Grants & Opportunities

Behind the barrier: using mathematics to understand the neuro-immune system. This project aims to develop new mathematical methods to study healthy immune cell regulation in the brain and movement across the Blood Brain Barrier. The project expects to develop novel deterministic and stochastic mathematics that captures the stochasticity of immune cells in the Central Nervous System (brain and spine) and form the foundation of a new field of mathematical research: mathematical neuroimmunology. Expected benefits of this project include new mathematical tools, biological insight, and strong interdisciplinary collaborations. From this project, Australia will be placed at the forefront of mathematical research in neuroimmunology, and there will be a complete understanding of homeostasis of the neuro-immune system. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4901 - Applied Mathematics. Lead: Dr Adrianne Jenner

How does the brain process conflicting information? Learning is the means by which we adapt to our environments. Occasionally, what we learn contradicts our present knowledge about the world. When this occurs, the old and new (contradictory) information compete for control over behaviour. Yet, how the brain processes contradictory information and resolves this competition is poorly understood. This project uses modern genetic tools in rodents to examine how the brain encodes and retrieves contradictory information to influence behaviour. The outcomes include new insights regarding the neural basis of adaptive behaviour; and the benefits include an understanding of why we sometimes fail to adapt to change, and disorders characterized by such failures (e.g., anxiety disorders, addiction).. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5202 - Biological Psychology. Lead: Dr Belinda Lay

Building community resilience to coastal climate hazards in Australia. More frequent and intense climate hazards are devastating Australian communities and are projected to worsen as climate changes. This project aims to develop and communicate urgently needed strategies to assist coastal communities to prepare for and respond to climate hazards. The relationship between local-scale connection and capacity to prepare and respond will be investigated using mixed methods research in at-risk communities. The research will deliver practical guidance to policy makers and managers that will optimise investments in building community resilience, advance the discipline of human geography, and benefit over 20 million Australians living in coastal areas by creating new knowledge on neighbourhood adaptive capacity.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4406 - Human Geography. Lead: Dr Carmen Elrick-Barr

Landscape-climate disequilibrium in dune fields. This project aims to predict how wind-blown landscapes respond to changes in climate. This project expects to use novel experiments and theoretical advances to meet this aim, then apply the prediction to the dune fields which cover a third of Australia's surface to generate new knowledge on what climate shaped them in the past, and how they will respond to anthropogenic climate change. Expected outcomes of this project will strengthen collaboration with discipline-leading international researchers and develop a globally-unique laboratory experimental capability in Australia. This should provide significant benefits to understanding environmental change in Australia by vastly improving predictions of dune-field response to future climate.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3709 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience. Lead: Dr Andrew Gunn

Neanderthal hunting ability and the extinction of archaic humans. This project aims to investigate a critical factor in explaining Neanderthals extinction: their hunting abilities. The research expects to generate new knowledge of archaic humans behaviour using an innovative approach combining traditional archaeological analytical methods with ground-breaking biomolecular techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of new knowledge in human evolutionary history and improved techniques to understand past human extinction events. This should provide significant benefits for Australia to become a primary power in studying human past and deep history, while enhancing capacity by becoming the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to implement ancient protein studies in archaeology.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4301 - Archaeology. Lead: Dr Sofia Samper Carro

Solving key issues in wearable thermoelectrics for practical applications. Wearable thermoelectrics can directly harvest electricity from body heat, offering a new technology to charge wearable electronics sustainably, but their unsatisfied performance and durability limit their applications. This project aims to design efficient and durable wearable thermoelectrics based on novel carbon/polymer/semiconductor (CPS) hybrid films. The key breakthrough is to develop advanced hybrid materials and devices with record-high thermoelectric performance, high stability, and high durability to tackle long-lasting practical application issues. The expected outcomes will lead to innovative technology for energy conversion and advanced manufacturing and place Australia at the forefront of energy and manufacturing.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Xiaolei Shi

Digital sovereignty and colonialisms in the Russian-Ukrainian war. This project investigates how weaponisation of information and communication technologies affects territorial integrity of sovereign democratic states. Documenting and analysing the architectures, practices and discourses surrounding digital sovereignty in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, it contributes a unique regional case to understanding how digital communication infrastructures can be used as tools of colonial expansion. Expected outcomes include a theoretical model of colonial techno-geopolitics and a suite of critical visual approaches to mapping the topographies of digital sovereignty. Benefits include a set of policy recommendations on building and preserving resilient information and communication ecosystems. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies. Lead: Dr Olga Boichak

Electrolyte design for high-performance, sustainable sodium batteries. This project aims to develop sustainable high-performance sodium batteries by investigating new non-flammable and safe electrolyte chemistries. The project will generate knowledge in materials chemistry for battery electrolytes that will underpin improvements in battery technology and help to move society towards a zero-carbon economy. The outcomes will provide materials suitable for prototyping reliable, safe and sustainable batteries in Australia and enhance research collaborations with local and international industry partners. These advances will contribute to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy storage systems, positioning Australia at the forefront of advanced battery research.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Mega Kar

Diversity Oriented Clicking - Streamlined Synthesis of Molecular Frameworks. Innovation in synthetic chemistry drives the discovery of new life-changing drugs, agrochemicals and functional materials. This project aims to use a novel chemical concept, termed Diversity Oriented Clicking, for new sustainable and streamlined synthetic transformations. The new chemical processes are expected to deliver improved economy, efficiency and precision in the synthesis of bioactive molecules and functional materials that are inaccessible or challenging to prepare with existing technologies. The conceptual and practical outcomes of this project are expected to benefit both academia and industry as the synthetic routes to diverse complex molecules can be greatly streamlined, and reducing chemical waste and required purification.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3405 - Organic Chemistry. Lead: Dr Christopher Smedley

The geometry of braids and triangulated categories. Triangulated categories play a central role in geometry, algebra, and topology. Their study can uncover deep structure connecting different areas of mathematics. This project aims to use novel approaches to answer fundamental questions about triangulated categories and their symmetries. These symmetries are encoded by braids, which are important objects with many applications across science. The project is expected to benefit Australia by stimulating research in mathematics and computer science. It will invite connections with leading experts and students around the world and encourage overseas collaboration. There is a potential long-term benefit to cybersecurity, towards the development of new encryption schemes based on braids.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4904 - Pure Mathematics. Lead: Dr Asilata Bapat

Child Citizens: Young People and Australian Democracy since 1945. This project provides a new account of Australian democracy from the perspective of children and young people. It tracks changes in children’s conceptions and practices of citizenship since 1945 to explain their contested status in contemporary politics. Far from simply being ‘citizens in waiting’, the project shows that young people have long been active participants in political and civic life and reveals how their citizenship claims have expanded across this period, alongside those of other marginalised groups. Its findings will add nuance to current debates about children’s political exclusion, with its social impact enhanced through the development of an online research portal and collaboration with the Museum of Australian Democracy.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4303 - Historical Studies. Lead: Dr Isobelle Barrett Meyering

Barking up the right trees – A microbial solution for our methane problem. This project aims to unveil the microbial diversity and metabolic capabilities of bark-dwelling microbial communities in Australian forests. Trees perform an important climatic function in sequestering atmospheric carbon, however the role of tree bark-associated microbiome in regulating other climate-active trace gasses such as methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide is unknown. Combining cutting-edge molecular and biogeochemical approaches, this project aims to characterise and quantify trace gas oxidation rates of forest bark microbiome. The anticipated outcomes include fundamental knowledge surrounding bark-associated microbial trace gas oxidation within global biogeochemical cycles, and insights into their response to climatic variables.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4105 - Pollution and Contamination. Lead: Dr Luke Jeffrey

Investigating Telehealth Psychological Support. This project aims to investigate how practitioners and LGBTIQ+ patients engaged in long term psychological support experience telehealth and navigate continuity of care in their experience of this support. This project expects to generate new knowledge to support the provision of best practice in telehealth support for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Expected outcomes will be enhanced understanding of how practitioners and patients navigate continuity of care and psychological support via telehealth and practice-ready resources for medical providers. This should provide significant benefits such as expanded accessibility, improved service delivery, usability and effectiveness in mental healthcare in Australia.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4410 - Sociology. Lead: Dr Joe Latham

Single-cell metabolite imaging of the coral-microalgal symbiosis. Corals sustain some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth but are at risk due to warming and acidifying oceans. Coral survival critically depends on the photosynthetic microalgae that live inside the coral and provide the coral with nutrients. Many aspects of this coral-algal relationship remain poorly defined. This project aims to unravel coral-algal interactions with single-cell imaging. Insights from extreme environment corals will reveal how these microalgae may facilitate coral survival under future climate change, providing vital information for reef managers and restoration practitioners. By establishing a novel method, databases and networks, this project will create a powerful forward momentum for coral-algal research.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4101 - Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation. Lead: Dr Wing Yan Chan

Unravelling the pathways of methane production and oxidation in mangroves. This project addresses a long-standing conundrum of why high methane emissions are sustained in saline coastal wetlands by identifying and quantifying methane production and oxidation processes in mangrove ecosystems. Using a novel combination of cutting-edge instrumentation for greenhouse gases, radiocarbon/stable isotope analysis, this project will generate a first complete picture of the mangrove methane cycle, to accurately quantify, for the first time, Australia’s contribution to global coastal mangrove emissions. The outcomes will establish currently lacking fundamental understanding of wetland methane cycling, advance global biogeochemical models, and improve strategies for natural climate solutions of coastal wetlands in Australia.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3703 - Geochemistry. Lead: A/Prof Judith Rosentreter

Geothermal heat recovery and energy storage from underground mines. This project aims to investigate the technological aspects of re-using underground mines as a source for low-carbon heat extraction and storage – while simultaneously providing sustainable solutions for mine rehabilitation. Expected outcomes of this project include a framework to evaluate the viability of a mine-water system as a geothermal heat source; experimental and field exploration of the proposed technology; and strategies to optimise the heat extraction process. Overall, the research provides significant benefits for renewable-based energy transformation while minimising the adverse impacts of post-mining landscapes.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4019 - Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy. Lead: Dr Wanniarachchige Pabasara Kumari

Cohesive Multipartite Subgraph Discovery in Large Heterogeneous Networks. This project aims to devise novel cohesive multipartite subgraph models and corresponding efficient search algorithms based on various applications. Significant advances in understanding big data will be enabled by the proposed novel theories and algorithms, which can leverage the value of heterogeneous network data and serve as the foundation of network analytics. Expected outcomes of this project include novel cohesive multipartite subgraph models, efficient searching algorithms and platforms for heterogeneous networks. This should provide significant benefits for different organisations and a myriad of applications dealing with heterogeneous network data, including but not limited to e-commerce, cybersecurity, health and social networks.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science. Lead: Dr Lu Chen

Beyond Imported Understandings of Domestic Violence in the Pacific. High occurrences of domestic violence across the Pacific region threatens the growth and development of all sectors. This project aims to investigate local understandings of the causes, manifestations, and best-suited responses to the problem in the Pacific. It advances a study of local stakeholder’s perspectives of domestic violence in two of the least developed Pacific Island countries to generate non-Western, context-specific insight into developing policies and practices to inform improved frontline responses. Expected outcomes include the development of an evidence base to inform contextually appropriate and innovative responses to domestic violence, with benefits to islander/indigenous communities and economies in Oceania.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4513 - Pacific Peoples Culture, Language and History. Lead: Dr Danielle Watson

Sensory and bioengineering approaches to predict hearing abilities in fish. This project aims to understand the factors responsible for the extraordinary diversity in the shape and size of fish ears and why some fishes are more sensitive to sound than others, which is little understood. Using innovative techniques and a multidisciplinary approach, expected outcomes of this project include the first model representing the hearing function of fish underwater. This may allow unique insights into the importance of sound for fish, as well as inspire the development of new sensor technologies, including in robotics and biomedical applications. Benefits include the ability to predict the vulnerability of a fish species to noise pollution and to inform conservation strategies and policy guidelines.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3104 - Evolutionary Biology. Lead: Dr Lucille Chapuis

Lead-free Perovskite Nanowires for Artificial Photo-synapse Arrays. This project aims to develop lead-free perovskite nanowires based nanoscale artificial photo-synapse arrays for energy-efficient and high-speed neuromorphic computing applications. The aim will be achieved through engineering the materials interfaces between the perovskite nanowires/electrodes and developing a novel orthogonal electron beam lithography process established by the candidate. The innovative nanoscale integration of perovskite photo-synapse circuits will be demonstrated for image recognition applications. The success of this project will advance perovskites in the next-generation memristor devices and ensure Australia as a global leader in the emerging technology of perovskite nanoelectronics for neuromorphic computations.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Chun-Ho Lin

Galactic Outflows: Pushing the Distance Frontiers. This project aims to push the frontiers of our knowledge of galactic outflows: a key physical process shaping galaxy formation and evolution. Using cutting-edge facilities including the new, high-profile James Webb Space Telescope, this project expects to build the first holistic picture of outflows in the distant past, when present-day galaxies were still taking shape. Expected outcomes include a novel framework for measuring outflow properties, and new understanding of the physics of distant outflows. This research is expected to provide strong benefits by enhancing the legacy of Australia’s $122M partnership with the European Southern Observatory and placing Australia at the forefront of the James Webb Space Telescope revolution.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Dr Rebecca Davies

Engineering microenvironments to regulate osteocyte 3D networks in vitro. Most knowledge of bone is based on only a fraction of cells found in bone because the majority of cells in our bones (called osteocyte cell networks) cannot easily be grown or studied outside the body. This results in the inability to understand how the bone organ functions. Using bioinspired engineering, this project will use advanced biomaterials to biofabricate, for the first time, osteocyte cell networks in vitro. By unravelling how they are formed and controlled by manipulating their microenvironment, we will discover how different types of bones are formed. The benefits will be a valuable tool for the bone research community, allowing unresolved questions to be addressed in the future, such as how bone forms, repairs, and remodels.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Nathalie Bock

On the wealth of First Nations: Examining the Indigenous-settler wealth gap. This project aims to revise understandings of First Nations economic circumstances by investigating disparities between First Nations and non-Indigenous financial wealth. It expects to generate knowledge of the size of the ‘wealth gap’ and identify the structures that cause its contemporary reproduction and analyse policy options to address these disparities. Expected outcomes of the project include new knowledge about the Indigenous-settler wealth gap and the development of a research literature on approaches to addressing the wealth gap in Australia. This should provide significant benefits including a clearer understanding of the nature and causes of economic disparities between First Nations and non-Indigenous people in Australia.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4406 - Human Geography. Lead: Dr Francis Markham

Evaluating the Impact and Efficiency of Engineering the Ocean to Remove CO2. This project aims to evaluate the viability of engineering the ocean to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by simulating a suite of climate intervention and baseline scenarios. To better predict changes in marine carbon cycling, I will first make novel observations of zooplankton grazing dynamics, then use them to improve, validate and constrain a new marine biogeochemical model. Using this model, coupled to an ocean, atmosphere and fisheries model, I will quantify the long-term efficiency with which marine carbon dioxide removal strategies sequester carbon along with their impact on fisheries catch. These projections will help scientists, policy-makers, and industry leaders decide if, when, and how we should geoengineer the ocean. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3708 - Oceanography. Lead: Dr Tyler Rohr

Sustainable Business Models for Marine Conservation. Marine conservation remains severely underfunded, with the private sector increasingly promoted as a solution. This project investigates under which circumstances sustainable business models can be developed to generate profit alongside positive marine conservation outcomes. By collecting data from coastal stakeholders in Fiji and the Philippines, the project will conduct the first in depth examination of relationships between the institutional, financial, and business aspects of marine conservation. Expected outcomes include enhanced cooperation and decision-making among entrepreneurs, investors, and environmental managers – to implement solutions to effectively and equitably safeguard ocean resources, ecosystems, and coastal communities.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4406 - Human Geography. Lead: Dr Benjamin Thompson