Grants & Opportunities

Connecting changing sub-daily precipitation extremes to flash floods. This project proposes to use a combination of observations and high-resolution climate model simulations to better understand historic and future changes to sub-daily rainfall extremes for the eastern seaboard of Australia. This improved understanding of rainfall changes will help quantify future flood risk in this densely populated region. This is important because only simplified estimates of future rainfall changes are currently used in industry for flood design. In partnership with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water and the NSW State Emergency Service, the project will inform updated design flood guidelines improving floodplain management and emergency response in New South Wales. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 3709 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience. Lead: A/Prof Fiona Johnson

Next-Generation Grease Interceptors for Minimisation of Sewer Blockages. This project aims to address the persistent issue of sewer blockages caused by fat, oil, and grease (FOG) from food service establishments. Such blockages contribute to environmental hazards and public health risks, and managing them incurs significant annual costs for water utilities. The project expects to develop an advanced grease interceptor capable of effectively removing small FOG particles under varied flow conditions. Supported by computational fluid dynamics and field trials, the outcome will be a technologically and economically sustainable solution to mitigate FOG-related sewer blockages. This advancement has the potential to greatly reduce the environmental and infrastructure impacts associated with sewer management.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4004 - Chemical Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Biplob Pramanik

An operando characterisation platform for clean energy transition in WA. This project aims to investigate the transitional properties of energy materials in clean energy generation, storage, conversion, and utilisation under real synthesis and catalysis conditions by establishing an in situ and operando analysis platform. The project expects to generate new knowledge in materials chemistry and reaction kinetics with varying temperature, gases, light, and/or electrolytes. Expected outcomes include innovative catalyst design strategies and insights into clean energy transition and decarbonisation, as well as enhanced interdisciplinary collaborations. This research will provide significant benefits, such as the development of new knowledge and technology, contributing to Australia's transition towards clean energy.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Hongqi Sun

Next-Gen Miniaturized Implants Using All-Optical Power and Data Interfaces. This project aims to deliver an all-optical power and data interface to a miniaturised EEG recording implant. While challenges in the miniaturisation of electronic medical implants have been largely met by progress in the very-large-scale integration (VLSI) technology, wireless power and data links between the implant and the outside world have not kept pace with this size reduction. We are at a point where wireless power and data interface constitute a significant portion of the implant’s volume. The project's outcome is an implant housed entirely within a wireless, all-optical self-contained transparent ceramic capsule. This approach may enable a safe and robust power and high-speed data link to the implant at a millimeter-sized package. . Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: Dr Arman Ahnood

Operando Monitor of Gas Evolution in Renewable Energy Systems. The gas evolution reactions are critically important in renewable energy systems. However, the gas evolution mechanisms in many energy systems have not been well investigated due to the fast reaction dynamics and trace of gaseous byproducts. In this project, we will combine the technology of differential electrochemical mass spectrometry with in-situ Raman/FTIR investigation to collect information on adsorbed species, reaction products, and intermediates on a short timescale. By characterising the changes in product distribution in various systems, the reaction mechanism can be revealed, and relevant information for specific reactions can be obtained. This will provide guidelines for fundamental knowledge in renewable energy systems.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Hao Liu

Social prescribing: linking Australian social, health and community sectors. This project aims to co-design, implement and evaluate a novel evidence-based social prescribing model for Australia—a crucial referral pathway spanning the social, health and community sectors to tackle growing unmet social needs of those experiencing vulnerability. The team, including six Partners across the three sectors, will use an innovative living-lab approach to tackle Australia’s highly fragmented services and funding models. Expected outcomes are a new social prescribing model and referral tools fit for the Australian context, to enable more efficient, effective and connected social, health and community services. Key benefits are enhanced support and wellbeing for the significant numbers of Australians experiencing disadvantage.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4206 - Public Health. Lead: Prof Svetlana Bogomolova

Ultrafast dynamic tomography and x-ray based rheography facility. This project aims to enhance our understanding of materials science through advanced imaging technology. Central to this is acquiring a TESCAN DynaTOM, a unique MicroCT system for fast, detailed 2D/3D/4D imaging without moving the sample. This approach lets researchers observe materials' structural changes in real-time, offering insights into deformation, mass transport, and chemical reactions. Expected benefits include deeper knowledge of material behaviours essential for geosciences and manufacturing. Moreover, the project will support educational and research opportunities at the University of Sydney, partner universities, and nationwide, providing access to an advanced imaging platform.. Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4005 - Civil Engineering. Lead: A/Prof Mohammad Saadatfar

National Live Cell Analytics Facility for Organelles’ Interactome Discovery. The LIEF project aims to establish a state-of-the-art National Live Cell Analytics Facility for Organelles’ Interactome Discovery. It will incorporate various cutting-edge equipment, including spinning disk super-resolution confocal microscope, polarization structure illumination microscope, an extended excitation unit operating in the near-infrared spectrum, and a high-throughput screening workstation. The facility will provide unparalleled capabilities for visualizing interactions among subcellular organelles and mapping out networks between cells. Australian data science, biology, materials, and engineering researchers will collaborate to spearhead international advancements in cell biology methodologies through this advanced platform. . Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: Prof Jiajia Zhou

All-Optical Upgrade to the Adelaide Atom Trap Trace Analysis Facility. This LIEF will upgrade the University of Adelaide Atom Trap Trace Analysis facility with a state-of-the-art analysis system that incorporates new all-optical methods. The system will provide ultrasensitive measurement of trace argon and krypton gas for groundwater dating. The project addresses a global demand for measurements by increasing the capacity at the Adelaide facility and enables new applications through analysis of smaller sample volumes. It will benefit the Australian environmental and earth sciences by providing unique datasets, generating new knowledge into the flow and transport mechanisms of groundwater systems. It will address national water security and sustainability goals, and support growth of population and industry. . Scheme: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities. Field: 3707 - Hydrology. Lead: Prof Andre Luiten

Charting the Legal Seascape for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal in Australia. This project develops the legal framework needed to harness the ocean’s potential to combat climate change. Removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide is essential to advance Australia's net zero climate policy and achieve Paris Agreement climate goals. Marine carbon removal technologies could greatly enhance the ocean’s sequestration role. Our vast ocean estate positions us for leadership, but only if the gaps, complexity and fragmentation of our legal framework are addressed. This project will devise reform recommendations for adaptive, anticipatory laws, spanning local to international scales, multiple sectors, public and private actors, to create an enabling environment for marine carbon removal that also protects marine and coastal values. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4802 - Environmental and Resources Law. Lead: Prof Jan McDonald

Osteoclast recycling by asymmetric partitioning of damaged mitochondria . In vertebrate animals, osteoclasts constantly resorb & remodel bone during homeostasis in response mechanical and hormonal factors that signal via the chemical RANKL. Osteoclasts are giant multinucleated cells formed by the fusion of macrophages. But they also fission into osteomorphs during RANKL-stimulated bone resorption. Very little is known about this new cell and cellular process since it was discovered in 2021. This project aims to test the idea that accumulated metabolic stress during bone resorption triggers cell fission. It will generate new knowledge about the mechanism & biology underlying this new cell type. It will enhance interdisciplinary collaboration & build Australia’s research capacity & thought leadership in the field.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Prof Tri Phan

Advanced catalytic reduction to breakdown fluorinated pollutants. This project aims to address the accumulation of man-made chemical pollutants in our environment by optimising colloidal particles that use light energy to breakdown these persistent fluorinated chemicals. By taking advantage of 2 concurrent degradation pathways and studying toxicity of the degradation products, this project will generate new knowledge in the field of both physical chemistry and toxicology. The anticipated outcomes of this project include the development of a patentable new technology that will transform environmental remediation methods. The outcomes are expected to provide significant benefits to human health, wildlife and the environment through preventing adverse impacts of pollutant exposure.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3406 - Physical Chemistry. Lead: Dr Cameron Shearer

Addressing a major historical challenge for titanium alloy development . The project aims to initiate and establish a new conceptual framework to overcome a major historical challenge in the mechanical performance of high-strength titanium alloys since their inception. This project expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in alloy design concept, advanced metallic materials, and metal 3D printing. Expected outcomes include a fundamental solution to the design of breakthrough titanium alloys, new knowledge in 3D printing of these breakthrough titanium alloys, and interdisciplinary training of future leaders. This should provide significant benefits to Australian manufacturing in expanding existing diverse titanium markets, opening up new markets, and developing new business collaborations and partnerships.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Qian Ma

How cells perform error-free repair of damaged DNA? This project aims to understand how a molecular machine, called the dissolvasome, fixes tangled DNA to ensure error-free repair of damaged DNA by homologous recombination (HR), a critical process in all life forms. This will generate new knowledge about HR pathway by recreating the function of dissolvasome in a test tube and providing atomic snapshots of its individual steps using advanced imaging technology of cryo-electron microscopy. The expected outcome will be a ‘molecular movie’ of the fundamental process of DNA repair. The project's outcomes would have significant implications, from regulating sexual reproduction and creating genetic diversity in agriculture to improving cutting-edge gene editing techniques.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: A/Prof Shabih Shakeel

From Oppression to Hope: Reducing Heavy-Drinking with Midlife Women. This project aims to reduce alcohol consumption in 4 heavy drinking groups of midlife women by developing/testing co-designed interventions aimed at changing social practices around alcohol. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the personal, social and cultural drivers of heavy drinking using novel interdisciplinary approaches combining social practice theory, critical consciousness and pedagogies of oppression and hope. Expected outcomes include: community-level actions and policy/practice levers for alcohol reduction; and enhanced capacity for the research team to address the societal impacts of alcohol on the global stage. This should provide significant benefits in terms of reducing alcohol consumption for midlife women.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4206 - Public Health. Lead: Prof Paul Ward

The legacy of coastal infrastructure: reclamations and seawalls. Positioning coastal reclamations and seawalls in Asia-Australia as artefacts of the Anthropocene, the project aims to highlight their historical role in the expansion of human habitat into the sea, provoking debate on the sustainability of human coastal terraforming practices and assisting the heritage field to reassess the significance of historic coastal infrastructure in the context of the current climate crisis. Examining the threat that sea level rise poses to reclaimed land that, over time, has been integrated into the terrain of everyday life in Sydney, Hong Kong, and Japan, the project will better equip the Australian public to understand the background to this threat, thus laying groundwork for enhanced climate resilience.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4302 - Heritage, Archive and Museum Studies. Lead: Prof Denis Byrne

Cosmic Cartography to Counter Cosmic Conundrums. This project aims to make a comprehensive map of cosmic structure spanning four billion light years around our Milky Way, and analyse it to measure how our galactic neighbourhood warps our view of the Universe beyond. Using innovative machine learning methods to combine galaxy positions with galaxy motions this project should reveal hidden structures and determine their impact on our measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe. Expected outcomes include a 3D cosmic map that can be used by astrophysicists in perpetuity; this awe-inspiring new view of our cosmos is expected to provide social and cultural benefits, in addition to economic benefits arising from applying the new statistical methods to big data in industry and government.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences. Lead: Prof Tamara Davis

How do cells keep the proteome soluble? The project aims to determine the cellular mechanisms regulating the solubility of proteins inside mammalian cells, which are poorly understood and, when they fail, lead to neurodegenerative diseases. The project expects to determine what features of proteins dictate how they aggregate inside cells and the patterns in proteins sensed by protein quality control networks that work to prevent protein aggregation from arising. Expected outcomes include illuminating critical cell biology pathways underpinning molecular responses to protein folding, aggregation, and stress. This should provide significant benefits to future research into cures for neurodegeneration and industries producing engineered proteins, such as antibodies and enzymes. . Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: Prof Daniel Hatters

Epicureanism in the Western Political and Economic Tradition. The influence of classical Epicureanism on Western thought has been obscured by the fact that Epicurean ideas were often imported covertly due to the threat they posed to the established church. Further, many have laboured under the mistaken belief that the Epicureans had little to offer by way of political or economic thought. This project aims to explore how Epicureanism impacted the British contribution to early modern political liberalism, classical political economy, and utilitarianism by assessing how it affected the works of 7 key thinkers (Hobbes, Locke, Mandeville, Hume, Smith, Bentham, and Mill). Expected outcomes will deepen our understanding of the Western political and economic traditions, including their tacit assumptions.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5002 - History and Philosophy of Specific Fields. Lead: Prof Lisa Hill

The dark side: weaving nocturnality into pollination resilience networks. This project aims to identify the drivers of resilience in insect/plant pollination systems, as applied to the Australian alps. It will generate an innovative framework for understanding this vital mutualism in its full complexity by integrating diurnal and nocturnal pollination networks via multilayer models, and validating them in the field. Expected outcomes span new techniques for characterising pollination systems, and enhanced capacity to predict their resilience and vulnerability amidst environmental change. Key expected benefits include management strategies for the scientifically and culturally significant Australian alpine meadows, and the export of methods to support analogous efforts in vulnerable ecosystems worldwide.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3103 - Ecology. Lead: Dr Thomas White

All-perovskite inorganic anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. This project aims to develop anion exchange membrane water electrolysers using all inorganic perovskite oxides as both the electrode and membrane components for the generation of green hydrogen. This project expects to generate new knowledge in understanding the structure-property relationships of perovskite oxide electrocatalysts and the hydroxide ionic conduction behaviours of perovskite oxide membranes under practical operating conditions, which are key to the water electrolysis technologies. This project is expected to improve the utilisation of renewable energy and promote the development of hydrogen research in Australia. This should provide significant benefits to achieve energy sustainability and carbon neutrality for Australia.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4016 - Materials Engineering. Lead: Prof Dr Zongping Shao

Science for monitoring the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This project aims to develop new science for effective monitoring of policies to halt and reverse loss of nature, in Australia and globally. Loss of nature threatens biodiversity, human wellbeing and the economy. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has set new goals for nature, but its indicators for measuring progress are untested. This project will provide the first comprehensive evaluation of global and national monitoring capacity to track progress towards the Convention’s goals. Expected outcomes include new theory and methods for monitoring change, and policy tools for governments and the private sector. Expected benefits include improved indicators for monitoring action and nature recovery in Australia and around the globe.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4104 - Environmental Management. Lead: Prof Emily Nicholson

Generative AI and the future of academic writing and publishing. This project examines the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) technologies on scholarly research and publishing. The project investigates how GenAI technologies are shaping the future of academic research from search to publication, including how academic publishers and peak research advisory bodies are responding to the potential of these technologies. The project develops a framework for understanding the sociotechnical drivers shaping the debate and establishes cross-sector principles to promote a more consistent and critical response by key stakeholders. In doing so, it supports ongoing learning within scholarly communities for a more responsive national research system, optimising GenAI for public good.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies. Lead: A/Prof Michelle Riedlinger

Models of adolescent brain development to predict socioemotional function. This project aims to understand what drives brain development leading to variability in socioemotional functioning in adolescence. Adolescence is a dynamic developmental window for brain development, and current models of adolescent development fail to predict why, when and to whom, changes lead to socioemotional difficulties and poorer outcomes. Timing and progression of puberty is emerging as a better marker of where an adolescents’ brain is up to in development. Having established the largest internationally collaborative dataset, this project will reveal the role of pubertal maturation and hormones in adolescent brain development, with significant beneficial consequences for age-based benchmarking decisions in policy and society.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 5202 - Biological Psychology. Lead: Prof Tim Silk

The Evolutionary Landscape of RNA Modification in Mammals. This proposal aims to unveil ancestral and species-specific programs of RNA regulation driving mammalian evolution. By combining our latest artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms with direct RNA long-read sequencing, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the role of RNA modifications in evolution. Anticipated outcomes include an atlas of RNA modifications across species and tissues, and new computational algorithms in RNA biology. This project should provide multidisciplinary training opportunities, strengthen international collaborations in the study of RNA, and catalyse innovations in research and industry, helping to build Australia’s capability in the exciting field of RNA biology.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3105 - Genetics. Lead: A/Prof Robert Weatheritt