Grants & Opportunities

Aboriginal Health Equity: culturally safe care and child development . The Aboriginal Health Equity Futures study will be the first longitudinal cohort study to examine and quantify culturally safe care impacts on Aboriginal children's developmental trajectories. Integrated prospectively collected and linked administrative data will establish if children (0-5 years) benefit from maternal exposure to culturally safe perinatal care practices. Building on prior studies, the quantitative design within an Indigenous research framework will provide a novel platform for a comprehensive analysis of wellbeing inequalities in the early life course. The study is critical to sustain culturally responsive maternity care and for health policies and practice which support Closing the Gap targets for future generations.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4504 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing. Lead: Prof Rhonda Marriott

Unravelling ammonia slip in zero-carbon rich-lean staged combustors. Ammonia, which can be produced via renewable electricity, has potential as a zero-carbon fuel in gas turbine engines. In emerging rich-lean staged combustion systems, ammonia slip, the emission of unburned ammonia in the primary rich stage is a significant unsolved issue, since it leads to large emissions of oxides of nitrogen when consumed in the second stage. Using large-scale, first principles direct numerical simulations, we aim to provide basic understanding of two proposed mechanisms for ammonia slip that involve local quenching: the interaction with a cold wall or via aerodynamic straining in turbulence. Understanding these mechanisms will facilitate the design of mitigation strategies, enabling ammonia-fuelled zero-carbon engines.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4012 - Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering. Lead: Prof Evatt Hawkes

Protosilks: New Silk Proteins for Biotechnology by Computational Design. This project aims to design new to nature silk proteins with enhanced properties such as greater strength, elasticity, and production efficiency using cutting-edge machine learning approaches. Silks are widely used industrially, as textiles, in biomedicine, and as advanced materials due to their exceptional mechanical properties and biocompatibility. By developing new, computationally designed silk proteins, this research will create sustainable materials with tailored functions, offering significant benefits for technology, industry, and the environment. The outcomes will demonstrate the power of machine learning in engineering proteins for advanced applications, paving the way for a new generation of high-performance biomaterials.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Prof Colin Jackson

Using telomeres to study how DNA repair guides cell death and growth arrest. This project examines biological activities influenced by the homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair pathway. In addition to DNA repair, we discovered that HR also controls cell death, cell cycle arrest, and interferon signalling following genome damage. These are novel HR functions and how they are regulated is entirely unknown. Here we will use cutting edge imaging techniques, whole genome CRISPR screening, mass spectrometry, and cell and molecular biology to study these newly identified activities. Expected outcomes include a mechanistic understanding of how HR regulates cell death and growth arrest, new perspectives on the diverse biology functions influenced by DNA repair, and training of the next generation of scientists. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Prof Anthony Cesare

Practical Mechanisms to Improve the Efficiency of Land Assembly. One of the best ways to increase housing supply in Australia is to promote urban infill and enabling higher density housing. Unfortunately, urban infill often requires the assembly of land and strata titles, which is known to be a hard economics problem. This project will develop and experimentally test practical mechanisms that can be used to assemble properties. A first project explores how to modify traditional property auctions and enable the consolidation of lots for medium-density townhouse projects. A second project explores how to modify strata rules to ensure that medium-density projects built today can be redeveloped in the future. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3801 - Applied Economics. Lead: Prof Ralph Bayer

Micro and nanoplastics: measurement, toxicokinetics and cardiac impacts . This project aims to address the biological effects of micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) exposure by investigating their toxicokinetics and impacts on the cardiovascular system. Leveraging a cutting-edge platform to produce environmentally relevant plastic particles and integrating advanced single-cell RNA sequencing, the research will identify mechanisms of particle uptake, clearance, and cellular toxicity. Expected outcomes include new tools to improve MNP measurement capability in biological samples, and critical insights into particle behaviour and toxicity pathways. This will provide benefits including advancing toxicology research capacity and providing foundational knowledge to inform environmental policy and regulatory frameworks.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3109 - Zoology. Lead: A/Prof Alexander Pinto

An Interventionist Approach to Explainable Artificial Intelligence. This project aims to develop a new approach to explaining and understanding decisions generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Popular approaches rely on counterfactuals, which focus on how an outcome would change, given different inputs. Such explanations are criticised in philosophy for failing to provide causal understanding. Interventionism is a theory of explanation from philosophy designed to yield such understanding. This project aims to develop new strategies for explaining AI decisions using interventionism. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of AI and better AI decision-making. Anticipated benefits include new knowledge and support for government to use AI effectively while protecting the interests of individuals.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5003 - Philosophy. Lead: Prof Samuel Baron

Breaking Barriers: The Role of the Intestinal Barrier Ageing in Longevity . Food and gastrointestinal (GI) barrier function are central to life and critical for longevity. This project aims to identify cellular and molecular drivers of GI barrier decline and its systemic consequences and to examine how macronutrients shape GI barrier architecture and physiology over a lifetime, providing novel insights into interactions between diet and ageing. Using molecular, biochemical, and proteomic techniques, this project expects to identify basic mechanisms of ageing, offering a fundamental understanding of how in the aged GI barrier shapes systemic physiology, nutrition, and organismal homeostasis. The outcomes of this work may guide future innovations in nutritional science and strategies to optimize ageing trajectories.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3202 - Clinical Sciences. Lead: Dr Rachel McQuade

Deciphering Cellular Dialogue in Complex Tissues. It remains challenging to decode how cells communicate with each other in the complex tissues of the body. This is especially true for immune cells that can use different molecular signals to talk based on where they sit in tissues. This project aims to capture cell communication in 3 dimensions and use this spatially resolved atlas of mammalian spleen to build an immersive means to decode these interactions. Using cutting-edge technologies, we will uncover cell and protein interaction networks that control immune responses in tissue niches. This research will benefit fundamental immunology and provide new tools for interrogation of cellular communication across biology.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3204 - Immunology. Lead: Prof Scott Mueller

Rapidly-evolving jets at the highest angular resolution. This project will develop innovative new algorithms for Australia's unique high angular resolution radio telescopes, enabling us to achieve unprecedented accuracy in producing radio images of fast evolving and explosive cosmic events. These advances will determine how black holes launch powerful jets that recycle matter and energy back into their cosmic surroundings. This addresses a key question in modern astrophysics, generating new knowledge on the most energetic events in our Universe. The project will leverage Australia's significant investments in world-leading telescope facilities, develop new capability in data science and statistical techniques and inspire the public by generating real-time movies of black hole jets as they evolve.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Prof James Miller-Jones

Crafting Policies for Unpredictable Technological Impacts on Income. This project aims to develop policies to manage the unpredictable impact of technological innovations on income distribution in Australia. By employing a dynamic taxation model that incorporates ambiguity aversion, it seeks to provide novel insights into income and capital tax policies under technological uncertainty. The project aims to deliver implementable policy reforms that enhance economic equity and efficiency while navigating the unknowns posed by advancements in automation and artificial intelligence across Australia's labour market. Its broader benefits include offering sustainable solutions to challenges posed by technological advancements and improving social welfare in Australia.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3801 - Applied Economics. Lead: Dr Pei Cheng Yu

Connecting the dots: the mathematics of 4d/2d duality. This project aims to enhance our mathematical understanding of 4-dimensional quantum field theories through the study of certain "dual" 2-dimensional conformal field theories. 4d/2d duality predicts that physical observables in a 4d theory may be computed exactly within a single 2d conformal field theory, which is usually logarithmic. We expect to greatly expand knowledge of these logarithmic conformal field theories by establishing innovative new connections between their underlying algebraic structures. This should provide much-needed benefits to 4d physics studies and mathematicians working in 2d. These results will further cement Australia's reputation as an international leader in mathematical physics and pure mathematics research.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4902 - Mathematical Physics. Lead: Prof David Ridout

Computational Framework for Fabricating with Sustainable Living Materials. Fungi and their root network mycelia are our planet’s mass-recycling system and provide a unique, carbon-neutral approach to recycling organic waste into useful products. However, the current approaches used in mycelium-based manufacturing significantly affect scalability and reproducibility, deterring widespread adoption. This project aims to develop a computational fabrication framework that leverages mycelia's living characteristics, particularly hyphal fusion, to enable scalable re-manufacturing with organic waste. The outcomes of the project will lead to significant scientific advances and new methodologies in utilising living materials, along with applied implications for informing processes and tools used in bio-manufacturing.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4608 - Human-Centred Computing. Lead: A/Prof Anusha Withanage Don

Not Our Future: How Prospective Social Identity Fuels Reactionary Movements. This project aims to investigate the psychology underlying the formation of reactionary social movements—groups that push back against or try to undo progress toward greater rights, equality, and dignity. By considering how a group’s view of its future may be shaped by its present or past, this project expects to generate a new understanding of reactionary attitudes: as stemming from rejection of social changes seen to lead to a future at odds with a desired group identity. Expected outcomes include a novel tripartite model of reactionary movements, international collaboration and advanced insights on this pressing topic. Findings will benefit national intelligence agencies’ efforts to support national security and protect social progress.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5205 - Social and Personality Psychology. Lead: Prof Michael Wenzel

Next Generation Hybrid Columns to Mitigate Vehicular Impacts. Vehicular crashes into infrastructure result in huge economic and societal costs. This project aims to protect roadside bridge and building columns from structural failure due to vehicular crashes. The project innovation is development of high-performance tube columns with rubberized concrete infill for application at vulnerable locations in bridges/buildings to mitigate their risks to damage. These columns with enhanced impact resistance are optimized using materials technology. Expected outcomes include a new strategy for impact protection, theoretical model and design guidance of this column which provide enhanced safety for vulnerable infrastructure and increase international competitiveness of Australian construction industries.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Prof Tommy Chan

Use plain carbon steels as high-performance alloy steels by 3D printing. This project aims to enhance properties of plain carbon steels by metal 3D printing through leveraging its features of sequential microscale melting and rapid cooling. Research outcomes enable to use such low-cost, the most common carbon steels as more expensive high-performance alloy steels without size limitations, while eliminating the long-standing part distortion and cracking issues related to conventional steel heat treatment. The research broadens the usability of carbon steels and expands applications of 3D printing. This should provide substantial benefits, including improved material sustainability and plainification, process simplification, and enhanced steel recyclability, leading to cost savings, and reduced carbon emissions.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Ming-Xing Zhang

Logic-based planning under ignorance. Programs that interact with their environment (agents) are widely deployed in our society. However, they are not very good at making decisions under ignorance, which is typical in the real world, due, e.g., to unpredictable human behaviour. The aim of this project is to develop the theory and algorithms to fill this gap. This will equip engineers to use computer-aided techniques to construct agents that make more rational decisions, thus advancing Autonomous Systems and Robotics, listed as Critical Technologies in the National Interest. With a team of top international researchers, it will develop new interactions between mathematics and computer science, and contribute to Australia’s visibility amongst eminent scientists abroad. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4904 - Pure Mathematics. Lead: Dr Sasha Rubin

Modeling the impact of online social information on judgments and decisions. Our most consequential decisions are chiefly informed by sampling views from our offline and online social networks. This project aims to uncover the cognitive processes that underlie how we make such decisions. We will develop and test a new computational model of social sampling. We will also examine how the sampling process is affected by age and social media access. The expected outcomes are advances in our understanding of how adults and adolescents use social sampling to make decisions, and the relative impacts of offline and online information. By identifying which information sources have the most influence on people’s beliefs, our project will guide the formulation of policies for combating misinformation and youth radicalisation.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology. Lead: Dr Christin Schulze

Statistical methods for the analysis of spatial omics technologies. This project aims to develop bioinformatics methodology to analyse data generated by advanced spatial proteomic and transcriptomic technologies, enabling deep characterisation of cells in their native tissue environment. This project expects to generate multiple quantitative frameworks essential for studying complex cell relationships with these technologies using an innovative combination of statistical and bioinformatics techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced analytical capacity to understand how cells interact with each other and their surroundings. This should provide significant benefits by strengthening Australia’s research capabilities in spatial biology, bioinformatics, and data analysis.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3102 - Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Lead: A/Prof Ellis Patrick

Deciphering the effects of self-repair on human language and communication. Language production is complex, fast, and fallible. Its latent troubles are a fundamental but understudied constraint on human languages and communication. This project aims to explore the formative effects of troubles with language production by establishing how people self-repair them in conversation. It will examine this subtle yet crucial process using a novel observational approach incorporating important forms of human diversity. Expected outcomes include new knowledge on the multimodal and interactive forces shaping language production and diversity in human communication. Benefits include improved support for Australians who experience language and communication barriers and future strategies to measure human skills and competency.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4704 - Linguistics. Lead: A/Prof Scott Barnes

Unravelling the bactericidal biomechanics of nanoengineered surfaces. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics could bring Australia back to the dark ages. The project aims to generate fundamental understanding of surface engineering technology that efficiently kills bacteria upon contact, through rationally designed interactions specifically devised for targeting bacterial weaknesses. This project is expected to discover novel pathways to tackle bacterial infections by preventing surface colonisation and revealing the underlying molecular mechanisms that make bacteria susceptible to antimicrobial compounds. This should provide new knowledge to inform the development of future antibacterial materials and treatments urgently needed in many areas of society, ranging from healthcare to water supply.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4018 - Nanotechnology. Lead: A/Prof Abel Santos

Can quantum computers solve sensing problems? This project aims to tackle the critical challenge of integrating quantum sensors with quantum computers, unlocking their combined potential for transformative applications. It expects to integrate quantum sensors into quantum computers, enabling practical, large-scale, high-sensitivity precision measurement and computational advancements. Expected outcomes include capacity building, forging collaboration between the sensing and computing communities and advancing applications in magnetometry, gravimetry, astronomy, and medical imaging. This work will significantly enhance scientific and industrial capabilities while strengthening Australia’s leadership in next-generation quantum technologies.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5108 - Quantum Physics. Lead: Dr Zixin Huang

A New Approach to Inverse Problems for Minimal Submanifolds. Aim: This project will determine the geometric structure of an a priori unknown manifold from knowledge of only the volumes of the minimal submanifolds embedded in it. Significance: This project will encapsulate the celebrated Michel's conjecture for boundary rigidity into a broader framework of minimal submanifolds. For physics, this inverse problem is widely seen as a way of connecting quantum mechanics with general relativity through the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Expected Outcomes: We will establish geometric rigidity results relating to minimal surfaces. Benefits: Creating a mathematical framework for minimal surfaces that potentially leads to new connections between quantum mechanics and general relativity. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4904 - Pure Mathematics. Lead: A/Prof Leo Tzou

Exploring Rural Women's Needs for Creative Spaces Through Co-design. Rural women make up a third of the nation’s female population but have more limited access to support services than urban counterparts. To help overcome this they crave women-only spaces for creative and social connection to combat social isolation. Through a series of co-design workshops and interviews with rural women the project will develop models for culturally diverse creative spaces that are unique to living in rural Australia. Based on robust evidence and successfully piloted approaches, expected outcomes from the project will directly address National Research Priorities providing models for rural women’s creative spaces. Benefits from the project include reduced social isolation and stronger individual and community wellbeing.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4405 - Gender Studies. Lead: Prof Lia Bryant

Mangroves reveal history of Australia's forested shorelines. This project aims to reveal the history of shoreline change and resilience of mangrove forests preserved in mangrove forest structure and substrates. In doing so, it seeks to reconcile the carbon benefits sea-level rise can provide with the risks sea-level rise poses to mangrove shorelines. A framework for integration of Earth observations with field and laboratory-based analyses will be proposed, and will complement a modelling approach that can be modified to generate both exploratory and real-world simulations based on future scenarios. This research seeks to centre Indigenous knowledges, provide confidence in forested shoreline resilience, and support investment in restoration, conservation, and blue carbon and nature repair markets.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3709 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience. Lead: Prof Kerrylee Rogers