ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Enhancing Vision-Language Models with Game-Based Reasoning and Evaluation. This project aims to enhance Large Vision-Language Models by developing innovative evaluation tools and training methods that focus on complex reasoning, decision-making, and adaptability. Current evaluation methods lack the ability to test these advanced skills comprehensively. By addressing this gap, the project will improve Large Vision-Language Models ability to understand and solve intricate, real-world problems. The outcomes will not only enhance AI's capabilities in specific tasks but also provide transferable skills applicable to various domains, benefiting industries such as healthcare, business, and education, while supporting Australia's leadership in AI research and applications. Field of research: 4603 - Computer Vision and Multimedia Computation This project addresses short-comings in the capabilities of Large Vision-Language Models (LVLMs). LVLMs are computer programs that can read, understand and interpret images. Our aim is to significantly enhance their reasoning, adaptability, and decision-making potential through innovative, game-based training and evaluation frameworks. Current benchmarks inadequately capture complex reasoning or strategic thinking, limiting LVLMs' utility and trustworthiness. By developing advanced, comprehensive evaluation methods, this research will directly benefit Australians by supporting robust and reliable AI applications in critical sectors such as healthcare, where improved diagnostic tools can enhance patient outcomes; education, where personalised learning systems can boost student performance; and business, enabling strategic decision-making to increase productivity and competitiveness. Moreover, rigorous evaluation frameworks ensure transparency and accountability, directly addressing ethical concerns fundamental to responsible AI, reducing potential risks such as biased decision-making or misinformation. To maximise impact beyond academia, findings and tools will be promoted through engagement with industry partners, public demonstrations, and targeted workshops. Collaboration with policymakers and community organisations will further support translation, understanding, and adoption, enhancing Australia's leadership in ethical and impactful AI research.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Practical Mechanisms to Improve the Efficiency of Land Assembly Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Practical Mechanisms to Improve the Efficiency of Land Assembly Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Shining light on novel strategies to improve crop water use efficiency Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

A Nanoplatform for Lipopolysaccharide-independent Immune Hyperactivation Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Shining light on novel strategies to improve crop water use efficiency Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Constraining the Standard Model with precision simulations of Kaon... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Unravelling the bactericidal biomechanics of nanoengineered surfaces Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

A Nanoplatform for Lipopolysaccharide-independent Immune Hyperactivation Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

A Nanoplatform for Lipopolysaccharide-independent Immune Hyperactivation Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Shining light on novel strategies to improve crop water use efficiency Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Hunting the Most Extreme Accelerators in our Galaxy Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Exploring Rural Women's Needs for Creative Spaces Through Co-design Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Unravelling PFAS dark matter in food contact material Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Unravelling PFAS dark matter in food contact material Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Hunting the Most Extreme Accelerators in our Galaxy Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Australian Optical Dating and Archaeological Luminescence Facility: AusOpAL. AusOpAL aims to transform our understanding of human evolution and past human interactions using next-generation innovations in luminescence dating. It addresses significant limitations in the scope and capacity of the national geochronology portfolio, unlocking Australian-first capabilities in emergent feldspar and quartz dating techniques and direct dating of archaeological materials such as stone tools. Expected outcomes include benchmark reconstructions of past human dispersals and cultures, advances in dating reliability and training of future geoscience expertise. This will provide important benefits for improved temporal appraisals of human history, including timing of human settlement and causes of megafauna extinction in Australia. Field of research: 4301 - Archaeology This LIEF project will establish a world-leading geochronology laboratory (AusOpAL) with state-of-the-art capabilities in dating archaeological, palaeontological and geological materials. It will address major gaps in our understanding of Australia’s past climates, long-term biodiversity changes and environmental history, and it will provide critical new insights into the evolution and global dispersal history of our species, including when humans first arrived on our continent. The facility will improve Australia’s skill base by training students with sought-after geoscience expertise, and it will sustain new and streamlined commercial dating services that benefit archaeology consultancy, mining and government sectors. It will ensure cultural benefits by strengthening research partnerships with Indigenous communities and heritage management, raising awareness of deep-time connections with Country and promoting science-based conservation initiatives at Australian heritage sites. By improving reconstructions of past climate change, AusOpAL will provide critical calibration datasets for climate forecast models, thereby optimising projections of future environmental changes affecting Australia. AusOpAL’s high-profile findings will be promoted beyond academia via social and mainstream media, popular science articles, public seminars, on-Country community meetings, and by hosting immersive student learning experiences, high-school outreach and laboratory showcasing events.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

3D Printing Facility for Precision Micro & Nano Photonics. This project aims to create a 3D Printing Facility for Precision Micro & Nano Photonics that enables high-speed and precise fabrication of complex optical micro-structures with nano-scale features, ultra-smooth surfaces and high-accuracy alignment. This is expected to achieve seamless integration of optical fibres and photonic chips with each other and their environment, which is crucial for their practical deployment outside of well-controlled laboratories. Expected outcomes of the proposed facility include the convergence of multiple disciplines and the fostering of innovation, enabling research in quantum technology, secure communications, bioimaging, sensing, materials science and more—ultimately accelerating industrial translation. Field of research: 4009 - Electronics, Sensors and Digital Hardware The advancement of imaging, sensing, quantum computing, and super-fast communication technologies requires compact, high-performance photonic devices that can seamlessly interface with each other. Currently Australia lacks the capability for creating such interfaces. The proposed facility will overcome this technological gap by bringing a world-class capability to Australia that allows precise printing of micro and nano photonic components needed for realising the critical interfacing between advanced photonic devices into fully integrated systems. The proposed facility will operate as a shared and open-access research facility. The cutting-edge and portable photonic systems that will be enabled by the facility will create wide economic benefits across multiple industries by addressing diverse needs in areas such as environmental monitoring, Defence and National Security, telecommunication and health industries. Additional social benefits will be realised by increasing Australia’s competitiveness in imaging, sensing, information, and communication sectors. For example, this facility will enable 1) efficiently interconnected photonic chips to create systems for precision sensing and high-speed communication and 2) non- or minimal-invasively fibre devices to image and sense in previously inaccessible regions in brain, heart and embryos. Project outcomes will be communicated to the public through media releases, social media and proactive engagement with the media.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Unlocking the potential of radiogenic isotopes for ocean conservation. Monitoring biodiversity is key to understanding and managing ecosystem health. The development of radiogenic isotopes for tracking terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity has become a gold standard because of their precision and predictability. But the poster child of radiogenic isotopes, strontium, does not work in marine systems. This project aims to road test a radiogenic isotope that is suitable for marine biodiversity: neodymium. This project expects to establish neodymium isotopes as a go-to method for tracking diverse marine organisms, from sharks to sea snails, and generating crucial data on their mobility and origins. This project should result in improved monitoring and conservation of marine biodiversity under threat. Field of research: 3103 - Ecology Australia’s oceans and coastlines are a core part of our national identity and lifestyle, and the ocean economy is growing two to three times faster than the rest of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, our capacity to monitor the health and life of our oceans is poor compared to our capacity to monitor life on land. This project aims to balance the scales between land and sea by developing an innovative go-to method to monitor and track marine biodiversity. The method will be applicable to a diverse array of marine life, from sharks to sea snails, and provide practical information on a species’ movement and geographic origins. Such information could help natural resource managers to better protect endangered species, optimise sustainable fisheries production, the placement of marine protected areas, or even determine whether seafood products originate from sustainable sources, a growing concern for consumers. As such, this project expects to improve the monitoring and conservation of marine biodiversity under threat, benefiting Australians economically, environmentally, and socially. To communicate and promote the translation of project outcomes and future possibilities beyond academia, a comprehensive media and outreach strategy will be implemented, alongside targeted communications to natural resource managers.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Hunting the Most Extreme Accelerators in our Galaxy Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Exploring Rural Women's Needs for Creative Spaces Through Co-design Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Constraining the Standard Model with precision simulations of Kaon... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Informal sexuality and civics education pedagogies of LGBTQ+ youth. This project explores how LGBTQ+ young people’s everyday social media use can be leveraged to enhance the wellbeing benefits of sexuality and civics education. This project employs a novel qualitative research design to provide vital insight into the beneficial online teaching and learning practices of LGBTQ+ youth on topics concerning health, sexuality and civics amid increasing political polarisation. This research will show how these informal pedagogies can complement school-based teaching. Outcomes include guidance for teachers to assist in delivering sexuality and civics education that is contextually relevant to young people’s modern lives, cultivating LGBTQ+ inclusion while enhancing health and wellbeing benefits for all students. Field of research: 3904 - Specialist Studies In Education Young LGBTQ+ Australians are often unsatisfied with the quality of school-based sexuality and civics education, where the curriculum is increasingly difficult for teachers to manage amid growing negative political sentiment surrounding LGBTQ+ youth globally. LGBTQ+ youth use the internet as an alternative source of learning but there is currently no evidence to demonstrate how this may be leveraged to enhance these formal curriculum areas. The social media ban that will take effect in 2025 effectively cuts LGBTQ+ youth under 16 years off from what is for some the only positive education available on sexuality, relationships and civics. This project engages LGBTQ+ youth with a unique social media-based research design to discover their informal sexuality and civics pedagogies, and seeks the perspectives of their teachers, parents and others central to their education. A vital evidence base will be created to guide teachers in delivering relevant, inclusive and impactful sexuality and civics education that draws on the informal pedagogies of LGBTQ+ youth. The results will be communicated in tailored webinars allowing teachers and educators to develop practical skills. The enhancement of formal sexuality and civics education pedagogies will ultimately promote better health outcomes and social cohesion within and beyond schooling by cultivating thoughtful, critical perspectives about health, identity and civic life among all students.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Safeguarding Australia's most threatened plants in a drier and hotter world. This project aims to use physiologically-based models to assess threatened plants' risk of mortality in response to the combined effects of droughts and heatwaves. This is a critical issue in Australia, where climate change is intensifying hotter droughts and increasing extinction risks for many species. By disentangling drought/heat impacts on mature and young trees’ physiology, this study expects to better predict when, where and which species will experience mortality. Project outcomes will benefit tree-planting initiatives, by selecting appropriate species/sites; policy makers, by incorporating climate-change risk into conservation planning; and all Australians, by ensuring a future for our unique species in a drier and hotter world. Field of research: 3103 - Ecology Australia’s rate of species extinction is one of the highest in the modern world. With climate change leading to hotter droughts, even some of Australia's iconic plants are now at high risk for extinction. This study will be the first to investigate how elevated temperature combined with droughts affects threatened plants’ physiology at different life stages. This new knowledge will be incorporated into mechanistic models to more robustly predict the risk of mortality of threatened trees and shrubs now and into the future. Project outcomes will support science-based and cost-effective conservation management practices, thus reducing expenses associated with the preservation of threatened species. This project will benefit Australia by providing the knowledge and data to help make environmental and climate related decisions. It will directly contribute to the national Research Priority area of “Protecting and restoring Australia’s environment”, and to Australia's zero-extinction target. Results will be disseminated amongst landowners, natural resource managers, and conservationists via web tools and booklets. This will assist stakeholders in identifying priority species for management intervention, and locations for the establishment of climate-resilient populations. The creation of a threatened species section in the University’s arboretum, will raise community awareness of the two global issues tackled in this project: climate change and biodiversity loss.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Unravelling the bactericidal biomechanics of nanoengineered surfaces Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research