Griffith University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

How can political actors shape voter turnout? This project aims to investigate what explains variations on individual's turnout rates by analysing the strategies employed by candidates and parties to mobilise their supporters and demobilise their detractors. The project will compare the mobilisation and demobilisation strategies of the parties and candidates in Spain, Mexico and India. Expected outcomes include an improved understanding of the demobilised, the re-affirmed abstainers and the activated voters, which are under-studied. The findings will enhance understanding of motivations of those citizens, a topic of growing scholarly interest, and also inform Australian policy makers seeking to enhance the design of their governance interventions. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Next-generation models to predict cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms. This project aims to address the need for improved predictions of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) harmful algal blooms. Accurate predictions of blooms with computer models are important to support management strategies to prevent their occurrence. This project is expected to generate new knowledge of strain-level variation in cyanobacteria that leads to toxic blooms. This project will lead to new knowledge of the significance of strain-level variation in cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms, how strains influence toxin production and models for prediction of bloom and toxins. The project will generate significant benefits for water security for the purposes human consumption and recreation, and ecosystem health. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Work-life learning to sustain employability: practices and policies. This project aims to explore how Australian workers can sustain their employability across their working lives. The project intends to analyse retrospective accounts from workers in order to identify the kinds of learning required by workers for their life-long employability, as well as the practices and policies that might be adopted by workplaces and tertiary education in order for Australian workers to sustain their employment and secure advancement. This project will provide significant benefits to a society where the working lives of Australians are lengthening and sustained employability has become a policy priority. Field of research: 1301 - Education Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Uncovering the coping toolbox for social and academic resilience in youth. This project aims to provide important new knowledge on youth stress, life adversity and coping to assist the development of efficient and successful resilience programs. Coping with stress is the number one concern of today's Australian teenagers. The project intends to address coping flexibility and resilience across the transition of youth from primary to secondary school and through the final years of secondary school. Expected outcomes include findings that can be translated into interventions that can assist individuals coping with life transitions at any age and those facing significant social, medical, workplace or academic stressors in other times of their life. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments of wastewater. Every day, Australians produce ~5 billion litres of wastewater, which contains a cocktail of chemicals. Industries that discharge wastewater are required to assess chemical risks to the receiving environments by conducting whole animal direct toxicity assessments (DTA), which are expensive and pose an ethical dilemma. Our preliminary research shows that new in vitro bioassays provide an ethical and cost effective alternative that could be incorporated into DTA programs if their ecological relevance can be demonstrated. This project will develop and validate a new and internationally significant suite of in vitro bioassays for incorporation into DTA programs, leading to more ethical, cost effective and improved environmental protection. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Towards high-performance wearable devices: materials and microfabrication. This project aims to design and develop functional nanomaterials and nanocomposites for high-performance wearable tactile sensors, integrating the sensors with nanogenerator and charge storage devices. In addition to the functional materials approach, precise control of device architecture through additive manufacturing and laser patterning will be implemented to maximise device performance. The expected outcomes of this project include the detailed understanding of the nanomaterials structural-property relationship under constant mechanical stresses and establishing fundamental principle on the microfabrication of nano device wearable devices. This project will advance the field of materials chemistry and advanced manufacturing with niche high value-added products. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

National human rights institutions and transitional justice in Asia. National human rights institutions (NHRIs) are an increasingly common feature of transitional justice processes, designed to address past human rights violations and prevent future abuses. This project aims to examine the effectiveness of NHRIs during political transitions in the Asia-Pacific. It intends to contribute to policy debates about NHRI performance and benefit practitioners engaged in their design and administration. As Australia has played a key leadership role in the establishment of NHRIs in the region, this project will benefit the development of the human rights aspects of Australia’s foreign policy by generating new knowledge, building institutional collaborations, and enhancing its research capacity on human rights. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Improving academic outcomes by moderating anxiety in children with autism. The project aims to investigate links between anxiety and academic enablers for children with autism. As a group, these children are currently achieving at lower rates than their peers, with implications for their future social and economic wellbeing. Effective interventions to improve educational outcomes are lacking. This project will investigate how anxiety, a commonly occurring condition in autism, impacts attitudes and behaviours that facilitate students’ participation in and ability to benefit from academic instruction in the classroom. Findings are intended to provide an evidence base for the development of an intervention suitable for use by service providers to increase academic achievement in children with autism. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A honking horn can blind you: how sudden distractions redirect attention. This project aims to investigate the sudden offset of distraction and its effects. Distraction can have a devastating impact on our ability to pay attention. This project derives its approach to distraction from recent neurophysiological advances in understanding the Locus Coeruleus–Norepinephrine system. The project intends to establish the role of the Locus Coeruleus in sudden distraction and to examine how sudden distraction interacts with both environmental and internal factors. The outcomes of the research may lead to improvements in technology to enhance road safety and reduce the social and physical costs of distraction-related accidents. This should provide significant benefits such as informing policies on distraction-while-driving to make Australia’s roads safer. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Quality teaching work and reducing educational inequalities. This project aims to investigate school-based teaching policies and practices using innovative design-based research, to collaboratively develop quality teaching that meets complex, contextual student needs in high poverty communities. Teachers' work in primary schools in high poverty areas is increasingly driven by standards and testing demands. High levels of teacher anxiety and fatigue are apparent in such schools. This project will study teaching work in six educationally disadvantaged contexts and identify the different pedagogic approaches that produce sustained increases in student learning. The project intends to develop a collaborative knowledge model that will enhance teacher professionalism and student learning attainment, with highly valuable benefits for the Australian community and economy. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Beyond Hendra: the significance of viral communities in bat virus spillover. This project aims to address the emerging global health threat posed by zoonotic bat-borne viruses, by determining why bats shed multiple viruses in synchronised pulses. The project expects to identify universal drivers of multi-viral shedding pulses, using Hendra virus as a model system for other bat viruses in Australia and globally. Expected outcomes include insights into the interactions between environmental change, bat ecology, viral dynamics and spillover, prediction of when and where bat viral shedding will most likely occur, and development of new ecological interventions to prevent bat virus spillover in Australia and globally. This will provide significant benefits by pre-empting spillover and global pandemics before they occur. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Archaeology and natural history. This project aims to provide critical new information on the archaeology and natural history of one of the world’s largest unregulated desert river systems. Mithaka country incorporates the highly significant Channel Country on the eastern edge of Australia's arid centre. Preliminary research has identified more than 70 large site complexes that provide critical insights on how the Mithaka people adapted to this unique environment and took part in Australia's most extensive long distance trade systems. The project will study the archaeological landscape, artefacts and an extensive in-situ skeletal record in the context of a detailed palaeoenvironmental study. It will provide a new cultural-environmental history of this landscape and provide the Mithaka with multiple strands of connection to their ancestral land and culture and support their aspirations to create employment through rangers programs, education and cultural tourism. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Bulk nanobubbles: from fundamentals to biomedical applications. This project aims to extend optical and acoustic tools to detect bulk nanobubbles, control their size-distributions, and understand how they interact with biomolecules. Liquids containing nanobubbles have numerous applications particularly in biomedicine. Using interdisciplinary approaches, this project expects to gain convincing evidence of the existence of bulk nanobubbles. This is expected to advance existing fundamental knowledge at the forefront of soft matter research, and give Australia a decisive technological head start in a competitive and lucrative industry through patentable technology. Field of research: 0306 - Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural)

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Foundations and applications of quantum causality. This project aims to investigate the nature of causality in the quantum world. With special-purpose quantum devices on the horizon, the need for novel quantum protocols is of urgent technological and economic significance. Using interdisciplinary methodologies, this project will explore the hypothesis that quantum advantage is associated to a fundamental need for fine-tuning in classical simulations of quintessentially quantum phenomena. Expected outcomes include a resource theory of fine-tuning providing a physical picture to guide quantum technologies, new fundamental tests of nonclassicality, and significant theoretical and philosophical advances in our understanding of the nature of quantum reality and causality. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Engaging Muslims in the fight against terrorism. This project aims to investigate engagement between the Australian police and Muslim communities by emphasising mutual fairness, voice, neutrality and respect. Collaboration from Muslims is essential in strategies to prevent terrorist activities The project will identify how police use procedural justice and when and why Muslims are most receptive to procedural justice. It is expected this will enhance police relationships with Muslims and assist measures in terrorism prevention. Field of research: 1602 - Criminology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention. The ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention aims to increase farm production and disease prevention through advancing and transferring new artificial intelligence technologies into industrial deployment. The Hub will combine machine vision, machine learning, software quality control, engineering, biology, and farming industries to develop technologies to build more intelligent systems. These dynamic systems will help determine what goal to achieve and the most efficient plan to achieve it. This Hub is expected to contribute to higher farming efficiency, lower production costs and fewer disease risks, giving the Australian industry new business opportunities and an international competitive advantage. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Creating pathways to child wellbeing in disadvantaged communities. This project aims to test, in nine disadvantaged communities, a model for action that blends new human and digital resources to support respectful, data-driven collaborations between schools, families and community agencies. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of translational prevention science about how to influence risk and protective factors for child wellbeing in a cost-efficient manner and at a scale within existing service systems. Project benefits should include a methodology for achieving lasting improvements in child wellbeing, behaviour and school success. Field of research: 1607 - Social Work

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Towards an intercontinental quantum network. This project aims to address the security vulnerabilities of online data transmission. Cyber attacks and data stealing are threatening the daily operations of public and private organisations worldwide, and the privacy of individuals. This project expect to realise the key element for a new global network architecture where security is guaranteed by the fundamental laws of physics. This element is the quantum node and it will be implemented through the development of new techniques for the control and manipulation of individual atoms and innovative integrated optical devices for the interface with fibre networks. The development of this technology will lead to intrinsically secure online communication for organisations in the health and defence sectors and private individuals worldwide. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Juggling priorities: How do tertiary students balance work and study? This project aims to apply boundary management theory to examine how tertiary students cope with the competing demands of work and study while at university. The project will use survey, interview, and diary studies to test the associations between work demands and academic, career, and well-being outcomes over time. The expected outcomes will contribute an improved understanding of these relationships and the underlying mechanisms with potential benefits for individuals, tertiary institutions, and the community. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The Rise of sophisticated authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. This project aims to investigate the persistence of authoritarian rule in Southeast Asia. Against the backdrop of a global democratic recession, the project seeks to identify how dictators and dominant parties have learnt to maintain power using increasingly sophisticated techniques. Using five original case studies and three qualitative methods, the expected outcome is an explanation for the survival of authoritarian regimes that is accessible and informative to the academic, policymaking and democracy promotion communities. The knowledge gained from this project can be used to safeguard Australia’s interest in the preservation and growth of democracy abroad. The benefits will be risk reduction in terms of decision making and improved national security. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Movement of mitochondria between cells. This project aims to characterise how mitochondria move between cells into grafted cells with dysfunctional mitochondrial function. How mitochondria reach the acceptor cell and how they move from the donor cell is not known. The project will use a 'bottom-up' approach, starting from a reconstituted system, via in vitro, co-culture stage to a relevant biological model, increasing complexity and biological relevance. It will document that the process of mitochondrial intercellular movement is dependent on intercellular bridges and a specific mobility system. The project is of high relevance for cell biology. Field of research: 0304 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The road to compliance: Integrating three theories. This project aims to reduce young driver deaths and injuries by developing an integrated theory of road policing using the elements of deterrence, procedural justice and third party policing approaches. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of road policing which represents a resource intensive area of policing activity. The expected outcome of this project is an integrated theory of road policing that can better inform interventions for young driver compliance. This should provide significant benefits including a reduction in the cost of crashes involving young drivers, which cost nearly $5.5 billion from 2006-2015. Field of research: 1602 - Criminology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

New hierarchical electrode design for high-power lithium ion batteries. This project aims to develop new types of hierarchical electrodes for high-rate lithium ion batteries with long cycling life. The key concepts are the development of multi-shelled hollow structured silicon-based anode and Li-rich layered oxides cathode to achieve both high power and energy density, and the adoption of graphene to further improve rate capability and cycling stability. Effective energy storage systems play an important role in the development of renewable energies and electric vehicles. The project outcomes will lead to innovative technologies in low carbon emission transportation and efficient energy storage systems. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Monoatomic metal doping of carbon-based nanomaterials for hydrogen storage. This project aims to present a new concept of monoatomic metal doped carbon-based nanomaterials as advanced solid-state hydrogen storage materials (S-HSMs) for hydrogen fuel cells. The key feature for this synthesis is the use of the unique “defect” structures in carbon lattice as the efficient anchoring sites to immobilise the metal species at atomic level. This project is expected to create new knowledge of atomic interface catalysis and develop practical applications of S-HSMs in storage tanks for fuel cells, leading to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and alleviation of air pollution. The success of this project will greatly enhance the Australian clean energy industries. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Searching for near-exact protein models. This project aims to develop novel and efficient heuristic-based algorithms leading to near accurate protein tertiary structure models. Knowledge about protein structures is fundamental to our understanding of living systems. The progress on experimental determination of these structures has been extremely limited and remains an open challenge in molecular biology. Computational prediction of protein structures from sequences is emerging as a promising approach, but its accuracy is far from satisfactory. The software systems developed in this project will be used in structural identification of target proteins in drug design. This will make drug design process more efficient, saving time and cost, potentially saving lives. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing