Australian National University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Optimising Space-Based Atom Interferometer Design. This theoretical physics project aims to enable high-precision atom interferometry in space. Atom interferometers could allow measurements of unparalleled precision in the low-gravity, low-noise environment of space, however, size, weight, and power constraints must also influence the design of any space-based device. This project expects to develop implementable strategies for the optimal design and performance of space-based atom interferometers. This could deliver new space-based sensing capabilities, advancing our capacity to monitor the Earth’s fresh water supply, geology, oceans, and ice caps, as well as precipitating much-needed measurements that probe potential quantum gravitational effects. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Building Australia's next-generation ocean-sea ice model. Ocean and sea ice models are used for predicting future ocean and climate states, and for climate process research. This project aims to bring the next generation of ocean-sea ice models to Australia and configure the models for our local priorities. The ultimate goal is to create a new coupled ocean-sea ice model for Australia that includes surface waves and biogeochemistry. The model will be optimised and evaluated on Australian facilities, and released for community use. These developments underpin future ocean state forecasts, sea ice forecasts, wave forecasts, decadal climate prediction and climate process studies. The project will benefit search and rescue, Defence and shipping operations, and will enhance future climate projections. Field of research: 0405 - Oceanography Ocean-sea ice models have a wide range of applications, underpinning ocean state forecasts, ecosystem prediction, decadal climate forecasts and future climate projections. This project will drive the new development required to keep Australia at the forefront of the international ocean-sea ice modelling community. The modelling tools, configurations and outputs generated as part of this project will be released openly for the entire community, and will enable new capability, such as ocean wave forecasts and sea ice forecasts, that will enhance maritime safety, improve Australia's Antarctic operations and feed into predictions needed for maritime Defence operations and commercial shipping. At the same time, these developments will support the work of the next generation researchers into ocean circulation and sea ice distribution, and train the brightest new students.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Integrated Farm Modelling to Improve Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity. This project aims to improve farm resilience, farm management, and economic decision-making in Australia and internationally. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge to integrate our understanding of agro-ecosystems and innovative tools to assess their status and manage their operations more effectively. Expected outcomes include the ability to inform farmers, bankers, and land managers about the trade-offs between resilience and efficiency on farms. This should provide significant benefits, including the ability to minimize financial risks to farmers and banks, allow better investment decisions, and achieve sustainable long-term outcomes for both private and public well-being. Field of research: 1499 - Other Economics Agriculture represents approximately 1/3 of the Australian economy. It is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather patterns (for example fire, drought, floods, and other environmental hazards) and, as such, risk and resilience are crucial factors in the management in its management. This project will significantly advance integrated understanding and management of agro-ecosystems. It will allow farmers, bankers, and land managers to better assess the value of natural, social, human, and built capital assets on farms and make better investment decisions. This will improve resilience, long-term economic prosperity, and well-being, for farmers, bankers, and society as a whole.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Heritage and Reconciliation. This project will re-conceptualise heritage from a standpoint of reconciliation. In doing so, it will generate new understandings about how heritage and its management can contribute to reconciliation processes. The project will combine Aboriginal, Maori and Western intellectual traditions in order to advance theoretical understandings of heritage and to examine its reconstructive power. It will produce models for practical implementation, including new conservation and management protocols. The project's investigation of a new approach to heritage has the potential for profound social benefit. Field of research: 2102 - Curatorial and Related Studies Reconciliation is an issue of national significance, in particular for the communities directly impacted by continuing inequality and racism. This project investigates the relationship between heritage and reconciliation. While the past is constantly referenced in materials and debates about how to achieve a reconciled future, the explicit role of heritage has been missed, thus limiting understanding about its contribution and potential. Although much has been written about heritage and conflict, the contribution heritage can make to reconciliation has been largely ignored. Bringing together Aboriginal, Maori and Western intellectual traditions, this project will rethink heritage from a standpoint of reconciliation in order to examine its reconstructive power. It will develop models for practical implication, including new conservation and management protocols. Its focus is Australia and New Zealand and it considers two case studies: the repatriation of Indigenous ancestral remains, and World Heritage.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Evolutionary history and conservation of an iconic Australian plant group. This project aims to strengthen biodiversity conservation using evolutionary biology. By using new DNA sequencing technologies the project aims to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the diverse and ecologically important plant family Proteaceae. This will be used to discover how past environmental changes have produced the biodiversity we see today, and forecast likely future changes to biodiversity under expected rapid environmental change. The key outcome will be a new methodology for a predictive, forward-looking conservation science that accounts explicitly for the dynamic, evolving nature of biodiversity. The key benefit will be a more robust scientific basis for strategic allocation of limited conservation resources. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management This project will advance our understanding of the evolutionary history and diversity of Proteaceae, a prominent component of the Australian flora that includes such iconic, and culturally and economically significant, groups as Banksias, Grevilleas, and Waratahs. The project will provide a strong scientific basis for the management and conservation of this ecologically important group, and will develop an innovative methodology that can be extended to other groups of organisms. The project strengthens cross-institutional and international collaborations, providing access to substantial expertise and data resources for biodiversity analysis. By training early career researchers and students the project adds to Australia’s research capacity in biosystematics and computational biology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

The structure of singularities in geometric flows. The proposed research aims to develop our understanding of the structure of singularities in mean curvature and related flows, with certain applications in mind. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Improving the Well-Being of Low Socioeconomic Status Students at University. This project aims to investigate a new approach to improving the mental well-being of university students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. University students have a high risk of experiencing mental health problems, and students from low SES backgrounds have a particularly high risk. This project aims to investigate university-relevant Facebook groups as a method of improving the mental well-being of low SES students by improving their online social integration at university. Expected outcomes and benefits include a scalable, low-cost approach to reducing an SES inequality that costs Australia billions of dollars each year. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology In Australia, the cost of supporting people with mental health problems is $28.6 billion per year, and the cost of socioeconomic status (SES) inequalities in health is $12 billion per year (Brown, Thurecht, & Nepal, 2012; Medibank and Nous Group, 2013). This project will lead to social and economic benefits by developing a scalable, cost-effective approach to reducing SES differences in mental well-being among university students, who are a high risk group for mental health problems. In particular, the project will investigate how low SES students can use social media to make friends and build social networks at university and thus improve their mental well-being. The research will test two different online social interventions that can reduce social class differences in social integration and mental well-being. The research is expected to lead to the improvement of low SES university students’ mental well-being in Australia and worldwide. It contributes to the Science and Research Priority of building healthy and resilient communities by developing preventative strategies to improve mental well-being.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven attempts at community regeneration. Through collaborative empirical research in PNG, Solomon Islands and Samoa, our project will build an evidence base to better understand the potential and the dangers of community rule-making, and develop ‘responsive hybridisation’ as a new analytical framework to theorise about it. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science The 2017 Foreign Policy White paper gives prominence to the Pacific islands, acknowledging them as of ‘fundamental importance’ to Australia’s security and prosperity. Australia’s recent ‘step up’ in its relations with Pacific countries takes place against a backdrop of shifting geopolitics and growing strategic competition. By engaging with communities in PNG, Samoa and Solomon Islands that are actively seeking to reshape their local orders, our project will contribute to regional stability. It will provide a strong evidence base and theoretical understanding that can inform Australian security and development programs, as well as assisting our Pacific neighbours to address outstanding issues such as gender based violence, crime and social justice. In a period of considerable uncertainty, the stability and wellbeing of the Pacific Islands is crucial to advancing Australia’s security and economic interests as a recognised regional leader and partner of choice.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Older workers & psychological contracts: A dynamic perspective. This project aims to track the trajectories of older workers’ psychological contracts that shape their give-and-take with the organisation. Little is understood about how these psychological contracts change as older workers continue to pursue work through their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth decades of life. This project tracks older workers over intensive, repeated in-depth interviews and a large-scale longitudinal panel study. The outcomes fill significant gaps in our understanding of older workers’ needs and orientation toward work, and identify the age-related changes and organisational practices that spur older workers to sustain a strong trajectory of productive participation in the workforce. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology With increasing opportunity (owing to improved longevity and health) and necessity (to fund an extended retirement), older workers are working well into the sixth—or even seventh and eighth—decade of life and there is a strong need to better understand this late-career stage. This project aims to examine how work needs and orientations of older workers change as a consequence of changes in personal and situational characteristics that accompany ageing. The project aims to benefit older workers—and their employers— by generating knowledge vital for improving their preparedness for continued and productive participation in the workforce.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Efficient phylogenetic methods that manage the curse of genomic complexity. This project aims to develop new methods and software to infer the evolutionary history of organisms using genomic data. These new phylogenomic methods need to take account of the complexity of evolutionary processes and/or patterns in time (along the evolutionary tree) and space (along the genome). This project is significant because these methods must merge mathematics and statistics with High-Performance Computing to handle the huge quantities of genetic data and the complexity of evolution itself. An important expected outcome of this project will be the development and release of freely-available software that incorporates these new methods. This project expects to benefit scientists who need to infer phylogenies from genomic data. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology Australia has a unique collection of animals and plants and, for this reason, some of the world's best biology is done in this country. New technological developments now allow the study of this biodiversity at the finest possible scale, at the level of each organism's DNA. As huge amounts of genetic information are collected, new ways to analyse the data are needed, as are sophisticated computer programs that link mathematics and statistics with the power of supercomputers. This project aims to develop new methods that help biologists understand the genetics of biodiversity. As a result, the project expects to provide scientists with the next generation of computing tools to study the complex ways that organisms cope with environments that change over time, and how species diversify or go extinct. The team members on this project have international reputations in computing and genetics, and are committed to sharing their research with other scientists in Australia and elsewhere: the aim is to provide the capability to unlock the genetic history of life in Australia and the rest of the world.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Towards a globalised history of international relations, the case of Japan. This project aims to revise the Euro-American-centric understanding of the history of international relations by incorporating the case of the first non-Euro-American modern power, Japan, and developing theory that internalises colonialism. Benefits to Australia and beyond include gaining a more historically accurate knowledge of this history, greater insights into the impact of this dominant understanding on the actions of non-Euro-American powers, and enhanced sensitivity of policy-makers and practitioners to their schemes to post-colonial societies. This revised history could also benefit general public debates on rethinking measures for dealing with issues arising from the diversity within Australian society and internationally. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies One big challenge for societies in Australia and beyond is how to live with peoples of diverse backgrounds nationally and internationally, while developing common codes of conduct which secure the integrity of their members. This project sees the currently dominant understanding of the history of modern international relations as Euro-American-centric, which is an obstacle for formulating constructive policies and public debates to deal with this challenge. It revises this history by incorporating the case of the first non-Euro-American modern power, Japan, and developing theory that internalises colonialism. Benefits to Australia and beyond include gaining a more historically accurate knowledge of this history, greater insights into the impact of this dominant understanding on the actions of non-Euro-American powers, and enhanced sensitivity of policy-makers and practitioners in their schemes to post-colonial societies. This revised history also benefits general public debates on rethinking constructive measures on how to deal with the issues arising from diversity within Australia and internationally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Capturing foundational Australian photography in a globalising world. This project will combine archival research on the foundational years of Australian photography, 1839-54, with new methods of multimedia database design to network early photographs: daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and calotypes, with dispersed manuscripts, journalism and legal proceedings that document their creation. These images are prized by Australian collecting institutions but their significance to our cultural heritage remains unrecognised. This project will analyse how colonial Australian photographers’ distance from Europe prompted them to innovate with processes, materials and apparatuses. It will excavate this neglected dimension of colonial modernity, assessing its resonance for media heritage, culture, and law. Field of research: 2102 - Curatorial and Related Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Automation and Income Inequality: Macroeconomic Policy Implications. The transition to wider use of robotics and artificial intelligence may eventually make our citizens better off, yet effects on domestic income and wealth inequality remain uncertain, depending strongly on general governance and macroeconomic policy regimes. This project would help clarify income inequality effects, both abroad and in Australia, through (i) new numerical theory from calibrated economic models at the global and national levels; (ii) econometric testing of results from global and national data; (iii) the use of emerging insights to analyse economic policy responses and their global interaction as well as the implications for Australian economic policy Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics In an era of slowing economic growth the transition to wider use of robotics and artificial intelligence greatly increases uncertainty about how economic activity is distributed around the world and its implications for wages, employment and domestic income inequality. Australia’s economy is increasingly dependent on China, yet China’s future performance depends on outcomes from a technology race with North America, Europe and Japan. Australia’s performance therefore also depends on strategic interactions between policy regimes in all four regions. This project will help clarify these effects through the application of new economic models at the global and national levels, the testing of their implications against global and national data and the use of emerging insights to analyse economic policy responses in each region. This new information will better equip the Australian government to address the implications of the technology transition by offering a vision of the future consequences of potential restorative changes to its fiscal, trade, financial and foreign policies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Data synthesis to quantitatively understand and improve vision systems. This project aims to build high-fidelity synthetic data, to understand how a machine vision system reacts to environmental factors and consequently improve the ability of the system to generalise in the real world. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of computer vision using innovative techniques of data synthesis, analysis, and domain adaptation. The expected outcomes include new scientific discoveries and domain adaptation algorithms derived from synthetic data for real-world applications. The benefits are expected to be widespread across sectors such as transportation, security, and manufacturing, including safer robotic navigation, defect detection, and smart video surveillance to improve community safety. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

The First Polynesians: Their Origins, Lifeways and Environmental Challenges. This project uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biological, cultural and environmental factors underpinning the Polynesian people through a study of their ancient homeland in Tonga. Early Polynesian society developed 2650-2350 years ago, but little is known about the people, their culture and how sea-level fall impacted subsistence and settlement. The proposed study’s goal is to fill this gap in human knowledge about our Pacific neighbours using a unique skeletal assemblage, excavated cultural remains and advanced mapping of palaeo-sea-level markers that will improve understanding of the impact of environmental change on human societies in our region. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology Australia is a key player in the Indo-Pacific and is currently strengthening its engagement with Pacific nations to assist with the region's economic, security and environmental challenges. People-to-people relationships in education and research foster mutual understanding and are instrumental in solving regional problems through new knowledge supported by Australia's excellence in Science and the Humanities. The project contributes to the national interest, as it will benefit Australia by maintaining and enhancing our important relationship with the Kingdom of Tonga and Polynesia, and expanding our knowledge of the societal and environmental effects of sea-level change in Australasia. Establishing and continuing a strong international network will lead to high-impact outputs and the training and education of young researchers that will benefit Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Understanding helium induced nanostructure formation. This project addresses the interaction dynamics of high-flux helium particles with materials that drives surface nanowire growth. These dynamics are important to nuclear reactor materials and to developing new nanotechnology materials for high energy density lithium-ion battery anodes and water splitting catalysts. Through model and experiment, this project expects to generate new knowledge of processes that drive sub-surface nano-bubble formation and surface nanowire growth in materials exposed to helium particles. This project will result in improved understanding of material degradation during nuclear reactor operation and will make a new contribution to high-value manufacturing capabilities for next generation energy systems. Field of research: 0204 - Condensed Matter Physics This project provides an opportunity to leverage unique Australian capabilities to further develop a strong engagement with the multi-billion dollar International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) project presently under construction in France. The ITER fusion reactor is one of the largest clean energy research programs on Earth with the goal of achieving 500 MW of fusion power from only 50 MW of input heating power. The linkages formed through the course of this project will provide a pathway for other Australian institutions and businesses to engage with the ITER program, for minimal public investment. In this proposal, the knowledge gained from the surface modification of fusion materials, which is a major issue for nuclear fusion reactor operation, will also be applied to grow nanowires on materials used in high energy density lithium-ion batteries for aerospace applications, or high surface area catalysts for solar hydrogen generation via water-splitting. The knowledge gained from this proposal will pave the way for new commercialisation opportunities for high-value manufacturing in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Explaining Crises: Ideas, Instability and Change from Gold Standard to GFC. This project aims to explain recurring international economic instability. While global orders spanning the Classical Gold Standard, Keynesian Bretton Woods institutions, and contemporary Neoliberal order each provided key sources of stability, each also yielded to crises in the 1930s Great Depression, the 1970s Great Stagflation, and the Global Financial Crisis. To explain such instability, this project advances an innovative constructivist argument that ideas which initially enable policymakers to restrain market excesses can over time obscure new sources of instability. Over case studies of these crises, this project will produce high quality publications and contribute to debate over national interests in an era of populist challenge. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science This project offers insight into the crises that have repeatedly disrupted the international economy. Its innovative thesis - that stable economic ideas can obscure new sources of economic instability - will provide a broader perspective on not only historical crises like the Great Depression but also recent events like the Asian Crises of the 1990s and the Global Financial Crisis itself. The resulting publications, in speaking to academic, policy and public communities, will contribute to more rigorous and relevant understandings of Australian national interests in global economic institutions and responses to economic shocks and crises in an age of Brexit, Trump and Global Populism.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Placenames and Personal Names in Yolngu Society and Country Through Time. The Yolngu peoples’ land and sea Country in north-east Arnhem Land is densely named, as a consequence of the actions of ancestral beings who gave shape to Country and to Yolngu society in place. Placenames are sung in ceremony, and passed down through the generations as personal names. This project aims to document the placenames of two Yolngu regions and explore what they tell us about Yolngu society as a system that has been in place for thousands of years. In consultation with Yolngu, it aims to create an interactive map and database archive to which Yolngu historians can add in the future, providing significant benefits for a community for who consider these names to be central to their identity and wellbeing – past, present and future. Field of research: 1601 - Anthropology By mapping the relationship between placenames and personal names in Yolngu society in north-East Arnhem Land, we will demonstrate the ways in which Indigenous names can provide important insights into the history and prehistory of a region. Our research will show the mechanisms for knowledge transfer in Yolngu society. The project will lead to advances in the linguistic and anthropological analysis of Indigenous placenames that can be used as a model for analysis in other Australian regions. We will produce an innovative interactive map of placenames for use by the local Yolngu community for educational and cultural purposes. The map will be an important asset to Indigenous advancement in local economic development through cultural tourism and environmental land management through the local ranger programs – activities in which Yolngu are increasingly engaged.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Protest and Terror: Political Violence in Western Europe after 1968. This project aims to explore how the protest era of the 1960s in Western Europe transformed into a decade of political violence and terror in the 1970s. By undertaking an unprecedented transnational analysis of the history of political violence in France, Italy and West Germany after 1968, the project intends to generate a new understanding of the origins of home-grown terrorism in Europe and the precariousness of democratic stability. The project aims to place the rise and fall of political terror in a new perspective, via an analysis of a wide variety of forms of violence by individuals, political groups, social movements and states, with significant benefits to understanding similar challenges in the contemporary world. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies Terrorism and political violence are among the most important challenges facing contemporary states and society, including Australia. This project will provide significant benefits to Australia by developing a detailed and innovative understanding of the origins and decline of political violence and terrorism in contemporary European history. The study of the history of terrorism in contemporary Europe is relevant to Australia, since France, Italy and Germany were, like Australia, electoral democracies when they confronted the challenge of terrorism in the 1970s. This project will advance ongoing policy conversations in Australia and around the globe on the issues of security and political unrest. It will provide historical depth to public and academic discussion on the subject of protest and terror. The project will also enhance Australia’s international reputation for academic research.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Nanowire infrared avalanche photodetectors towards single photon detection. This project aims to demonstrate semiconductor nanowire based infrared avalanche photodetectors (APDs) with ultra-high sensitivity towards single photon detection. By employing the advantages of their unique one-dimensional nanoscale geometry, the nanowire APDs can be engineered to different device architectures to achieve performance superior to their conventional counterparts. It is expected that this project will make significant contributions to the development of next generation high performance, fast speed, small size and low cost infrared photodetector technology platform enabling numerous emerging fields in modern transportation, communication, quantum computation and information processing to revolutionise our life and society. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering Our world is witnessing a new industrial revolution expedited by emerging technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, fifth-generation wireless networks and autonomous vehicles etc., which poses an increasing demand for development of ultra-sensitive, fast speed, small size and low cost infrared photodetectors beyond current technologies. In this project, we aim to develop high performance semiconductor nanowire based infrared avalanche photodetectors with ultra-high sensitivity towards single photon detection. The success of the project will lead to a new infrared photodetector technology platform for applications such as 3D imaging, remote sensing, long-range free-space communications, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), quantum cryptography and information processing. It will not only bring Australia to the forefront of cutting edge science and technology, but also lead to many commercialisation opportunities in numerous emerging fields of science and technology, defence, environment, transportation, communication and agriculture, bringing enormous social and economic benefits to our nation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Topics in triangulated categories. This project in pure mathematics, more specifically in modern homological algebra, builds on work started by the chief investigator in the last five years. What has already been done has achieved striking results, solving very different problems that have been open for two decades. And there seem to be many directions in which it could be pursued further. The international mathematical community seems intrigued by what the chief investigator has achieved recently - judging by invitations to give prestigious talks and the feedback at these events. The expected outcome is major progress in our understanding of derived categories, as well as diverse applications. The benefit will be to enhance the international stature of Australian science. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics The primary benefits of this project to Australia are cultural and economic. The cultural aspect is that the project would enhance Australia's reputation as a centre of cutting-edge research in mathematics - and mathematics is central to all of science. The project will also train young Australians to work and think as mathematicians, more specifically as modern algebraists. And the economic importance is that modern algebra underpins such vital economic interests as cybersecurity. To elaborate on the cybersecurity and economic aspects - modern mathematics enters into the way we store information on computers, the way we secure this information, the way we break into other countries' secrets and the way we protect our information from spies. As it happens the branch of mathematics I work in, homological algebra, is particularly relevant. I have never been directly, personally involved in cybersecurity, but my students have. Thus I have educated people who have been valuable to Australia in these ways.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Gender, political parties and representation: A virtuous circle? The project aims to study how political parties represent women and men differently and the consequences this has on citizen political behaviour. By engaging in comparative analyses of gender, political parties and representation among established democracies, this project expects to generate new understandings about the complex relationships between what citizens want, what parties do, and how citizens feel about politics. This project seeks to identify specific contexts, actions, and policies that allow political parties to equally represent men and women in the political process to better understand how to eliminate gender inequalities in the representation process. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Leaves in 3D: photosynthesis and water-use efficiency. This project aims to develop leaf anatomical ideotypes with improved photosynthesis and water-use efficiency for wheat, rice, chickpea and cotton using novel three dimensional imaging and modelling techniques. This project expects to generate new understanding of the role of leaf anatomy on leaf function. Expected outcomes of this project include the world's first 3D spatially-explicit, anatomically accurate model of leaves of crop plants to allow virtual experiments identifying optimized anatomy for improved photosynthetic performance. Benefits to the agricultural industry include increased crop productivity and water-use efficiency to meet future global food demand and to make the most of Australia's limited water resources Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology Dryland production dominates Australian agriculture and improving the amount of crop per drop of water would provide significant economic benefits. This project will enable the discovery of leaf ideotypes that enhance photosynthesis and water-use efficiency for wheat, rice, chickpea and cotton. The leaf anatomical ideotypes will provide guidance to crop breeding companies as objectives in their breeding programs. Increased crop yield and improved water-use efficiency will benefit the agricultural industry through increased profitability and environmental sustainability. The current conflict around water allocation between agriculture and the environment highlights the need to maximise crop production per unit of water.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Linear Formation Interferometry for Astrophysics and New Space Technologies. This project will prototype a new type of visible and infrared light interferometry: telescopes freely moving in a line 10s of metres in length and directing their light towards a central beam combiner. This is particularly well suited to sparse aperture optical interferometry from space, which can be used to resolve angular scales much finer than the world's largest monolithic telescopes. The ground based prototype will also be able to make a several key astrophysical observations of benchmark stars and stellar systems, including making precise polarimetric measurements of dust shells around bright stars. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences Space technology, especially on small platforms such as cubesats and microsats, is undergoing a significant current expansion, driven by new technologies that can vastly decrease the cost of ambitious missions. This project will prototype an ambitious new technology, placing Australia at the forefront of world research in precision satellite constellations for remote sensing. This is one of the first steps in turning this technology into a commercial success, and will be conducted in parallel to other efforts both at ANU and collaborating institutions in space qualifying key hardware components. Remote high angular resolution sensing is needed not only for astronomy, but also for ground-based observations in agriculture, mining and defence. In addition to direct influences of this research, this project consists of several well-defined Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) student-led Advanced Manufacturing subprojects that will train research students in building practical equipment for making measurements in a variety of industries.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Kuwae 1452 AD: multi-disciplinary perspectives on a Pacific super-eruption. This project seeks to resolve the question of whether the mid-15th century eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu can be confirmed as one of the largest global volcanic and climatic events of the last 2000 years. Through archival, field and laboratory research, an experienced transdisciplinary team from archaeology, volcanology and history aims to conduct collaborative research over three seasons in central Vanuatu. Project goals include dating the eruptive event, defining its scale, reconstructing Kuwae’s local social and environmental conditions prior to and after the eruption, and developing practical volcanic risk reduction strategies together with local communities and authorities in Vanuatu. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology This project will generate the first comprehensive account of the local consequences of the massive Kuwae eruption of 1452 AD in central Vanuatu. It will contribute to the development of policy in both Vanuatu and Australia relating to major natural disasters, disaster risk reduction and climate change. The project connects directly with Australian Government Policy in relation to the Pacific as outlined in the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030), which emphasise increased engagement with the Pacific. It relates specifically to the goals of strengthening community safety and resilience and building capacity in response to disasters. The project will build significant Australian research capacity in environmental history and in disaster risk reduction strategies for Australia and its immediate region. Planning for tourism opportunities arising from a Kuwae Festival are already under way as a means of addressing poverty alleviation in this cyclone-prone environment.