Grants & Opportunities

Intergenerational Play: A right for all generations. Disconnection is an increasing phenomenon across all generations. Intergenerational play is a connecting force to exchange values, knowledge, skills, traditions and ideas. While intergenerational programs exist, missing is understanding of what intergenerational play actually is, how it can be encouraged and identified benefits for all participants. This project will: 1) engage with leading researchers to understand intergenerational play globally; 2) develop an online repository of examples; 3) develop guiding principles for intergenerational play to focus on outcomes for all participants; 4) implement, document and test principles in intergenerational play programs in Australia; and 5) inform future programs and policies.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3903 - Education Systems. Lead: Prof Lisa Kervin

Mapping the Gas that Drives Galaxy Evolution with Magnetic Dye Tracers. Galaxies evolve by drawing in gas from the broader universe, yet observing this gas directly is challenging. Using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, this project aims to use magnetic fields to trace pathways the gas takes into galaxies to form stars like our Sun. Expected outcomes include new techniques to detect the gas, detailed maps of the gas in key cosmic environments, and new insights into how galaxies like our Milky Way evolve. This should provide significant benefits, including advancing Australian leadership in radio astronomy to capitalise on investments in ASKAP and the Square Kilometre Array, stimulating science and technology education, and attracting global collaborations to our shores.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Dr Craig Anderson

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

Electron Crystallography Methods for Multidisciplinary Applications. The project aims to establish the first dedicated research group in Australia to develop new methods based on electron crystallography, namely micro-crystal electron diffraction (MicroED) and serial electron diffraction (SerialED). These methods enable the determination of 3D atomic structures of materials, small molecules, and macromolecules from nano- and micron-sized crystals, too small or too complex to be studied by existing techniques. This multidisciplinary research project expects to generate new knowledge in crystallography and electron microscopy. This should provide significant benefits in stimulating research in materials science, structural biology, structural chemistry, green catalysis, sustainable energy, and drug discovery.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3402 - Inorganic Chemistry. Lead: Dr Hongyi Xu

Novel oriented timber composites for fire-safe net-zero construction. This project aims to investigate the delamination and fire dynamics of engineered timber compartments using machine learning-based structural fire simulation and multi-scale experiments. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the fire safety and manufacturing of engineered timber in buildings by deploying advanced composite materials technologies. Expected outcomes include a new fire-safe oriented timber composite and an assessment framework including a multi-scale method for timber's fire safety. Expected benefits include an increase of 80% for sustainable and affordable dwellings with a potential reduction of more than 30% in buildings' carbon emissions. This will provide a viable pathway for Net Zero emissions in construction.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Prof Thuy (Kate) Nguyen

Supramolecular host-in-host adsorbents that trap perfluorinated pollutants . This project aims to enhance the pore chemistry of metal-organic frameworks by integrating nanocages within their pores. These advanced composites will be applied to trap the types of perfluoroalkyl pollutants that current water treatment approaches fail to address. This research expects to generate significant new knowledge in the areas of host-guest chemistry, materials design, and water remediation. The expected outcomes include the generation of advanced methodologies and techniques to enhance the performance of porous adsorbents. Significant benefits are expected, such as access to high-performance adsorbents that remove toxic pollutants from water and reduce adverse health effects associated with exposure to these harmful pollutants.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3403 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry. Lead: Dr Witold Bloch

Humane Exclusion: How States Justify Excluding Refugees. This is a project about the idea of humanity and how this concept is deployed. Specifically, it aims to understand and critique the contemporary phenomenon of humane exclusion: humane-sounding justifications for the exclusion of refugees. The work will innovate via a unique framework for understanding today’s prevailing claims, involving analysis of how they echo historical justifications for controlling the movement of Indigenous peoples, minorities, slaves, and other vulnerable groups. It will be the first holistic examination of the ethics of humane-sounding claims and practices of refugee exclusion in the light of their histories, providing a means for Australia to consider, anew, how it might construct more ethical refugee policies.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4408 - Political Science. Lead: A/Prof Luke Glanville

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

Ethics, evidence, and expert disagreement in public health emergencies. Public health responses to pandemics have major consequences beyond the diseases themselves. Ethical responses must balance the benefits of controlling epidemics with causing social and economic harms to society. This project aims to understand how expert disagreement over evidence contributes to contentious emergency public health responses. Expected outcomes include new evidence-based methods for ethical evaluation of public health responses that may reduce harms, along with guidance on how public health ethics frameworks should be used when experts disagree. The project hopes to provide social and economic benefits to Australia by helping health policy makers ethically balance the benefits and harms of pandemic responses.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5001 - Applied Ethics. Lead: A/Prof Euzebiusz Jamrozik

Better environmental decisions amid strategic and evolutionary feedbacks. This project’s main aim is to revolutionize conservation policymaking. By understanding eco-evolutionary feedbacks and strategic interactions among multiple stakeholders, results from this research will uncover strategies to effectively pursue biodiversity conservation. The ultimate goal of this DECRA is to understand how to anticipate and respond to complex evolving system dynamics, identify efficient mitigation strategies, and inform the multi-layered management of invasive species in Queensland. The resulting unified mathematical framework will help to identify key indicators in the system's behaviour, construct decision-support tools, and offer insights on the structure of viable actions available to the policymaker.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4901 - Applied Mathematics. Lead: Dr Maria Kleshnina

How does RNA regulate gene repression? RNA is known to have diverse roles in many areas of biology. Currently, however, the mechanisms that link RNA to gene repression are poorly understood. This project aims to address this fundamental knowledge gap by studying how RNA regulates genomic structure at repressed genes. This project will generate new knowledge in the areas of RNA biology and epigenetics through an interdisciplinary approach to combine cutting edge genomics methods with innovative structural biology techniques. Expected outcomes include the development of new methods to study nuclear RNA as well as a more comprehensive picture of the diverse mechanisms governing gene repression. This will significantly benefit our understanding of basic RNA and chromatin biology.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3105 - Genetics. Lead: Dr Evan Healy

Characterising extracellular contractile injection systems in human gut . Bacteria and archaea have a growing arsenal of characterised mechanisms they can deploy to compete with or control other organisms in the same environment. The goal of this DECRA will be to characterise a recently uncovered mechanism, where bacteria produce toxin filled ‘missiles’ that can be used to kill or modulate their competitors or host. Molecular and visualisation-based techniques will be applied to uncover the diversity, mechanisms, and targets of these novel microbial weapons in a model ecosystem, the human gut microbiome. This fundamental knowledge will be important for the development of customisable biocontrol agents with the potential to eliminate harmful microorganisms in a range of environments.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3107 - Microbiology. Lead: Dr Andy Leu

Intelligent sensing and communications for 6G Vehicle-to-Everything Systems. This project investigates the open challenges of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)-empowered vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems in sixth-generation (6G) networks. The project expects to advance knowledge and develop pragmatic technologies for realising reliable, efficient and robust ISAC-enabled V2X, by exploiting communication theory, optimisation theory and machine learning technology. The expected outcomes include practical multi-target sensing, self-configurable signal detection, and adaptive resource allocation designs. This project would significantly benefit the Australian vehicular industry and intelligent transportation systems, regarding decreased traffic congestion, improved road safety and reduced vehicle emissions.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4006 - Communications Engineering. Lead: Dr QINGQING CHENG

Enhancing Australian Dark Matter Searches with Quantum Technology. The nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in the Universe and detecting it would represent an enormous paradigm shift. This research aims to enhance Australia's efforts in dark matter detection by designing new experimental searches for dark matter and developing quantum technologies to improve existing experiments. Future quantum technologies are expected to revolutionise computing, sensing, and other fields. This DECRA will make strides in both areas: extending dark matter detectors into new regimes, and developing new technologies with applications beyond fundamental physics. The potential impacts of dark matter discovery are staggering, and difficult to overstate, and this DECRA will bring it closer to reality.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5107 - Particle and High Energy Physics. Lead: Dr Benjamin McAllister

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

Listenability: responsive policymaking for young people. This project expects to assess the extent to which young people with disability and young carers feel heard by policy and service organisations. Using a co-production research approach that centres the voices of young people with lived experience, new knowledge about citizen engagement processes will be generated. Expected outcomes of this project include methodological and theoretical insights into the politics of listening in co-produced research, capacity building for emerging disability and care researchers, and enhanced policy and civil society engagement for young people. This should provide significant benefits in informing and shaping responsive, user-centred disability and carer support for Australia’s future.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4407 - Policy and Administration. Lead: Dr Laura Davy

Resolving Star Formation at its Peak. This project aims to quantify where and under what conditions half the stars in today's Universe formed, via a novel approach combining the highest-resolution observations and simulations yet of galaxies at the peak epoch for star formation. Expected outcomes of this project include new insights into how stars form and how the galaxies they reside in settle into disks. Since these research topics are major science drivers for next-generation telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope and Square Kilometre Array, this project will benefit a new generation of research. Moreover, through this project, young Australians will receive the scientific and technical training needed to lead this ground-breaking astronomical research.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Dr Melanie Kaasinen

Sustainable Electrosynthesis of Urea and Formamide. Urea and formamide are vital in modern agriculture, chemical industries, and pharmaceuticals, yet their current industrial production is unsustainable due to high energy and environmental costs. This project aims to design high-efficiency catalysts for electrochemical urea and formamide synthesis through theoretical simulations. The primary objective is to gain new insights into electrocatalysis by systematically exploring reaction mechanisms. Anticipated outcomes will develop optimal catalysts with high conversion efficiency and establish universal theoretical principles. This research will, in the long term, lead to increased production of crops and medicines, reduced costs in chemical industries, and improved environmental protection.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Dr Junxian Liu

Discovering the origins of cosmic radio explosions. Fast radio bursts are intense bursts of radio waves that can be detected from half-way across the Universe. The vast distances these bursts travel makes detailed studies of their exact origins extremely difficult. This problem will be overcome through studying Galactic analogues: young, highly magnetised neutron stars within our own Milky Way that display similar like behaviour. Expected outcomes include discovering the origins of fast radio bursts and how they are affected by their local environments. This project will secure Australia’s leading position in radio astronomy and strengthen international collaborations, essential for maximising the return on investment in the under-construction Square Kilometre Array scientific mega-project.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Dr Marcus Lower

Chiral photonics with resonant meta-structures. The project aims to address the big challenges of miniaturising optical elements controlling light handedness and polarisation that are crucial for high-speed information processing. The project will employ artificially engineered nanostructures, and it expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in photonics to enhance optical chirality beyond the limits available in natural materials through optical resonances and the use of novel materials. Expected outcomes include the development of advanced concepts in optics, novel methods in computational photonics, and practical designs and demonstrations of highly efficient chiral nanostructures. This research promises substantial benefits to optical data processing and telecommunications.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4018 - Nanotechnology. Lead: Dr Kirill Koshelev

Sustainable Statistical Computing for Climate-Sensitive Science. This project aims to address the substantial carbon footprint of simulation-based statistical computations underpinning modern science. Current research focuses on reducing the time-to-result for computations at the expense of energy efficiency. Thus it is not currently possible to scale-up computations to address great environmental challenges without increased contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Expected project outcomes are new simulation-based inference algorithms designed to be fast, accurate, and energy-efficient. Novel, readily available, low-power computer hardware will be used to demonstrate the future of low-energy statistical computing for climate-sensitive applications in health, environment and sustainability.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 4905 - Statistics. Lead: Dr David Warne

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

Uncovering the evolution of the nitrogen cycle with carbonate chemistry . Nitrogen is essential for all life on Earth, but current methods are unable to quantify many aspects of the evolving nitrogen cycle, impeding our understanding of its effects on ecosystems and environmental change. This project will pioneer a groundbreaking method using nitrogen species trapped inside carbonate minerals to directly measure ocean nitrogen abundances and isotope compositions over Earth history. The new method developed by this project will revolutionize our grasp of complex patterns in the nitrogen cycle and its effects on life and Earth. These insights will not only bolster foundational scientific knowledge but also pave the way for informed environmental interventions and further discoveries in environmental science.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3703 - Geochemistry. Lead: Dr Matthew Dodd

Quantifying the long-term economic impacts of bushfire smoke in Australia. The project aims to provide a new understanding of the long-term economic cost of bushfire smoke in Australia. Individuals exposed to bushfire smoke suffer adverse economic outcomes due to multiple channels. To date, the data and methods available have been insufficient to evaluate long-term effects and inform an appropriate policy response. This project leverages recent data advances and builds upon methods employed in my past research to provide a new empirical method for risk profiling of long-term smoke exposure and to generate an improved understanding of the associated economic costs. The findings would aid government agencies, fire services, and local communities in re-evaluating bushfire management practices.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3801 - Applied Economics. Lead: Dr Hemant Pullabhotla

Unravelling chiral recognition to improve sensing and separation efficiency. Chiral molecules, analogous to our hands, appear similar but don’t match exactly. Accurate identification of these molecules is crucial as the two different forms can have dramatically different functions, which can mean the difference between a drug helping or harming. This project will explore chiral interactions using an integrated single-entity electrochemistry approach. Investigating these interactions in real-time will reveal fundamental mechanisms of chiral recognition, enabling the ability to control surface chiral affinity. The project will benefit Australia by inventing effective detection and separation technologies for certain chiral molecules, hence improving the purity and efficacy of medicines, agriculture, and food products.. Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Field: 3401 - Analytical Chemistry. Lead: Dr NA KONG