Australian National University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Novel experimental and longitudinal analyses to promote woodland biota. Novel experimental and longitudinal analyses to promote woodland biota. This project aims to close important scientific and practical application gaps around the most effective ways to restore and manage vegetation on farms. Although restoration programs to increase native vegetation cover are essential for integrating agricultural production with biodiversity conservation, critical scientific questions remain about how biota responds to temporal increases in vegetation cover. This project will combine novel spatiotemporal analyses of long-term datasets and a blocked and replicated experiment comparing planting strategies that connect woodland patches vs augmentation strategies that increase individual patch size. Anticipated outcomes are better designed and implemented restorations to maximise benefits for biota. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Beam steering by Huygens metasurfaces for sensing applications. Beam steering by Huygens metasurfaces for sensing applications. This project aims to develop steerable radar systems for navigation sensors and surround monitoring in vehicles, using antennas operating in the millimetre-wave range, which have improved resolution and maintain long sensing distances. The boom in radar sensing technologies used for safety and comfort in cars has stimulated the need for cost-effective directional antennas for beam steering in sensing applications. This project will use the recently discovered concept of Huygens metasurfaces, which enable cost-effective devices with low transmission losses and strong tuning of beam-steering angle. The wider availability of such radars is expected to enhance collision prevention systems, adaptive cruise control and ultimately help create self-navigating cars. Field of research: 0203 - Classical Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Spatial sound control for testing multi-channel audio devices. Spatial sound control for testing multi-channel audio devices. This project aims to test Alternative Listening Devices/Personal Sound Amplification Devices (PSAPs), multi-input audio devices fast replacing hearing aids due to their affordability and easy accessibility. With more consumers choosing PSAPs, proper testing is needed to assess the devices’ safety and benefit in real-life acoustic situations. This project will test PSAPs in laboratory setups that use spatial audio processing techniques to mimic realistic acoustic environments, and develop theoretical frameworks to overcome existing limitations to accurate spatial sound reproduction. This research is expected to provide innovative solutions to safeguard Australia's future hearing health. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. This project aims to develop a policy suite to respond to an older workforce. By 2060, nearly half of Australians aged 64 or older will be employed. Failure to address their health problems could threaten Australia’s economy, tax base and provision of health and care services. This collaboration between national policy portfolios (employment, social services, workplace health and social equity) and expert scientists in work, health, social equality and policy process intends to reveal the diversity of older workers’ work-health dilemmas and effective ways for national policies to solve them. The policy suite will promote financial independence and meet social goals of equity and healthy ageing. Field of research: 1605 - Policy and Administration

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Novel methods of spill containment and debris mitigation on water surfaces. Novel methods of spill containment and debris mitigation on water surfaces. This project aims to develop a new technology for debris mitigation and spill containment, which isolates and stops spreading spills and redirect surface pollutants without using physical boundaries. Unexpected forced shutdowns of power plants, when floating debris blocks cooling water intake facilities, cause substantial operational risks, capital loss and affect the reliability of the electricity supply. The laboratory demonstration prototype, to be built as part of this project, could be scaled-up to demonstrate industrial applications such as the mitigation of blockages in water intakes of power plants and oil spill containment in estuaries. Anticipated outcomes are reduced operational risks in the electricity supply sector, and improved energy security. Field of research: 0907 - Environmental Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. This project aims to improve compliance and payment in the Australian tax system. It aims to tackle debts of individuals and businesses, the most challenging aspect of tax systems, by applying behavioural insights to design innovative payment interventions and conducting rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate their effects. An empirical analysis will account for heterogeneity in treatment responses, and the findings will be combined with a study of regulatory and administrative processes to support the ultimate goal of a legitimate, fair, cost-effective and responsive tax system. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

A new in-situ structural measurement capability during nanoindentation. A new in-situ structural measurement capability during nanoindentation. This project aims to develop an in-situ Raman capability to obtain dynamic structural and mechanical behaviour of materials as a function of pressure during nanoindentation; and apply the new capability to directly monitor phase changes in silicon and germanium under pressure and correlate them with the simultaneous electrical responses. Anticipated outcomes are new instrumentation to directly probe the pressure-temperature phase diagram, and measure electrical properties of novel end phases in these semiconductors. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Sea level around Australia: fingerprints of melting ice sheets. The project aims to derive regional information on sea-level changes around the Australian coastline. The project plans to use a new technique to combine tide gauge and satellite observations of sea level with information on the spatially varying contributions of melting polar ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans and exchanges of water between continents and oceans. It also plans to create new software to enable time-varying estimates of the contributions of these sources, from which the changes in sea level over the past century can be reconstructed at any location, including in places where no local observations have been made. This would provide Australian communities with the best possible information regarding sea-level changes in their own region. Field of research: 0404 - Geophysics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Population divergence and the thermal ecology of sexual conflict. This project aims to test how populations of introduced mosquitofish have adapted to local differences in water temperature (such as Tasmania versus Queensland). To what extent has natural selection (for survival) and sexual selection (the ability of males to acquire mates and/or females to resist unwanted matings) driven the local adaptation of populations? Many species have traits that evolve under intense sexual conflict – notably when males harass or coerce females into mating and females resist these attempts. It is assumed that sexual conflict traits are rarely affected by the local environment. The project will test the hypothesis that temperature can actually drive the evolution of such traits, specifically coercion and resistance to mating. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Lucky in Love: the role of chance in sexual selection. Is luck important in the lives of animals? This project aims to ascertain how much variation in male mating success is attributable to male quality, traits or resources and how much is attributable to luck. Mating is the most important evolutionary process. Male mating success should be highly predictable: males with the best genes, most preferred displays or highest quality resources should attract females. Male mating success is, however, surprisingly difficult to predict and we currently write off up to 90 per cent of the variance as noise. This project aims to quantify the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic sources of variation in male mating success. Ignored variance may be an untapped opportunity to understand selection. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Toppling the Boring Billion: Biomarkers, orbital cycles and primordial life. This project aims to discover microbiological processes involved in ore formation in order to understand how zinc and lead minerals formed in the sediments of Australia’s ancient seas. The apparent ‘Boring Billion’ – the geological period 1800 to 800 million years ago – may have harboured seas of fluctuating colours. Fossil biomolecules, unearthed from 1.6 billion years old sediments, draw a picture of ancient seas oscillating between blooms of purple and green bacteria, with waters rapidly alternating between toxic and sulphidic and rich in dissolved iron. Based on these observations, the project aims to discover the dynamic nature of primordial ecosystems, investigate how ancient seas were controlled by the Earth’s orbit around the sun, and explore how microorganisms may have formed the world’s largest zinc deposits. Field of research: 0402 - Geochemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Active photonic and plasmonic components based on parity-time symmetry. This project intends to uncover and demonstrate experimentally the role of symmetry in space and time in nonlinear photonics and plasmonics, where light can change the optical properties of the medium. Based on these results, the project aims to build an integrated optical signal amplifier and an integrated generator of entangled photons with previously inaccessible ultra-fast broad-range control of operating regimes. These systems would have applications in future optical communication networks, ensuring fast, secure and energy efficient data transmission. Field of research: 0205 - Optical Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Modeling the Distribution of Metals in the Universe. This project aims to develop a better understanding of the transport of heavy elements. Almost all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are made in stars and then expelled into the interstellar medium. However, we understand very little about the subsequent processes by which these elements are transported through and out of galaxies. This project plans to use high-resolution simulations of interstellar gas to understand the flows responsible for element transport. It also plans to provide quantitative calculations of the rate of element diffusion through the interstellar medium, the rate at which elements are expelled from galaxies in galactic winds, and similar poorly-known quantities. Ultimately, this work may yield a much deeper understanding of how the present-day distribution of elements in the universe came to be. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences