Western Sydney University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Origins of Phonology and Lexicon: Abstract representations before 6 months. Language is one of the most sophisticated human abilities, yet infants learn it easily. The current view is that the origins of language are abstract representations of consonants and vowels that start to form at 6-10 months. However, recent evidence shows that abstraction begins before 3 months, and that carer-infant conversations are vital to the process. This study involves tracking infants’ behavioural and brain development from 1 to 18 months and analysing carer-infant speech, to determine how early abstraction supports vocabulary growth, how carer speech assists this process, and what early conditions predict language development, thus benefiting earlier identification of language delay, and saving significantly on later remediation. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics Comprehensive language development underlies most human endeavours – communication, social cohesion, and learning through the lifespan. This project involves tracking infant language development from 1 to 18 months of age using new behavioural and brain imaging tests and detailed analyses of speech between carers and infants. The aim of these new tests is to understand, for the first time, abstract sound representation processes that are crucial for infants to learn from the speech they hear around them. These processes help infants to establish a solid basis for later learning from parents, teachers and the wider environment. By understanding the processes and the environment underlying optimal language learning the conditions are in place to be able to identify language learning problems very early, avoiding later costly remediation. This will help to advance our children's socialisation, education and learning for generations to come, contributing to economic and social benefits for Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

High-Grade CO2 Concrete for Low Life-Cycle Costing and Emissions. This proposal solves Australia’s concrete-waste-storage problems, and lowers the life-cycle costs and greenhouse-gas emissions by creating CO2 Concrete as a world-first material for high-grade applications. Using an automation system with high-tech software, innovative mixing techniques are proposed to maximise bonding at interfacial transition zones, strengthening CO2 Concrete's quality. The new material CO2 Concrete is created, whose strength and durability are comparable to virgin concrete's, leading to new CO2-Concrete specifications for trials in the construction industry. This diversifies the construction industry, reduces landfill area, greening up Australia on a global scale. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering The proposed research aims to create the world's first new building material: CO2 Concrete, for high-grade construction applications using carbonated recycled aggregate. By employing novel high-tech automation modelling, it is the first time in Australia that recycled concrete's quality is shown to match that of virgin concrete, offering the construction industry a worthy technical choice for building material, yet, at a fraction of the cost. This proposal thus will: (i) elevate Australia’s standing in recycled-concrete research in the construction industry; and (ii) show the great potential of recycled concrete. Benefits for Australia include: (i) lowering Australia’s greenhouse-gas emissions by efficiently re-using the abundance of CO2 in the atmosphere; (ii) reducing Australia’s landfills by re-using recycled aggregate; and (iii) raising environment awareness among the Australian public and construction industry by effectively and efficiently utilising building waste. The new material is the first of its kind and will ensure Australia to meet its carbon-footprint targets for 2020-2025.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Green or crispy: Which plants use transpiration to survive heatwaves? Heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity, and extreme heat poses a significant threat to tree growth and survival. This project aims to investigate how different Australian tree species respond to extreme heat by tracking dynamic changes in water use during both natural and experimental heatwaves, representing current and future stress levels. Identification of a predictable response among plant functional types could be used to better forecast the potential effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. This project also expects to identify heat-tolerant tree species and their relevant physiological traits, which can improve the success of urban tree plantings to help create cooler, greener cities throughout Australia. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

The Geopolitics of Automation. Automation threatens economic disruption. The Project aims to understand how competition between China and the US to develop automated technologies shapes the future of work. Focusing on warehouses linked to Alibaba and Amazon in Australia, Germany and Malaysia, the Project asks how automation changes labour conditions and modifies geopolitical tensions. Digital simulations of automated technologies in warehouses key to the China-US rivalry will seek to augment knowledge about the governance of labour and territory. Intended outcomes include insights into how automation is a geopolitical and economic concern for policy makers. Benefits should offer strategies for organisations negotiating automation’s effects on workforces. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies Competition between China and the US to develop automated technologies shifts Australia’s economic and regional position. The Project seeks to provide social and cultural benefits by producing knowledge relevant to policy makers tasked with managing the transition of workforces to a society of automation. Showing how automation’s effects link to global trade and innovation rivalries enhances Australia’s ability to ensure fairness and security for citizens at a time of technological and geopolitical change. The China-US competition in automation means Australia cannot benefit from advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning without also balancing economic and political relations with the world’s two most powerful countries. The Project contributes to building a national knowledge base adequate to the financial and privacy needs of Australian businesses, social groups and citizens. Addressing the practical challenge of understanding changing attitudes toward a key digital activity, the intention is to alert policy makers to strategies for securing the future of work in digital economies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Fashioning Fiji: Investigating Creative Industries in a Developing Context. Governments, NGOs and other entities have turned their attention to the creative industries as an alternative space for national economic development. This project focuses upon the development and growth of the Fijian fashion industry across national (Suva), regional (Sydney and Auckland) and global (London) sites. It explores this growth in relation to three key factors: the integration of technology in the processes of design and production; the use of digital and social media to build and expand markets; and capacity building for fashion entrepreneurs. Using digital ethnography and anthropological approaches, this study analyses how creative industries can be supported and sustained in developing contexts. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies Fiji is an important Pacific neighbour with a garment manufacturing sector that rapidly expanded following the 1987 coups. Tax incentive schemes has led to a number of highly successful Australian companies such as Kookai and Rip Curl manufacturing in Fiji. More recently, the Fijian Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) industry has focused on establishing Fiji as the Pacific hub for fashion design with fashion weeks and festivals acting as platforms for emerging fashion entrepreneurs seeking to capture local, tourist and diasporic market segments. Australia has responded showcasing Fijian and other Pacific designer collections in high-profile fashion events such as Pacific Runway at Carriageworks in Sydney. Another important role is contributing to the development of fashion design courses through the Australia-Pacific Technical College and links between emerging Fijian designers and the Fashion Design Studio in Sydney with the aim of providing specialised technical skills and knowledge vital to sustainable economic growth in this sector.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Civic Sinoburbia? New Chinese migrants and everyday citizenship in Sydney . Australia has seen a large influx of China-born migrants in the past few decades. Large numbers of them have taken up residency in various Sydney suburbs, where they now make up almost a third of the population. Focusing on four such suburbs, this project examines how these new Chinese migrants participate in everyday civic life, the barriers that may prevent participation, and how local civic organisations adapt to their growing presence in five domains of social life: education, culture, sport, religion and community service. The project will generate nuanced new knowledge on the local impacts of new Chinese migration, of benefit for urban multicultural governance and enhancing local community cohesion. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies The rise of a more powerful and assertive China has caused tensions and anxiety surrounding the increased presence and visibility of new China-born migrants in Australia. It is in Australia’s national interest to better understand these ‘new Chinese’, who now make up almost a third of the population in some Sydney suburbs. By generating new knowledge on how new Chinese migrants participate in local civic life in such suburbs, this project will assist local governments and organisations in responding more effectively to this unprecedented demographic change. It will provide tools and knowledge to facilitate social cohesion, civic responsibility and local democracy under the new conditions of cultural diversity, and enhance greater general understanding of the evolution of Australia’s multicultural society as the nation adjusts to the realities and challenges of a more China-dominated world.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Investigating the characteristics of older adults' conversation behaviour. The project aims to determine the factors that negatively impact older adults’ ability to engage in conversation. This is an important health issue; conversations are essential for communicating needs and maintaining social links; reduced social engagement leads to serious health problems and anticipates cognitive decline. The project will compile profiles of older adults' auditory-visual conversation behavior and indices of perceptual, cognitive and social skills. A path model will link these data to ratings of social engagement and satisfaction. By identifying factors leading to low ranked conversations, evidence-based guidelines can be developed for older adults and their carers to enhance communication and improve health and well-being. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology The loss of social engagement for older adults often carries risks of social isolation, serious health problems and cognitive decline. Unhealthy ageing costs the Australian community both socially and financially. This project aims to produce significant new knowledge that will enable the design of evidence-based tailored interventions to assist older adults and their family/carers in enhancing their communication. The project outcomes, including a publically-available comprehensive learning module, will be valuable for speech and social researchers concerned with effective elderly communication. This should help to identify and alleviate conversation difficulties and improve older adults’ social engagement, health and well-being, bringing social and economic benefits to the Australian community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt tolerance to warming? This project aims to characterise the biogeographic constraints on the physiological flexibility of eucalypts to accommodate climate warming. Do temperature tolerances of diverse taxa vary predictably with native geographic range sizes and climate of origin? In addressing this question, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the comparative physiological responses of diverse eucalypt taxa to warming and heat waves using controlled-environment studies and a unique facility at Western Sydney University for heat wave studies of large trees. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to predict carbon exchange and growth responses of native trees to climate warming over large geographic scales. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology The project will generate fundamental knowledge of eucalypt tolerance to climate warming and heatwaves. Publications and media outputs are expected to engage the scientific community and inform the wider public of the potential risks of climate change to Australia's native and managed forests. Moreover, this research will result in an environmental and social benefit to the Australian community by providing science-based knowledge to inform policy choices and reduce uncertainty regarding strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on forestry and natural resources in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Schooling, Parenting & Ethnicity: Asian Migration & Australian Education. This project involves a comparative analysis of Asian- and Anglo- Australian families’ approaches to education. In the ‘Asian century’, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of migration and cultural diversity on Australian education and the factors underpinning the relations between parenting and schooling. The project will develop new ways of analysing education cultures beyond simplistic notions of ‘tiger parenting’ that are pitted against more liberal ‘Western’ approaches. It will produce new knowledge enhancing education practitioners’ and community agencies' understandings of families’ engagement with education, providing an evidence base to inform public debate and social and education policy. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology This project offers social benefits to the Australian community and educational policy by providing evidence of the impact of migration on Australia's education system. Successful students of migrant backgrounds have raised the competitive stakes in schooling. This project examines the relationship between schooling, parenting and ethnicity to address anxieties about increasing competition and unequal access to high performing schools. The project contributes to greater social cohesion by enhancing mutual understanding and creating informed discussion about differing approaches between migrant and other Australian families’ engagement with education. Through the use of stakeholder reports and symposia, it will also expand education and multicultural policy makers and practitioners’ knowledge of the factors underpinning families’ different approaches to education and enhance teacher capacity for working in increasingly culturally diverse school communities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Migrant and Refugee Youths' Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. The population of migrant and refugee youth in Greater Western Sydney is increasing exponentially each year. Little is understood about these young people’s understanding of and ability to exert their sexual and reproductive health and rights. By centering their voices, we can better understand the social ecology of the barriers they encounter and the factors that facilitate informed sexual and reproductive health decision-making. This will result in a youth-determined model for policy and programming aimed at improving migrant and refugee sexual and reproductive health literacy, wellbeing and agency. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services This project is of social, cultural and economic benefit as it values migrant and refugee youth involvement and perspectives on their ability to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. This is important given that migrant and refugee youth often face a range of challenges that limits their knowledge, choices and behaviour, as well as restricting their ability to communicate about their sexual and reproductive health needs. Such barriers limit their opportunities to make fully informed and self-determined health decisions. By involving them in the development of a youth-determined, human rights-based support model, their social and cultural value can be reinforced, producing informed, empowered youth contributing to a healthier Australian community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Shielding our futures: storytelling with ancestral and living knowledge. This project aims to overcome persistent narratives of loss and despair with regards to Aboriginal cultures within urban and metropolitan communities today. Storytelling is an essential means of knowledge transmission that ensures the survival of diverse Indigenous knowledge, however colonial storytelling has removed the Stories from Country, their peoples, and the important lessons within them. The project will reciprocally engage with the oral histories of D’harawal Elders that engage with Garuwanga Waduguda (Ancestral Laws) and Narinya Wadugua (Living Laws) to emancipate representations of D’harawal’s knowledge from dominant colonial-storytelling narratives that largely speak of assimilation, cultural loss and extinction. The project will assist in revitalisation and respect of Aboriginal identities and knowledge within urban communities. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Developing Indigenous Australian early career researchers. This project aims to use institutional theory to examine the professional experiences of Indigenous Australian early career researchers. The project will identify key barriers and enablers, both individual and institutional, associated with advancing the research careers of Indigenous Australians who have recently completed their doctoral degree. Emphasising the importance of building research capacity amongst Indigenous scholars, this project will establish a model of best practice to nurture and support the emerging careers of Indigenous early career researchers. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Understanding mycorrhizal phenotypes using functional traits. This project aims to develop a new framework linked to tangible, measurable traits of beneficial plant-fungal partnerships that lead to empirical predictions. The project expects to deliver an understanding of how ecological strategies of plant-fungal partnerships control plant productivity and soil nutrient cycling. Expected outcomes include new methods for predicting whether beneficial partnerships can be realised and knowledge that can be transformed into recommendations for practitioners. This should lead to significant impact associated with trustworthy assessments of commercial products and of management recommendations, supporting economic and environmental benefits linked with more productive soils and improved ecosystem health. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Language typology and cognitive effects of language learning. This project aims to map, in older adults and preschool-age children, the extent and nature of cognitive benefit from training in a foreign language. Learning a language is recognised to be beneficial in various ways, but this project investigates whether it matters which language one learns. The project will compare the resulting cognitive changes to language learners across different languages to test whether the benefit is uniquely effective. It will also gauge whether these changes occur when learning is easier in childhood compared to when it is harder later in life. The project findings will inform the development of linguistic, social, and educational programs to optimise cognitive function both for childhood development and healthy ageing, especially in Australia where second language acquisition is lower compared to other countries. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Diagram categories and transformation semigroups. A structural understanding of diagram categories is essential in many branches of mathematics and science. Despite this, very few methods for studying such categories are available, a fact this pure mathematics project seeks to rectify. By building strong bridges between diagram categories and semigroup theory, a field of abstract algebra that models transformation and change, the structure of diagram categories may be unlocked with powerful semigroup tools developed by the applicant investigator. Diagrammatic insights will also yield new ways to study semigroups, and the many other mathematical structures they interact with. Outcomes will have a lasting impact on both theories as well as the many fields influenced by them. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Gender matters: changing gender equity policies and practices. This project aims to examine the contemporary policy and practice gap of gender equity in schools. Despite widespread concerns about gender-related issues in schools and society, system-wide policies on gender equity have almost disappeared. The project will investigate young people's experiences of gender-related issues through the accounts of recent school leavers and current secondary school students, through creative arts-based methods, and the perspectives of teachers and school executive in five diverse secondary schools. Expected outcomes include a critical review of past policy approaches to gender equity and a fresh evaluation of gender equity policy directions for schools. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Maintaining active minds and bodies through adult music education. This project aims to investigate how instructional design can enhance learning and wellbeing for older adults who are studying a musical instrument for the first time. Music is a highly valued cultural activity in this age group, yet teaching strategies are seldom modified from that for young learners. This project expects to generate fundamental knowledge of improvisation as a learning stimulus, and of the possible barriers of musical notation and the physical demands of an instrument. Intended outcomes include uptake of results by music professionals, aged-care and older-adult education service providers, leading to significant benefits in the social, cultural, and physical health and wellbeing for this growing population. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Music can speak for you: making music with a deep net partner. This project aims to develop and evaluate a novel computational partner to aid composers and non-musicians to make personal music. One computational component learns to output musical structures that another component moulds towards user-desired features while encouraging innovation and exploration. Listeners’ evaluation of the musical outputs in terms of affect will be analysed, potentially allowing us to extend current music generation software considerably. The expected outcomes will be a tool for musicians, but also for untrained people, young and older, allowing such untrained people to make personalized music. The tool can thus provide benefits to the creative arts, and to the educational and wellbeing support sectors. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A unified dynamic vegetation model for Australia. This project aims to synthesise current theory and data to develop a predictive, process-based model for Australian vegetation dynamics in response to environmental change. The existing theory and data are extensive, but fragmented. This project will deliver a crucial missing link in Australian ecosystem science, unifying these data in an integrative quantitative framework that can identify the critical limiting factors for different vegetation types, and predict their dynamics and resilience. It will transform our understanding of Australian vegetation form and function, and place it in a global context, with significant ongoing benefits for land management, fire management, agriculture and conservation. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures. This project investigates the challenges, opportunities and implications of outer space as a site of economic, political, environmental and cultural interest for Australia. Combining ethnography and creative practice, the project analyses how a range of imaginaries of outer space are produced through a study of the development of Australia’s National Space Agency, the role of new venture capital firms in Australia, and scientific research on alien life in terrestrial analogue sites in Australia, the U.S and Chile. Research outputs will contribute to national research capacity in social studies of science, foster opportunities for international interdisciplinary collaborations, and inspire Australian public engagement with space research. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Heritage-making among recent migrants in Parramatta. The project aims to elucidate how recent migrants experience and interact with existing heritage places in Parramatta and how they generate heritage places and attachments of their own. It aims to narrow the current gap between the majority migrant population and the heritage of such urban areas. Capitalising on heritage-making theory, the project will advance knowledge, policy and practice by generating a new approach to the inclusion of migrants in the public field of heritage. It will enable heritage managers to build programs and policies to achieve this inclusion and familiarise recent migrants with the language and mechanism of heritage and assist them in sourcing funds for heritage recording and conservation. Field of research: 2102 - Curatorial and Related Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Novel multiple-constraint model for green buildings and life-cycle analyses. This project aims to develop a multiple-constraint automation model to perform life-cycle analyses for projects in the Australian construction industry. The model will optimise construction methods for green-building implementation and offer a realistic approach to Green-star status achievement. The Life-cycle model analyses for cost, greenhouse-gas emissions and energy consumption allowing the construction methods to be optimised for minimum environmental impact. Utilisation of the model should significantly shape an organisations’ strategic planning, while a recognised high Green-star status from Green Building Council of Australia will improve their reputation and bring benefits to the construction industry. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Sexual ageing in the history of medicine, 1774-2018. This project aims to provide an account of the different historical periods in changing medical concepts of menopause, andropause and the 'critical age' since the end of the eighteenth century. Understanding how questions of ageing and sexuality have changed across history will help to nuance our current understandings, relevant to an increasing number of people in ageing populations. This project will provide an integrative history of the nexus of modern concepts about sexual aging. It will combine rigorous consultation of overlooked historical sources with consultation of current scientific evidence. Outcomes of the project will be aimed at historical readers, but also at clinicians and the general public. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Causes and consequences of biogeochemical mismatches during drought. This project aims to provide improved understanding of biogeochemical cycling. Drought is one of the main threats to Earth’s ecosystems, but our ability to predict the consequences of drought remain limited. There is strong evidence that drought impacts critical carbon and nutrient cycles, with substantial impacts on ecosystem functioning. This project will provide insights into carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous cycles essential to generalise patterns of biogeochemical cycling under current and future conditions. The project will assist scientists, policymakers and landholders make better-informed management decisions to reduce the risks of drought impacts on ecosystem functioning. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Factors controlling ectomycorrhizal contributions to plant N nutrition. This project aims to define the mechanistic link between nitrogen metabolism in symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi and its effect on the quantity of nitrogen shared with a plant host. Using a genetically diverse population of a key Australian fungal species, the project expects to uncover genetic features related to nitrogen metabolism that correlate to improved support of plant nutrition. Expected outcomes include better understanding of plant-microbe interactions, groundwork for tools to better model the role of fungi in soil nutrient cycling and guidelines for plant:fungal pairings in reforestation practices. Overall, these should provide significant benefit to the global effort in understanding the role of soil microbes in plant nutrition. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology