Grants & Opportunities

This grant opportunity is available for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in NSW. Up to $250,000 is available to establish place-based Digital Inclusion Hub under Closing the Gap Socio‑Economic Outcome 17.

Funds the establishment of micro-businesses in remote Aboriginal communities.

The program aims to enable Aboriginal Medical Services, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to lead the development of community-identified cancer research priorities.

Next-generation epigenetic analysis: direct reading of DNA methylation. This project aims to develop a new molecular tool to directly and dynamically read chemical modifications on genomic DNA (epigenetics) by utilizing advanced nanomaterials with the unique features of Raman spectroscopy. Epigenetics affects cellular processes and controls genetic programs by turning them “on” and “off" but there is currently no direct method to measure modifications on DNA. A new technology will be designed to avoid complicated procedures/chemistry for DNA epigenetic analysis providing a specific molecular fingerprint. The anticipated outcomes include a new technique and advanced knowledge in nanomaterials and DNA functions, thus strengthening the economic viability of Australian manufacturing and biotechnology sectors.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 1007 - Nanotechnology. Lead: Prof Yuling Wang

This program provides scholarship assistance to First Nations Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, and Taribelang Bunda tertiary students (University, Cert IV, and Diploma) to support their higher education, health, economic wellbeing, and ability to contribute to their community.

This grant supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in remote areas of South Australia, focusing on conservation initiatives, community engagement, education, and cultural connection.

Partnership with Hands Across Canberra and John James Foundation. $1.94M across 63 projects (2024). Supports community belonging, disability inclusion, healthcare, First Nations communities, DFV prevention.

Community Spirit Grants up to $2,000 and Community Growth Grants up to $15,000 for regional and remote Queensland community-led initiatives.

This grant program supports community and government organisations to achieve lasting, positive impacts on the NSW environment by protecting, conserving and restoring our natural resources.

Understanding nutritional interactions for targeted microbiome manipulation. This project aims to identify how microbial communities, known as microbiomes, can be effectively manipulated to the benefit of their host. Microbiome manipulation has been in the spotlight as a potential solution to maintain or improve the health of several hosts, from threatened coral species to livestock and humans, but the development of industry-scale strategies has been slow. This project proposes to chart the nutritional interactions among microorganisms and to identify cascade effects of microbiome manipulation. This will generate fundamental knowledge on the biological processes underlying community stability and malleability, which will ultimately help engineering optimised microbiomes.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 0605 - Microbiology. Lead: Dr Vanessa Rossetto Marcelino

Smart Optimisation of Functionally Graded Porous Structures. This project aims to develop a novel smart optimisation method for shaping the porosity geometries of metal foams for design requirements. Although these functionally graded porous structures have superior engineering properties, efficient examination methods to understand the mechanical behaviour of irregular graded porosities are lacking. Expected outcomes of this project include the expansion of fundamental knowledge in porous media and new technologies to build stronger and lighter multifunctional structural components. The project will provide significant benefits, including enhanced manufacturing capacities of local industries to fabricate metal foam products, new job opportunities in a growing market, and less carbon emissions.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 0905 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Dr Da Chen

Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially comprehensive and unprecedented data from new radar and laser satellite sensors. We aim to develop techniques for integration of the new data with other independent data sources, producing the most precise marine bathymetry for coastal terrain mapping, marine transport and safety management.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 0909 - Geomatic Engineering. Lead: Hon A/Prof Xiaoli Deng

Using assisted evolution to win the war against invasive species. Invasive species disrupt ecosystem functioning, causing severe economic costs. This project investigates the use of native insects, alongside assisted evolution, as a novel approach to control invasive plants. Combining experimental and observational data we aim to accelerate adaptation already underway and entrained by selection from interactions between invasive plants and Australian insects. These data will not only address unresolved questions in evolutionary biology but will also provide knowledge on the role native insects can play in the biocontrol of invasive weeds. This will be crucial for conservation managers and agricultural practitioners dealing with plant movement and/or crop development under ongoing environmental change.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 0501 - Ecological Applications. Lead: Prof Johannes Le Roux

Strain-stabilised perovskite optoelectronics: from fundamentals to devices. This project aims to develop deep structure-property relationships and strain engineering protocols to generate stable forms of the emerging inorganic halide perovskite semiconductors, which are promising for next-generation solar cells and light emitting diodes. This project expects to arrive at working light emitter and detector prototypes via a three-dimensional, multi-length scale strain engineering approach that utilises materials processing techniques already used in the semiconductor industry. The expected outcomes include the development of new stabilisation methods which are compatible with facile and scalable device processing, which will directly impact the success of future perovskite optoelectronic devices and technologies.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5104 - Condensed Matter Physics. Lead: Dr Julian Steele

High activity catalysts for CO2 recycling to valuable chemical products. This proposal targets the development of novel porous solid catalysts, containing highly dispersed metal clusters that provide exceptional activity for the conversion (recycling) of carbon dioxide to fuels and other higher value chemical products. These novel materials will improve the productivity and/or reduce the energy required to facilitate the CO2 conversion, thereby reducing costs for industry, whilst also providing environmental benefit by carbon dioxide utilisation.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4004 - Chemical Engineering. Lead: Prof Akshat Tanksale

Enabling wider use of mechanistic models for biodiversity forecasts . Forecasting species distributions is challenging yet necessary. The pattern-based models commonly used are error-prone. Mechanistic models, best equipped for the task, are limited by lack of data. This project aims to enable wider use of mechanistic models by developing new methods for dealing with incomplete trait data and uncertainty. It expects to generate new knowledge about how species’ traits define the environments in which they persist. Anticipated outcomes include enhanced capacity to apply mechanistic models to conservation problems, methods for communicating uncertainties and models for tens of species of immediate conservation interest. This will enable more reliable biodiversity forecasts, supporting better decision-making. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4104 - Environmental Management. Lead: Prof Michael McCarthy

Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framework to identify and define areas of news need, an assessment of existing interventions and road-tested approaches to improve information quality. The project should provide benefits by supporting forms of local journalism that ultimately enhances the demographic health and social fabric of small towns and cities. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies. Lead: Prof Kristy Hess