Grants & Opportunities

Redesigning workers’ compensation using participatory systems modelling. This project will use participatory system modelling techniques to develop and test new approaches to the design and delivery of workers' compensation in Australia. The project responds to the substantial evidence that Australia’s workers' compensation systems are failing to achieve their social and economic objectives. We will actively engage people with lived experience of work disability to co-design an alternative workers' compensation system. The outcomes of this system will be assessed using agent-based modelling, and compared to the current state. The study will provide a vision for an alternative approach to workers' compensation that supports the social and economic participation of Australians with work disability. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4407 - Policy and Administration. Lead: Prof Alex Collie

Eviction: How private renters lose their homes and the consequences. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic. An estimated 75,000 private renters are evicted annually leading to ongoing housing precarity, poor health and trauma. This first large-scale study of the evicting process in Australia aims to examine how the process of evicting low-income private renters occurs, the actors, instruments and technologies involved and the long-term impacts of being under the constant threat of eviction or losing one’s home. The intended outcomes of the study are to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the evicting process and its impacts, identify how evictions might be avoided and provide evidence for policy changes that could benefit all parties in the private rental sector. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4407 - Policy and Administration. Lead: Prof Alan Morris

Pseudorandomness in Number Theory, Dynamics and Cryptography. The aim of the project is to investigate various aspects of randomness, design new and analyse previously known constructions of randomness extractors of practical use. As a dual aim, we will also investigate the pseudorandomness of some classical number-theoretic objects. The significance of this project is in a large number of theoretical and practical applications and in new methods which will be developed. Expected outcomes include new cryptographically strong hash functions and progress towards several famous open conjectures such as Sarnak’s conjecture. These new results and methods will be highly beneficial for both theoretical mathematics and also for such practical areas as cryptography and information security.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4904 - Pure Mathematics. Lead: A/Prof Alina Ostafe

High shear fluid flow driving carbon foundry for advanced manufacturing. This project aims to develop versatile continuous flow thin film microfluidic device technology for harnessing contact electrification generated by sub-micron high shear flows in fabricating novel and high-performance nano-carbons for which current methods are ineffective or impossible. This project expects to generate new knowledge on complex vortex fluid fields, their intricate interactions with external electric and magnetic fields and carbon nanostructure formation. Expected outcomes for this project include exquisite control on reforming nanocarbon with tuneable properties and unprecedented hetero-structures. This should provide significant benefits, such as in generating new processes and products for advanced manufacturing. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4018 - Nanotechnology. Lead: Prof Colin Raston AO FAA

Locally structured polar-photofunctional materials for energy conversion. This project aims to develop a novel method to engineer local chemical structures for achieving the polarity in narrow bandgap oxides via advanced thin-film growth and ion beam irradiation techniques. The developed new polar-photofunctional materials will significantly improve opto-electro-mechanical coupling and energy conversion, facilitating uses in renewable energy harvesting and smart optomechanical devices. The project expects to advance material science through a new concept and innovative methodology, achieve properties forbidden/limited by conventional strategies and expand candidate pools for new generation multifunctional materials, significantly advancing Australia’s capacity in advanced manufacturing and industry.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4018 - Nanotechnology. Lead: Dr Teng Lu

Sequence-Defined Polymers with Optical Information Readout. The project aim is to introduce the first optically readable sequence-defined polymers based on fluorophore excimers, whose information content can be read as simply as conventional barcodes. These macromolecular barcodes, embedded in solid polymer matrices, will overcome the current limitations of reading information from synthetic macromolecules. An interdisciplinary effort will fuse chemistry, law, and criminology to develop the technology in ways that are expected to address illicit plastic waste trafficking – ending the anonymity of polymer waste by creating a regulatory and criminological paradigm for tracing plastic waste to hold actors in the value chain responsible.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3403 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry. Lead: Prof Christopher Barner-Kowollik

Heavy Metal Chemistry Goes Nuclear: Radioactive Rhenium and Terbium Agents. This project aims to make fundamental advances in the basic knowledge of the bioinorganic chemistry of radioactive metals that have the potential to be used in the future as radioactive drugs. Technological advances in the production of radioactive isotopes of rhenium and terbium have increased the feasibility of using these radionuclides as radioactive drugs, but their use requires new basic knowledge in their fundamental coordination chemistry. This project will develop new ways to synthesise radioactive rhenium and terbium complexes. The outcomes of this project will be an improved understanding of the coordination chemistry rhenium and terbium which is required to inform their future translation to new radiopharmaceuticals.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3402 - Inorganic Chemistry. Lead: Prof Paul Donnelly

Finding friendship in early English literature. This project aims to provide extensive new knowledge about the long story of friendship by reconceptualizing the ways in which this bond was lived and imagined in early medieval literature. The project expects to make an innovative contribution to our understanding of this fundamental human relationship through a case study of early English texts. Expected outcomes of this project include an unprecedented comprehensive study of friendship in an early medieval society through its writing, and with this develop a model for the engaged humanities. The project offers significant benefit for a range of academic disciplines, and also includes important benefit beyond the academy through engagement with a critical issue in contemporary society. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4705 - Literary Studies. Lead: Prof Daniel Anlezark

Storying and repairing water places in Wiradjuri Country. This project will centre Aboriginal knowledges to story, care for and repair Wiradjuri Country around the Mudgee area, central west NSW. Sharing information is a key goal of this project. Wiradjuri people are keen to see their cultural, economic, social and environmental knowledge about Country recorded and shared for people in the Mudgee area and beyond. By documenting in story form the proposed on-Country Learning, this project can facilitate this process and serve as a pathway for other co-management contexts. At the heart of the project is on-Country Learning which will bring key collaborators, community members and local school students together on, and with, Country. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4406 - Human Geography. Lead: A/Prof Jessica McLean

The infectome of NSW dairy calves, a genomic microbial surveillance . Infectious diseases are the main cause of disease and mortality in calves. The knowledge of the diversity of infectious disease-causing agents in NSW dairy cattle is not comprehensive. Thus, the immediate goal of this proposal is to redress this knowledge gap using untargeted microbial genomic sequencing to characterise and identify known and emerging enteric and respiratory pathogens in dairy calves. We will determine the occurrence and distribution of their microbial species across all NSW dairy regions. This will enable the Australian dairy industry to improve animal health and productivity, and diagnostic capacity, which will allow farmers to make informed management decisions about disease control strategies. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3003 - Animal Production. Lead: Prof Steven Djordjevic

Improving aged care with memory conversations. This project aims to investigate conversational techniques known as "elaborative reminiscing" as a tool for aged care staff to practice relationship-based care in their day-to-day interactions with older clients. The project expects to generate new knowledge about which specific techniques increase reminiscing during routine care, and how these tools have ongoing benefits for aged care clients. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based training program and improved understanding of facilitators and barriers to meeting aged care clients' social needs. This should provide significant benefits by improving wellbeing of clients in aged care, reducing hospitalisations, and enabling aged care providers to meet new industry standards.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 5203 - Clinical and Health Psychology. Lead: A/Prof Celia Harris

Improving carer’s quality of life and quality of care. This project will improve the ability of Carers Australia and the Department of Social Services to evaluate and enhance the success of services they implement to support Australia’s 2.7 million unpaid carers. Currently little is known about which support and services most help improve quality of life for carers, and the quality of care they provide, despite strong evidence of a quality of life crisis amongst carers. By collecting cross sectional and longitudinal data to build on an existing data set, this project will enable evidence-based design and delivery of services that support carers socially, emotionally and financially while enabling them to provide high quality care.. Scheme: Early Career Industry Fellowships. Field: 4206 - Public Health. Lead: Dr Melinda Mylek

Development of rapid-response thermal batteries for the global market. In collaboration with Isothermix, this project aims to develop and commercialize cost-effective, rapid-response thermal batteries to meet the air conditioning peak demand of buildings. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the phase change materials which can be used to store thermal energy across a range of temperatures and the highly thermal conductive materials which can be used as a heat exchanger. Expected outcomes include the development of rapid response thermal batteries which can cool buildings across a range of temperatures and site conditions. This should provide significant benefits by reducing primary heating and cooling plant capacity and thereby our reliance on fossil fuels.. Scheme: Early Career Industry Fellowships. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr SEUNG HO LEE

High-performance ammonia electrosynthesis devices. The project aims to develop a robust process for electrosynthesis of ammonia using devices manufactured by Melbourne company Jupiter Ionics P/L and innovative electrolyte components. Towards this aim, tailored ion-shuttling compounds need to be designed and investigated to enable continuous generation of ammonia in scaled-up flow devices. This is expected to generate new knowledge in practical electrochemistry, catalysis and sustainable synthesis. Key project outcome is a technology for production of ammonia from renewables that is pollution-free and highly scalable in contrast to the current process. Resulting benefit to Australian agriculture businesses is a method for distributed fertiliser generation without the use of fossil fuels.. Scheme: Early Career Industry Fellowships. Field: 3406 - Physical Chemistry. Lead: Dr Hoang-Long Du

Regeneration of High Value-Added Materials from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries. This project aims to develop scalable processing techniques for the regeneration of cathode materials and the production of high-purity alumina and graphene from spent lithium-ion batteries. The techniques reduce the cost and time of the processing of degraded cathode materials and increase the value of the spent battery materials (e.g., metallic aluminum and graphite) by converting them into high value-added specialty chemicals. The outcomes and further technology adoptions will extend the capacity of the Partner Organisation for producing specialty battery materials. The outcomes could help Australia’s battery industry switch to a more diversified pathway, which benefits the economic development of Australia in a long term.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4004 - Chemical Engineering. Lead: Prof Dr Zongping Shao

Reading climate: Indigenous literatures, school English and sustainablity. Reading Climate aims to investigate the connections between sustainability and Indigenous knowledge in the context of school English and directly responds to imperatives for climate education and racial justice in Australian schools. It links teachers, students, authors and scholars through book clubs, exploring the potential of literature as an interdisciplinary site for knowledge building and for reimagining social and environmental futures. With partners the Stella Prize, the Australian Association for the Teaching of English, Feral Arts and VoicEd Radio, the project will develop strong collaborations between literary education, industry, and Indigenous writing, producing an open access digital resource for use in schools nationally. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3901 - Curriculum and Pedagogy. Lead: Prof Larissa McLean Davies

Finding Australia’s Disabled Authors: Connection, Creativity, Community. This research project aims to explore disabled writers and disability more generally in Australian literature. As there is little awareness of the contribution that Australian authors with disability have made to literary culture, the project expects to generate new knowledge about how disabled people have forged their writing careers, and how their disability shapes their creative practice. The expected outcomes include a greater understanding of the diversity of Australian writers and literature, community engagement with disability, and support for emerging disabled writers. The project will provide significant benefits including a greater awareness of disability and the capacity to combat ableism and discrimination. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4705 - Literary Studies. Lead: Dr Jessica White

Understanding marine migratory connectivity for more sustainable oceans. Ocean basin-scale migrations of iconic sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, and fish expose them to multiple stressors and governance regimes, leading to gaps in management and population declines. The project aims to deliver the methods and evidence base of cross-taxa migratory connectivity that is essential to support the conservation of these species. Expected outcomes include comprehensive and integrated models of migratory connectivity, conservation theory development, and new methods that allow incorporation of migratory connectivity in conservation planning. Benefits include: a cross-taxa baseline that will enable Australia to measure environmental change in marine migratory connectivity for the first time.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3103 - Ecology. Lead: A/Prof Daniel Dunn

Innovative Strategies for Crafting Precision Kinase Inhibitors. Protein kinases are key regulators of cellular signaling, playing a pivotal role in diverse biological processes. However, most protein kinase inhibitors target a common binding site, leading to undesired effects on other kinases. This project aims to create highly selective protein kinase inhibitors by using structural biology to pinpoint unique interactions in the peptide-binding site. Using medicinal chemistry, we will enhance kinase selectivity of existing potent but non-selective inhibitors, and will validate their cellular pharmacology. Our innovative approach will be broadly applicable to diverse protein kinases of interest to academia and industry, and in the future will support the development of new drugs by Australian companies.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3404 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry. Lead: Prof Spencer Williams

An operando characterisation platform for clean energy transition in WA. This project aims to investigate the transitional properties of energy materials in clean energy generation, storage, conversion, and utilisation under real synthesis and catalysis conditions by establishing an in situ and operando analysis platform. The project expects to generate new knowledge in materials chemistry and reaction kinetics with varying temperature, gases, light, and/or electrolytes. Expected outcomes include innovative catalyst design strategies and insights into clean energy transition and decarbonisation, as well as enhanced interdisciplinary collaborations. This research will provide significant benefits, such as the development of new knowledge and technology, contributing to Australia's transition towards clean energy.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Hongqi Sun

Operando Monitor of Gas Evolution in Renewable Energy Systems. The gas evolution reactions are critically important in renewable energy systems. However, the gas evolution mechanisms in many energy systems have not been well investigated due to the fast reaction dynamics and trace of gaseous byproducts. In this project, we will combine the technology of differential electrochemical mass spectrometry with in-situ Raman/FTIR investigation to collect information on adsorbed species, reaction products, and intermediates on a short timescale. By characterising the changes in product distribution in various systems, the reaction mechanism can be revealed, and relevant information for specific reactions can be obtained. This will provide guidelines for fundamental knowledge in renewable energy systems.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Hao Liu

National Live Cell Analytics Facility for Organelles’ Interactome Discovery. The LIEF project aims to establish a state-of-the-art National Live Cell Analytics Facility for Organelles’ Interactome Discovery. It will incorporate various cutting-edge equipment, including spinning disk super-resolution confocal microscope, polarization structure illumination microscope, an extended excitation unit operating in the near-infrared spectrum, and a high-throughput screening workstation. The facility will provide unparalleled capabilities for visualizing interactions among subcellular organelles and mapping out networks between cells. Australian data science, biology, materials, and engineering researchers will collaborate to spearhead international advancements in cell biology methodologies through this advanced platform. . Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: Prof Jiajia Zhou

All-Optical Upgrade to the Adelaide Atom Trap Trace Analysis Facility. This LIEF will upgrade the University of Adelaide Atom Trap Trace Analysis facility with a state-of-the-art analysis system that incorporates new all-optical methods. The system will provide ultrasensitive measurement of trace argon and krypton gas for groundwater dating. The project addresses a global demand for measurements by increasing the capacity at the Adelaide facility and enables new applications through analysis of smaller sample volumes. It will benefit the Australian environmental and earth sciences by providing unique datasets, generating new knowledge into the flow and transport mechanisms of groundwater systems. It will address national water security and sustainability goals, and support growth of population and industry. . Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 3707 - Hydrology. Lead: Prof Andre Luiten

Funding for projects that promote road safety to the ACT community

Funding to celebrate culture, improve leadership skills, or assist with lifelong learning