Grants & Opportunities

Advancing meta-thermoelectrics through dual-channel phonon engineering. This project aims to develop dual-channel phonon engineering for decreasing thermal conductivity, which can not only deliver new knowledge in heat conduction and phonon transport theories, but also significantly advance meta-thermoelectrics. Expected outcomes include a scalable strategy to obtain thermoelectric materials with ultralow thermal conductivity which boosts the figure-of-merit to over 3.0, and enhanced capacity for modulating microscopic heat conduction that can be deployed in high-density and high-efficiency thermoelectric devices for autonomous power generation and miniaturised heat management. This project will benefit markets of personal electronics and hybrid vehicles and promote Australia’s net zero emission target by 2050.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Meng Li

Quantum Dot Hybrids for Methanol Photoreforming. This project aims to develop heavy-metal-free quantum dots hybrid materials for solar-driven reforming of methanol into high-value chemicals accompanied with carbon emissions-free, zero-pollution hydrogen production. The project expects to contribute new knowledge in the colloidal synthesis of quantum materials by overcoming the challenges of organic-inorganic synthesis barriers and providing platform technologies for handling highly efficient photocatalysts. This project will address the critical challenges in methanol photoreforming, and significantly contribute to Australia’s sustainable hydrogen industry and value-adding export economy.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Dechao Chen

Emerging blue carbon pathways as natural climate solutions. This project aims to uncover whether two previously-overlooked pathways of the coastal carbon cycle can provide climate mitigation benefits. Using innovative experiments and oceanographic modelling, this project will quantify coastal carbon injection to the deep sea and carbon storage in unvegetated shelf sediments, helping solve outstanding questions regarding the role of coastal vegetated ecosystems in the ocean carbon budget. Project outcomes will deliver robust models for cost-effective carbon accounting, and a tool to verify the climate benefits of managing coastal ecosystems. This will facilitate the development of novel climate mitigation activities, positioning Australia at the leading edge of ocean-based climate action. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4101 - Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation. Lead: Dr Albert Pessarrodona Silvestre

Enhancing residual trapping of CO2 during geological sequestration. The project aims to investigate CO2 trapping in porous media during cyclic CO2-water injection by developing an advanced pore-scale model for multiphase flow. Following validation using 3D-printed micromodels, simulations with a wide range of process parameters will identify conditions for maximum trapping. The project expects to generate new knowledge of the effects of fluid properties and flow conditions on CO2 trapping efficiency and a deeper understanding of how pore geometry and spatial heterogeneity affect multiphase flow processes in porous media. The developed simulation technique and new knowledge will enable enhanced CO2 geologic storage efficiency and reduced risk of leakage and hence wider use of carbon geosequestration.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4012 - Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering. Lead: Dr Zhongzheng Wang

Knowledge Enriched Approach for Effective Personalization. This project aims to integrate the strength of both knowledge and data to generate effective personalization using a novel neural-symbolic machine learning approach. This project expects to solve several challenges in pure data driven approaches (e.g., data sparsity, data bias and lack of transparency) while leveraging the simplicity of heuristic-based approaches. Expected outcomes include a novel neural-symbolic approach for user modelling that is applicable to personalisation problems in a wide range of industries. This is expected to provide significant benefit to public organisations through enabling provision of personalised service by better understanding individual users (e.g., personalized learning and personalized medicine).. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science. Lead: Dr Weiqing Wang

Generative Models for Generalised Skeleton-based Human Action Recognition. This project aims to develop innovative techniques rooted in generative models for more generalised human action recognition using privacy-preserving skeleton sequences. This project expects to contribute new knowledge in data-efficient learning, zero-shot learning, and domain adaptation through the development of novel methods. Expected outcomes of this project include novel techniques for generating skeleton data and enhancing action recognition models, enabling models to recognise unseen actions and adapt to diverse domains with limited training data. This should provide significant benefits to science, society, and the economy nationally and internationally, through various applications such as in autonomous vehicles and healthcare.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4611 - Machine Learning. Lead: Dr Qiuhong Ke

Hydrogen Hub Futures. This project aims to assist Australia’s developing hydrogen industry deliver its potential decarbonization, economic and social benefits, by critically examining the hydrogen hub model and its impact on regional communities. This project expects to generate new knowledge by being the first ethnographic study of Australia’s emerging hydrogen industry. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the consequences of the hydrogen hub model and its impacts for regional communities, theoretical development in the social sciences of industrial decarbonisation, a documentary film for research dissemination, and policy recommendations for hydrogen development planning that take into account community concerns and desires. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4401 - Anthropology. Lead: Dr Kari Dahlgren

Solving a mercurial mystery: the evolutionary origin of mercury methylation. This project aims to investigate the evolutionary origin of microbial mercury methylation, testing a possible link with arsenic resistance. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of biogeochemistry and microbial genetics using a multi-omics approach to explore why microbes produce this more toxic form of mercury. Expected outcomes include expanding our understanding of the biochemical mechanism of mercury methylation and improving predictions of the production and accumulation of this toxin in aquatic ecosystems. This should provide significant environmental benefits, such as informing Australian regulation of mercury emissions, limiting the toxic effects of mercury on humans and wildlife, and its burden on food safety.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4105 - Pollution and Contamination. Lead: Dr Caitlin Gionfriddo

Dandhigu yimbana: Listening on Country for social-emotional wellbeing. Dandhigu yimbana are Gunggari words used to acknowledge the impact and different meanings of listening on Country for First Nations peoples. This project is implemented by community-based and academic Indigenous researchers, engaged in promoting social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) through deep active listening practices. It will contribute to reforms at the cultural interface of Indigenous health and arts-based research and extend international evidence of the strong contribution of the arts in promoting wellbeing and health equity and in enhancing research quality and impact. It uses Arts and Indigenous research methods to understand the relationship between the wellbeing of Country and people mediated through listening practices.. Scheme: Discovery Indigenous. Field: 4501 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture, Language and History. Lead: Dr Vicki Saunders

Advancing Indigenous social marketing process and practices. Youth sexual violence and abuse (YSVA) affects urban, regional and remote communities, with Indigenous youth disproportionately impacted. This project aims to reduce YSVA rates in Indigenous populations, focusing on local needs and promoting shared responsibility and awareness. With a national child sexual abuse rate of 28.5%, the project addresses lifelong impacts. Anticipated outcomes involve three pilot studies, implementing bystander programs, fostering safe relationships and social connections, and developing an Indigenous theory. Aligned with Queensland's YSVA Steering Committee report, benefits will include creating positive change within communities like Jagera, Giabal, and Jarowair, contributing to a reduction in YSVA.. Scheme: Discovery Indigenous. Field: 3506 - Marketing. Lead: Dr Jessica Harris

Community-Led Approaches to Teaching Australian South Sea Islander History. This project argues that a new approach to teaching Australian South Sea Islander history in primary and secondary school education is urgently needed to address conditions by which Australian South Sea Islander students are made disadvantaged at school. Through a Tok Stori methodological approach that draws on community knowledges, this project will develop new ways of teaching Australian South Sea Islander history. It will work towards implementing the kind of meaningful progress that failed to follow the 1993 Recognition, build transnational research links, and increase and strengthen the capacity of Australian South Sea Islander educators and researchers. . Scheme: Discovery Indigenous. Field: 4513 - Pacific Peoples Culture, Language and History. Lead: Dr Francis Bobongie-Harris

Advanced Heart Simulator: Unveiling the Fluid Dynamics of Heart Valves. This project aims to develop an experimental and computational platform to simulate the dynamic interaction between blood flow and heart valves. This project will significantly improve our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing heart valve function. Therefore, the outcome of this project is an state-of-the-art heart simulator, a critical tool for assessing and refining innovative heart valve designs, characterising how they perform under realistic physiological conditions. The deep understanding and robust experimental capability delivered by this platform are essential to the future development of safer, more effective prosthetic heart valves in Australia, thus improving the lives of patients with heart valve disease.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4012 - Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering. Lead: Prof Zhi-Yong Li

Enhancing Antimicrobial Activity Using Synergistic Resistance Mitigation. This project aims to combat antibiotic resistance by developing synergistic compounds targeting the extracellular polymeric substance in biofilms. Utilizing Neolixir's NeoX-101 platform, compounds will be screened to identify combinations disrupting the extracellular polymeric matrix. New insights into nanoscale extracellular polymeric matrix interactions will be generated using metabolomics and high-resolution imaging. Outcomes include an extracellular polymeric matrix-targeting toolbox for potentiating antibiotics and a robust screening pipeline. Benefits include accelerating novel antibiotic resistance strategies and fostering polymer and nanoscale imaging innovation against biofilm infections. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3403 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry. Lead: Prof Killugudi Swaminatha-Iyer

Radiatively cooled high-performance solar cell. This project aims to develop a novel type of flexible solar cell (FSC), which integrates microstructures for radiative cooling and nanostructures for light trapping. The project expects to develop the first self-cooling FSC and generate new knowledge in renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. The expected outcome is increased conversion efficiency through enhanced absorption of solar energy and lower energy consumption through more efficient cooling during operation. Self-cooling of the FSC can minimise heat-introduced degradation and extend its lifetime. This project should provide a revolutionary solution to the bottleneck of the thermal instability of FSCs and increase their cost effectiveness, promoting commercialisation.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Han Lin

Multi-feed system for 3D printing of fibrous earth for social housing. This project aims to develop systematic methodologies for processing fibrous earth materials for 3D construction printing by utilising a multi-feed extrusion approach for engineered earth mixtures. This project expects to overcome current commercialising limitations in 3D earth printing using novel techniques for printing replicable engineered earth mixtures with on-demand fibre mixing feature. Expected outcome includes developing standardised methods for 3D construction printing of earth houses in Australia that can substitute conventional concrete construction. This objective addresses the pressing housing crisis and the critical demand for affordable and sustainable dwellings, especially in regional Australia and remote communities.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3302 - Building. Lead: Dr Mohamed Gomaa

Community completeness in monitoring of post-mining restoration success. This project will investigate why particular plant species and plant functions are absent from post-mining vegetation using the ecological concepts of species pools, dark diversity, and community completeness. This collaborative research between ecologists, statisticians and the mining industry will develop AI-driven tools to more effectively monitor the vegetation against restoration targets and deepen our understanding of how a community reassembles after disturbance by mining. Such tools will benefit both industry and regulators by enhancing the on-ground decisions and practices applied in ecosystem rehabilitation.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3103 - Ecology. Lead: Prof Ladislav Mucina

Deadly Home Reading: Enabling Indigenous Children’s Literacy & Wellbeing. This project tests the effectiveness of a new parent/carer phonics, oral language and self-concept enhancement home reading intervention on young (K-2) Indigenous children’s literacy, oral language and self-concept. The project expects to generate new knowledge about effective home reading strategies for Indigenous children by capitalising upon interdisciplinary advances from “The Science of Reading”, research on home reading and the wisdom of Indigenous communities. Expected outcomes include salient intervention and advances in Indigenous education. Benefits are identifying interventions enhancing Indigenous literacy, oral language and self-concept, and delivering successful Indigenous-led research to address community-identified needs.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 5201 - Applied and Developmental Psychology. Lead: Prof Rhonda Craven

Low-Cost Carbon Materials from Agricultural Biomass for Battery Anodes. Agricultural biomass is an abundant, renewable, low-cost carbon source for producing sustainable products. This project aims to convert renewable agricultural biomass into sustainable low-cost carbon materials for high performance sodium ion battery applications. It will generate new knowledge and low-cost innovative approaches for large-scale synthesis of carbon materials from agricultural biomass. Expected outcomes include advanced multi-product biorefinery and manufacturing technologies and enhanced capacity for research collaborations. These outcomes will accelerate the development of a new, low-carbon manufacturing industry for producing sustainable chemicals and carbon materials from agricultural biomass in regional Australia.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4004 - Chemical Engineering. Lead: Prof Zhanying Zhang

Mitigating disinfection by-products - are we creating more toxic chemicals? Disinfection is an essential barrier to pathogenic microorganisms in drinking water. However, disinfectants such as chlorine can react with natural precursors in water to produce toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs). This presents a complex challenge for water utilities as some mitigation strategies can unintentionally produce more toxic DBPs. This project aims to refine water treatment strategies to minimise formation of toxic DBPs in drinking water. The project will combine advanced chemical and bioassay methods to evaluate DBP formation and toxicity. The outcomes will enable water utilities to identify treatment processes to reduce DBP formation and toxicity, thus ensuring ongoing provision of safe drinking water for all Australians.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4004 - Chemical Engineering. Lead: Prof Frederic Leusch

The Australian Emulation Network Phase 2 - Extending the Reach. This project aims to extend the reach of the Australian Emulation Network, conserving born digital artefacts and making them accessible for research purposes. High value collections from university archives and the GLAM sector requiring legacy computer environments will be targeted. The project expects to generate new knowledge across media arts, design, and architecture. Expected outcomes include stabilising and providing researchers with emulated access to born digital cultural artefacts, sharing legacy computer environments across the network, and expanding the Australian software preservation Community of Practice, building skills in preserving and emulating digital cultural artefacts across an expanded set of domains and institutions.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 3605 - Screen and Digital Media. Lead: Prof Melanie Swalwell

Regional and Urban Greenhouse Gas Emission Detection (RUGGED) . The facility proposed here will establish a network of sun-sensing spectrometers for detection of changes in atmospheric composition. The instruments can be deployed to regions or facilities of interest to capture the total change of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to these regions or facilities, for example at urban scales, or areas of intense natural or anthropogenic emissions or uptake. The greenhouse gas quantification system will provide valuable independent estimates of emissions, to enable verification of bottom-up greenhouse gas inventories and satellite-based estimates of emissions... Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 3702 - Climate Change Science. Lead: A/Prof Nicholas Deutscher

A platform for in situ structural biology. This project aims to establish an Australian facility for in situ structural biology. The Arctis cryo-plasma focused ion beam will enable cryo-electron microscopy on a large range of samples from bacteria, plants, animal cells, tissues and organs to soft materials. This project expects to reveal new structural information in situ generating knowledge in the fields of microbiology, cell and developmental biology and in bioengineering and materials science. Expected outcomes are fundamental discoveries, training opportunities, international collaborations, and high impact publications. This project should provide significant benefits through underpinning innovation in renewal energy generation and storage, drug delivery, and nanotechnology.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Prof Georg Ramm

Addressing reproductive violence in migrant and refugee communities. This project aims to address a critical gap in knowledge about migrant women’s experience of a serious form of family violence: reproductive coercion and abuse. Through a mixed methods design this project expects to advance understanding and identify opportunities to increase the safety of survivors. Expected outcomes include a new conceptual model, co-designed, culturally responsive resources for communities and health professionals, and recommendations for legislative and policy change. The results should benefit migrant communities, legal and health professionals working with migrant communities, and policy makers through improved conceptual knowledge, suggestions for legal reform, and evidence-based resources for workforce training.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4203 - Health Services and Systems. Lead: Dr Nicola Sheeran

Building integrity into the Nature Positive promise. Rampant deforestation, spreading invasive species, and climate change is causing mass biodiversity loss. This natural crisis poses a threat to human and planetary health. Many nations, including Australia, committed to the Global Goal for Nature, aiming for nature positive status by 2030. However, stakeholders including government and businesses lack clarity on how to achieve this goal. This project, a world-first in its comprehensive approach, aims to understand the state in which nature was in, as well as the trend of nature’s health over time. The outcomes include a framework for how nature can be measured and a decision-making tool to identify actions, as well as demonstrate progress towards nature positive success.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4102 - Ecological Applications. Lead: Dr Michelle Ward

Green fabrication of robust micro/nano hierarchical surface morphology. This project aims to fabricate coating material with robust micro/nano hierarchical structured surface in ambient conditions through mimicking natural biological processes. This study expects to generate knowledge for translating natural biological processes into cutting-edge sustainable and scalable low-cost manufacturing technique using biowaste, minerals and waste plastic through interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes include potential next-generation environmentally friendly marine coating exhibiting self-cleaning and drag reduction. This should deliver significant economic and environmental benefits for maritime industry and contribute to further Australian standing in the field of circular economy.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Lily (Yali) Li