foster
$180,000
Flow cytometry is a technique for counting and examining microscopic particles, such as cells and chromosomes, by suspending them in a stream of fluid and passing them by an electronic detection apparatus. The FACSAria III cell sorter will be used to establish a core facility for sorting cells. The outcomes from using this technology are a better understanding cellular and genetic understanding of cancer, respiratory diseases, reproduction and birth.
Facility for characterisation of engineered microelectromechanical systems
Professor Reza Moheimani
$300,000
This facility will provide Australian microelectromechanical (MEMS) researchers with a vital, world-class, capacity for characterisation of micro-machined devices and transducers, enabling them to compete internationally in this emerging field.
DISCOVERY PROJECTS
Effect of forcing on the turbulent mixing of a passive scalar
Professor Robert Antonia
$535,000
This project will increase Australia's expertise in the area of turbulence, which is the usual state of fluid motion. A better knowledge of turbulent mixing will lead to more efficient combustion, savings in energy expenditure as well as a reduction in pollutant emissions.
Molecular scale engineering of solid/ionic liquid interfaces
Dr Rob Atkin
$380,000
Ionic liquids have enormous potential as advanced materials due to their unusual properties. This project will develop ways to use ionic liquids as lubricants, in electrochemical devices like capacitors, and in the electro-refining of metals. The technologies developed will decrease Australia's energy consumption and stimulate economic growth.
Unfinished business: on Marxism and religion
Associate Professor Roland T Boer
$60,000
'Unfinished Business' makes a significant contribution to issues that have returned with vigour to public debate: the role of religion in ostensibly secular societies and the relation between theology and political radicalism. It offers a much needed reference work that sets current debates within a rich tradition.
Structured barrier and penalty functions in infinite dimensional optimisation and analysis
Laureate Professor Jonathan Borwein
Total $390,000
Very large scale tightly-constrained optimisation problems are ubiquitous and include water management, traffic flow, and imaging at telescopes and hospitals. Massively parallel computers can solve such problems and provide physically realisable solution only if subtle design issues are mastered. Resolving such issues is the goal of this project.
Rapid decisions: from neuroscience to complex cognitions
Associate Professor Scott Brown
$134,000
A succession of rapid decisions supports our daily life - run or walk? Fish or steak? This project will integrate three different approaches to understanding these decisions, from neuroscience, mathematical psychology and experimental psychology. This research will provide insights about normal human functioning, and problems such as occur in healthy ageing.
Supercells and the supercontinent cycle
Prof William J Collins
$250,000
This is a new approach to understanding how the Earth works at a global-scale and billion-year perspective. In particular it seeks to understand why continents come together as supercontinents and then drift away again. The work has implications for copper-gold exploration on the Australian continent because it has relevant predictive capacity.
Patterns in early modern English drama texts: a quantitative and qualitative analysis of dramatic genre, repertory and style
Prof Hugh Craig
$160,000
This project combines traditional and innovative digital research methods to reveal and analyse underlying patterns and contrasts in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Surveyed as a network rather than as individual works this project will produce new knowledge about Renaissance drama and its development.
Fault tolerant control based on set-theoretic methods: robustness, nonlinear effects andprobabilistic developments
Dr Jose A De Dona
$320,000
This project will bring benefits to Australia by developing innovative self-healing technological systems that are able to maintain appropriate levels of performance while reacting to unforeseeable faults. The project will contribute to the National Research Priority area of Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.
Study of a turbulent boundary layer over 2D and 3D rough walls
Associate Professor Lyazid Djenidi
$360,000
The project is aimed at resolving critical issues related to turbulent flows over rough walls, which hinder the engineer's ability to model these flows. The research will provide key answers to these issues and lead to more realistic models as well as strategies for controlling drag, sedimentation and heat transport.
Probe based nano-fabrication of micro-electronic and mechanical systems
Dr Andrew J Fleming
$340,000
Integrated circuits (ICs) are the ubiquitous core of today's computers, medical devices and mobile phones. Unfortunately, advanced ICs are becoming more costly and difficult to fabricate. This project proposes a new method that uses a tiny, intense spot of light to create low-cost ICs that are small, fast and will enable a vast range of new technologies.
Distributed signal processing and control in sensor networks
Professor Minyue Fu
$320,000
Distributed sensor networks find wide applications in smart electricity grids, traffic systems, industrial plants and security systems. Massive amounts of data need be collected, transmitted and processed. This project aims to develop advanced techniques for the monitoring, diagnosis and control for these networks.
The control of chromosome division during female meiosis
Professor Keith T Jones
$330,000
Mammalian eggs are stored life-long and finally mature in the hours before ovulation. This project examines how the chromosomes in the egg are separated properly so as to produce a mature egg capable of being fertilized by a sperm. Often in eggs chromosome division is imprecisely executed, and this project will help us understand why this occurs.
Cognitive flexibility from adolescence to senescence: variability associated with cognitive strategy and brain connectivity
Dr Frini Karayanidis
$387,000
Healthy living in our complex and unpredictable world depends on the ability to flexibly adjust to novelty and change. This project will study how cognitive flexibility changes from adolescence to senescence, identify the brain networks that mediate this change and explore the implications for successful adaptation in everyday life.
Increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour to improve health and wellbeing in adolescent boys from disadvantaged schools
Dr David Lubans
$261,837
This project will involve the design and evaluation of a school-based program to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour in adolescent boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. This project has the potential to improve the health behaviours of current and future Australians most at risk for the development of lifestyle diseases.
Role of Musashi in the regulation of cell cycle proteins
Professor Eileen McLaughlin
$280,000
The research team have identified a protein family that directs cell fate and maintains male fertility. This project will provide new avenues for generation of contraceptives in male animals and to regulate stem cells for production of specialised cell types in biotechnological applications.
Memetic algorithms and adaptive memory metaheuristics for large scale combinatorial optimisation problems arising in biomarker discovery
Professor Pablo Moscato
$320,000
Despite modern supercomputers, the world depends on combinatorial optimisation, the branch of mathematics and computer science that involves finding optimal solutions when it is impossible to enumerate all solutions. The research team brings complementary skills to address the core set of the five most challenging problems arising from novel biotechnologies.
Thinking and talking about atolls: the role of environment in shaping language and our understanding of physical space
Dr William Palmer
$291,000
This project investigates the role of environment in shaping how we think about physical space. By comparing how people in the highly specialised environment of the atoll talk about space in different parts of the world we will gather new data to test ideas on the roles of language and environment in shaping how we understand the physical world.
Mechanisms regulating plant cell expansion: assessing the role of aquaporins
Associate Professor Yong Ling Ruan
Total $270,000
This project seeks to understand the role of water channel genes in controlling water flow into expanding plant cells by using cotton fibre as a model cell. Water flow plays critical roles in plant growth, hence yield. The information generated may provide technological opportunities for improving water flow and utilization, hence, crop yield.
A hybrid system framework for robust model predictive control
Dr Maria Seron
$105,000
This project will produce new analysis and design tools to develop novel hybrid model predictive control systems with guaranteed stability, robustness and fault tolerance. We foresee major benefits for Australia by enhancing its scientific reputation and by promoting safety, efficiency and technological innovation in industries and services.
Mechanics of unsaturated soils and its applications
Professor Daichao Sheng
$360,000
The project aims to study the fundamental behaviour of Australian natural soils under varying water contents and loading conditions. Some immediate applications include the design of foundations on reactive soils and the analysis of rainfall induced landslides. In both cases, the aim is to improve the design method and hence reduce the damage cost.
The material cultures of early modern women's writing: editing, reception and mediation
Dr Rosalind Smith
$210,000
This project provides the first comprehensive account of how early modern women's writing was produced and circulated from its original appearance to the present day. Changing the ways in which we read and value women's writing, it will produce new knowledge about early modern texts and their afterlives.
Particle-stabilised bubble and droplet interfaces
Associate Professor Erica Wanless
Total $315,000
Small particles may replace or supplement detergents in a broad range of applications. This project will provide the fundamental knowledge to optimise the use of particles to stabilise foams and emulsions in a controlled manner. This will transform economically important processes in the mining, food science or personal care industries.
Theory and applications of symmetries of relational structures
Professor George Willis
Total $325,000
Relational structures underpin information science, and symmetries of the structures determine their behaviour. This project exploits the interplay between several distinct branches of mathematics concerned with symmetries of relational structures, and will lead to new understandings and breakthroughs of high theoretical interest.
