THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Going Fourth: ruling light with pure-quartic solitons. This project aims to develop a novel integrated high-energy light source through the combination of nanoscience and optics. The core research of this project addresses the energy limitation inherent to the current technology which has hindered its use in real applications. Expected outcomes include new knowledge, with publication in world-class scientific journals, and disruptive technological capabilities in miniaturized photonics. The expected benefit is to generate high-energy pulses from a battery powered micro-chip that could enhance spectroscopy sensing devices for real-world applications, outside laboratories. This project will strengthen Australian capabilities and expertise in cutting-edge nanotechnology and photonics. Field of research: 0205 - Optical Physics This project aims to advance Australian scientific and technological capabilities by developing a novel integrated high-energy light source by combining cutting-edge physics and nanoscience. The project will generate new knowledge in the science and engineering of integrated, micro-sized nonlinear photonic devices, ranging from modelling and fabrication, to comprehensive experimental verification. The expected benefit is a battery-powered microchip emitting strong optical pulses, that can be taken out of the lab and into the field. These could be used for real-world applications that thus far were impractical, such as spectroscopy and environmental sensing. The research contained in this proposal has the potential to result in a core-technology patent in a global photonic industry, which is estimated to be worth ~590 billion USD/year and growing. This project will strengthen Australia’s native capabilities and expertise in world-leading nanotechnology and photonics.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Mito-nuclear coevolution as an engine of biodiversity. This project aims to advance understanding of the processes that drive speciation and generate biodiversity. It will use Australia’s native social bees to test whether genetic diversity in mitochondrial genomes drives biodiversity at the population level, combining molecular and field studies in this uniquely tractable natural system. The expected outcome is a significant advance in knowledge of how coevolution between the two genomes of eukaryotic cells - mitochondrial and nuclear - affect the observable diversity of the natural world. The project is also expected to benefit the management and conservation of Australian native bees, which are vital pollinators in our natural and agro-ecosystems. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology All animal cells contain two genomes (mitochondrial and nuclear) that must co-operate to ensure proper cell function. The interactions of a cell’s genomes have important implications for human health, but how they affect large-scale ecological processes remain poorly understood. This project will use the unique properties of Australia’s native social bees to investigate whether interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear genes drive populations to diverge genetically and form new species. Understanding the mechanism by which new species originate will provide a better knowledge base by which to recognise and conserve the world’s biodiversity. The new information generated by this project will also benefit the conservation and management of Australian native bees, which play a vital role in our agriculture, food security and ecosystem health by pollinating crops and native plants.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Searching for New CP Violating Phenomena at the Intensity Frontier. This project aims to search for new sources of matter-antimatter asymmetry in B-meson decays at the intensity frontier, using data from the Belle and Belle II experiments at Japan's KEK collider facility. It aims to do this by optimally utilising an innovative analysis approach based on advanced machine learning techniques and fitting methods. It could resolve long-standing puzzles such as the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. Expected outcomes include broader knowledge in the field of particle physics and enhancement of international collaboration. This should provide significant benefits for Australia's international scientific reputation, leading to increased export opportunities for Australian education. Field of research: 0202 - Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics This project will contribute to both social and cultural benefits to the Australian community. It will seek a deeper understanding of fundamental questions. Why is there much more matter than antimatter in the Universe? How much do we understand the basic laws of Nature? The addressing of basic questions such as these has always represented a high quest enriching human culture. The topics are topics of keen interest to the general public and to a world-wide research community. The project seeks to make an identifiable Australian contribution to a large international scientific effort. The results will stand by themselves, and provide a mark of the maturity of our scientific work. The project will also increase Australia’s engagement with the international scientific community, in particular at the premiere particle physics laboratory in the Asia-Pacific region, KEK in Japan.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Life without Birth: The Ethics, Politics, and Law of Artificial Wombs. This project aims to assess the morality of ectogenesis, the process of gestating a foetus in an artificial womb. Recent technological advances in non-human ectogenesis raise the question of whether it is desirable to pursue research in human ectogenesis. This project expects to generate new knowledge in social philosophy by inquiring into the value of natural gestation, the foundations of parenthood, and the interests of foetuses during gestation. Expected outcomes of this project include an improved understanding of the costs, risks, and benefits of ectogenesis. This should provide significant benefits, such as resources for ethical decision-making in light of technologies aimed at radically reshaping the process of human creation. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy This DECRA project contributes to Australia's national interest through its potential to have social benefits to the Australian community. The project will derive a number of philosophical principles that can be action-guiding for policy-makers considering legislation, policy and programmes that can promote and protect the interests of prospective parents, foetuses and the children they become. Indeed, the project will produce and defend philosophical principles, theoretical innovations and moral narratives that can inform governments' responses in the areas of abortion, IVF, artificial wombs, neonatal incubation, custody disputes, and medical interventions in the lives of foetuses, whether they continue to be gestated in natural wombs, or start to be gestated in artificial wombs.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Disaster Relief Philanthropy: Can Corporate Giving Increase Firm Value? This project aims to investigate the stock price effects of corporate philanthropy by applying event study methods to the setting of natural disasters in a global dataset of corporate disaster-relief giving. Expected outcomes include the ability to identify the institutional and governance-related determinants of corporate giving and their effects on firm value and stock prices. This should provide significant benefits by contributing to a framework of corporate giving that can increase firms' incentives to provide disaster-relief giving and that can ensure donations are aligned with the needs of affected communities. Field of research: 1502 - Banking, Finance and Investment Australia is increasingly coping with large natural disasters that have a devastating impact on urban and rural communities. The recent Australian bushfire crisis in the summer of 2019 attracted over $500 million in corporate disaster-relief donations, but there has been significant public criticism with regards to how donations are allocated to affected communities. Given the increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters, understanding firms' incentives to donate is of great importance, especially in the context of disaster-relief. This project will identify the regulatory factors and donation-specific variables that affect firms' incentives to donate by analyzing the stock price effects of disaster-relief giving on a global scale. The anticipated benefits are to increase disaster-relief donations by Australian corporations following natural disasters and to better align donations with the needs of affected communities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Sodium inventory for sodium-ion batteries. This project aims to increase the energy density and cycle life of sodium-ion batteries by investigating practical ways to increase the amount of cycleable sodium ions. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of energy storage using an innovative approach to address the key issues facing sodium-ion batteries. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of a novel high-energy sodium-ion battery, achieved by practical sodium inventory solutions and fundamental understanding of internal battery processes. This should provide significant benefits including lowering the cost of energy storage, decreasing the reliance on lithium, and facilitating society’s shift towards renewable and sustainable energy sources. Field of research: 0302 - Inorganic Chemistry In Australia there is currently a steady uptake in battery storage for residential, commercial, and grid-scale applications, and in electric vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries dominate these markets, however, the rising cost, geographical concentration, and environmental concerns around sourcing raw materials are driving research towards lower cost, sustainable alternatives. Breakthroughs in sodium-ion batteries, and other low cost alternatives, are vital to facilitate a smooth transition towards sustainable energy practices. With a unique focus on increasing sodium inventory, this project will accelerate the development of sodium-ion batteries and create fundamental research knowledge. Prioritising sodium-ion battery research is also an investment in developing future supply chains for Australia’s natural resources and mining industry, which extracts many of the materials needed in the battery supply chain. This research is aligned with the Science and Research Priority topic “Energy” and addresses the Practical Research Challenge of energy storage technologies that are efficient, cost-effective and reliable.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Protecting prey from predators using sensory tactics. This project aims to develop new approaches to prevent the extinction of threatened native species from invasive predators, such as rats, pigs, cats and foxes. Many native species are hard to see but vulnerable to being found by predators with powerful senses of smell and hearing. By harnessing the sensory cues of prey that predators use when hunting, this project expects to discover olfactory and auditory techniques that prevent predators finding threatened species. In doing so, the project intends to provide new perspectives on how animals find food using multiple senses, and lead the recovery of threatened species in areas where predators remain within Australia and globally. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management Since 2009, invasive predators, such as foxes, cats, rats and pigs, have been responsible for two thirds of extinctions in Australia. It is not feasible to eradicate these predators, and reducing their numbers does not necessarily prevent extinctions. This project offers a new approach to protecting endangered species that does not require predators to be removed or fences built; instead it seeks to stop predators finding prey in the first place by disrupting the sound and smell cues used when hunting. Many native species are hard to see but exposed to predators by their smell or sounds. This project aims to use the sensory tactics of predators against them and develop practical techniques for hiding prey when predators remain. This project will provide new understanding of the role of sensory information to animals seeking food, and enable more effective biodiversity conservation and benefits to agricultural industries in Australia and around the world.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Chinese Business: economic and social survival in white Australia,1870-1940. This project aims to uncover the social and cultural significance of Chinese economic activity in Australia. Documenting enterprises that Chinese migrants pursued, under conditions that restricted non-white immigration and labour, it seeks to offer the first national account of the strategies these migrants used to pursue collective economic interests. Large datasets are needed to reveal this. Court archives will be used to investigate Chinese agricultural and remittance economies, re-centering Chinese Australians in the nation's history. Benefits include the digitisation of these records, expected to form a major online archive accessible to descendants and future researchers, whose economic activity buttressed Australian prosperity. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies This project will reveal the full extent of the social and cultural significance of Chinese economic activity in Australia. As an additional benefit, it will underline to the 1.2 million Australians of Chinese origin that their past, present and future contributions to Australian society are acknowledged and valued. It will benefit social cohesion by helping redress the perception of some Chinese Australians, members of a community that now numbers 1.2 million, that negative sentiment towards them has recently increased (as registered by the Lowy Institute annual opinion survey). Drawing on perspectives from the past, it will highlight the collective strategies used by migrants to successfully build communities and secure economic prosperity, particularly in regional Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Multiscale mathematical modelling to gain insights into hepatitis viruses. This project aims to use mathematical modelling to study hepatitis viruses at multiple levels. The project expects to develop complex yet analysable mathematical models to comprehend the fundamental biology of hepatitis viruses by elucidating longitudinal patterns in viral and immune markers at intracellular and cellular levels, and advance a new subfield in mathematical biology, i.e., modelling codependent human viruses. Expected outcomes of the project include new generalized mathematical tools, biological insights that may aid research beyond the scope of this project, and strong interdisciplinary collaborations. Expected benefits include an increased capacity of the research community in Australia to use mathematical models in virology. Field of research: 0102 - Applied Mathematics By developing novel mathematical models, my research will provide new insights into the fundamental biology of hepatitis viruses that may ultimately inform medical researchers conducting future research beyond the scope of this project. This work is impactful as it will contribute to current knowledge of hepatitis viruses, which affect almost 400,000 people in Australia. This could attract future funding from the pharmaceutical industry and other overseas agencies, contributing to the growth of the Australian economy. Because hepatitis viruses raise global health concerns, outputs from this project will attract the attention of the international research community, promote interdisciplinary collaborations and boost Australia’s international image as the major contributor to the field. This project will also provide significant benefits to the research community in Australia with an increased capacity to use mathematical models in virology. Furthermore, my project will train young researchers in an emerging field of the mathematical modelling of coinfections, promoting Australia’s leadership in this area.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Healing Country: integrating knowledge systems to meet climate challenges. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are currently experiencing severe environmental challenges related to a changing climate. Led by Aboriginal communities, this project aims to integrate traditional knowledges and environmental and health data to create community story-data maps. These interactive, online maps will be a unique and powerful blend of information, providing a rich evidence base, decision-support and communication tool to inform the co-design of local climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience plans. The project aims to give agency to Aboriginal communities in leading a systems change process to reduce environmental risks and strengthen health and wellbeing. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management This project addresses the National Practical Research Challenges: ‘...adapting to the impacts of environmental change on biological systems, urban and rural communities...’ and ‘Better health outcomes for Indigenous people’. To address climate change challenges, place-based approaches are required, shifting decision-making to Indigenous communities in recognition of the value of their cultural knowledges and sustainable management practices. Due to diversity of climate change impact across geographical contexts, the project will employ participatory community-based mapping processes to integrate Indigenous and Western knowledges in urban, regional and remote locations. Visual, interactive maps will be produced that centre Indigenous knowledges and highlight community priorities in terms of impacts on health and wellbeing. The maps will be used as the foundation for co-design of community resilience plans from which pilot strategies will be trialled. This project will add new knowledge about empowering Indigenous communities to lead responses to environmental challenges, benefiting all communities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Generating Plots with Dialogue Based Executable Semantic Parsing. This project aims to address the limited abilities of dialogue systems by developing new models and data collection techniques. The project expects to address a major gap in Natural Language Processing using a model that generates computer code and updates it in response to user requests. Expected outcomes of this project include a system that interacts with a user in plain English to analyse data, and efficient methods of training the system with minimal expert input. This should provide significant benefits to research and business by broadening the accessibility and efficiency of data analysis, enabling faster and wiser decisions. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing This project will create a new way to analyse data that is faster and does not require specialist training. The fundamental ideas developed will have broader value in other artificial intelligence systems that interpret text. These innovations will address a growing gap between the volume of data and our need to analyse it. The Australian government, businesses, and individuals are all collecting information at a progressively faster rate with new smart devices. This data has been described as the new oil of the economy, and like oil it is only useful once refined through analysis. Today that analysis is limited by the tools available and the small number of people with the training necessary to use those tools effectively. This project will expand the capacity of Australian businesses, researchers, and individuals to extract valuable insight from their data, providing economic and commercial benefits to Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Sally disagrees with you! A unified theory for human sociality . As fundamentally social beings, we usually keep company with the people that think like ourselves: Our friends and loved ones. This project aims to deliver a unifying theory of human sociality that can account for why the human brain may want to avoid conflict between own and others' ways of thinking. This will be achieved via online behavioural experiments, a highly innovative functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design, and philosophical approaches. The project expects to generate knowledge on the social neuroscience of political/religious group behaviour, shedding light on the brain mechanisms that underlie social cognition. It will benefit our approach to social problems like discrimination, fundamentalism and extremism. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology This project addresses an important gap in knowledge regarding the neuroscience of social behaviour, namely the brain areas involved in the processing of others thinking differently from oneself. Using a groundbreaking new experimental technique by applying brain imaging to establish this key aspect of social behaviour, the project will provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of others having a different ideological belief system than oneself. The project will result in a better understanding of how distinct groups in society, like political and religious opponents, come to being, with the outcomes having specific benefit in the understanding and resolution of social and cultural issues such as discrimination, religious and political fundamentalism, radicalisation and extremism, and criminal accountability in Australia and the wider world. The findings will also allow the evaluation of ethical conundrums related to intergroup processes, which will underpin the development of tools on how to counteract religious and political radicalisation in societies and online spaces.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Human-kangaroo relations: Reconciling perceptions, knowledges and practices. This research aims to reveal the diverse perceptions, knowledges and practices shaping human-kangaroo relations in Australia. Using inter-disciplinary and multi-sited methods, the project expects to generate innovative empirical and conceptual insights into the contested status of the kangaroo as native species and pest, food resource and political symbol. Planned outcomes of the project include the development of participatory and applied approaches to reconciling environmental conservation with ethical food production and multispecies justice. Anticipated benefits include fast-tracking a multi-stakeholder dialogue to ensure an ecologically viable, ethically just and economically sustainable future for Australian wildlife. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies This research investigates the various perceptions, knowledges and practices surrounding human-kangaroo relations among multiple Australian actors and institutions. These include government agencies, conservation scientists, animal welfare organisations and commercial and non-commercial kangaroo harvesters. The project will offer a comprehensive social analysis of the opportunities and challenges in reconciling the ecological and ethical dimensions of kangaroo management with its economic importance for agriculturalists and the kangaroo meat industry. Importantly, this research will bridge the existing gap between scientific knowledge, legal frameworks and public perceptions surrounding kangaroo conservation, culling and consumption. It will lay the groundwork for critically needed inter-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder dialogue towards the creation of sustainable and just human-kangaroo futures. The knowledge generated by this research will enable the development of innovative and inclusive processes for harmonising the economic, environmental and ethical facets of human-wildlife relations in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Galactic seismology: a new window on Milky Way's evolution. This project aims to investigate how the Milky Way responds to the passage of a small dwarf galaxy through its plane. This is motivated by the observational discovery of largescale waves crossing the Milky Way disc, and by new related supercomputer simulations. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this field, based on further supercomputer simulations and comparison of the predictions with new data from the Gaia space mission. Expected outcomes of the project include a demonstration of the diagnostic power of this new seismological approach to galaxy evolution. The project promises significant benefits in the form of establishing Australia as a leader in Galactic seismology, as it is in the field of Galactic archaeology. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences Since 2018 the Gaia satellite has provided an extraordinary window into the inner workings of the Milky Way, including evidence of giant waves crossing the Milky Way disc and moving through our neighbourhood. This project will investigate how the Milky Way responds to the passage of a small dwarf galaxy through its plane, using a seismological approach that provides insights into the structure and dynamics of our Galaxy and its long-term evolution. It expects to generate new knowledge in Milky Way science, based on supercomputer simulations and comparison of these predictions with new data from the Gaia space mission. This project will also facilitate close engagement between the Australian, European and US research communities. In addition to advancing our knowledge of our Galaxy, this research offers a superb training field for young analysts to develop skills that are transportable to other fields of science, to high-tech industries and to the finance sector.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Enzyme-Mediated Machining of Chelators to Bind and Recover Valuable Metals. Metals are critical components of electronic devices and electrical products. Rapid disposal cycles create a major problem in managing e-waste metals and identifies an opportunity in the circular economy for recovery and re-use. Organic compounds that bind metal ions (chelators) are useful but could be improved to select a target metal from a mixture. This project aims to dissect a method used by bacteria to biosynthesize chelators and hijack this to bioengineer new classes of chelators. Outcomes include new chelators and advanced knowledge of metal selectivity, with potential environmental and economic benefits arising from recovery of valuable metals. The project will benefit chemical biology research training for real-world applications. Field of research: 0302 - Inorganic Chemistry There is a looming global crisis in the management of waste generated from the short life cycles of electrical and electronic equipment, including mobile phones, computers, and televisions. This ‘e-waste’ is growing at an alarming rate, with 53.6 million tons generated globally in 2019 and predicted to reach 74.7 million tons by 2030. These products contain a range of metals as critical components which pose environmental concerns when present in landfill. Bacteria produce natural compounds called ‘chelators’ which leach iron from the environment to supply the cell with this essential element for growth. Bacteria have evolved a multistep biosynthetic pathway to produce chelators and this project aims to exploit this pathway in nature to promote the discovery of new chelators in the laboratory. High-performance chelators could be used to recover metal ions from e-waste streams for re-use as part of the circular economy. This could provide dual benefit to Australia by creating new technologies and employment in metal recovery and securing the safe environment of communities living close to unlined landfills.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Embrittlement-tolerant alloys for safe hydrogen transmission and storage. Hydrogen embrittlement in steels is a major impediment to a safe hydrogen economy. This project will determine how hydrogen affects the deformation behaviour of steel, providing the fundamental information that is required to develop alloys that can be safely used in infrastructure for a future Australian hydrogen industry. We will utilise new technologies that allow us, for the first time, to determine the position of hydrogen atoms around micro-scale features and to compare it to local mechanical behaviour, determined by micro-mechanical tests. The systematic investigation of the effect of hydrogen on different micro-components within steel will allow the development of microstructure-guided alloy design principles. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering Clean, cheap, storable hydrogen fuel, produced without emissions and leaving only water when burned, is poised to become a reality for Australia. According to the National Hydrogen Strategy, an Australian hydrogen industry will likely generate ~7,600 new high-skill jobs and provide ~$11 billion a year in GDP by 2040-2050. However, a critical problem affecting equipment durability is hydrogen embrittlement, a phenomenon that can cause sudden, catastrophic failure of stressed metal components exposed to hydrogen. This project leverages connections with international metals companies and an Australian start up to provide the knowledge required to develop new, hydrogen-tolerant alloys that can be used for the transport and storage of hydrogen. An additional benefit will be the development of a new cryogenic micro-scale mechanical testing facility, which will be available to all Australian researchers in an open access laboratory.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Microplastics in Landfills and Surrounding Environments. This project aims to build a risk-based framework for managing micro- and nano-plastic particles in landfills and surrounding environments. It expects to develop a new experimentally validated theory of micro/nano-plastic transport in soils, focussing on lining systems used in landfills worldwide to protect aquifers from contamination. The project will use state-of-the-art experimental, theoretical and computational approaches to generate new knowledge on micro/nano-plastic fate in lining systems and their effects on the mobility of heavy metals and organic pollutants. This should provide significant benefits including safe plastic containment and groundwater protection from landfill waste, a major reservoir of plastic in the environment. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Landfills are by far the most dominant form of waste disposal in Australia. Protecting aquifers from these concentrated contamination sources is critical for Australia’s ecological and economic futures. Microplastics and nanoplastics have emerged in the last few years as a serious threat to our health, food and water resources, with widespread presence in the environment recorded. Currently, landfills constitute a major sink of micro/nano-plastic, but we do not know whether our current best-practices are capable of preventing their migration to underlying aquifers. Of particular concern is evidence that micro/nano-plastic may enhance the mobility of heavy metals and organic contaminants in the waste. The project will benefit our national interest in two ways. It will help protect Australia’s water resources by developing a science-based, risk management framework that will allow landfills to safely contain micro/nano-plastic. It will also contribute to a national strategy of micro/nano-plastic management by developing safe disposal practices that will allow the diversion of plastics from other ecosystems.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Need for Speed: Towards Controller Design Automation for Power Electronics. This project aims to address the need for advanced controller design automation tools for power electronics systems by advocating a novel design paradigm. The project expects to seek breakthroughs in the modelling and optimisation aspects of power electronics systems and generate new automation tools for existing and emerging power electronics applications. Expected outcome include significant reduction of controller development cycle time and cost, minimisation of human oversight, and maximisation of system performance. Profound benefits include maintaining Australia’s leadership in a wide range of sectors such as renewable energy and electric vehicles demanding rapid development cycles and realisation of Australia’s zero-carbon vision. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering Power electronics is one of the key technologies enabling a wider proliferation of renewable energies and realisation of Australia’s zero-carbon vision. Power electronics has undergone rapid development in recent years to constantly produce new and better products, but the process of producing these improved systems takes much longer. Consequently, there is an urgent need for advanced design automation tools to expedite their design. This project will advocate a controller design automation paradigm for power electronics systems. It will bring the benefits of timeliness, consistency, quality, robustness and productivity that normally accrue with any automation process. The outcomes could potentially transform Australia’s power electronics industry by significantly reducing development cycles and cost while improving reliability and productivity. This will significantly promote the uptake of green technologies, e.g. renewable energies and electric vehicles, creating ample job opportunities, but most importantly, it will provide a competitive pathway for Australian energy sector towards a sustainable future.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The role of song in Kaytetye and Warlpiri biocultural knowledge. This project aims to integrate Indigenous Ecological Knowledge with Indigenous ceremonial knowledge in two central Australian Aboriginal languages: Kaytetye and Warlpiri. With a multidisciplinary team and by building on existing lexical and musical corpora, the project expects to produce the first biocultural monographs. Identification of biota and human uses of them will be expanded with their song, site of origin and kinship affiliation; thus advancing knowledge of how societies interact with the natural world and the role of music in retaining knowledge. Expected benefits of this project are greater intergenerational transfer of Indigenous biocultural knowledge through working on country and enhanced Indigenous capacity. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing Aboriginal ceremonial songs are a pinnacle of Aboriginal knowledge, yet their potential to inform broader understandings of Australian society, history and culture and transmit Indigenous knowledge is yet to be realised. Current land management programs struggle to integrate the cultural understandings embedded in song; similarly, national biological collections lack Indigenous cultural documentation. By building on existing large lexical and musical corpora combined with on-country fieldwork, this project will produce resources for future generations that integrate ecological and ceremonial knowledge contained in song to advance knowledge of Central Australian societies and environments. As the nation realises the importance of Indigenous biocultural knowledge, communities are struggling to maintain this highly localised and fragile knowledge. In bringing ceremonial songs to the fore this project strengthens the transmission of biocultural knowledge of our unique arid environments.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Novel dopamine pathways underlying motivated behaviours. Rewards such as food, sex and social media are seeked on daily basis. Neurological and psychological basis of learning and memory of reward processing behaviour. This project maps real time neural activity during reward processing in two novel brain regions. It has the potential to revolutionize the understanding of the brain mechanisms in reward processing. The biological data obtained can be directly integrated into computational modelling approaches to benefit reward processing algorithms for learning behaviours in humans or artificial intelligence. This project will fuel the understanding of algorithms driving social media platforms and consumer consumption, hence driving economic and technological progress in Australia. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology The ever-expanding nature of rewarding seeking acts on the brains systems regulating how we learn about rewards; forming the basis of motivated behaviours. This project will identify and characterise novel neural pathways in reward seeking behaviour, extending our neurobiological understanding of motivated behaviours. We apply cutting edge technology to obtain real time biological data during reward learning process. This is a timely project, as the data derived can be combined with behavioural data from current consumer markets. Examining these understudied neural pathways will provide knowledge required for better understanding the neural processes underlying consumer consumption, advertising, decision making; essential factors driving Australian and global markets. The outcomes have the potential to have economic, commercial, social benefits to the Australian community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mechanics of Vandal court patronage, and the breadth of these authors' contribution to the history of Latin literature. The project will benefit Australian culture by providing a detailed historical example of the benefits and challenges of a multicultural society. Field of research: 2005 - Literary Studies Multicultural societies like Australia face challenges in times of uncertainty and stress, but also enjoy great benefits, as differing religious, ethnic and language groups are enriched by each other’s culture. This project will provide a detailed historical study of a society which celebrated multicultural diversity, and produced a vibrant culture that embraced different literary and religious traditions, while also forming its own, overarching distinct cultural identity. This research will deliver social and cultural benefits to Australia by developing a rich, historically informed understanding of how a nation can embrace diversity and create a strong sense of cultural identity from a wide range of religious, ethnic and linguistic groups. It will uncover links between literary creativity and multicultural diversity, which are crucial for sustaining social cohesion and freedom of expression. Examining both Christian and Classical traditions, which remain important sources for Australian culture today, this project will deepen our understanding of the challenges and value of social and cultural diversity.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Biomimetic hydrogels. Hydrogels are promising materials to repair and regenerate damaged tissues, but their weak mechanical properties limit their applications. This project aims to develop hydrogels with better mechanical properties by mimicking the way natural tissues, such as cartilage, work. Specifically, we aim to develop a new class of hydrogels by adding molecular polymer brushes to traditional materials. We will design the hydrogels with long-term stability and render them suitable as viable hosts for chondrocytes. Through this project, we will grow fundamental knowledge in polymer chemistry and tissue engineering, and pave the way for new technologies to repair damaged joints and tissues. Field of research: 0303 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry One key application of hydrogels is the replacement or regeneration of load-bearing tissues in the joints, such as cartilage. Cartilage is a highly hydrated natural tissue with extraordinary mechanical properties. Cartilage damage often leads to osteoarthritis, a leading cause of disability in Australia, costing billions of dollars annually. This project aims to address the persistent problem that mimicking cartilage properties and function in the lab is extremely challenging and thereby limits the development of hydrogels with superior mechanical and biological performance. The project outcomes grant significant progress in polymer synthesis control and are expected to aid the development of new and more effective polymer hydrogels to improve their use in load-bearing applications. The developed materials will have direct benefit for the tissue engineering and biomedical fields, with future applications including cartilage repair, replacement and regeneration. This cutting-edge research will also strengthen Australia’s position as a leader in polymer science, nanomaterials, and biomedical research.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The ideologies and practices of anti-racism in Australia. This project aims to advance understanding of what anti-racism work looks like in Australia and how it has developed. Drawing upon approaches within politics and cultural studies, this project expects to map the history of thinking about anti-racism in Australia, evaluate the impact of anti-racist work within Australian society, and theorise the effect of anti-racist efforts on liberal democratic institutions and ideology. The project's benefits include the identification of best practices in anti-racist policies and approaches. This would make a significant contribution to Australia’s social cohesion and the combatting of racial discrimination, both of which relate to official Australian government policy objectives. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology This project will make a significant and ground-breaking contribution to the public understanding of anti-racism. It will contribute to enabling Australia to meet its national goals regarding cultural harmony, social cohesion and racial discrimination. Australia has a long-standing commitment to racial equality and multiculturalism. It is widely recognised that racial discrimination inflicts substantial damage to Australians’ physical health, mental wellbeing and economic productivity – and to national social cohesion. This project will identify ways for improving the effectiveness of anti-racism interventions including through legislation, policy, education and awareness-raising. Our evaluation of anti-racism work will address the current limited examination of the efficacy of anti-racism programs in social and organisational settings.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives. This project aims to identify the links between the preparedness of individuals to pay for news, the value of news brands and organisational cultures of news publishers, and the social value of news in promoting a democratic public sphere. Its significance arises with the ongoing crisis of news media business models, which is raising new questions about the future of journalism, and the changing role of governments worldwide in financing news production. Its expected outcomes include advancing debates about how to support public interest journalism, and the value of news as both a commodity and a public good. It will be of benefit to industry, policymakers and the community in addressing the prospects for Australian journalism. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies News and journalism are central to the democratic public sphere and civic life in Australia, but the ongoing shift of digital advertising away from commercial news publishers has generated a crisis around sustainable future business models. The ACCC Digital Platform Inquiry identified a need for digital platforms to contribute to the funding of news, but this is contested by those global tech companies, and the direct and indirect value of news remains subject to debate. This project is timely as it addresses the economic and social value of news, aligning to individual preparedness to pay (micro), the value of news brands (meso), and the social and public value of news production and public interest journalism (macro). The project will generate important insights for policy makers as they grapple with 21st century issues of who pays for news, and what are appropriate levels of government and other forms of support, such as contributions from tech companies, as the advertiser-financed model that dominated 20th century mass media comes under sustained challenge in a age of digital platforms and social news.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Planetary Health Histories: Developing Concepts. This historical research project aims to explain the conceptual development of the new planetary health, the principal means of assessing impacts of climate change and global environmental degradation on human health. Using a novel combination of history of science and medicine, environmental history, international history and Indigenous studies, this research is expected to show how environmental health and disease ecology have been re-framed and scaled up in the past century to address the effects of global warming. The project will examine critically this intellectual formation, exploring its potential in global health and revealing its blind spots and omissions, especially in relation to Indigenous knowledge and structural inequalities. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies Climate change and environmental degradation are among the greatest challenges to health and life we currently face. The more we learn from history about how we perceive and attempt to tackle such challenges, the better placed we are to survive as a species. This research gives the first comprehensive historical account of the relationship between environment and human health across the past 150 years. Using the history of science and medicine, environmental and international history and Indigenous studies, it will show how environmental health and disease ecology evolve to address emerging challenges, such as global warming. This will provide a usable history of global environmental health for medical researchers and policymakers, showing how to translate insights from environmental health and epidemiology into national policy settings. It will also explore how Indigenous knowledge of environment and sustainability can be incorporated into planetary health. This research will enhance our understanding of effects of climate change and environmental degradation on the health and well-being of all Australians.