Western Sydney University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The philosophical influences on anthropology. This project aims to undertake a comprehensive account of Kant’s impact on the early history of anthropology, offering a new framework for understanding philosophy’s role as a cultural force in society. The project will investigate the importance of Kant’s twin narratives of progressive human development and racial difference for understanding the course taken by anthropology when determining government policies regarding race relations. The benefit of this reconstruction will be the identification of contemporary examples of Kant’s continued legacy, especially in the context of legacies of racial bias, and to the nature of claimed racial and ethnic identities. Field of research: 2202 - History and Philosophy of Specific Fields

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Interactions between volumetric units in modular buildings. This project aims to develop an in-depth understanding of the interactions between volumetric units in modular buildings to develop integration strategies for the interconnection of modules. The uptake of modular construction has been hindered by the technical complexities of the design process for manufacture and assembly, in particular the flexible connection of services. By addressing significant gaps in the guidance on the design of modular interconnections and their integration strategies, this project expects to enhance the industry’s capacity to adopt safe, economical and standardised designs of modular systems. This project should significantly reduce the risk in decision making in modular construction, and transformation to advanced building manufacturing technologies in Australia and beyond. Field of research: 1204 - Engineering Design

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Colonisation by alien microbiota: identifying key ecological processes. This project aims to determine key ecological and molecular mechanisms that regulate microbial colonisation of new environments and their functional consequences. Microbial communities are important yet unseen contributors to the functioning of ecosystems, driving key ecological and economically important processes such as carbon and nutrient cycling. The project will provide a unifying framework for characterising colonisation success of alien species across different scales, habitats, ecosystem types and environmental disturbance such as climate change. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Waves of words: mapping and modeling Australia’s Pacific ties. This project aims to determine the extent and nature of ancient contact relationships between first peoples of Australia and the Pacific by exploring linguistic interactions. The project will use complementary sets of methods and expects to discover what kinds of social configurations underlie different linguistic outcomes in language contact situations. This will improve our understanding of the relationship between language change and socio-cultural change, which will have significant impact on linguistic and anthropological theory. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

UNESCO and the making of global cultural policy. This project aims to influence global cultural policy and governance and the way 'actors' like UNESCO shape local policy and practice. Focusing on the global South, it will reveal complex connections between levels of governance, documenting and providing guidance on innovative policy approaches for dealing with major social, economic and development challenges. Outcomes will be compelling insights for cultural policy development and implementation, and a critical reshaping of global-local cultural dynamics to support sustainable and equitable development in the global South. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Telling the whole story in one sentence. This project aims to produce a framework for analysis of the ultra-long sentences that occur in hundreds of languages and to investigate the processing of these sentences by adults and children. Anticipated outcomes are enhanced models of language structure, mental processing of language, and brain functions. Understanding of drastically-different sentence types in the world’s languages will further benefit foreign language learners, machine translators, and immigrants learning English. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Walan Mayiny: Indigenous leadership in higher education. This project aims to explore the way universities currently ‘do business’ with Indigenous Australians through focusing on Indigenous leadership in higher education. It will identify the essential components of Indigenous leadership and will establish a model of best practice for the inclusivity of Indigenous leadership within higher education governance structures. Particular focus will be placed on the roles and values of senior Indigenous appointments as well as factors effecting institutional fit and contribution to Indigenous outcomes. In addition the project will develop new tools and methods to explore this under-theorised area. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

LGBTI experiences of cancer survivorship and care. This project aims to understand the experiences and concerns of cancer survivors and carers within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities. This vulnerable population reports higher rates of cancer related distress and dissatisfaction with care than the general population. This project will examine the perspectives of cancer survivors, their carers, and professional stakeholders, to inform targeted patient and carer resources, and recommendations for cancer care and policy. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Startle displays: a new route to resolving the aposematism paradox. This project aims to propose an empirical evaluation of startle displays as the ‘missing link’ in antipredator defences. The evolutionary origin of warning colouration is considered paradoxical in that conspicuous mutant prey should be attacked and killed as they evolve, denying predators any chance to learn to avoid them. Startle displays, however, are antipredator defences that exploit predator reflexes through a sudden transition from camouflage to warning colouration. This work merges theory on antipredator defences, deepens knowledge of their fitness costs and benefits, and provides a new resolution to a classic evolutionary paradox. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Brown is the new green: grassland responses to drought and heat. This project aims to improve accuracy and precision in predicting the impact of water availability and heat stress on grassland function. Grassland ecosystems are important reservoirs of global biodiversity and carbon storage. Grasslands are highly sensitive to drought and heat stress, but studies recently showed that current grassland models cannot predict these responses because they do not adequately represent the key processes of physiological drought tolerance, leaf browning, and species traits. This project will collect targeted data sets in order to develop and test model representations of these key processes. This will provide significant benefits, such as greatly increasing capacity to predict the impact of drought and heat stress on grasslands, at scales ranging from field to globe. Field of research: 0699 - Other Biological Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Sexual conflict and the evolution of nuptial gifts. This project aims to understand how sexual conflict drives the evolution of “manipulative” nuptial gifts in male arthropods and how females respond to ingesting these gifts. Nuptial food gifts comprise materials (other than sperm) that are offered by males to females to consume at mating, and are an integral feature of the mating systems of a wide variety of arthropods. The project will study the decorated cricket, a species where males produce a nuptial food gift that contains a cocktail of chemicals known to influence female reproduction when eaten. The project is expected to strengthen Australia’s international standing in evolutionary research and help train the next generation of evolutionary biologists. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Gender and sexuality diversity in schools: Parental experiences. This project aims to analyse parents’ perspectives about the inclusion of gender and sexuality (G&S) diversity in school curriculum across Australia and to understand how parents of G&S diverse children navigate their child’s experiences in schools. It is anticipated this analysis will inform the development of training resources for pre/in-service teachers. The intended outcomes of the research include policy and curriculum development, training resources, and increased support for parents of G&S diverse children. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The Oulipo Group and literary invention. This project aims to explain the emergence of the Oulipo group, a new force in world literature based in France. The project will contribute to the broader search for points of fruitful contact between abstract reasoning and artistic practice. It will provide a new theoretical account of the Oulipo's writing practice, an explanation of how that practice relates to similar currents in contemporary writing around the world, and improved access to the group’s recent work via translation. Among the anticipated benefits are a deeper understanding of literary form and its historical development, and a mapping of the areas in which the Oulipo's innovative approach to writing is yet to be tried. Field of research: 2005 - Literary Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Re-conceptualising services from the perspectives of young people. This project aims to contribute the perspectives and voices of vulnerable young people to debates on the need for service reform. It will actively engage children and teens who have complex support needs in service re-design and decision making, and will trial child-led service initiatives. It will also explore organisational barriers to including young people in policy debate and service decision-making. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge of how to effectively engage young people, and understanding of the impact of their participation both for young people and for services. Field of research: 1605 - Policy and Administration

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Settlement service literacy among migrants in two states: Victoria and New South Wales. This project aims to assess the level of and need for settlement service literacy (SSL) among newly-arrived migrants. The project will explore and transform understandings of the relationship between migrants’ SSL and cultural integration. This will provide significant benefits, such as producing a theory-driven model to better address migrants’ needs and thus contribute to conceptual advances in theory, research and practice in relation to resettlement in Australia. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Auditory perception in neural electronics. This project aims to develop a practical alternative to conventional electronic design. Faster and more powerful devices have resulted from placing ever more transistors on a computer chip, but this is reaching its physical limits. This project will develop a new way of designing smart electronic devices by taking inspiration from signal processing in biological brains, and applying it to the processing of audio signals. Expected outcomes are a device that recognises sounds, without needing remote computers to do the processing. These techniques can be applied to other senses, such as vision, advancing machine perception and enabling smarter devices. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Assembling and governing of habits. This project aims to examine how modern Western disciplines conceived of habits, and how these conceptions informed the techniques of mundane governance which managed habits. As cities face increasing pressures, the challenges of governing everyday habits prompt urgent questions about how habits are understood and managed. This project will study the governance of 'city habits' from the late 19th century to the present. The project will apply and deepen its description of habit through case studies focused on contemporary Sydney. Its findings are expected to benefit city planners and policy makers by informing the organisation and regulation of habits. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Mechanism of synergy of ingredients in natural products and functional foods. Synergism is the interaction of two substances to produce an effect larger than the sum of the separate effects. This project aims to determine the basic biological mechanisms or molecular targets by which the synergy is occurring and to identify the bioactive compounds involved. Understanding how synergism works should help us to identify other synergistic compounds, allowing optimization of products for better efficacy and quality, and leading to new products that have a significant market advantage over currently available products. This project will help to develop improved natural products that could push this industry advantage further. Field of research: 0908 - Food Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Effects of audio-visual rhythmic stimulation on motor functioning. This project aims to determine how the human capacity for entrainment contributes to the development and modification of motor functions through passive perception. Human movements are spontaneously attracted to auditory and visual environmental rhythms. The intended outcome is knowledge about short and long-term effects of entrainment on spontaneous cerebral, muscular and behavioural motor activity, and how auditory rhythms combined with visual depictions of human movement modulate these effects. This research should advance the understanding of perception and action links, ultimately opening pathways for training patients with reduced movement capacities and developing health technologies. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Universal mechanisms for the communication of musical emotion. This project aims to understand the universal perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying musical communication. Music is a language of the emotions with a remarkable capacity to communicate across personal and cultural boundaries. This project will develop and refine a computational toolbox of perceptual models in light of behavioural experiments using musical and non-musical sonic stimuli. These models will also be used to develop software to compose perceptually grounded music. The intended outcomes are increased knowledge of perception, composition and computational modelling of music, which will stimulate investigations into music's societal benefits and therapeutic applications. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Movement ecology of flying-foxes. This project aims to understand flying-fox movement ecology from individual navigation through to population redistribution. Understanding movement across spatiotemporal scales is a goal of movement research. Grey-headed flying-foxes are mobile, and advances in tracking technology make them ideal for studying movement across scales. This project will determine how flying foxes navigate, and integrate this with drivers of their movement to understand their movement ecology by using methods that integrate experimental manipulation with telemetry, Doppler radar and analytical techniques. This is expected to develop much-needed management strategies that incorporate an understanding of movement. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Silicon defences for plant protection. This project aims to study how silicon uptake in grasses affects plant susceptibility aboveground. Grasses contain more silicon than nearly any other plant, which they acquire entirely from the soil. Silicon increases plant resistance to herbivores, disease and drought, but up to 25 per cent of grass productivity is lost to root herbivores, a situation compounded by water stress. Silicon uptake is poorly understood, but root herbivory and changing rainfall patterns can either impair uptake or induce the plant to take up more silicon. The goal of this project is to optimise silicon-based resistance in grasses and exploit this for plant protection from invasive pests and drought. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

The China-Australia heritage corridor. This project aims to show how buildings and places created by Chinese migrants in Australia and home places in China testify, beyond the narrative of arrival and settlement, to Australian connections with China and the Chinese diaspora. Using the 'heritage corridor' concept, it aims to develop a transnational approach to migration heritage and will provide tools and concepts for broadly documenting, analysing and interpreting Australia’s migration heritage. The project aims to help a more cosmopolitan 21st century Australia capitalise on its legacy of regional linkages through Chinese migration. Field of research: 2102 - Curatorial and Related Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Forms of world literature. This project aims to explore a new vision of ‘world literature’. Creative writing is a way of thinking, and theoretical possibilities arise from the exchange between literary criticism and literary practice. This project will bring the formal and thematic interests of four eminent Australian writers – Alexis Wright, Nicholas Jose, Gail Jones and J.M. Coetzee – into dialogue with each other and a team of critical respondents. Critical and creative dialogues between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, Argentina, China, and England provide an opportunity to think about how contemporary Australian writing might meaningfully be considered in the terms of world literature. Field of research: 2005 - Literary Studies