Grants & Opportunities

A systems approach to maximising crop pollination using companion flowers. Planting pollinator-attractive 'companion' plants alongside less-attractive crops has been proposed as a biodiversity friendly way to increase yields in pollinator-dependent crops. However, companion flowers can also have negative impacts on the pollination success of their neighbours. This project aims to determine how flower traits and pollinator behaviours interact to determine whether a companion flower helps or hinders its co-flowering neighbours. Expected outcomes include new techniques for improving pollination success in pollinator-dependent crops. This project will yield significant benefits to food production and food security by developing techniques for safeguarding pollination amidst ongoing pollinator declines.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3103 - Ecology. Lead: A/Prof Tanya Latty

Global responses of marine species and ecosystems to environmental change. This project will determine and predict the effects of environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning worldwide. Current understanding of the combined effects of environmental change across biodiverse species in wild ecosystems is limited. To solve this problem, this project uses untapped data from global species collections to analyse responses of 300+ species to drivers of change over the last 100-300 years. Outcomes will highlight and forecast multiple species and ecosystem trajectories to environmental change through time and space, and provide significant environmental, economic and social benefits through improved predictive capacity for vulnerable and resilient groups to inform management, fisheries and conservation.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3103 - Ecology. Lead: Dr Sue-Ann Watson

Carbon negative freshwater wetlands: novel pathways of carbon sequestration. Freshwater wetlands are a substantial source of methane emissions, contributing significantly to climate change. Under my leadership, it was discovered that contrary to expectations, freshwater wetlands dominated by “paperbark” trees (Melaleuca spp.) act as methane sinks rather than emissions sources.  This study will explore the hydrology, ecology and microbial communities that drive this unusual carbon pathway. The implications of these investigations are immense; the results will inform new Blue Carbon methodologies that could include low-emission freshwater wetlands. Additionally, it will support the discovery of methane-consuming microbes with the potential to create biotechnological solutions to reduce global methane emissions. . Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4105 - Pollution and Contamination. Lead: Dr Maria Fernanda Adame

New approaches to define protein function during malaria host cell entry. Apicomplexan parasites of humans and livestock, including malaria, survive by infecting and reproducing in host-cells. To enable host-cell entry, these parasites evolved sets of unique and shared proteins whose functions remain unknown. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this project will define cross-species protein function of malaria proteins required for early and late stages of host-cell entry. Leveraging a substantial international network of research partners, outcomes of benefit to Australia include establishing a lead role in understanding the protein network driving different stages of malaria host-cell entry, characterisation of potential therapeutic targets and advancing imaging techniques applicable to other cellular systems.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3207 - Medical Microbiology. Lead: A/Prof Danny Wilson

Percolation models with strong and oscillatory correlations. Percolation theory studies how global connectivity in a complex system arises out of local properties of that system, for example how the connectivity of an electric car charging network depends on the spread and density of the charging stations. This project aims to deepen our understanding of percolation models with strong and oscillatory correlations, and resolve longstanding questions on the existence and nature of their phase transitions. The techniques developed will be applicable to a broad range of mathematical disciplines, such as Gaussian analysis, point process analysis, and spatial modelling, and insights arising from the project will benefit researchers in applied disciplines such as transport and telecommunication modelling.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4905 - Statistics. Lead: Dr Stephen Muirhead

Symmetry in geometric differential equations. This project aims to address major open questions about the geometry of solutions to Einstein’s equations from the theory of General Relativity, and other related equations. These questions centre around the notion of symmetry, which is natural both from the physical and geometric viewpoints, and of utmost importance in our current understanding of the universe. The outcomes are expected to fill clear gaps in knowledge in Pure Mathematics, and to unveil new connections between this subject and other areas of Mathematics and Physics. Anticipated benefits include putting Australian at the forefront of current research in geometry, and enhanced domestic and international collaboration in the field. . Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4904 - Pure Mathematics. Lead: Dr Ramiro Lafuente

Advancing Robust Autonomy in Cyber-Physical Systems. This project enhances the safety of cyber-physical systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and smart farming technologies in Australia. It will leverage large language models for generating realistic scenarios of potential hazards and extracting formal models for rigorous testing. This interdisciplinary approach aligns with Australia's goals for national safety and innovation in autonomous systems, addressing key challenges outlined in the national regulatory frameworks for autonomous vehicles and mining. The anticipated outcomes include improved methods for safe autonomous operations, fostering safer commercialisation pathways and bolstering Australia’s global market competitiveness in autonomous technology sectors.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4612 - Software Engineering. Lead: Dr Xi Zheng

Eco-friendly ultra-high performance concrete in protective structures. Modern buildings and infrastructure are facing challenges from natural and man-made disasters, and structural safety is jeopardized by hazardous blasts and fire scenarios. This project aims to understand concrete material and structural behavior under the combined blast and fire loads and develop structural protective measures. Expected outcomes include an in-depth understanding of structural dynamic response and failure mechanisms under coupled blast and temperature effects and a protective measure based on ultra-high-performance concrete with multi-hazard resistance and low embodied carbon. Successful delivery of this project will benefit the construction sector in Australia and the international community.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Jun Li

Steel Origami-Enabled Metaconcrete Composite Structures. This project aims to develop a novel integrated design platform to engineer high-performance and multifunctional origami-enabled metaconcrete composite structures with greatly improved ductility and energy absorption capacity. It expects to offer a cost-effective and efficient structural design solution in the next-generation advanced concrete structures with optimal performance. Expected outcomes include an innovative metaconcrete structural design scheme and a robust machine learning-assisted optimisation procedure for various engineering applications against static and impact loading. This will provide significant benefits to building industries by enhancing structural safety while reducing material usage and lowering carbon emissions.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Dr Shaoyu Zhao

Ionic-electronic conductive elastomer composites for flexible electronics. This project aims to develop a new type of ionic-electronic elastomer composite by interacting ionic liquid and stiff conductive fillers, with a focus on the exploration of the coordination mechanism between multiple networks of polymer, ionic liquid and filler. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of functional composites. Stretchable conducting materials are important in the fabrication of soft and stretchable electronic devices (actuators, sensors, cable, etc.) and components (electrodes and wires). The detailed understanding of the ion-electron incorporating system and associated conduction mechanisms will provide an insightful outlook for the future development of advanced flexible electronics.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Fei Zhang

Harnessing the potential of natural peptides through chemical design. This project aims to re-engineer bioactive disulfide-rich peptides, such as those found in the venom of cone snails, to improve their therapeutic potential. These peptides are highly selective and potent towards a range of ion channels and receptors, but they suffer from rapid proteolytic degradation and poor permeability to cell membranes. This project focuses on developing strategies to improve their pharmaceutical properties to overcome obstacles in achieving oral bioavailability. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about structure-activity relationships, leading to a solid platform for the future development of peptide-based therapeutics, thereby resulting in considerable economic benefits.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3404 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry. Lead: Dr Bhavesh Khatri

At the intersection: Sleep disorders, shift work and young driver safety. Young workers are highly vulnerable to road safety accidents and fatalities. Two key factors that likely contribute to accidents are high prevalence in young drivers of shift work (>25%) and sleep disorders (>20%). This combined burden is rarely considered and represents a blind spot in understanding of young driver safety risks. This project will investigate the interplay between transition to shift work, sleep disorders and road safety for young drivers. Through this, I will provide a clearer understanding of decisions to drive drowsy, relationships with road safety incidents and protective factors to target. I will design interventions to help reduce the $147M of social costs attributable to drowsy driving fatalities in young drivers . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5299 - Other Psychology. Lead: A/Prof Amy Reynolds

Reversible methane metabolism in methanogenic and methanotrophic archaea. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times that of carbon dioxide. Microbial methane metabolism – mediated by methanogenic and methanotrophic archaea - is responsible for controlling methane emissions, as such playing a crucial role in balancing the global methane cycle. However, our current understanding of this process is still poor. This interdisciplinary project aims to enhance our knowledge of reversible methane metabolism in these archaea and will lead to improved techniques for characterizing their physiology. Ultimately, this research will reveal previously unknown metabolic capabilities and pathways, enabling us to make more accurate predictions of global methane emissions in a changing climate.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3107 - Microbiology. Lead: Dr Xueqin Zhang

Rate-induced transitions and recovery in systems with delayed feedback. Delayed feedback occurs naturally across many fields of study including biology, epidemiology, neural networks, ecology and climate. Within such complex systems, the change in environmental conditions can lead to catastrophic outcomes. The phenomenon of rate-induced transitions (the failure to track a stable state due to critical rates-of-change) is not well studied in delay systems. This project will extend the theory as well as explore practical applications in real-world systems, particularly those motivated by climate and ecological processes. It will shed a light on how increasing rates-of-change in environmental factors could affect the long-term behaviour of critical issues such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation and Varroa mites.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4901 - Applied Mathematics. Lead: Dr Courtney Quinn

Understanding and control of quantum nonlocality in complex scenarios. The future quantum internet and cybersecurity are dependent on quantum nonlocality, referring to the strong correlations between distant quantum physical systems. Nonlocality has been studied mostly in two-party scenarios. This project aims to understand and realize multiparty scenarios. It expects to create significant new knowledge on complex quantum networks, generating new nonlocality forms. Anticipated outcomes include innovative quantum optics protocols and causal inference techniques enabling quantum nonlocality in diverse networks, opening new paths for quantum technology. Expected benefits will impact the future quantum internet with the ultimate cybersecurity for transferring economic, personal, health, and government data.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5108 - Quantum Physics. Lead: Dr Emanuele Polino

Safeguarding ecosystems from impending invasions. Biological invasions are a leading cause of extinctions and a multi-trillion-dollar socioeconomic problem globally. Focusing on ants, among the planet's most harmful invasive organisms, this project aims to build a general and predictive understanding of the causes and consequences of biological invasion, by investigating how alien species’ traits and ecological strategies influence their capacities to spread globally and invade local communities. Moreover, through extensive fieldwork and experiments, this project will uncover the susceptibility of Australia’s ecosystems to ant invasions, and identify solutions for safeguarding ecosystems that are grounded in a deep understanding of the fundamental mechanisms structuring biodiversity.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4102 - Ecological Applications. Lead: Dr Mark Wong

Mapping baselines and observing trends of Antarctic seafloor biodiversity. This DECRA combines biodiversity mapping, seafloor images and artificial intelligence to deliver unprecedented insight into the distribution of Antarctic seafloor biodiversity. It will allow detecting potential biodiversity trends and inform policy makers about priority areas for conservation in a time of rapid environmental change. This project will develop the world’s first submersible-based monitoring project to produce an unmatched stream of Antarctic seafloor imagery, and use artificial intelligence to help bridge a crucial gap between field observations and policy impact. The new tools and unique information from this project are essential for managing the Antarctic seafloor, one of the world's most unique and pristine ecosystems.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4104 - Environmental Management. Lead: Dr Jan Jansen

Next Generation of On-Demand Public Transport: Strategies and Algorithms. The project aims to design flexible public transport systems, where on-demand services are integrated with traditional fixed-route lines. The project expects to generate new knowledge in transport science by combining techniques from transport economics and operational research. The intended outcomes of the project include the identification of where, when, and how to use the on-demand services, algorithms to design the whole flexible public transport network, and the identification of the optimal ways to use on-demand public transport in Australian capital cities. This should benefit public transport agencies and users, and on-demand transport operators, ultimately helping achieve more sustainable cities and public comfort.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3509 - Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chains. Lead: Dr Andres Salomon Fielbaum Schnitzler

Understanding structure, dynamics and function of receptor splice variants. This project aims to understand the functional role of a specific class of G protein-coupled receptors by leveraging advanced cryo-electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, and computational approaches. This project will address fundamental knowledge gaps of how different isoforms of the receptor affect its signalling behaviour. Examining the shape and conformational dynamics of receptor isoforms provides a richer understanding of their cellular function. The comprehensive structural and functional data will allow us to produce molecular movies to better communicate the dynamic receptor activation process. This should provide significant benefits to the Australian community by visualising receptor isoforms with altered physiological function.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Dr Sarah Piper

Mapping the structure-function relationship of DNA origami in cells. DNA origami enables the precise design and creation of nanoparticles of any size and shape with unprecedented control. However, there is limited fundamental knowledge regarding the interactions between DNA origami nanotechnology and the intracellular environment. The proposed project will address this significant knowledge gap and dissect the structure-function relationship between DNA origami nanotechnology and the intracellular environment. The effect that material properties, such as size, shape and sequence, have on the stability, and fate of DNA origami objects in cells, will be elucidated. This multidisciplinary work will advance knowledge in bionanotechnology and cell biology, for engineering functional nanomaterials. . Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3106 - Industrial Biotechnology. Lead: Dr Jessica Kretzmann

Prefab rehab: offsite construction for liveable and affordable apartments. This project aims to investigate the implications of a shift to offsite construction for urban apartment housing delivery and consumption using a critical social science approach. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of urban geography, housing and built environment research by qualitatively documenting perceptions and attitudes towards housing built offsite. Expected outcomes of this project include a novel theoretical understanding of offsite construction as well as housing policy and construction industry pathways towards greater housing affordability and quality. This should provide significant benefits, such as improving apartments and responding to National Cabinet’s ambition to deliver better housing outcomes.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3304 - Urban and Regional Planning. Lead: Dr Louise Dorignon

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

Sustainably feeding the world: the potential of climate-adaptive fisheries. This project aims to uncover the ability of climate-adaptive fisheries management to counteract climate change impacts on the world's marine ecosystems. Existing global marine ecosystem models lack the speed and certainty to robustly explore this potential, meaning a step-change approach is needed. Leveraging advanced mathematical and statistical methods, this project will develop new tools to deploy global models for strategic, long-term marine ecosystem management. The outputs will allow rapid and accurate long-term planning for sustainable use of the world’s shifting marine resources under climate change. Benefits include advances in climate-adaptive fisheries management to sustainably feed the world’s growing population.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3005 - Fisheries Sciences. Lead: Dr Ryan Heneghan

Yarruwala: Complex Ecosystems of Indigenous Higher Education Leadership. This study examines the governance ecology of universities, exploring networks with key industry partners, to identify the complex web of relationships which impact the portfolio outcomes of Indigenous leaders. Applying Indigenous institutional theory, it will establish a holistic model outlining how Indigenous leadership can be effectively woven through governance structures of Australian universities. It will explore self-determination providing unprecedented knowledge about Indigenous leadership across the higher education sector and industry, allowing new insights into how university/industry partnerships can foster Indigenous success nationally. The Indigenous leadership model will have broad application across corporate organisations.. Scheme: Discovery Indigenous. Field: 4502 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Lead: Prof Michelle Trudgett

Real-time detection of Asbestos in the field. This project will develop a new technique for reliable, real-time detection of Asbestos. Despite being banned for 30+ years asbestos remains an outstanding health issue, with no reliable method for identification without samples needing to be sent to a lab for analysis. Utilising new optics and fluorescence detection techniques along with machine-learning analysis, we will develop and validate a portable device that can be used to detect asbestos in real-world scenarios where it may be encountered, such as within homes, workplaces, customs inspections, material and mulch recycling centres and mining operations. This has the potential for significant public health and economic benefits through reduced exposure to hazardous asbestos dust.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4009 - Electronics, Sensors and Digital Hardware. Lead: Prof Nigel Spooner