THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Unravelling a rainbow: Complex systems methods to transform sleep research. This project aims to develop practical new analytic tools based on complex systems theory and time-series analysis to better characterize and track sleep from large time-series recordings. The project expects to establish the analytical foundation of representing sleep as a quantifiable dynamical process and use it to better understand how sleep varies across individuals and aging, and how it underpins learning and memory consolidation. Expected outcomes include methods and software to detect new types of interpretable structure from complex time-series datasets, and new understanding of sleep function. This should provide significant benefits for diverse data-intensive time-series applications and for how we measure and understand sleep. Field of research: 5199 - Other Physical Sciences This project will develop innovative new methods for analysing complex time-varying data and use them to pioneer a new dynamical representation of human sleep data that overcomes major limitations of the time-consuming, subjective, and imprecise current methods. The powerful new methods for analysing large, complex time-series datasets are generally applicable to the growing number of data-intensive Australian industries, from ecological monitoring to financial data analysis, making them well placed to deliver broad benefits to Australia’s economic competitiveness in our rapidly advancing information age. And the new methods to detect and quantify patterns in sleep recordings are likely to shape diverse applications in science and industry where sleep recordings are measured and analysed. The project expects to deliver new understanding of the inter-individual distinctiveness of human sleep architecture and the mechanisms during sleep that underpin effective learning and memory consolidation, with potential to guide improvements to sleep that would have major societal and economic impacts for people across the globe. The research outcomes are of great interest to the public and will be communicated broadly as videos, podcasts, and public talks, and all technological advances will be shared with practitioners as a suite of open software tools to accelerate advances to a broad range of data-intensive problems.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Prevalence, risk factors and impact of visual impairment in Australia Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Beyond pineal melatonin: sensing the seasons without the eye. The project will identify the causal connection between seasonal breeding in animals and a recently recognised brain biochemical pathway by applying experimental treatments mimicking seasonal environmental changes in a mutant and wild-type nematode worm model. Through experimentation we will identify useful biological targets that might be manipulated to enhance control of seasonal breeding in managed animals. With better control of reproductive output in animals, farmers and managers can increase and/or decrease reproductive output as needed in managed species including livestock and vertebrate pests. This will enhance the use of precious land resources and minimize ecological damage from overbreeding. Field of research: 3105 - Genetics In a world concerned by the environmental impacts of animal production and reproduction, optimising the management of precious animal production resources in sensitive environments is critical. Annual seasonal changes affect many aspects of animal physiology. For example, in humans, seasonal affective disorder impacts our mental well-being and productivity at work. In farmed animals, seasonal fluctuations in physiology impact farm productivity and the input requirements of stock throughout the year. We will identify the key mechanisms by which a recently discovered biochemical pathway regulates seasonal breeding behaviour in animals. Knowing the precise mechanisms of control of the pathway will allow us to identify key biological targets that will provide opportunities for optimising resource management. With this control farmers will have new tools to supply animal products more evenly throughout the year, or better manage and control vertebrate pest species.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Governing Industrial Data Ecosystems: Open Innovation in a Digital Economy. This project aims to investigate how governance mechanisms incentivise multilateral data-sharing to enable open innovation in industrial data ecosystems. Based on a rigorous multi-method study at ecosystem, firm and managerial levels, a framework of generative open innovation to govern multilateral data sharing will be developed. By addressing data-sharing barriers at all levels, the framework helps create collective value at the ecosystem level and capture a portion of that value at the firm and managerial levels. This should enable participants in industrial data ecosystems to share data confidently and unlock the full potential of open innovation for Australia’s digital economy, with estimated benefits of $315bn over the next decade. Field of research: 3507 - Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour Data is the single most valuable resource driving innovation today, with most of the value in industrial organisations. Yet, data is also the most underutilised resource in Australia today – mainly due to regulatory, competitive and trust barriers that hamper the sharing and use of data across industrial organisations, as acknowledged by the 2017 Productivity Commission Report. To close this gap, this project will reveal how to design and deploy governance mechanisms addressing data-sharing barriers across industrial data ecosystems, firms and managers. It will develop a new framework of data governance that incentivises participants in industrial data ecosystems to share data confidently, thus generating open innovation in the digital economy. This will help institute effective large-scale data-sharing arrangements and boost industries, such as advanced manufacturing, following a 30-year decline. Insights will directly contribute to the Digital Economy Strategy and Modern Manufacturing Strategy to improve Australia’s innovation and competitiveness, with estimated benefits of $315bn over the next decade.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Paying and playing: Assessing and regulating digital games-as-a-service . The digital games industry has turned to a service-based business model reliant on the generation of continuous user revenue. This project assesses the implications of service-based monetisation for how games are designed, consumed, and regulated, focusing on three controversial, yet insufficiently understood monetisation strategies: advertising, in-game transactions, and blockchain-based play. While promising benefit for consumers and industry, these monetisation strategies carry the potential for risks like surveillance, harmful advertising, and predatory design. Discoveries from this project will help policymakers, industry, and consumers regulate, design, and use games featuring service-based monetisation in effective and ethical ways. Field of research: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies The digital game industry’s shift to a service-based business model introduces heady challenges for policymakers globally. It is often that policy concerning new, service-based game monetisation strategies fails to strike the right balance between protecting consumers from harmful monetisation, while still supporting the games industry. In response, this project develops a comprehensive account of the consumer, developer, and policy impacts of service-based game monetisation. This will inform future regulation and support strategies for Australian game developers, ensuring monetisation design that is ethical and effective (allowing Australian developers to compete in a $240B global market). It will also provide guidance and recommendations for user best practices. Research will be disseminated to industry bodies (e.g., the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association), government and policymakers (e.g., Australian Competition & Consumer Commission), and users (e.g., parents of children) via reports, online media, a website, and information-sharing symposia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Superconducting Circuits for Error-Resilient Quantum Computers . This project aims to build a new class of intrinsically error-resilient quantum bits, harnessing the power of superconducting and hybrid superconducting circuits. The core goal of this research is to improve the performance of modern quantum processors, in order to reap the benefits of their vast computational power in real world applications like cryptography, chemistry, machine learning and finance. The outcomes of this project are expected to accelerate quantum computing efforts globally and generate critical insights into quantum circuit technology, thus expanding Australia’s capabilities in nanotechnology, superconducting quantum systems and quantum processing. Field of research: 4613 - Theory of Computation This project will bolster the performance of superconducting quantum computers by engineering their fundamental building blocks – “qubits” – to be resilient to error. By designing new types of circuits for storing and controlling quantum information, this project is expected to substantially reduce the frequency of qubit errors, addressing one of the key challenges in the construction of large-scale quantum computers. Companies in Australia and abroad who are commercialising quantum computing hardware will be able to incorporate these improved designs, bringing quantum computers that can solve practical, real-world problems a step closer to market. This research will benefit the Australian community by developing quantum technology which, when fully realised, will enhance national security and contribute to pharmaceutical development, machine learning and finance. The quantum circuits developed in this project will contribute to industrial and government efforts to realise large-scale superconducting quantum computers, establishing Australia as a leader in the development of core quantum technology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Resistance to gender equality in the Australian construction sector . This project aims to investigate policy failure of gender equality initiatives and specifically, how institutional and individual resistance to gender equality is applied and adapted over time and across different contexts in construction, Australia’s most male dominated sector. This project expects to generate new knowledge for policy authors in government and business, helping them deliver robust policy outcomes to shift gender equality in male dominated sectors. This project should provide significant social and economic benefits to Australia, enabling greater attraction and retention of women to construction jobs, reducing the sectors critical skills shortage. Field of research: 4407 - Policy and Administration Addressing women’s participation and success within the workforce is an economic and social imperative for Australia. However, employment sectors like the construction sector, remain stubbornly male dominated despite longstanding efforts by government and business to increase women’s participation. Analysis of policy failure in construction has overlooked the role of resistance to gender equality and how resistance operates and adapts across the development of gender equality policies from agenda setting to policy implementation. By tracing the way resistance is individually and institutionally applied to the development and implantation of three prominent gender equality initiatives, this project will offer government and business policy architects new insights about how resistance to gender equality can be circumvented and provide new knowledge about the design of robust gender equality policies that will strengthen the construction sectors attraction and retention of women, and address the sectors impending labour shortage that has been identified as a ‘critical risk’ of national and social significance.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Understanding Psychological Impossibility. This project will develop the first account of psychological impossibility by combining philosophical theorizing with results from the cognitive and brain sciences, and experimental philosophy. Something is psychologically impossible when it is not available in our psychology as an option to choose. Through developing an account of psychological impossibility this project will advance our understanding of the nature of autonomy, free will and moral responsibility. It will also provide major benefits to policy makers and legal and health professionals by giving them the theoretical resources required for ethical decision making when dealing with people that have different affordances for choice and action. Field of research: 5003 - Philosophy People often consider options that would be psychologically impossible for them to choose, despite being physically able to perform them. For example, some mental health conditions such as phobias are characterized by what options a patient finds psychologically impossible to choose and do. By combining philosophical insights regarding people and their choices, with results from the cognitive and brain sciences, this project will develop the first description of psychological impossibility. Our findings will be shared with Australian policy makers, legal and health professionals, and community members, enabling them to engage in more ethical decision making when dealing with people that have different psychological resources for choice and action. By understanding psychological impossibility, we not only advance our understanding of ourselves, and what we are morally responsible for, we also advance our understanding of how to intervene and help people, contributing to the overall wellbeing of Australian society.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy regulation can improve the management of solar waste to reap the significant environmental, security and health benefits associated with solar recycling and critical mineral recovery. Expected outcomes include a new circular model of regulating renewable technologies, and better regulation and recovery of solar waste. Field of research: 4802 - Environmental and Resources Law Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, but 90% of used solar panels currently go to landfill as hazardous waste. To address the national solar waste crisis, this project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This project will explore how circular clean energy regulation can improve the management of solar waste in Australia to realise the significant environmental, security and health benefits associated with solar recycling and critical mineral recovery. Expected outcomes include a new circular model of regulating renewable technologies throughout the product lifecycle, and better regulation and rates of recovery of solar waste. Through the stakeholder focus groups, workshops and visiting fellowships, the project will facilitate knowledge sharing and establish a solid foundation for the translation of research into regulatory reform, collaboration and engagement.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Digital sovereignty and colonialisms in the Russian-Ukrainian war. This project investigates how weaponisation of information and communication technologies affects territorial integrity of sovereign democratic states. Documenting and analysing the architectures, practices and discourses surrounding digital sovereignty in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, it contributes a unique regional case to understanding how digital communication infrastructures can be used as tools of colonial expansion. Expected outcomes include a theoretical model of colonial techno-geopolitics and a suite of critical visual approaches to mapping the topographies of digital sovereignty. Benefits include a set of policy recommendations on building and preserving resilient information and communication ecosystems. Field of research: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies The project offers the first systematic mapping of digital sovereignty in Ukraine by documenting the historically unprecedented weaponisation of telecommunication infrastructures following the Russian invasion. Promoting a stable, peaceful and prosperous region where rules and sovereignty are respected is a key goal driving Australia’s foreign policy. Yet, maintaining technological autonomy is contingent on understanding how internet connectivity may be weaponised in the interests of colonial expansion. In light of Australia’s ongoing commitment to provide significant military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, knowledge generated by this project will contribute to helping Ukraine rebuild its digital communication infrastructures in ways that are resilient to future attacks. This project aims to strengthen Australia’s bilateral security cooperation and knowledge transfer with Ukraine through a series of educational and policy events. Lessons from Ukraine could further be applied to strengthen regional security in the Indo-Pacific by increasing autonomy and resilience to modern-day colonialisms.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Exploring Business Approaches to the Modern Slavery - Climate Change Nexus. This project aims to generate awareness and knowledge about the modern slavery – climate change nexus. Businesses can be linked to modern slavery and climate change through their operations and supply chains, and play a major role in mitigating these critical issues. The project will: (1) reveal the extent to which businesses recognise and address modern slavery and climate change as related issues; (2) develop an evidence-base detailing what constitutes meaningful and holistic business approaches and disclosures; (3) assess how market-based mechanisms are used to incentivise action and hold businesses to account. The outcomes will advance business efforts and accountability in relation to these problems and benefit impacted communities. Field of research: 3507 - Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour Despite growing evidence showing the connection between modern slavery and climate change, businesses continue to address these problems in isolation. The nexus of modern slavery and climate change is a nascent topic that has received limited attention from business academics and practitioners. Businesses can be linked to these issues through their operations and supply chains and play a key role in mitigation. Despite growing evidence illustrating the connection between modern slavery and climate change, businesses continue to address these problems in isolation. By critically analysing current efforts to address modern slavery and climate change, the project aims to advance knowledge of the intersection of these problems to enhance future interventions. Expected outcomes include: (1) identifying ways in which businesses can address these issues holistically, to more effectively harness their economic power; (2) recommending meaningful action and disclosures, to aid the appraisal of business efforts by investors, consumers and civil society; and (3) assessing the use of market mechanisms to spur action and hold businesses accountable. The outcomes will benefit businesses addressing these problems as well as impacted communities, in Australia and overseas. Data will be gathered by closely cooperating with businesses, policymakers, and civil society. Findings and recommendations will be shared with that cohort in practically oriented output. The results will provide input into the reviews of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and the National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery and will assist Australian businesses and the Government in meeting Sustainable Development Goals 8.7 and 13 by 2030.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Reconstructing evolutionary history of termite collective nest construction. This project aims to ask and answer fundamental questions about how complex animal collective behaviour has evolved in the history of life. It combines the quantification of termite building behaviour and nest structures using a state-of-the-art video tracking technique with the latest molecular phylogenetics. This project expects to provide the first comprehensive information on termite collective building in a phylogenetic framework, which will be a showcase study of future studies on the evolution of complex phenotypes and resolve a debate over termite social evolution. Furthermore, it provides new knowledge of Australian native termite fauna as economically destructive pest insects. Field of research: 3109 - Zoology Australia is home to endemic and unique termite fauna. This is valuable biodiversity to the world, and some species cause structural damages costing $910 million annually. Nest construction is a key for termites to be such ecologically and economically important insects. However, their behavioural mechanism for building structures is poorly understood. This project will fill a gap in our knowledge of Australian unique termite fauna, including how they find wood resources through foraging. An improved understanding of termite behaviour would lead to more effective and environmental-friendly termite control methods, which will benefit the health and safety of Australian society. The results will be shared at the Australian Pest Control Association, beyond biological academic society. Furthermore, behavioural algorithms of termites to coordinate their actions within a highly confined space (e.g., inside a nest gallery) have potential applications in engineering systems, including a swarm of rescue robots surrounded by disaster rubble, swarm robots in a warehouse, and nanorobots within a blood vessel.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Refugee moral injury: Linking interpersonal trauma and social functioning. This project aims to understand how moral beliefs about past interpersonal traumatic experiences (e.g., torture, rape) are associated with social outcomes considered to be crucial in successful refugee resettlement. This project will investigate the causal impact of these moral beliefs on social adaptation and whether these beliefs are malleable. The project will be a better understanding of how moral beliefs can impact refugees' abilities to navigate and engage with novel social environments. The outcomes of this project will assist service providers and policy makers to understand why some refugees are able to adapt more successfully than others and provide practical tools for improving social outcomes. Field of research: 5203 - Clinical and Health Psychology As Australia spends $605 million resettling refugees each year, it is important to understand why some refugees are able to adapt to life in Australia better than others. This project aims to identify how refugees' experiences of interpersonal trauma (e.g., torture, rape) shape their moral beliefs and influence their ability to adapt to new social environments. This knowledge will inform a new framework for managing refugee resettlement, by demonstrating how these moral beliefs influence how refugees are able to engage with others, and whether these beliefs can be modified to improve social adaptation. This framework will be used by refugee service providers to identify the specific needs of refugees while providing ways to facilitate greater social engagement. The outcomes of this research will ultimately improve refugee wellbeing, facilitate greater integration with the Australian community, reduce the economic burden of refugee resettlement, and enable greater economic, social and cultural contributions of refugees to Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Next Generation Mass Spectrometry for Single-Cell Metabolomics. Characterising metabolites at the single cell level will provide valuable insights into the functionality of individual cells and reveal mechanisms that cannot be observed in bulk cell analysis. To address existing challenges in single-cell metabolite analysis, this project aims to develop an ultra-sensitive nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry (NIMS) platform, which uses an innovative carbon material with a carefully designed nanostructure to enhance detection efficiency. Expected outcomes include the development of a revolutionary carbon assisted NIMS platform for single-cell metabolomics analysis, and valuable intellectual property of commercial interest to provide economic benefit to Australia through technology advancement. Field of research: 4018 - Nanotechnology Mass spectrometry (MS) is a sensitive analytical technique that can measure chemical compounds and biological molecules. It is widely used for diverse applications including biological research, drug testing, food contamination detection, and pesticide residue analysis. Metabolomics is the scientific study of metabolites present in biological systems. This project will develop a novel nanotechnology-equipped platform to enhance the sensitivity of MS to achieve high quality single-cell metabolomics analysis. This will increase Australia’s competitiveness in biosensing and cell biology, and deliver substantial benefits to many departments such as forensic science, national defence, food safety and agriculture. It has the potential to generate valuable intellectual property, with the platform likely attracting commercial interest from biosensor companies and mass spectrometer manufacturers, and delivering economic benefit to Australia through technology advancement.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Self-Supervised Sequential Biomedical Image-Omics. This project aims to develop a self-supervised sequential biomedical image-omics model to uncover the underlying biological processes e.g., normal or abnormal. Sequential biomedical images are state-of-the-art imaging modalities which allow to depict changes in progression to the human body. New self-supervised machine learning algorithms are proposed to derive features from heterogenous and unlabelled sequential images. These derived features will then be used to characterise the morphological and functional changes, which provide opportunities to increase understanding of progression of diseases of individual subject. The outcome from this project will provide new insights into system biology with potential future benefits in healthcare. Field of research: 4603 - Computer Vision and Multimedia Computation Accurate characterisation of functional changes in the human body over time is key to understanding when and why 'things go wrong'. Biomedical image scanners depict these changes with high resolution and sensitivity, but the machine learning algorithms that currently analyse this image data only work on individual images rather than sequential data over time. The aim of this project is to develop new machine learning algorithms that will automatically compute subtle and gross functional changes from sequential scans. This research will lead to improved decision making and new discoveries in biomedical research, for example, in the early detection and understanding of drug resistance. This new capability will give Australian biomedical industry a competitive advantage and ultimately improve the wellbeing of all Australians. The outcomes of this project can also benefit other sectors that rely on imaging data over time to inform decision making – such as remote sensing, satellite and aerial images for agriculture, forestry, land and sea surveillance.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Future-proofing Australia’s care economy: A relational mobilities approach. This project aims to investigate the experiences of Australia’s migrant and mobile health workforce in the context of severe worker shortages worldwide. It will explore how healthcare workers’ family relationships and informal care responsibilities shape their migration decisions, experiences in the workplace and plans for the future. Expected outcomes include a comprehensive evidence-base about healthcare workers' experiences of mobility, care, knowledge and skills to inform sustainable and person-centred policy solutions. The project should yield significant benefit by maximising Australia’s capacity to attract and retain a highly mobile workforce and their transnational knowledge and expertise to meet Australia’s growing care needs. Field of research: 4410 - Sociology Australia faces chronic and worsening shortages of healthcare workers, compromising its ability to provide world-class care. Successive Australian governments have been unsuccessful in attracting and retaining enough skilled migrants to help fill this shortfall. This project takes a novel person-centred approach to understanding international healthcare workers’ decisions about whether to migrate to Australia and whether to stay long-term. Moving beyond two-dimensional understandings of these workers as professionally-driven ‘skilled migrants’, it explores how international healthcare workers’ family relationships and informal care responsibilities shape their migration decisions. Findings from this research will help Australia to develop policies that are better able to attract and retain these much-needed workers by taking account of their whole lives as carers at work and at home. Project findings will advance the objectives of the National Medical Workforce Strategy 2021-2031 and provide the evidence-base necessary to address a pressing national need.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Robust Renewables Hosting Capacity Enhancement for Distribution Networks. This project aims to quantify technical margins and devise novel robust renewables hosting capacity enhancement methods for active distribution networks. High renewables penetration has impaired power quality and network operational reliability, thus reducing renewables utilisation rate and impeding further installation. The intended outcomes are innovative data-driven robustness design methods against complex and uncertain operating conditions, which are able to secure increasing renewables penetration and installation. With emerging community battery and hydrogen electrolyser, a suite of operation and planning methods will be developed, allowing utility operators and government agencies to expedite zero-emission energy transition. Field of research: 4008 - Electrical Engineering Promoting renewable power generation and clean hydrogen production are key priorities as Australia strives to reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050. However, a high proportion of renewables have caused severe technical challenges in our current power distribution systems. These include reduced quality of power supply and restrictions on utilising rooftop solar power, which have economic flow on effects for industry and individuals. This project will identify and address the technical barriers that cause such challenges and offer robust operation methods and innovative optimisation tools resulting in high operational reliability and efficiency of the power grid. The theoretical advances and immediate solutions from this project will contribute to reducing our electricity bills, securing increasing renewables installation, and further supporting Australian clean hydrogen production. Once adopted by utility operators and government agencies, these advances will speed up the national decarbonisation campaign by supplying eco-friendly, cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable energy for Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Robust Derivative-Free Algorithms for Complex Optimisation Problems. Mathematical optimisation gives a systematic way for optimal decision-making. This project aims to develop new mathematical tools for complex optimisation problems where limited problem information is available. It will generate new foundational theories for alternative optimisation tools, introducing substantial new capability and rigour to the discipline. The project will create significant new mathematical optimisation techniques and create world-leading and publicly available software. These new techniques and software may ultimately be able to solve some of the most complex optimisation problems in research and industry, such as improving long-term climate predictions and designing 3D-printed medical implants. Field of research: 4903 - Numerical and Computational Mathematics Mathematical optimisation techniques have been successfully employed in many different fields ranging from manufacturing and production to transportation and scheduling such as timing of sporting events or medical appointments or selecting the best location for a store or a service. Making optimal decisions is crucial to the success of any business or organisation, from maximising profits to minimising pollution. Mathematical optimisation offers a systematic and automated way to make optimal decisions. However, existing mathematical optimisation techniques do not perform adequately in situations involving huge quantities of information that are hard to calculate or uncertain, and where choices are influenced by factors outside the control of the decision maker. This project will develop new mathematical methods for optimising complex, uncertain quantities under constraints, and produce state-of-the-art mathematical algorithms for optimising some of our most complex decisions. Australian firms will be able to employ these algorithms to solve some of their most complex optimisation problems. This research will support scientists and industry to unlock benefits such as improved climate forecasts for a stronger environment, and the ability to design customised and durable 3D-printed medical implants to improve Australia’s healthcare and advanced manufacturing capabilities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Indigenising the Built Environment in Australia. In 2021, Performance Criteria relating to Country and First Nations Communities and Cultures were introduced by the Australian architectural profession in the National Standard of Competency for Architects. This Indigenous-led research project will determine the efficacy of these criteria by interacting with key stakeholders to collect critical information for the 2025 iteration of Competencies and provide important observations for the profession. This project aims to Indigenise discourse between Indigenous Communities and built environment professions, promote greater cultural competency and advocate for considerations of First Nations specific Performance Criteria in other registered built environment professions across Australia. Field of research: 4505 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Society and Community This project will investigate how the 2021 National Standard of Competency for Architects has implemented First Nations specific Performance Criteria for the architecture discipline across Australia. Their efficacy and impact are currently undetermined - for example, we are uncertain of how communities and practitioners actually interpret key design criteria in real development projects, and whether they have reached mutual understanding. This study will produce a longitudinal dataset to support the architecture discipline to better understand its interactions with First Nations Cultures and Communities. The findings will both enhance educational and professional practice in the built environment and deliver far reaching effects on the qualities of infrastructure across all disciplines associated with architecture. This will benefit Australian society by promoting investment into architectural processes that consider cultural competency and deepen dialogue between Country and First Nations Communities, and the built environment sector to achieve enriched public returns.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Quantum Generative Diffusion Models for Molecular Research. This project will devise quantum generative diffusion models to equip classical counterparts with the ability to harness quantum data that naturally arise in molecular research. Theoretical foundations for analysing fast sampling methods with the help of inductive bias regarding the input data and employed circuits will validate efficient quantum generative diffusion models that have training and sampling advantages over classical counterparts. Outcomes include applications in molecular conformation generation, compound screening, and drug design. The innovative research will significantly benefit Australia’s science, industry and health, and will maintain Australia’s global leading role in quantum machine learning and molecular research. Field of research: 4611 - Machine Learning Machine learning have revolutionised data-driven research and industry in the last decade, albeit at high computational costs. Meanwhile, quantum computing has made significant strides, with quantum error-correction and quantum advantages on certain tasks being realised. This has spurred the development of quantum machine learning to exploit these advantages for machine learning problems, such as combinatorial optimisations and chemical or biological tasks. This project will develop quantum versions of generative diffusion models to realise these advantages for molecular research. The proposed research aligns with Australia’s national research priorities for better models of health-care and services that improve outcomes, reduce disparities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, increase efficiency and provide greater value for a given expenditure. A novel QGDM, compatible with scientific quantum data, will improve the efficiency of many impactful applications in the fields of chemistry and health research and their associated industries. The research can yield improvements to molecular conformation generation, compound screening and drug design.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Cellular Ageing: Is the Plasma Membrane the Control Hub? This project aims to determine whether the plasma membrane lipid composition is a major driver of cellular ageing. It expects to generate new knowledge in the molecular mechanism of cellular ageing, utilising our team’s deep expertise in lipid biology, bioinformatics, biophysics, extracellular vesicle biology and cellular ageing. Expected outcomes include the identification of novel cellular ageing markers and anti-ageing targets while also cementing long-standing partnerships and fostering new interdisciplinary collaborations. This cellular ageing study will provide novel insights into the basic principles of cellular behaviour, e.g. growth, differentiation, communication and death, reinforcing Australia’s leadership in biological science. Field of research: 3109 - Zoology Australia's population is rapidly ageing, with nearly one-quarter expected to be aged 65+ by 2066. The ageing population has a high prevalence of chronic diseases, which is projected to triple the health cost per capita over the next 40 years. The high morbidity associated with ageing has severe consequences on economic growth, workforce productivity, family dynamics and community resources. Thus, the aim for the future is to age ‘healthily’. Ageing at the cellular level determines the health span and lifespan of individuals. Our focus is on the blood vessels, as it is said that we are “only as old as our blood vessels”. Our project aims to address the knowledge gap in the underlying consequences of the ageing of the vessels, specifically in one of the primary cells of our blood vessels, the endothelial cells. This project aligns with the national interest in promoting healthier ageing and reducing the socioeconomic burden of age-related diseases. To maximise the impact of our research beyond academia, we will disseminate our findings to consumer groups and leverage social media to reach a broad audience and raise public awareness of healthy ageing. The new anti-ageing targets exposed from this project will also be related to medicinal chemists and to biotech and pharmaceutical companies to further translate our knowledge.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Testing links between life-history and genome evolution. Chromosomes are fundamental units of inheritance. They often differ in number, size and structure between species, and may also differ between individuals within a species. The evolution of chromosomes is tied to that of organisms themselves, making them important for understanding the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Yet, our understanding of the forces that influence chromosome evolution remains limited. This project will investigate the formation of unusual chains of chromosomes that are increasingly being found in various vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, using an organism in which they are most commonly found: termites. We will test the hypothesis that inbreeding drives the evolution of meiotic sex linked chromosomes. Field of research: 3104 - Evolutionary Biology Chromosomes play important roles in speciation and the generation of biodiversity, yet our understanding of chromosome evolution remains poor. The results of the study will improve our understanding of the evolutionary processes that produced the remarkable diversity of the present-day Australian fauna and other fauna globally. The project will generate genomic resources for a pest species of Australian termite, as well as the only known species that has all-female colonies, which will be of potential use in the future development of sustainable methods for controlling them. A number of human diseases are associated with errors during the segregation of chromosomes during meiosis, the process during which gametes are formed. The project will increase our understanding of how and why chromosomes become linked during meiosis. The project will strengthen important international links with researchers in Japan, and will build on collaborations with researchers across Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Novel tractography-guided MRI methods for studying healthy brain ageing. Advances in imaging, and particularly Magnetic Resonance Imaging, have opened a new era in the study of the brain enabling a myriad of neuroscience discoveries. This project aims to develop new analysis methods to study and understand the variability in the human brain during ageing, exploiting the wealth of information contained in the so-called tractogram, a mapping of the brain’s wiring. This project expects to develop innovative imaging biomarkers to characterise the brain changes in the course of healthy brain ageing. Expected outcomes include novel imaging tools for neuroscience, which should allow us to map trajectories of normative healthy brain ageing and use them to identify lifestyle factors that impact these trajectories. Field of research: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering Advances in imaging continue to revolutionise neuroscience, enabling countless discoveries. We aim to develop new imaging tools to study the human brain by exploiting the wealth of information from mapping the brain’s wiring obtained using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, an area that has been highly underexploited. This will allow us to combine imaging data to create a ‘brain fingerprint’, which we will use to characterise the changes in the course of healthy brain ageing, akin to growth charts used in children development. There is an unmet need for methods to track an individual’s brain changes and how normal deviations from average trajectories relate to functioning and wellbeing. We will use the brain fingerprint to explore lifestyle impacts on healthy brain aging. The methods and new knowledge from this proposal will have major economic and social benefits. Firstly, they will help better understand behaviour so that the human organisation and activity can be improved. Secondly, the technology can be used to study brain aging and healthy ways to use the brain. Our tools can also be used to better understand brain development, so that education can be optimised. The lifestyle of Australians can thus be optimised. We will disseminate our methods through publicly releasing our software tools, an strategy that has proved successful in ensuring our innovations are widely adopted, including beyond academic (such as for clinical management, informing guidelines, and industry).

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

How does the chromatin remodeller CHD4 regulate gene expression? The mechanisms that determine how genes are switched on and off in different tissues and at different times are in many ways still mysterious. It is well established that gene expression patterns in complex organisms are determined in part by the manner in which DNA is physically packaged. Our aim is to define new aspects of these mechanisms that revolve around molecular motors that regulate DNA packaging. This foundational knowledge will deepen our understanding of gene regulation in all complex organisms and will inform future efforts to rationally modulate gene expression patterns in agriculture, research and other important areas. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This application investigates one of the most fundamental and long-standing questions in biology – how does an organism ‘read’ the right parts of its genome at the right times and in the right places to develop and thrive? The answers to this question are largely shared by all complex organisms, ranging from fungi to plants and animals and beyond. The delineation of the mechanisms by which the genome is interpreted will have significant implications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology. As well as providing a deeper understanding of the world around us, determination of these mechanisms will potentially enable the Australian agricultural industry to deliver more efficient and higher-quality agricultural production and provide new avenues for the Australian biotechnology sector to develop innovative approaches for the treatment for a range of human disorders. Important examples already exist of such applications and a stronger grasp of the underlying mechanisms will significantly expand our opportunities to have economic, therapeutic and agricultural impact.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Superannuation as Inheritance: Law, Practice and Reform. Given that Australian retirees are leaving behind billions of superannuation assets for inheritance, this project aims to obtain accurate real world findings about how superfunds distribute superannuation inheritances in practice. Current law has not kept pace with reality, largely leaving superfund trustees to decide how to bequest their deceased members’ excess superannuation. Australian families are at the mercy of superfunds. The expected outcomes of this project include evidence-based proposals to reform industry practice and the law. These reforms will promote respect for Australians’ testamentary wishes, safeguard against abuse, and advance societal interests in philanthropy, wealth equality and fiscal responsibility. Field of research: 4806 - Private Law and Civil Obligations Superannuation was designed to provide retirement income but most retirees now die with 90 percent of their superannuation balances intact, leaving the excess superannuation to others to inherit. Australians inherited $17 billion of superannuation assets in 2019, an annual figure projected to reach $130 billion by 2059. Unfortunately the law concerning the inheritance of superannuation is outdated and minimal. The law essentially gives all the power to superannuation trustees, leaving Australian families at the mercy of their superannuation funds. This comprehensive empirical study of superannuation fund deeds, policies and administration will discover for the first time in the world how trustees use their discretion to distribute superannuation inheritances in practice. Guided by these discoveries, the project will develop industry best practice and law reform recommendations to better ensure that superannuation fund trustees respect individual testamentary wishes, safeguard against financial misconduct, and advance societal interests. Through consultation process involving industry and government, this project will maximise the understanding, use and adoption of its findings. The project’s findings and recommendations can be adopted by superannuation funds themselves, delivering immediate benefits to Australian families and society. The law reform and policy recommendations can be adopted by Parliament and oversight bodies.