Griffith University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Unlocking the mechanobiological events in oxygen unloading by erythrocytes. This project aims to use state-of-the-art technologies to reveal the process of oxygen release from red blood cells during mechanical force exposure. This project expects to generate new knowledge on a vital biological process originally described using static models of cell-free haemoglobin that do not reflect the diffusive barriers to gas exchange or the mechanical dynamics of the in vivo environment. Expected outcomes include identifying molecular targets responsible for, and equations to accurately describe, the relation between mechanical stress and oxygen transfer. Benefits will include knowledge to improve models of biological dynamics and economic opportunities due to industry applications related to oxygen supply-demand management. Field of research: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering This project addresses a knowledge gap in the fundamental understanding of the physical processes that regulate oxygen transport and offloading in blood. Classic theory predicts rapid exchange of oxygen between blood and organs, although those approaches relied on measurements in stationary and simplified fluids, which do not translate to the complex and dynamic environment of blood. This project addresses this limitation by developing a cutting-edge method to evaluate how physical forces influence the handling and offloading of oxygen at the single cell resolution and will reveal how the intracellular environment regulates oxygen availability in response to physical forces. The platform technology developed in this project will generate valuable knowledge for future researchers seeking to target specific cellular processes that regulate oxygen transfer from cells, with future applications in health and disease. Further, the developed technology presents commercial opportunities by reducing labour intensive techniques into a single user-friendly platform attractive for blood screening and analytics. The knowledge, technology, and outcomes of this project will thus be shared with, and provide value to, many Australians and is likely to have value in providing tools that may be manufactured locally for export to the world. Knowledge from this project will be shared with community groups via science communication opportunities, and school outreach, to promote science literacy.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Advancing statistical models for clustering data with structured dependence. Modern data present increasingly complexities such as heterogeneity and structured dependence among data. Ignoring these features can result in misleading findings. This project aims to develop novel methods to identify important subgroups in data with various forms of dependence. It will introduce techniques that can capture complex relationships in data and enhance model validity. Main outcomes include advanced methods and algorithms that can accurately identify clusters, patterns, outliers, and model evaluation. This will provide significant benefits in statistics and for crime prevention in Australia when the new methods are applied to Queensland Police Service data to understand co-offending crimes, repeat victimisation, and hot spots. Field of research: 4905 - Statistics Identifying disadvantaged subgroups is fundamental in solving many real-world problems. Modern data often show high interdependence. Traditional methods that ignore data dependence can result in misleading findings. This project aims to develop new statistical methods for identifying subgroups from data with various forms of dependence. Research outcomes are advancements in statistical methodology with improved validity for understanding important patterns, outliers, and relationships between subgroups. The research outputs will bring benefits in statistics and across scientific fields that generate data with complex dependence in daily applications. The project will also expand research capacity in Australia by promoting collaborations and by training young researchers and students. The practical application of our methods to the Queensland Police Service data will fill the gaps in understanding patterns of co-offending and repeat victimisation, crime hot spots, risk factors, and vulnerable groups. The findings will be valuable in directing effective crime prevention to achieve safe environment and secure societies for addressing the UN Goal “Sustainable Cities and Communities”. These are important foundations for delivering other key services and economic growth to Australia. We will develop a web-based platform and seminars to engage researchers, communities, and stakeholders for promoting knowledge exchange, awareness, and translations into changes in policy or practice.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Developing chemical probes for effector triggered immunity in plants. Nucleotides play important roles in activation of plant immune responses to prevent pathogen infection and are therefore potential targets for development of crop protecting agents. This project aims to use chemical and structural biology approaches to develop stable and cell-permeable small molecules that can be used as chemical probes to study plant immunity. The expected outcomes include fundamental new knowledge on molecular mechanisms of plant immunity, and a synthetic toolbox that can modulate the plant immune system and be used for developing new strategies to protect crops from disease and invasive plants. This should provide significant benefits to agriculture and global food security. Field of research: 3404 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry Plant diseases, insect pests and invasive plants are responsible for substantial crop losses each year. They are threats to global agricultural sustainability and food security and development of effective strategies to reduce crop losses are of immediate importance. This project aims to develop small molecules that can modulate the plant immune system. These molecules can be used as tools to advance fundamental knowledge in the functioning of the plant immune system, and as starting points for development of new crop protecting strategies with potential significant economic and commercial benefit for Australian agriculture. The project will also build critical capacity and advanced interdisciplinary skills in the rapidly growing fields of chemical and structural biology in Australia by training early career scientists. To maximise understanding, translation, use, and adoption of the research beyond academia, research data will be made publicly available in open-access repositories, research outcomes will be promoted via conferences aimed at a broader community, popular press and social media platforms, and industry stakeholders will be engaged to transform the new knowledge and molecules into impactful outcomes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Breaking the Cycle: Understanding Precarity in Australia’s Youth Workforce. The project aims to identify ‘necessary’ conditions that predispose youth to insecure, poorly paid and regulated, or precarious, work and widening precarity (e.g., eroded development, welfare reliance, low productivity) by taking a life history approach using archival longitudinal data supported by original data triangulated across young workers, their families, and employers. It expects to generate novel evidence on the cycle from preexisting precarity to precarious work to widening precarity. Expected outcomes include workplace change recommendations to break the cycle and better support young workers. This should yield significant benefits by reducing the societal and economic costs (estimated $billions) of a scarred youth precariat. Field of research: 5201 - Applied and Developmental Psychology Precarious employment (insecure with poor conditions, pay and benefits) presents a significant and growing issue for Australia, with youth most at-risk. Yet we know little about what predisposes youth to precarious employment and how that shapes their psychological construction of work and life phenomena, general worldview and a perpetual cycle of precarity. Addressing these knowledge gaps is critical to breaking the cycle. This project aims to identify factors across the life-histories of youths that predispose them to precarious employment trajectories during the adult workforce transition and the effects on their development and adjustment. We will document youth’s lived experiences of workplace-based needs, risks, supports and barriers and gather employers’ and family’s perceptions. Findings will transform the field beyond a focus on individual intervention to address systemic workplace and social risks, barriers and needed change, ensuring outcomes can be translated into actionable recommendations that will be presented to industry, worker organisations, support agencies and government for adoption and will fuel further research. Breaking the precarity cycle is vital to build a psychologically healthy and productive future Australian workforce. This will have important economic and social benefits for young workers directly via recommended workplace-based change (e.g., improved job design) and for organisations via high returns on investment (e.g., productivity gains).

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Dissecting the interplay of metabolism and lysine acetylation in Plasmodium. This project aims to improve our limited understanding of a key mechanism called lysine acetylation in Plasmodium, which are parasites that infect terrestrial vertebrates causing significant ecological, economic and health impacts. This project will investigate how Plasmodium lysine acetylation is linked to metabolic pathways and discover proteins that are critical to this process. New knowledge generated will improve understanding of Plasmodium biology and in the long term may lead to new ways to monitor, prevent or treat infections with these parasites. This knowledge will benefit researchers globally via access to high quality open science data and benefit Australia by building capability in metabolomics and proteomics core technologies. Field of research: 3102 - Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Plasmodium parasites can infect over 200 species of mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians. For example, certain Plasmodium species cause human malaria (>600,000 deaths annually), while others cause bird malaria in Australia and globally (e.g. decimating native Hawaiian bird populations). One of the challenges of Plasmodium biology is the complexity of the parasite’s growth processes, including understanding which are the key genes, proteins and metabolites involved in regulating these processes. This project will address this problem by investigating an important mechanism in Plasmodium that involves the modification of proteins and that influences almost all processes of cell biology including growth and infection. A better understanding of Plasmodium biology offers national benefits, including new insights on the biology of parasitism that may aid in the discovery of ways to monitor and target Plasmodium parasites important to human and animal health and improve understanding of current challenges such as drug resistance and zoonosis (transmission of Plasmodium from animal to human hosts). A further benefit will be mechanistic insights that will aid in the study of related parasites of veterinary importance to Australia, such as Babesia and Theileria that infect cattle and wildlife. The large protein and metabolism datasets arising from this project will be made open access, which will facilitate adoption and translation by other researchers in Australia and globally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Mitigating the dark side of AI-powered virtual influencers. This project aims to investigate effective strategies to mitigate the impact of AI-generated influencers on young consumers' body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem. This project expects to uncover novel insights about form realism and behavioural realism of virtual influencers by utilising innovative mixed methods including in-depth interviews, a survey, and online simulations. Expected outcomes include identifying inherent risks with generative AI-powered virtual influencers and exploring intervention mechanisms to enhance inclusivity and diversity in online environment. This should provide significant benefits, such as understanding and refining strategies for using AI and influencer marketing and informing relevant policies. Field of research: 3506 - Marketing Influencer marketing, which is increasingly using hyper-realistic AI-generated virtual influencers, raises significant concerns about social comparison, self-esteem, and body image, contributing to growth in eating disorders that cost Australia $67 billion and resulted in 1,273 deaths in 2023. Our research seeks to confront these challenges by uncovering the negative impact of virtual influencers on Gen Z, especially in underrepresented groups such as Indigenous Australians and LGBTQ+ communities. Guided by an advisory committee to ensure alignment with Indigenous community values and needs, we also assess the effectiveness of incorporating inclusion and diversity cues, such as the portrayal of minority groups, in virtual influencers, to promote healthier self-perceptions amongst the 15 to 24 age group. This research will assist firms in developing inclusive marketing strategies that appeal to Gen Z's preference for socially responsible brands and will set new media standards, fostering a positive culture for Gen Z and marginalised groups. The findings will guide the development of advertising regulations preventing influencers from promoting unrealistic body ideals. Our research will be disseminated via various channels in Australia and the US. Development of a Virtual Influencer Directory, Interactive Tool, and guidelines on diversity and inclusion will aid policymakers and businesses in making informed decisions about the ethical use and governance of virtual influencers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Proxy advisors and political dynamics in ethical investment campaigns. Proxy advisors provide guidance to more than 90% of the market’s large institutional investors, making them powerful allies or obstacles for activist campaigns for ethical investment. This project aims to reveal proxy advisors' role in spreading ethical investment norms, by analysing the power structures of the investment ecosystem through a world-first multi-country study of ethical investment campaigns on climate change, modern slavery, and First Nations’ land rights. Expected outcomes include the development of a novel typology for understanding influence in the realm of investment politics, and an evidence-base to provide benefits of guiding regulatory action and enhancing efforts to leverage market mechanisms to combat global problems. Field of research: 4408 - Political Science Proxy advisors are highly influential actors that play a central role in the investment ecosystem. This project examines the function of proxy advisors and their ability to direct capital investment to encourage ethical and sustainable business practices. By elucidating the complex relationships among proxy advisors, investors, social movements, and corporations, we aim to create a better understanding of efforts to align investment decisions with broader societal goals and major public issues in Australia. The project specifically focuses on climate change, modern slavery, and First Nation People's land and cultural rights, which are critical issues that carry national, regional, and global significance. Gaining such insights is valuable for the general public as well as for policy making, as better understanding the role of proxy advisors increases transparency and accountability around investment decisions, which can in turn inform public and company policy that considers the social and environmental consequences of investment decisions alongside wealth creation. Project outcomes will not only be disseminated in the academic community, but also presented to non-academic audiences in accessible formats. This dissemination strategy maximises engagement with the insights on the role of proxy advisors in aligning investment decisions with communal interests, bringing the benefits of our research into public discourse.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Timber Reimagined: Structurally Efficient Two-Way Flat Plate Construction. This project aims to develop a novel post-tensioned two-way cross-laminated timber flooring system to transform the design of conventional timber buildings, whilst addressing the shortage in timber supply. The project will generate new knowledge in the safe and efficient design of timber buildings and public infrastructure. Expected outcomes include lightweight, thin and more sustainable timber floors and roofs, and leading edge practical guidelines for the engineering community. This will provide significant benefits in response to the Australian Government’s commitment to increase timber construction by 2030 to build near-zero and resilient buildings, and the QLD Government’s Brisbane 2032 commitment to deliver a carbon-positive Olympics. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Existing timber structures constructed with conventional cross-laminated timber (CLT) encounter limitations such as one-way bending in floor and roof slabs, as well as the necessity for closely spaced columns, leading to thick slabs with reduced material efficiency. These limitations hinder the industry from using timber as widely as concrete and steel materials in various types of buildings. This project aims to develop a novel two-way CLT slab system enabling engineers to build lightweight, large-span, thin CLT slabs, representing a new generation of cost-effective timber construction. This will address the industry gaps in efficient timber design for strength and serviceability. The manufacturing techniques and design guidelines to be developed have the potential to be adopted by industry and integrated into building and construction policies. The proposed efficient two-way CLT construction solution will overcome the shortage in timber supply, foster advanced manufacturing in timber engineering, and create jobs for the Australian forestry and timber industry. Project outcomes will support the Australian Government’s commitment to increase timber construction by 2030 to build near-zero resilient buildings, the QLD Government’s Brisbane 2032 commitment to deliver a carbon-positive Olympics, and the UN Sustainability Development Goals. Strategies such as industry seminars, publications and digital platforms will be employed to reach a diverse audience and facilitate adoption.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Ontology Generation with Large Language Models for Regulatory Processes. Adhering to safety regulations is a knowledge-intensive task that has traditionally been manual, slow, and labour-intensive. This project aims to streamline compliance in the space industry by developing intelligent systems that build structured knowledge bases from vast amounts of technical documents and human interactions. This project expects to develop innovative artificial intelligence solutions and regulatory technologies. Expected outcomes of this project include a set of technologies and a system for automatically building large-scale high-quality ontologies. This should provide significant benefits, such as enhanced productivity through reliable machine assistants in high-criticality domains including the space industry. Field of research: 4609 - Information Systems This project addresses a critical challenge in high-risk sectors like the space industry: the slow and costly process of adhering to safety regulations, which still relies heavily on human expertise to interpret large volumes of regulatory documents. As a high-tech company specialising in space technology, the Partner Organisation seeks innovative artificial intelligence solutions to streamline these compliance processes. This project aims to create intelligent systems that automatically build structured knowledge bases by reading relevant technical documentation and consulting human experts. The outcomes will provide immediate benefits for the space industry and other sectors, such as medical device manufacturing, by offering more efficient and reliable regulatory assistance. This innovation will enable more companies to leverage digitalised knowledge bases, enhancing data management and decision-making. It will strengthen the competitive edge of Australian companies and contribute to the national economy by advancing artificial intelligence and regulatory technologies. To maximise the impact, we will present our findings at major conferences, publish open-access papers, and engage industry partners and end-users. We also plan to explore patenting and licensing opportunities for our technologies to promote their adoption and practical use.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Educational re/engagement of marginalised youth via wellbeing and community. This Project aims to improve educational outcomes for vulnerable young people in rural, regional and remote [RRR] areas of Australia. It is well documented that health and wellbeing may be major impediments to schooling re/engagement; thus, the project expects to demonstrate the effectiveness of using community-based, interdisciplinary approaches to removing such barriers. Expected outcomes include the identification of key principles for models of support for the welfare needs of RRR youth before educational re/engagement can occur. The project's benefits align with Australian Government goals to improve educational access for youth in RRR contexts to improve lifelong prospects for employment, housing, health and civic participation. Field of research: 3903 - Education Systems Research shows that the estimated lifetime financial cost of the approximate. 45,700 young Australians who disengage from education, each year, amounts to $50.5 billion. Young people living in rural, regional and remote [RRR] areas of Australia make up a disproportionate number of disengaged youth. They have lower educational, health and wellbeing outcomes than their urban peers. Early school leaving combined with generally higher levels of poverty leads to lower health literacy, unemployment and associated mental health issues such as depression, drug use and suicide. This research addresses these national challenges. This project will support better life trajectories for young people living in RRR areas of Australia by working with schools and communities to identify common principles needed to underpin contextualised models of support for educational re/engagement. Local communities will work with researchers to co-develop customised responses to the needs of their youth. Our partners are deeply embedded in communities and are committed to maximising understanding, translation and adoption of research outcomes. State High Schools at Dalby and Oakey along with the Western Downs Regional Council will facilitate local awareness. Our partners, Rural Medical Education Australia, the Darling Downs & West Moreton Primary Health Network, and The Toowoomba & Surat Basin Enterprise have local and national networks which will drive recognition and impact beyond university networks.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Climate smart technologies for dragon fruit and ginger production futures. This project aims to develop and apply climate-smart technologies for growing ginger and dragon fruit in southeast Queensland. The project will generate and apply a novel and superfunctional platform of biochar and soil microbial diversity technologies for enhancing water and nitrogen use efficiency as well as yield and quality of ginger and dragon fruit while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to intensifying climate change. Expected outcomes include enhanced win-win strategic partnerships and step-change biochar- and biodiversity-based platform technologies for supercharging ginger and dragon fruit production, resulting in increased crop yields, improved biodiversity, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced employments. Field of research: 3008 - Horticultural Production Climate change is intensifying globally, with increasing water and nitrogen limitation as well as climate extremes (particularly heatwaves, droughts and floods). This presents an unprecedented climate challenge for growing high value crops of ginger and dragon fruit. Ginger is an economically important horticultural crop used as a spice and highly valued for its medicinal properties. Dragon fruit is an incredible cactus of high value tropical crop, which can cope with poor soils under a warmer and drier climate, with its high value for human health and distinct attributes of growing well under future climate. This project aims to fill the urgent research gap of developing and applying climate-smart technologies for growing such high value crops in southeast Queensland, with significant and immediate implications globally by timely publication of key research findings. The project will generate and test a novel and super-functional platform of biochar and soil microbial diversity technologies for enhancing water and nitrogen use efficiency as well as yield and quality of ginger and dragon fruit crops, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate change adaptation. Significant and direct engagement of three project Partner Organisations with their Managing Directors (including PI Yang) in the project management ensure the rapid adoption and translation of key project outcomes for accelerating dragon fruit and ginger production futures in southeast Queensland.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Return of Aboriginal Australian Ancestors to Place and Country. This project aims to repatriate the many unprovenanced Aboriginal Australians ancestors held by the Queensland Museum. This research will produce a high-resolution genomic map of Queensland's first people using a curated database of modern samples and ancient remains. Using whole genome sequencing/enrichment methods and the database, we will identify the likely geographic origins of unprovenanced remains. This new repatriation programme will provide significant benefits to the Queensland Museum as repatriation is a key component of the museum’s strategic plan. It will also substantially benefit Aboriginal Australians and their communities, accelerating the return of their ancestors to Place and Country. Field of research: 3105 - Genetics The Queensland Museum holds a large number of unprovenanced Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander remains. This project will develop DNA methods that will allow the identification of the origins and therefore the tribal groups/sub-populations to which these remains belong. This information will allow the return of these remains to their Place and Country. This research will benefit Australians by building a stronger partnership between the Queensland Museum/State Government and indigenous communities. In combination, the resulting partnership and outcomes will facilitate reconciliation and promote respect and understanding of Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander culture. This partnership will also enhance relationships between Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders and non-indigenous Australians. This research and its outcomes will be of both academic and broad public interest. The research team will promote the findings through popular articles and radio/television programmes. We will engage with indigenous and non-indigenous communities through our partner Elders, face-to-face meetings and the Queensland Museum Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee (QMATSICC). We are confident that this project will prove to be a powerful model / approach that could be adopted by other institutions and State Governments.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Transforming disaster resilience through a community collaborative model. This Fellowship aims to develop a collaborative and evidence-based disaster governance model. Working in partnership with disaster preparedness and response agencies, this project expects to generate a transformative shift away from government dependence and towards proactive sector and community collaboration. Expected outcomes of this project include a disaster governance model that reduces community vulnerability and better prepares them for future disasters. This should provide significant benefits through equipping communities, government, and disaster agencies with a model suitable for the changing future challenges of natural disasters, potentially saving lives and property, and reducing the physical and mental economic burden. Field of research: 4101 - Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Climate-related disasters – including floods, bushfire and cyclones – currently cost Australia over $38 billion annually, and can have devastating economic and human impacts including loss of life and destruction of homes. Australia’s disaster spending is dominated by recovery, which is increasingly unsustainable as the cost, intensity and frequency of disasters escalates. Government disaster agencies and the wider sector recognise the need to shift towards proactive approaches, including prevention, readiness and resilience, to better equip, inform, and empower communities, and reduce the impact of disasters. This Fellowship partners with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) and Natural Hazards Research Australia (NHRA) to develop a collaborative disaster sector and community partnership governance model that will increase Australia’s resilience and reduce communities’ vulnerability to climate-related disasters. The framework and recommendations resulting from the Fellowship will be directly adopted by the industry partners, providing the disaster sector with significant new knowledge to underpin Australia’s transition to proactive, collaborative disaster resilience. The transformation from a top-down, government dependent model to a collaborative model with stronger communities at the core will have significant social and economic benefits, directing disaster spend from recovery to readiness and reducing the growing cost of disasters for all Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Building research literacy and coordinated care for vulnerable young people. Young Australians experiencing vulnerabilities face barriers navigating fragmented support services, often without their voices being heard. This Fellowship aims to co-design a Research Literacy and Coordinated Care Toolkit with Anglicare Southern Queensland and marginalised youth to build research literacy and promote evidence-based, coordinated care. The project aims to transform how youth and service providers collaboratively shape services, fostering improved social inclusion and service delivery. Expected outcomes include a practical toolkit to streamline service delivery, new knowledge on collaborative care, and enhanced practitioner capacity, ultimately reducing harm and improving life outcomes for vulnerable young Australians. Field of research: 4409 - Social Work Young Australians experiencing vulnerabilities deserve the opportunity to thrive, yet many face bleak short- and long-term outcomes, often trapped in cycles of persistent disadvantage. These young people must navigate complex support systems where their voices are rarely prioritised. To break this cycle, social service need participatory research that elevates end user perspectives while strengthening the research literacy of service providers. This project, in partnership with Anglicare Southern Queensland, is expected to address these challenges by co-developing a Research Literacy and Coordinated Care Toolkit. The Toolkit will equip young people and service providers with the skills to become co-researchers, tracing how youth move through the support ecosystem to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. The Toolkit will: Provide a practical resource for building research literacy and implementing training beyond basic evaluations; amplify the voices of marginalised youth within the service system; drive systemic improvements to coordinate care based on the insights and experiences of young people. The Toolkit will be applicable to different service providers supporting other marginalised Australians. The Toolkit will provide the practical templates for training staff to improve their in-house understanding of research, and codesigning research and to understand and therefore enhance coordinated care, improving the lives of disadvantaged Australian.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

A new implementable early burn care intervention strategy for children... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Engineering perovskite crystals for next-generation X-ray detectors. This project aims to develop highly sensitive X-ray detectors enabling high spatial resolution imaging using low radiation dosages through advancement of new fabrication and engineering strategies of novel semiconductor perovskite crystals. The revolutionary X-ray detectors developed in this project will surpass the limitations of conventional detectors in terms of sensitivity, radiation risks and cost. Expected outcomes will generate new fundamental knowledge on the structure-property-performance relationships in next-generation perovskite X-ray detectors. This project will place Australia at the forefront of research in the fields of materials science and nanotechnology – through the establishment of strong international collaborations. Field of research: 4016 - Materials Engineering X-rays are extensively utilised and play a critical role in various fields including security checks, medical imaging, industrial monitoring, scientific research and equipment. Direct digital X-ray detectors rely strongly on semiconductor materials to convert X-rays directly into electrical charges to produce a digital image. The existing commercial semiconductors suffer from issues associated with limited X-ray absorption leading to high potential exposure to X-rays, unsatisfactory sensitivity, inherently complex manufacturing processes and their associated costs. This project aims to design next-generation X-ray detectors by advancing the development of novel perovskite semiconductor crystals. The proposed research will develop safer, cost-effective and revolutionary X-ray technology with high sensitivity, excellent spatial resolution and improved user comfort, making significant contributions to Australia’s security, defence, medical and research sectors. This project will generate new advanced knowledge in the fields of materials science, nanoscience and technology, and optoelectronics, enhancing Australia’s international profile in these fields. The project will provide world-class research training and opportunities for future Australian leaders who will move into Australian industry, education and research institutions to ensure that Australia will drive innovations in materials and nanotechnology for our future commercialisation success.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Using an impaired driving context to enhance deterrence. This project aims to investigate how impaired driving is policed by addressing the three main limitations of the widely used deterrence theory. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how to best apply deterrence theory while staying on top of new drug regulations, such as medicinal cannabis being legally prescribed in Australia. Expected outcomes include the development of new and more effective road policing procedures tailored to address the limitations of deterrence theory when applied to drug impaired drivers. This should provide significant benefits, such as the development of state-of-the-art road policing methods with the potential to decrease the number of impaired drivers on the road, and thus improve road safety. Field of research: 4402 - Criminology Australia is currently experiencing alarming drug driving statistics, increasing the risk for those drivers of being involved in a traffic crash. In 2022, every fifth fatality on Queensland roads involved a drug impaired driver. The fact that health practitioners are now able to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes is also affecting the social acceptably of driving after using this drug. While deterrence theory, which is the foundation stone of our current road policing methods, is very effective deterring alcohol impaired drivers it does not have the same effectiveness on drug impaired drivers. By studying the limitations of deterrence theory when applied to drug impaired drivers, this project will examine ways to reduce drug impaired driving more effectively which is particularly important given its increase in recent years. A direct benefit to the Australian community from this project includes the design of strategies to provide safer roads by reducing drug impaired driving and therefore road trauma. Given that each fatal crash cost is $2.9 million, this would also provide significant economic savings. The outcomes of this research will be promoted broadly to stakeholder groups and organisations through presentations at conferences, hosting workshops, making plain language summaries of the results available and working directly with police, government and non-government agencies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Novel tracers of humanity’s impacts on Earth’s largest freshwater resource. This project aims to reveal new insights about contamination of groundwater, Earth’s largest freshwater resource, using a novel set of environmental indicators (tracers), including trace organic micro-pollutants, radio-isotopes and environmental DNA. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the sources and behaviour of contaminants in water from high-value aquifers and connected springs, across gradients of pollution impact. Expected outcomes include a new framework to guide the forensic identification of groundwater contaminant sources using these tracers. This should provide major benefits for practitioners and policymakers, by enabling more targeted monitoring, early detection and resolution of emerging contamination problems. Field of research: 3707 - Hydrology Groundwater - the water in underground aquifers, is Australia’s largest available freshwater resource, and it is vitally important for regional communities, agriculture and mining Australia-wide. Groundwater also sustains freshwater springs and wetland ecosystems, including many significant Indigenous cultural sites. Improving our understanding of groundwater contamination sources, and developing new tools to identify where pollutants come from, will be crucial to maintaining and protecting this precious resource into the future. This project aims to improve our understanding of the sources and behaviour of contaminants in groundwater, by analysing a novel set of environmental tracers within groundwater and surface water that are affected by different types and amounts of pollution. It aims to develop new ways to identify the origin of pollutants in aquifers and their connected springs, water supply bores and ecosystems, and better understand how these pollutants impact on water quality. The project will deliver a new framework that can be readily applied by environmental managers and industry, to rapidly identify and resolve the causes of groundwater pollution before such pollution becomes widespread. The framework will be disseminated through engagement with professional associations and environmental regulators. Ultimately, the research will help to safeguard the huge economic, environmental and social values provided by groundwater - our largest freshwater resource.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Enabling Technology beyond Human Capability for Automated Farming. This project solves the major problems of machine intelligence beyond human performance in the challenging agricultural environment, and translates fundamental breakthroughs into enabling technologies that will transform Australia’s farming industry. These enabling technologies will then be used to build a world-first automated sustainable aquaculture farming factory as an exemplar for the industry. Expected outcomes include significant advancement of theories, novel technologies, and highly productive industrial processes that will be broadly applicable in the generation of other automated sustainable farming. This will bring significant economic benefits to the agriculture industry with higher yields, lower costs and environmental impact. Field of research: 4007 - Control Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics The CSIRO estimates the Australian food and agribusiness industry could be worth $250 billion annually by 2030. Current intelligent manufacturing techniques, such as those used in automobile and electronic industries to perform tasks without human intervention, have major limitations. They work on regular man-made car or electronic components on assembly lines in controlled environments but fail to function in agriculture where objects are irregular, natural, deformable, and occluded in a complex environment. This industry fellowship aims to bring together intelligent manufacturing concepts in agribusiness to overcome this challenging obstacle, developing innovative technologies to build a world-first intelligent automated farming factory in Australia. This will significantly increase productivity, reduce costs, minimise environmental impacts, and improve workers safety and health. The project’s outcomes will support the Australian Government priority for achieving “A Future Made in Australia” and align with National Reconstruction Fund priority areas of “Enabling capabilities” and “Value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries”. The fellow will strengthen university-industry collaborations, train future leaders and the workforce with new skills, and disseminate novel technologies for wider adoption. This will place Australia as a world leader of smart farming, create new export opportunities, and generate large-scale economic and environmental benefits.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Intersecting epidemics: genetic and clinical determinants of comorbid... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Intersecting epidemics: genetic and clinical determinants of comorbid... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Advancing Indigenous social marketing process and practices Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Quantum Dot Hybrids for Methanol Photoreforming Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Single-Atom Electrode for Hydrogenation Reactions at High Current... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Co-creating a sustainable future for the community heritage sector. This project aims to address the sustainability crisis facing the volunteer-managed galleries, libraries, archives, museums and historical societies that comprise Australia’s community heritage sector. Securing their long-term futures is imperative, as they serve as custodians of tangible and intangible heritage that record the nation’s cultural diversity. This project will identify indicators of organisational sustainability, with the expected outcome being an evidence-based resource which will help volunteers recognise and address threats to operations. This should provide significant benefits to community heritage organisations via a sustainability toolkit that enables them to benchmark their practice and plan for long-term futures. Field of research: 4302 - Heritage, Archive and Museum Studies Australia’s community heritage sector – comprised of volunteer-managed galleries, libraries, archives, museums and historical societies – serves vital functions in shaping public history through the collection, preservation and display of the nation’s tangible and intangible heritage. However, the sector faces a sustainability crisis due to mounting pressures (e.g. related to funding, staffing, technology) that pose a challenge to the long-term futures of many of its institutions, putting at risk the diversity and accessibility of the nation’s historical record. In collaboration with representatives from 30 community heritage institutions across Australia, this project aims to identify indicators of organisational sustainability in the community heritage sector and co-develop strategies for recognising value, measuring organisational sustainability and creating benchmarks for sustainable practice. The major public output of the project will be the Community Heritage Sector Sustainability Toolkit, which will assist volunteers in the sector to work toward organisational sustainability goals. The project will position Australia at the forefront of research on how to embed organisational sustainability indicators into institutional practice in the community heritage sector. The project contributes to supporting the long-term futures of some of Australia’s most vulnerable, yet important, forms of cultural infrastructure.