THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Label-free, Highly Sensitive and Intelligent Wearable Biosensors. This project aims to create fingertip-wearable sensors, known as “Raman Skins,” for rapid, on-the-spot detection of trace chemicals on surfaces like skin, fruit, and banknotes. These sensors will be made from plasmene nanosheets, which are ultra-thin nanomaterials. Through a unique fabrication process, we will develop a scalable method for producing these nanosheets and study how different nanocrystal sizes, shapes, and ligands affect their sensitivity. Powered by artificial intelligence, these wearable sensors will allow for efficient, label-free chemical analysis, offering new tools for enhanced wellbeing, food safety, and law enforcement. This technology has broad implications for public health, intelligent agriculture and safety. Field of research: 4018 - Nanotechnology By harnessing Australia’s world-leading expertise in nanotechnology, flexible electronics, and artificial intelligence, this project will deliver next-generation, non-invasive, label-free wearable biosensors capable of real-time, on-site, and high-precision chemical detection from real-world surfaces, including human skin, fruits, and banknotes. It addresses a critical unmet need: although current lab-grade technologies (such as mass spectrometers and Raman spectrometers) offer excellent sensitivity, they remain bulky, expensive, slow, and impractical for portable, real-world applications. The development of intelligent, label-free wearable biosensors will transform point-of-care diagnostics and real-time chemical identification, with broad benefits across industries including agriculture, healthcare, food safety, manufacturing, and national security. This project directly supports Australia’s strategic objectives of building a secure and resilient nation, enhancing sovereign capabilities by reducing reliance on imported biosensing and bioelectronics solutions. The economic and strategic benefits will extend to medtech and advanced manufacturing, fostering local R&D, industry collaboration, and commercialisation opportunities. This initiative will position Australia as a global leader in materials science and wearable biosensing, driving new market creation, high-tech job growth, export potential, and future competitiveness in advanced biosensor technologies.

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

Developing topical Atorvastatin nanoemulsion to provide relief for sore... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Advancing 3D Generative Foundation Model for Multi-scale Biomedical Images. This project aims to enhance 2D multi-scale biomedical image analysis by leveraging 3D information through advanced generative artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. While 3D biomedical imaging offers detailed insights, its high-cost limits accessibility, making 2D imaging more common. We propose developing a 3D generative foundation model for multi-scale biomedical images (3DGBio), trained on extensive multi-scale 2D-3D images, to generate 3D images from 2D counterparts. Our goals include creating a 2D-3D generative algorithm, fine-tuning it for specific biological scales. This approach will make advanced 3D insights more accessible and practical for various research applications and lead to potential long-term health sector benefits. Field of research: 4603 - Computer Vision and Multimedia Computation This project aims to revolutionise biomedical image analysis by developing a 3D generative foundation model (3DGBio) that leverages advanced generative artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to transform 2D images into 3D image volumes. Given the high cost and limited accessibility of 3D biomedical imaging, the project will democratise access to 3D images that offer detailed spatial insights and make them available for a broader range of research applications. By training the proposed model on extensive multi-scale biological images, the project will create a tool that allows researchers to generate 3D images from 2D scans quickly and accurately for novel biomedical applications. This innovation will significantly enhance the depth of biomedical image analysis research, potentially leading to improved quantification and understanding of biomedical image data. This research brings potential long-term benefits to the health sector including better disease models, improved decision support tools, and reduced healthcare costs. This project promotes Australia’s leadership in AI and biomedical innovation, aligning with national priorities in healthcare and technology. Outcomes will be shared through open-source tools, partnerships with medical and research organisations, and public engagement to support widespread use and benefit across sectors.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Controlling injection-induced seismicity in enhanced geothermal systems. Injection-induced seismicity has become a barrier to developing enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) because the complexity of the fault activation and lack of physical fundamentals make it extremely difficult to predict and control. This project aims to develop a hybrid statistical model and advanced 3D numerical tools for a better understanding of fault activation and more accurate forecasting of induced seismicity in EGS. The expected outcomes include advanced combined methods for precise forecasting fault activation and induced seismicity in EGS, incorporating pivotal factors. This should provide significant benefits in geothermal energy development and utilization hence shaping a clean and sustainable energy supply. Field of research: 4019 - Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy Geothermal energy in Australia is an emerging renewable energy source with significant potential, although it is currently underutilized compared to other renewables like solar and wind. Australia has vast geothermal resources, primarily located in h enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). The most promising regions are in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory. The Cooper Basin in South Australia is one of the most explored areas, with high temperatures found at relatively shallow depths due to the region's geology. Geothermal energy has the potential to play a significant role in Australia's transition to a low-carbon economy, particularly as a source of baseload power. However, the development of geothermal reservoirs is associated with some risks, and the most significant risk is induced seismicity, which has led to delays or closures of some reservoirs across the world. It is still a mystery what the real mechanism of such induced seismicity. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop and propose controlling measures to forecast and avoid induced seismicity. This project aims to develop robust and novel statistical and numerical tools to understand better the mechanisms associated with induced seismicity and propose controlling measures. The proposed project has the potential to contribute significantly to Australia's renewable energy targets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure the nation's bright future energy supply.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Sleep-printing: unique sleep traits for predicting memory consolidation. This project aims to develop new analysis methods via advances in brain monitoring to study and understand the variability in sleep and memory. By exploiting the wealth of information contained in mapping the brain’s activity patterns, this project expects to develop innovative 'fingerprints' of sleep that characterise memory performance. Expected outcomes include reliable and robust predictors of memory capability, novel naturalistic imaging techniques for studying human memory, and providing clearer understanding of the relationship between sleep and memory. This will provide significant benefits, such as the identification of sleep targets for optimising memory performance and mapping trajectories of normative memory ageing processes. Field of research: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology Poor quality sleep has an impact on the physical and mental performance of everyone. Sleep is a universal phenomenon and plays multiple roles in maintaining our physical and mental abilities. There is a need to better understand both memory formation and sleep, given the foundational role memory plays in personal wellbeing, the development of expertise and skills, and human productivity. This project plans to leverage advanced methods and multiple approaches to study unique sleep patterns and discrete memorys of individuals. Together, these discoveries will overcome a current stalemate and answer key questions relating to how memories are stored and strengthened over time. Finally, this project will also address how does the process of remembering events change with age and how do changes in sleep contribute to this. It will also identify markers of sleep that can predict memory performance, which will inform a range of future advances in human health and clinical interventions, as well as targets for boosting performance in the general population. It will generate new knowledge that will lead to strategies directed towards keeping adults engaged as they age, productive and valuable in the workplace, thereby increasing quality of life and reducing economic loss.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Beyond Connectionism: Rethinking the Nature of Learning. All animals, including people, learn how to predict or control important events based on prior experience with cues or actions that precede those events. But how do animals learn these relations, and how does that learning affect behaviour? The current project moves beyond the century-old view, still at the heart of modern AI, that learning is just the strengthening of connections. It describes learning and responding within the formal mathematical framework of Information Theory, objectively quantifying how much information can be learned and how much certainty the learner can have about the outcome. This will refocus our understanding of what learning is and provide new insights into how the learner’s experience shapes their learning. Field of research: 5202 - Biological Psychology All animals, including humans, acquire the ability to predict or control events by learning which cues or actions precede those events. An understand of this learning, based on decades of research, underpins most practice in developmental and clinical psychology. It is also foundational in the development of the deep neural networks and machine learning algorithms that threaten to revolutionise our lives. However, these applications are based on a century-old view that conceives of learning as changes in connection strength. These connectionist models can learn effectively to make serial predictions, such as an LLM predicting the next word in a sentence. However, they are computationally voracious and, unlike real brains, are poorly suited to computing the rates at which events occur in real time. These are significant obstacles for any AI attempting to learn how to interact in the real world. The current project takes a different theoretical approach, using a branch of mathematics known as Information Theory to understand what is learned and to specify how that learning affects behaviour. Unlike its forebears, this approach ties learning to objectively measurable properties of the events being learned about and provides a means to quantify how learning maps onto behaviour. It will drive new theoretical advances in understanding of this fundamental phenomenon and has the potential to yield new insights into effective ways to intervene in the learning process.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Logic-based planning under ignorance. Programs that interact with their environment (agents) are widely deployed in our society. However, they are not very good at making decisions under ignorance, which is typical in the real world, due, e.g., to unpredictable human behaviour. The aim of this project is to develop the theory and algorithms to fill this gap. This will equip engineers to use computer-aided techniques to construct agents that make more rational decisions, thus advancing Autonomous Systems and Robotics, listed as Critical Technologies in the National Interest. With a team of top international researchers, it will develop new interactions between mathematics and computer science, and contribute to Australia’s visibility amongst eminent scientists abroad. Field of research: 4904 - Pure Mathematics A key characteristic of AI systems is their capability to make decisions with various levels of autonomy, i.e., to accomplish goals independently, or with minimal supervision from human operators, in unpredictable environments. Such systems are critical to several current and future high-risk needs in Defense, Agriculture, and Mining. Developers of such systems must ensure they achieve appropriate levels of accuracy, robustness, and security. To achieve this, developers must provide assurance, at design time, of the safety and correctness of the behavior of autonomous systems. This project aims to develop principles, algorithms, and tools for designers to use logic and knowledge-based symbolic AI approaches to not only evaluate existing models, but also to construct them with formal guarantees. For example, in a human-robot interaction scenario, the robot will be assured to act according to safety constraints even if the human's behaviour is unpredictable due to fatigue. The research outcomes will advance Australia's scientific position in the field of Assured Autonomy, i.e., assurance of the safety and correctness of the agents provided at design time, and continually monitored and updated at execution time. Outcomes will be promoted to Australian companies engaged in automation beyond reproducing laborious tasks.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Statistical methods for the analysis of spatial omics technologies. This project aims to develop bioinformatics methodology to analyse data generated by advanced spatial proteomic and transcriptomic technologies, enabling deep characterisation of cells in their native tissue environment. This project expects to generate multiple quantitative frameworks essential for studying complex cell relationships with these technologies using an innovative combination of statistical and bioinformatics techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced analytical capacity to understand how cells interact with each other and their surroundings. This should provide significant benefits by strengthening Australia’s research capabilities in spatial biology, bioinformatics, and data analysis. Field of research: 3102 - Bioinformatics and Computational Biology This project addresses a critical gap in the ability to analyse complex spatial omics data generated by cutting-edge technologies such as spatial proteomics and transcriptomics. While these technologies provide unprecedented detail about how cells and molecules are organised and interact within their natural environments, existing analytical methods are not equipped to fully harness the richness of these new datasets. This project will create innovative analytical methods that are needed to help researchers make sense of the complex spatial data these technologies are generating and will provide a clearer picture of how different cells and molecules are organised and interact in diverse systems. By creating more powerful and accessible analytical tools, this project will strengthen Australia’s capabilities in data science, spatial analysis, and bioinformatics. The improved methods will help researchers from diverse fields—such as biology, medicine, ecology, and environmental science—better understand how cells in complex systems function and respond to change. The project’s results will be shared through freely available software, training workshops, and collaborations with researchers across Australia and internationally. This approach will ensure the methods developed are accessible to a wide range of users, encouraging innovation and enhancing Australia’s reputation as a leader in advanced data analysis.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Error-corrected quantum metrology for ultra-sensitive force sensing. This project seeks to answer a critical question in metrology: How much can quantum error correction improve quantum metrology beyond state-of-the-art using imperfect devices in noisy environments? This research aims to establish novel error-corrected quantum metrology protocols and demonstrate them on real quantum devices to achieve unprecedented performances in force sensing. The approach leverages an innovative hardware-efficient encoding scheme initially developed for quantum computing to significantly advance metrology. This work promises transformative metrology technologies with unmatched sensitivity and will deliver impacts in spectroscopy, fault-tolerant quantum computing, and the search for new physics, such as dark matter. Field of research: 5108 - Quantum Physics Quantum sensors are a new technology that will radically improve the accuracy of how we measure, navigate, explore, and interact with the world by sensing changes in motions and electric and magnetic fields. Quantum sensing is projected to generate a global economic value of US$1.2 trillion by 2032 through its impacts on mining, medical imaging, environmental monitoring, telecommunication, precision navigation and timing. However, such value cannot be unlocked without quantum sensors to robustly work in realistic environments due to the fragility of quantum resources when subjected to noisy conditions. This project will address this challenge by revolutionising quantum sensing through using quantum error corrections to vastly improve the robustness of quantum sensors against noise. The outcome will significantly strengthen Australia's international leadership in quantum technologies by delivering the world's first error-corrected quantum sensor. This research will deliver impacts identified in the National Quantum Strategy, including in healthcare (early disease detection and medical research), natural resources (discovering valuable ore deposits), and defense (detecting small signals associated with magnetic anomalies and trace chemicals). The project will train the next generation of skilled workers for the fast-growing quantum industries—many based in Australia and focused on quantum sensing—which will translate our scientific outcomes into valuable products.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Designing new-to-nature carbon fixing systems to improve crop productivity. Efforts to improve crop resource use and productivity are increasingly looking to integrate innovative synthetic biology systems. This includes aims to transplant genetically complex carbon concentrating mechanism components from cyanobacteria (carboxysomes) and algae (pyrenoids) to bolster crop photosynthesis, water and nitrogen use. Our simpler approach is to decipher how to precisely package synthetic pathways into encapsulins - self-assembling protein nanocages from bacteria - and convert them into carbon fixing nanoreactors suited to improving plant photosynthetic productivity. The genetic simplicity of this bio-inspired approach will aid the global efforts to deliver step change improvements in crop productivity and costs to growers. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology The productivity of agricultural crops is failing to keep up with the consumer demands of a growing population. This problem of food insecurity is compounded by climate change, with the Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry reporting ~$1.1B of crop revenue lost annually due to climate-related impacts. This project will improve the future of food security by using the power of synthetic biology (SynBio) to develop more sustainable crops that can produce higher yields while using less resources. By developing a new system for improving carbon usage in valuable crops (e.g. canola, $2.7B of GDP), this project will enable the engineering of more profitable crop varieties, thus contributing to the government’s Ag2030 goal of reaching $100B output. The new biomolecular tools and researchers trained on the project will directly contribute to the growth of Australia’s SynBio capabilities and workforce. This is in alignment with government’s position on Biotechnologies as a one of the Critical Technologies in the National Interest, which forecasts that the SynBio industry (including ‘sustainable agriculture’) could generate $27B revenue and 44000 jobs by 2040. Research findings will be published or protected by patents, as appropriate. This will serve as a foundation for future field trials of engineered crop strains with existing industry partners in the ARC Training Centre for Future Crops Development, thus providing uplift for the agriculture and biotechnology sectors.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

The Maslov Index for non-Hamiltonian systems. This project will uncover how the shape and structure (geometry) of solutions to partial differential equations influence how they change over time. By focusing on the inherent geometry of these systems, the project will deepen our understanding of how non-conservative systems behave dynamically. Key outcomes include: insights into the behavior of stable, coherent patterns; a clearer understanding of how spatial patterns interact with time-based changes in systems; and innovative applications of classical mathematical methods to complex systems involving multiple scales. These findings will advance modeling and analysis, with practical applications in fields such as nanotechnology, superconductors, and non-linear optics. Field of research: 4904 - Pure Mathematics Partial differential equations are used to model a vast array of processes in almost all areas of science and engineering, from cancer growth to how fibre optic cables work. However, there is still much that is not known about the solutions to these equations and how they behave. Developing new methods for determining stability of solutions will have a major impact on understanding the behaviour behind these models. The geometric ideas emerging from this research will give new insight into how systems evolve in space and time, with potentially far-reaching implications. Aspects of this research already have clear applications to the superconductor and nano-material industries.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Eating with our eyes: How does vision affect food decisions? Poor dietary choices have contributed to a health epidemic in the developed world. Vision plays a significant role in food decisions. This project goes beyond traditional approaches by investigating vision’s active role in food decisions. Utilizing behavioral and brain imaging studies, we will examine how visual processing influences food choices and how plasticity in the visual system shapes our perception of food. Led by a team with expertise in human vision, brain imaging, consumer decision-making, and clinical eating disorders, this research will advance our understanding of vision’s role in food choices while creating opportunities to develop strategies that encourage healthier eating habits. Field of research: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology Humans make numerous daily food decisions—often based on appearance—yet knowledge of the visual brain’s role in food choice remains limited. This project applies recent advances in visual perception and the neurobiology of vision to gain new insights into food choice behaviour. Such sensory-based knowledge will complement the current understanding of food decision-making, which is largely dominated by higher-level cognitive factors, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive perspective on food choices. This knowledge is essential for addressing societal and health challenges related to food decision-making, particularly in an era of rising obesity rates and eating disorders. The research team includes experts in human vision, clinical eating disorders, and consumer decision-making, ensuring that translational impact is identified and developed for practical application. Potential future applications of the work include marketing strategies to promote healthier eating habits and the development of treatments for eating disorders. The project also fosters collaboration between the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology, Macquarie University’s Performance and Expertise Research Centre, InsideOut (Australia’s leading institute for the treatment of eating disorders), and a distinguished U.S. business school. This partnership promises a synergistic collaboration that will extend beyond the project.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Sounding solidarity, sovereignty and citizenship in post-war music exchange. This project aims to generate new perspectives on Australian/US transnational music history by investigating how Aboriginal/African American post-war musical encounters impacted Australian and US democracy discourses in the lead-up to the 1967 Australian Constitutional Referendum and the 1964/65/68 Civil Rights Acts in the US. Through artistic research methods, we seek to draw back into practice the musical strategies for articulating sovereignty and solidarity that managed to change minds about the nature of citizenship in the post-war years. The benefits for understanding historical exchange between Aboriginal/African American musicians should be expansive for historical knowledge and flow on to impact curriculum and cultural programming. Field of research: 3603 - Music First Nations musicians are now a core feature of Australia’s musical excellence, attracting international acclaim and driving innovative shifts in Australia's $112 billion cultural sector. This project interrogates a series of little-known transnational musical encounters to understand the origins of the vibrant international scale of Indigenous music making today. Aboriginal and African American musical exchanges in the post-war period (1945-67) look to have been defining moments in which Australians and Americans began to imagine more inclusive democracies and broader international performance networks in the lead-up to the 1967 Australian Constitutional Referendum and the 1964/65/68 Civil Rights Acts in the US. This project’s findings will impact the cultural sector through a new publicly available online resource that documents the origins of this international performance network, the assembly of a transnational oral history archive that illuminates the post-war Australian/US musical exchanges that took place across this network and subsequently solidified Australian/US alliance, and live-streamed concerts that aim to reactivate nodes of this network through innovative collaborative pairings of Australian and US artistic researchers.

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

Neuroimaging, Neural Models, and Neurobiology: A Fresh Look at Dementia Category: Medical Research

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

Telomere biology in human health and disease Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Making the Modern Middle East: The New Artist-Illustrators, 1842-1890. This project aims to produce the first cross-cultural study of 19th-century artists working in the Middle East and Europe, in both high art and illustrated newspapers. Through field research and workshops in these regions and Australia, the project will generate important new knowledge about how Middle Eastern leaders controlled their representation. These images shaped lasting global attitudes towards cultural relations in ways not yet understood. Expected outcomes include a new approach to drawing as a form of cross-cultural translation that shaped modernity. Anticipated benefits will be an understanding of visual communication that can help Australia navigate the dynamics of conflict and diplomacy between the Middle East and Europe. Field of research: 3601 - Art History, Theory and Criticism This project will explore an under-studied aspect of the evolution of news reporting: the role of artist-illustrators in creating on-the-spot drawings of wars and other newsworthy incidents in the Middle East in the 19th century. The artist-illustrators were crucial because photography was too slow and cumbersome to record fast-moving events in remote locations. Australian colonial galleries purchased drawings and paintings which these news illustrators marketed internationally, just as Australia was establishing its own illustrated newspaper tradition that was influenced by this news reporting. This project will therefore deepen Australia’s understanding of itself as a modern cultural participant, both within the British Empire and globally. By illuminating patterns of historical cross-cultural visual communication and representation in the Middle East, it will help Australians to navigate the complexities of multiculturalism, enriching concepts of Muslim identity and fostering inter-communal understanding. It will also promote a better understanding of the dynamics of conflict and diplomacy between the Middle East and Europe, particularly as they impact Australian foreign policy at a time of conflict and tensions around the world. The project will build Australian research capacity through international workshops held at Sydney, Yale and Bosphorus Universities. Research will be disseminated and translated beyond academia through museums and popular media.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Androgen Imprinting: Novel Mechanism Linking Minipuberty and Muscle Memory . This project aims to test the hypothesis that the neonatal androgen surge in male mice creates androgen imprinting, a latent muscle memory mechanism that enhances functional responses to later stimuli (exercise, androgen). Verifying latent androgen imprinting will expand current knowledge of physiological androgen mechanisms in mammals, viewed now as immediate responses of androgen target tissues like muscle, brain and liver in health and disease. These experiments will decisively test the hypothesis of neonatal androgen imprinting in murine muscle, quantifying its magnitude and durability. Through deeper insight into androgen mechanisms in health and disease, this project will create new opportunities for understanding and intervention. Field of research: 3202 - Clinical Sciences This project investigates androgen imprinting, a novel concept in long-range androgen action, to explain the consistent but unexplained fact that boys consistently surpass girls in most physical exercise tests even before male puberty, when a 20-30-fold increases in blood testosterone (T) concentrations create the adult male physical advantages for exercise depending on power, speed and/or endurance. Here we investigate androgen imprinting, an important new concept in long-range androgen action, using an experimental murine model to test whether mini puberty (a surge in blood T to adult male levels during the first 6 months of boys neonatal life), coupled with muscle memory (the retention of latent capacity for enhanced mucle responses) explains boys’ dominance. Decisive testing cannot be done in humans where only observational studies are feasible, precluding causal inference, making experimental murine models indispensable. Using mice lacking mini puberty this study investigates androgen imprinting to explain superior exercise performance of males prior to puberty. It will add an important new dimension to understanding of androgen action with the concept of androgen imprinting having broad implications for understanding long-range androgen effects on androgen-sensitive tissues such as the brain, bone, liver and kidney functions. Validation of this novel concept will also extend the international leadership of Australian scientists in reproductive endocrinology and biology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

An agreeable price: Discovering the path to critical road pricing reform. This project aims to investigate the timely and critical pathway for transitioning to a fair, equitable and parsimonious road user charging system for passenger cars. This project expects to generate knowledge in the area of road pricing using innovative experimental methods and field trials incorporating new technologies. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced understanding of responses to different pricing structures and sources of resistance in road pricing reform. This should provide significant benefits, such as a validated road pricing structure that is acceptable to drivers and policy-makers, and future-proof funding for road infrastructure that is essential to perform economic, commercial and social activities. Field of research: 3509 - Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chains Government reports indicate that much of Australia’s approximately 800,000km, $100 billion road network is in poor condition, and overstretched budgets are being further stressed by rapidly declining fuel excise, as vehicle technology changes. Doing nothing is unsustainable - a solution must be found. Road pricing reform aims to let drivers pay more directly for road use, like paying for electricity, but political and public resistance remains a major barrier. This project reframes the debate from esoteric first-best economic theory to a more pragmatic and inclusive definition of acceptability to discover a tractable pathway to change. The objectives of the simple road user charging scheme specifically identified as: 1) fair, to ensure roads can continue to improve wellbeing and connectedness for all members of society; 2) efficient, to ensure that roads can adequately support improved economic conditions resulting in growth in jobs and wages; and 3) financially sustainable, to ensure that road infrastructure continues to facilitate improvements in Australia’s international competitiveness critical to maintaining and also improving our high standard of living. As novel findings are discovered, industry, government partners, and the general public will be engaged to bridge the gap from theory to practical deployment. Overall, this research project will ensure that Australian roads can continue to drive the economy and society towards an even better future.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Revealing the Virosphere using Metagenomics and Artificial Intelligence. Our knowledge of the global virosphere is biased and fragmentary. This project will combine metatranscriptomic sequencing with artificial intelligence (AI) to reveal the hidden diversity of RNA viruses, the origins of key virus proteins, and the major mechanisms of virus genome evolution. AI protein structural prediction will identify highly divergent RNA virus capsid and envelope proteins. The origins of virus proteins and the patterns and mechanisms of virus genome evolution will be determined through AI predictions of protein foldomes in major groups of RNA viruses. A new diversity of RNA viruses and protein structures will be revealed by the metatranscriptomic sequencing of marine and freshwater sediments sampled throughout Australia. Field of research: 3107 - Microbiology Viruses are important components of global ecosystems, regulating natural populations and occasionally emerging as devasting infectious diseases. It is critical to determine the biodiversity of viruses within ecosystems, how viruses share genes to create evolutionary novelty, and how viral communities respond to changing climates and the increasing impact of human activities. This project will address these pressing and topical questions by (i) utilising new artificial intelligence-based tools that can identify novel viruses and their divergent proteins from metagenomic sequence data, at the same time determining their evolutionary origins, and (ii) by revealing the diversity of viruses that exist in sediments from iconic Australian marine and freshwater environments that serve as ecosystem markers. The data generated will provide a new knowledge of RNA virus diversity and its determinants both on a global scale and within unique Australian landscapes that have not been sampled to date. It will lead to new insights into the structure of the global virosphere, the evolutionary origins of virus genes and genomes, reveal how new viruses are created, and provide a genomic and computational toolkit for national biosecurity surveillance. By looking for specific virological markers the project will determine whether human activities have influenced viral composition within Australian natural environments, informing ecosystem health.

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

Innovation to impact in cardiovascular disease prevention and healthcare Category: Medical Research

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

Development of Novel Anticoagulants with Improved Safety Profiles for... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Understanding the role of compressible mixing in high-speed combustion. This project aims to deepen understanding of fuel/air mixing and combustion in high-speed, air-breathing propulsion engines like scramjets and rotating detonation engines. Through a combination of experiments, direct numerical simulations, and large eddy simulations, it seeks to uncover the intricate relationship between flow Mach number, turbulence intensity, and flame stabilisation mechanisms. Expected outcomes include insights into compressible mixing and effects of novel burner configurations on flow expansions and shock wave structures, and refinement of combustion models for improved designs. This should provide significant benefits, such higher efficiency and reduced weight of space-launch and defence propulsion systems. Field of research: 4012 - Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering This project investigates compressible mixing in high-speed combustion to advance air-breathing propulsion systems like rotating detonation engines (RDEs) and scramjets, addressing a critical research gap for Australia. Current rocket engines, reliant on heavy onboard oxidisers, limit payload efficiency and increase costs for space access and missile defence—key national priorities. By unravelling how compressibility suppresses fuel/air mixing and flame stabilisation at high Mach numbers, this research fills a knowledge void in supersonic reacting flows, where turbulence, mixing, and combustion interplay remains poorly understood and modelled. The benefits for Australia are substantial. Economically and commercially, efficient air-breathing engines could reduce orbital launch costs, boosting sovereign space capabilities for telecommunications and earth observation satellites. For national defence, this project enhances hypersonic system knowledge. Environmentally, lighter, reusable propulsion systems may lower emissions compared to traditional rockets. Culturally, it positions Australia as a leader in aerospace innovation. As fundamental research, outcomes will be shared through Q1 journal publications and scientific conferences, fostering knowledge advancement. Public lectures, online resources, and collaborations with academic peers will enhance understanding of high-speed combustion physics, laying a foundation for future Australian breakthroughs in propulsion science.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Digital Media for Youth Justice: Coproducing media for education and policy. This project aims to coproduce media for education and policy with young people involved in the youth justice system to foster safe and inclusive digital media use. The project expects to generate insights into the social media literacies and digital cultures of this group - over half of whom are First Nations young people - utilising innovative, participatory methods including media-making. Expected outcomes are digital literacy knowledge, enhanced digital media skills and evidence-based digital safety education co-designed with young people. This should provide significant benefits by developing effective preventative strategies and sector-wide service integration to improve outcomes for justice-involved young people throughout Australia. Field of research: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies This project will coproduce education and policy using participatory methods, including co-design and media-making, with Australian young people involved in the youth justice system to improve their online safety and digital inclusion. It will provide new knowledge of digital risks and harms, while equipping state governments and policymakers with evidence-based preventative strategies to support justice-involved young people to thrive in a digital society. This work is especially critical for First Nations young people, who are significantly over-represented in the youth justice system and face greater barriers to digital inclusion (ADII, 2023). The project will support Australia in achieving key targets under the Closing the Gap agreement (11 & 17) to reduce incarceration and enhance digital inclusion in First Nations communities, and aligns with the First Nations Digital Inclusion Plan (2023–2026) by addressing digital safety concerns. It advances the Engage! Youth Strategy (2024–2027) by supporting marginalised young people’s participation in shaping services and policies. The project’s benefit will be realised through research translation via partner networks, a nation-wide education program, cross-sector training and service integration, and broad community engagement, with the potential to reduce justice system involvement. In this way, the project helps to mitigate the costs of youth detention, which now exceed $1 billion annually.

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

Eating with our eyes: How does vision affect food decisions? Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Deciphering adolescents’ use and evaluation of digital health information. There are growing concerns among parents, educators, professionals, and governments that the use of inappropriate digital health information can harm adolescents. Federal and State governments have responded to this problem by proceeding with legislation to ban social media use until 16 years of age. This approach fails to prevent misuse of digital health information through education, shifting the problem to a later age. As there is no educational framework in Australia to guide action, and not enough evidence to support the creation of such a framework, this project aims to understand how adolescents’ access, use, and evaluate digital health information to develop Australia’s first scalable adolescent digital health education framework. Field of research: 3901 - Curriculum and Pedagogy Adolescents are avid consumers and early adopters of digital technology. Just over 1 million (91%) of Australian adolescents own a smartphone, with an estimated 78% of them searching health information online, making the internet a primary source of health information for adolescents. However, adolescents are generally unaware of biased, inaccurate, and low-quality digital health information. This has led to growing concerns among families, educators, and government that the use of inappropriate digital health information can harm adolescents. In this innovative project, the researchers will identify how Australian adolescents currently access, use, and evaluate digital health information to inform the proposal of a novel, co-designed digital health education framework that builds adolescent digital health literacy. Collaborations with industry partners, researchers, school leaders, teachers, adolescents and families from primary and secondary schools across urban, regional and rural Australian contexts will be prioritised in the co-design process. The framework will be mapped to identify practical tools, resources and capacity building support needed to implement the framework across school contexts. This research will benefit young Australians, families and educators, as well as assist the Australian government with a collaborative framework and actionable education guidelines that can be used to strengthen adolescents’ digital health literacy.