Western Sydney University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Personalising language training to the needs of learners. Learning a second language is difficult, but mastery brings with it socioeconomic advantages. This is particularly relevant for English-speaking countries such as Australia that have large migrant populations. Yet, we do not know why some learners do well while others in the same setting flounder. It must be the case that successful learners have certain attributes that allow them to flourish in the learning setting, resulting in successful learning. Unsuccessful learners, on the other hand, are likely mismatched to their training method. This project will map the combination of predictors that matter most in successful language learning with the goal of tailoring training proactively to maximise learning outcomes for all learners. Field of research: 4704 - Linguistics This research project focuses on why some individuals learn a foreign language successfully, while others struggle, even in the same learning environment. This is a key question for Australia, a country with a large migrant population where foreign language skills can offer significant socioeconomic advantages. The project aims to identify the specific factors that lead to successful language learning to understand why some learners flourish while others may be mismatched with their training setting. Understanding these factors has the potential to benefit Australians in several ways. By developing methods to tailor language training to the needs of individuals, the research could improve language learning outcomes for people from non-English speaking backgrounds, allowing them to better contribute to the workforce and access essential services like healthcare. Furthermore, enhancing our citizens’ ability to communicate in the languages of our key regional partners is crucial for increasing Australia’s international competitiveness and unlocking its economic potential. By developing language-learning resources for education providers, teachers, and learners we will translate the research into practical applications that enhance second language acquisition across the community and around the globe.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Circular Economy Innovations for Sustainable Ground Improvement. This project develops an innovative ground improvement method using waste glass aggregates and a geopolymer binder derived from waste materials. This technology significantly decreases carbon emissions by replacing conventional cement-based methods while advancing circular economy principles. Key outcomes include the development of a robust constitutive model for the new composite and establishment of a comprehensive design guide based on advanced numerical modelling and experimentation. Project addresses the critical need for green solutions in Australia’s unprecedented infrastructure development phase, delivering tangible benefits in environmental sustainability and economic efficiency that aid in achieving the net zero emissions goal. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering All major Australian cities are situated along coastlines and river systems, where low strength or expansive soils are prevalent, which often results in significant foundation damage. Hence, ground improvement before construction is crucial to enhance ground stability and load bearing, minimising structural movements. Current ground improvement methods often rely on cement and mined natural aggregates, significantly contributing to carbon emissions. This project pioneers a sustainable way to improve ground using 100% waste materials including glass, aluminium, water treatment residue and mine waste, adopting the scientific principles of geopolymerisation. Our strategy will create an economic opportunity by transforming waste into a valuable resource, advancing circular economy principles, while reducing reliance on landfills and extraction of natural aggregates, protecting our environment and ecosystems. Economically, it is expected to offer significant cost savings in construction and maintenance, delivering safer and durable infrastructure for Australian communities. By fostering sustainable construction practices, it aligns with the Australian government's national priority of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. A new design guideline and a constitutive model for the new material will be developed for construction planning and disseminated to industry, and promoted through relevant media channels, ensuring effective translation and adoption of research into practice.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Revealing heat dose thresholds in Australian forests from leaf to landscape. Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change, but their role as reliable carbon sinks depends upon their ability to survive extreme events. This project aims to predict the limits of heat tolerance based on both temperature intensity and duration (i.e. heat dose) in well-watered and drought conditions from leaf-level to the landscape. Expected outcomes are 1) improved mechanistic understanding of hydraulic and metabolic processes during extreme heat/drought, 2) predict when tree damage can lead to tree mortality and 3) determine a species’ vulnerability to heat and water stress. Understanding the processes behind tree mortality is essential to predict when functional collapse will occur and how forest biodiversity will change. Field of research: 4101 - Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation This research project addresses the critical issue of how Australian trees respond to increasing heat waves, a significant threat to our environment. Australia's dry climate makes its natural systems particularly vulnerable, as seen in current canopy dieback and tree deaths. A key research gap is understanding the limits of how much heat stress and for how long different trees can tolerate before permanent damaged. This project will investigate when and how tree functions fail under both well-watered and drought conditions, from individual leaves to entire landscapes. The knowledge gained will benefit Australia by better predicting tree damage during heat waves. This information will help the forestry sector choose more resilient tree species for planting and assist natural resource managers in making informed decisions about managing forests and predicting dieback. Understanding which species are most resistant to heat will also guide conservation and restoration efforts, protecting our unique biodiversity. Ultimately, this research will contribute to a healthier environment and a more resilient forestry sector for Australia. To ensure these benefits are realised, the project findings will be actively shared with conservation and restoration managers through guidelines, public seminars, industry conferences, and articles in accessible media like The Conversation. This will maximise the understanding, translation, and adoption of the research beyond the scientific community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Enhancing settlement outcomes for migrants in regional Australia. This project will examine challenges that migrants and refugees experience resettling in regional Australia. The project will utilise linked ‘big’ and longitudinal data to quantify the nature, magnitude, and trajectories of settlement outcomes. By examining migration pathways and using group decision-making techniques with participants in selected regional locations, solutions will be identified and ranked. A roadmap will then be developed that can support and improve regional migrant settlement to (re)vitalise regional communities. Our findings will lead to socio-economic and cultural benefits through effectively helping the Australian government realise the goals of its Regional Settlement Program for migrants and host communities. Field of research: 4403 - Demography This project addresses a critical challenge for Australia: despite a significant 86.3% increase in migrants relocating to regional areas in 2023, alarmingly only 13.6% remain settled there, with over 25% moving to major cities within five years. This research will investigate why, combining longitudinal data with community consultation to identify solutions that can support more effective resettlement and y (re)vitalise regional communities. By understanding the barriers and enablers to successful regional settlement, this project aims to deliver socioeconomic and cultural benefits to all Australians by informing government strategies to meet business needs, foster innovation, address population ageing, and enhance cultural diversity. Ultimately, this will help realise the goals of the Australian Government's Regional Settlement Program, which are to ensure new arrivals integrate into Australian life by building the skills and knowledge they need to become self-reliant and active members of the community. Findings from this data-driven research will be shared through a dedicated website, presentations, videos, and accessible publications, making actionable insights available to policymakers, communities, and the wider public.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Supporting and Retaining Gender and Sexuality Diverse Early Career Teachers. This project aims to understand and influence factors affecting the retention of gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) beginning teachers. Using an innovative, multi-method approach, with integrated stakeholder participation, this research will generate powerful new knowledge about the experiences of beginning and early career GSD teachers through a national survey and deep, longitudinal connection with a small cohort recruited during initial teacher education. Impactful project outcomes include a research-informed film aiding teacher retention and a data-driven online network supporting GSD teachers’ community building. This will provide significant wider benefits for the retention of minoritised teachers, with social and economic impact. Field of research: 3904 - Specialist Studies In Education This research project addresses a critical issue for all Australians: the shortage of teachers in our schools. This shortage is made worse by difficulties in retaining a diversity of teachers, which is a government priority. This project will investigate how to better support early-career, gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) diverse teachers who, like other marginalised groups, can experience discrimination. We will collect data from both beginning and experienced GSD teachers, using longitudinal and mixed-methods approaches, to discover what helps diverse teachers thrive and stay in their roles. By producing a model that can be used to improve the wellbeing and retention of diverse teachers, the research will contribute to a more stable, diverse, and high-quality teaching workforce for our children, which benefits all Australians. A package of research-based training materials, including short films developed using verbatim methods, will be developed for school leaders’ and education academics’ professional development, and accompanied by an online peer network and support resources purpose-designed for the retention of new GSD teachers. Given the government’s substantial financial investment in initial teacher education, outcomes from this project will provide significant economic benefit, complementing the social benefit gained by ensuring school classrooms are safe, inclusive spaces for all.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Mapping and managing the Bogong moth breeding grounds. This project aims to create a continent-wide network of land managers including Traditional Custodians that will locate and manage Bogong moth breeding grounds with isotope analysis, biophysical modelling, eDNA sampling, monitoring, and a stewardship credits scheme. This project expects to generate new knowledge on continent-scale conservation and revitalising Indigenous Knowledge in two-way learning. Outcomes include identifying key breeding grounds by assigning natal origins of moths from alpine over-summering sites, and key research infrastructure in a bioavailable Sr isoscape. This should provide significant benefits: understanding insect movement across Australia, and Bogong sensitive land management design for conservation incentives. Field of research: 4104 - Environmental Management This project addresses a critical research gap for Australia: identifying the key Bogong moth breeding grounds. While their alpine aestivation sites are reasonably well documented, the key breeding locations remain unclear, preventing effective conservation of this ecologically and culturally significant species. Our research will use stable isotope analysis, biophysical modelling, environmental DNA and monitoring to locate and manage these essential habitats in collaboration with land managers. The research will benefit Australians by preserving a species that performs an amazing migration, represents critical nutrient transfer between low and high country ecosystems and is of profound significance to First Nations communities. Economically, the project enables conservation on agricultural lands, potentially improving productivity through enhanced land management. Socially, it strengthens connections between conservation scientists and land managers including Traditional Custodians. To promote research outcomes, translation and adoption we will co-design and collaborate with land managers to develop a stewardship scheme and candidate financial incentives. This will enable partnerships with Indigenous communities, farmers and conservation organisations and ensure our research translates into community stewardship. Actions that protect the iconic Bogong moth future generations apply to all nocturnal flying insects, at least 20 000 species.

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

From eye to brain: how retinal dopamine shapes the visual highway during... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

The legacy of coastal infrastructure: reclamations and seawalls Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Disability and Digital Citizenship Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Disability and Digital Citizenship Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

The legacy of coastal infrastructure: reclamations and seawalls Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Child-centred evidence to drive meaningful social change for children Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Child-centred evidence to drive meaningful social change for children Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Synergising plant symbionts and silicon to mitigate heat stress in... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Synergising plant symbionts and silicon to mitigate heat stress in... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Bio-Inspired Multi-scale Strengthening of Lightweight Renewable... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Bio-Inspired Multi-scale Strengthening of Lightweight Renewable... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

3D Printing of Recycled Thermoplastic Polymer Nanocomposites Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

3D Printing of Recycled Thermoplastic Polymer Nanocomposites Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Justice in Healthcare: Whole person multidisciplinary primary care for... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-11

2025 Equipment Grants Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Decoding the spectral signatures of Australia’s tree diversity and... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Decoding the spectral signatures of Australia’s tree diversity and... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-10

The Diabetes Oral Health-Dental Service (DIOH-DS): A randomised... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Decoding the spectral signatures of Australia’s tree diversity and... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research