Grants & Opportunities

Next Generation Spatial Data Management for Virtual Spatial Systems. This project aims to design novel spatial data retrieval methods for efficient and accurate querying of large datasets with location information. Spatial data is being generated at an unprecedented rate due to the prevalence of mobile devices and ubiquitous connectivity. However, harnessing this data is hampered by outdated and inefficient methods. The project will investigate data retrieval methods that self-optimise for high query efficiency and accuracy, by utilising underlying real-world data patterns. It will enable novel applications for virtual spatial systems with large-scale querying needs, such as spatial digital twins and metaverses, benefiting location-based service providers, urban planners, and emergency management agencies.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science. Lead: Prof James Bailey

The Benefits of Utilising Visual-Spatial Representations of Numbers . The aim of this project is to investigate how visual-spatial representations of numbers enhance practice to promote the use of retrieval-based over counting-based strategies for children learning early arithmetic. About one-third of Australian children stay reliant on counting strategies for basic arithmetic, despite these being associated with lower achievement in mathematics in later years. Expected outcomes of this project are new understandings of how problem-answer associations can be strengthened in memory and the development of tools to promote retrieval-based strategies. Potential benefits include children who are better prepared to take on higher-level mathematics in secondary school and, subsequently, more numerate citizens. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3904 - Specialist Studies In Education. Lead: A/Prof Sarah Hopkins

Price Discovery in Equity and Volatility Futures for Trading and Hedging. This project aims to develop a multivariate asynchronous technique to analyse the price discovery of movements in equity stock indices, volatility index futures and exchange traded products. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of financial econometrics using an innovative mixed frequency sampling approach to establish robust causal inferences. Expected outcomes of the project include enhanced econometric theory and its implementation in applied finance. This should provide significant benefits in the price discovery of the equity index in Australia, including insights that will help Australian funds in hedging and trading volatility.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3502 - Banking, Finance and Investment. Lead: Prof Gulasekaran Rajaguru

Using animal-borne sensors to unravel East Antarctic coastal productivity. This project will examine the mechanisms underpinning the high productivity in Antarctic coastal polynyas, which are ice-free oases within the sea ice supporting abundant marine life. The study expects to generate essential new biochemical and biological observations using autonomous platforms to understand phytoplankton dynamics in these inaccessible habitats along Australia’s Antarctic Territory. Expected outcomes include novel insight into the role of iron supply from melting glaciers in supporting marine production. This should reduce the high uncertainty in prognoses for polynya activity under anthropogenic climate change, and support Australia’s international leadership in conservation and management of important Antarctic ecosystems.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3708 - Oceanography. Lead: Dr Sophie Bestley

A novel microbial process breaking through the nitrogen cycling. Nitrogen transformation is central to life on Earth. This project will challenge a century-old paradigm that microorganisms must cooperate in a team to convert nitrogen from organic- to inorganic forms. We will carry out the first-ever systematic investigation of a novel process, where a single organism mediates complete ammonification and ammonia oxidation, directly connecting organic- and inorganic nitrogen. By revealing metabolic pathways, characterising ecophysiological properties, isolating key microorganisms and exploring their application potential, this project will change our fundamental understanding of global nitrogen cycling, improve the sustainability of water management, and contribute to the circular economy transition. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3107 - Microbiology. Lead: Prof Jianhua Guo

Building A Better Built Environment for Older Australian's Ageing-in-place. Most older Australians prefer to age in place after their retirement. This project aims to understand how the built environment as a comprehensive system supports (or hinders) their ageing-in-place given that the existing Australian built environment fails to meet older Australians' requirements for independent living. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of ageing-friendly communities using Bayesian Network analysis and interactive design charrettes. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based Bayesian network model that determines how the built environment affects independent living in the community and design innovation and guidelines to improve the built environment design for older Australians' ageing-in-place.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3302 - Building. Lead: Prof Bo Xia

Mitonuclear incompatibility, speciation, and the Z sex chromosome. This project will characterise the interaction between the mitochondrial and nuclear genome in several species and its contribution to the divergence of species. This interaction is at the heart of energy transformation and storage in all animals and its importance to evolution is yet to be fully understood. The research will provide insight into speciation processes by focusing on recent divergence in Australian finch species. We will integrate genomics, bioenergetics, and whole organismal performance in growth, mobility and reproduction by studying birds in the wild and the laboratory. An overarching aim is to unite data from genomics, phenotype and physiology to understand the forces underlying the evolution of species, and biodiversity. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3104 - Evolutionary Biology. Lead: Prof Simon Griffith

Novel source of excited metastable atoms for Atom Trap Trace Analysis. This project aims to understand and to control light-induced processes in atoms by using finely shaped and tailored laser pulses, focusing on efficient production of excited metastable atoms. This is critical for efficient Atom Trap Trace Analysis, the most advanced technique for dating ground water and geological samples. Expected outcomes of this project include new and enhanced knowledge of physics of light-matter interactions, developing an efficient, clean source of excited metastable atoms, and integrating that source into the Australian National Facility for dating geological samples. This should provide significant benefits, such as significant improvement of operational efficiency and productivity of that facility.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5102 - Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. Lead: Prof Igor Litvinyuk

Understanding the role of digital technologies in addressing loneliness. This sociological project aims to develop a new approach to understanding the role of digital technologies in efforts to overcome loneliness. The team expects to generate new knowledge of how digital technologies are used by people who feel lonely and applied in policies and programs, using an innovative approach to explore different views, gaining the essential knowledge for assisting lonely Australians, and building much-needed research capacity in the sociology of loneliness and digital technologies. This should provide significant benefits such as a deep understanding of the sociocultural factors that influence people’s use of digital technologies to address loneliness, and evidence-based support for effective strategies and policies.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4410 - Sociology. Lead: Prof Alan Petersen

Making Strong Alloys Ductile and Hydrogen-Tolerant via Tuning Nanogradients. This project aims to develop a novel design concept of gradient segregation engineering (GSE) to produce high-performance alloys. The innovative GSE will synergistically introduce a chemical gradient via grain boundary segregation and a physical gradient by microstructure control to simultaneously achieve an excellent strength-ductility combination and exceptional resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. This project expects to create new fundamental knowledge and provide critical perspectives for future mechanistic alloy design. The results will enhance Australia’s capacity to develop next-generation advanced alloys to underpin current and emerging industrial applications and strengthen the country’s leading position in materials engineering.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Xianghai An

Structural safety guidelines for accidental hydrogen explosion hazards . This project aims to develop structural safety guidelines to mitigate hydrogen explosion hazards which can be identified as a major safety concern due to the higher demand worldwide for sustainable energy sources with no carbon emission. The world’s growing demand for hydrogen and Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy to develop the industry will make Australia a core player in hydrogen production creating a massive economic opportunity. However, the high flammability and low ignition energy of hydrogen makes it vulnerable to accidental explosions. Hence, this project will address the lack of safety protocols in Australian Standards related to the handling of hydrogen by producing essential design recommendations.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Prof Alex Remennikov

Relativistic Particles in Star-Forming Galaxies. This project aims to understand how galactic evolution is shaped by the relativistic particles known as cosmic rays that fill interstellar space. We understand only poorly how cosmic rays interact with non-relativistic interstellar matter, which in turn limits our understanding of how they affect galaxies. The project seeks to resolve this question by calculating how cosmic ray-matter interaction gives rise to light and neutrinos that we can observe using current and future telescopes, enabling us to use observations from these telescopes to solve the problem of cosmic ray-matter interaction. This would resolve the question of how cosmic rays shape galaxy evolution, and thus represent a substantial advance in the theory of galaxy formation.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Prof Mark Krumholz

Engaging Outsiders in Sport: Transforming Sport Event Legacy Planning . The project aims to investigate intersectional inequities in sport participation for girls, women and non-binary people in Queensland by working with them to envision legacies for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Using a co-creation approach this project expects to identify how and what benefits can be achieved through legacy planning that engages with end-users who have historically been marginalised in sport. In doing so, the expected outcomes of the project include the development of evidence-based resources to improve engagement in sport and to build capacity and sustain meaningful change for communities and organisations.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4410 - Sociology. Lead: A/Prof Adele Pavlidis

Fundamental research advancing remanufacturing with a 3D printing technique. 3D printing manufactures items directly from a computer model. This project aims to develop a computational tool for applying direct laser metal deposition, a 3D-printing method, to repair metallic components and develop a way to predict the remaining life of the remanufactured components. The tool should optimise use of this printing method and improve the quality of repaired components. The research expects to validate the tool for simulating the printing process, provide a better heat treatment during repair, and allow safe prediction of the service life of repaired components. This research should benefit the Australian manufacturing industry and reduce resource use by helping apply this 3D printing method in remanufacturing.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4017 - Mechanical Engineering. Lead: Prof Wenyi Yan

Break the deadlock in corrosion research to prevent infrastructure collapse. Corrosion destroys one-quarter of the world’s annual steel production and costs the Australian economy $30 billion each year. This project targets a crucial missing link in understanding the structure and dynamics of the atomic lattices of corroded steel and the degradation of its mechanical strength. By combining advanced electrochemical and mechanical measurements with dynamics simulation of atomic lattices of corroded steel, this project will produce the first concerted picture of corrosion induced strength degradation with a particular focus on real industrial conditions. This promises to guide the ongoing diagnosis of corrosion damages to steel, effectively preventing the collapse of corroded infrastructure.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Prof Chun-Qing Li

Taking control: variations in forced psychiatric treatment in the community. This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Uncovering this knowledge will act as a form of procedural justice for those who have had their human rights limited by compulsion. This knowledge is expected to lead to innovations in law and policy, with subsequent organisational and system improvements, generating profound benefits for those affected by forced treatment. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4807 - Public Law. Lead: Prof Lisa Brophy

The cost of keeping gruesome images from the world. This project aims to investigate one of society’s most invisible ‘frontline’ trauma workforces—the online content moderators responsible for limiting the public’s exposure to distressing and sensitive content on social media. Using a series of rigorous experiments, and cutting-edge psychological and physiological assessment techniques, the research will advance our understanding of the impact of indirect trauma on mental health. Expected outcomes include novel empirical evidence for preventative strategies that will predict, monitor and reduce negative mental health outcomes. This will provide significant global benefits to people with indirect trauma experiences, such as defence and forensic personnel.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5201 - Applied and Developmental Psychology. Lead: Prof Melanie Takarangi

Pyruvate provision for mitochondrial respiration in plants. This project aims to generate new knowledge about pyruvate provision for respiration in plants as it is a major pathway of carbon loss from plants. It will address specific gaps in knowledge about how pyruvate is provided to mitochondria for respiration, how channelling of pyruvate is achieved between components in this pathway and it will seek to engineering a new pyruvate supply pathway to change respiratory processes in plants. It will develop techniques for analysis of metabolic processes in plants and genetic proof for assumptions of how plant respiration works. Benefits will be training of early career researchers, enhanced international reputation of Australian plant science and new approaches to engineer respiratory rate in plants.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3108 - Plant Biology. Lead: Prof Andrew Millar

Stability Analysis of Power System with Massive Power Electronic Devices. The decarbonization of Australia's power systems is to integrate massive renewable energy sources which are interfaced with many power electronic devices (PEDs). The fast and complex dynamics of PEDs have significantly changed the nature of the power system, which limits the applicability of existing tools and methods to assess its stability. The goal of this project is to gain a comprehensive insight into the stability of a futuristic power system with high penetration of PEDs. The intended outcomes will be a model and data jointly driven methodology for high-efficient and real-time stability assessment. The methodology developed in this project will support Australia's transition to a stable, secure, and low-carbon power grid.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4008 - Electrical Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Guo Chen

Zooplankton and ocean productivity in a changing climate. The scarcity of iron in the Southern Ocean limits biological productivity and carbon uptake. There is currently very little Information on zooplankton iron content, yet available data points to high variability. This variability is leading to poor predictive outcomes for models of Southern Ocean iron and carbon cycling. Our project addresses this knowledge gap by quantifying zooplankton iron content and examining its biogeochemical and ecological impact on Southern Ocean productivity. Developing an understanding of how iron is cycled through zooplankton will provide significant benefits including improved global models used to quantify current and future patterns of ocean productivity critical for environmental and economic predictions.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3708 - Oceanography. Lead: Prof Andrew Bowie

Energy dissipation characterisation in dynamic brittle fracture. Energy dissipation in dynamic fracture of brittle materials is pivotal in mining, civil engineering and defence. The project aims to develop a novel experimentally-validated multiscale theory, with associated models, for characterising and predicting the complete dynamic fracture process of brittle materials. This theory is expected to generate close-to-reality simulations critical for understanding fundamental aspects of energy dissipation in dynamic fracture. The outcomes will enable an optimised control of the fragment size in block cave mining and mineral processing, forecast and prevent fatal rock bursts in underground mines, and minimise catastrophic failures in critical infrastructures challenged by extreme loading, e.g. explosions.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4019 - Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy. Lead: Prof Luming Shen

A Biologically Responsive and Anatomically Authentic Human Nasal Model. As respiratory conditions caused by pollutants and viruses become more prevalent, human nasal models to study infection/protection mechanisms and nasal drug/vaccine delivery are increasingly important. This project aims to develop a world-first human nasal model to mimic both anatomical and biological aspects of the nasal cavity and predict the distribution and deposition of fine particles and the resultant biological response from the nasal mucosa. The aim is to overcome a key fabrication challenge - to 3D print an anatomically accurate nasal construct with a porous wall on which to grow and mature functional nasal tissue that lines a nasal cavity wall. The benefit would be enabling faster development of more targeted drugs and vaccines.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: Prof Yi-Chin Toh

Modernise geotechnical investigation and analysis with machine learning. The project aims to address the ineffectiveness associated with risk analysis of geotechnical systems by reducing variabilities and by rigorously quantifying such variabilities. It is expected to generate new knowledge in machine-learning-aided risk analysis and in virtual modelling of multiphase-multiphysics-multiscale problems involving random variables. Expected outcomes are datasets and computer tools that are equipped with new functionalities including parameter optimisation, uncertainty quantification, machine-learning based surrogate models and risk analysis. These tools will help to bridge the increasing gap between academic research and engineering practice, transform geo-risk analysis and optimise complex construction processes.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: Prof Daichao Sheng

Determining the links between size and function in phytoplankton. Marine phytoplankton are responsible for around 50% of the carbon fixation on planet. This project will examine how phytoplankton size declines will alter marine food webs and carbon sequestration. Changes in nutrients and temperature will cause phytoplankton to be smaller but the consequences of these changes are uncertain because of a lack of knowledge regarding how changes in cell size affect function within a species. This project will evolve 20 species of algae to be different sizes and estimate the consequences of these size changes for biological functions. The project will then use these data to refine global models of carbon budgets, leading to better predictions about how the global carbon pump will change. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3104 - Evolutionary Biology. Lead: Prof Dustin Marshall

Preventing Water Theft in the Murray-Darling Basin. This Project aims to understand the complex interaction of socio-economic, legal and political factors that have enabled the theft of fresh water in the Murray-Darling Basin. By analysing the policies and regulations governing freshwater management, this project expects to generate new knowledge of the extent and types of water theft, offenders processed, penalties delivered, and the performance and operations of regulatory and enforcement agencies. The expected outcomes include new research strategies for water theft prevention. This will benefit national security and community health by contributing to a sustainable and equitable supply of fresh water.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4402 - Criminology. Lead: Prof Reece Walters