Edith Cowan University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Life After Digitisation: Future-Proofing WA's Vulnerable Cultural Heritage. This project aims to do the following: 1. digitise significant cultural collections held across Western Australia, including Aboriginal languages, the WA performing arts collection, and selected objects of significance from across the State. 2. develop world-leading post-digitisation socialisation processes for the storage, management and dissemination of these collections. The project's significance lies in the preservation of the collections and the development of sustainable access protocols for the collection owners. Expected outcomes include digital preservation of the collections, plus new protocols and procedures for their digitisation and dissemination. Benefits include preservation of, and systems for access to, these collections. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing The participating WA Universities, the Western Australian Museum, the Perth Theatre Trust and the 5 WA Aboriginal Language Centres involved in this project are each committed to the preservation, in digital format, of key cultural objects from across Western Australia. These include photographs, language recordings, costumes and objects with special historical or cultural meaning for communities. Many of the items are in a fragile state (due to age, climate conditions and storage in outdated formats, for example reel to reel film) and need preservation for future generations. This project will carry out archival standard digitisation and will then work with the partner organisations to develop best practice policies for the storage and dissemination of these digital materials. This will ensure these valuable collections are not only preserved but remain a resource for future generations. A resource that will become, for the first time, accessible to people across Australia and beyond.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Understanding and Addressing Everyday Sexisms in Australian Universities. This project aims to improve the ways in which gender-based discrimination is understood and addressed in Australian universities by employing a situated, intersectional, and creative approach to researching everyday sexisms. This project expects to use an innovative approach to generate new knowledge about everyday sexisms at the individual level and across disciplinary and university contexts. Expected outcomes include new gender equity practices that will assist universities to refine current programs, strategies, and policies capable of eliminating gender-based discrimination. This should provide significant benefits for Australian society, including women and gender diverse people working in universities. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education Despite awareness of the importance of gender equity, Australia ranks 48th in the world in terms of female political empowerment, with 1 in 2 women experiencing sexual harassment during their lifetime. Professionally, just one-quarter of ASX-listed company board members are women and retiring women’s average superannuation balances are just over half of those of men. Australian universities represent an important microcosm of these broader social outcomes, where just 33% of the professoriate are women and where female academics report the highest levels of bullying and harassment, while also being the least likely to report this. Examining the everyday gender-based practices of Australian academics will provide important information on the factors impacting women’s career trajectories and associated workplace cultures. The inclusion of individuals with intersecting minority identity characteristics from varying university sectors will provide significantly more nuanced understandings of this phenomenon, with important benefits which extend to broader Australian society.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Decoding germination defects that threaten global wheat production. Wheat is a major commodity in Australia. Sprouting damage represents a major global threat to wheat production and food security. This project will explore the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and late-maturity amylase (LMA). This project will apply transcriptomics and proteomics to measure the expression of the biomolecules associated with PHS and LMA, generating fundamental knowledge of grain molecular physiology that addresses a significant knowledge gap. The project will deliver tools capable of differentiating these conditions, thereby minimising economic losses. A better understanding of the genetic basis of PHS and LMA will lay the foundation for advanced breeding aiming to eliminate these. Field of research: 0703 - Crop and Pasture Production The Australian grain industry accounts for around 25 per cent of the total value of farm export income. However, damage to wheat grain from unwanted sprouting events, in the forms of pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and late-maturity amylase (LMA), represents a major threat to wheat production and food security. Increasingly unpredictable weather events associated with climate change present a major challenge for Australian farmers aiming to harvest in dry conditions. This project will investigate the molecular mechanisms underpinning seed dormancy that will enable the development of tools that aim to improve wheat quality and avoid wheat losses. It will lay the foundation for breeding strategies that mitigate the negative effects of genotype and environment interactions. The project will enhance the industry’s knowledge about wheat biochemistry and by extension other cereal grains. It will deliver accurate tests for grain breeders to use and potentially have multi-million-dollar benefits to growers by reducing waste and enabling the development of crops suited to both current and future climatic conditions.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Tensor and Hypergraph Methods in Fitting Visual Data. This proposal will put an important class of clustering (extracting data that should fit a geometric model) on a more solid theoretical foundation. This will lead to better understanding of how to certify outcomes, efficiency, reliability etc. The type of clustering under consideration is relevant to many problems in machine learning and computer vision, as well as data mining and a wide variety of other settings. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing Autonomous cars and mobile robotics have unlimited potential to improve the lives of Australians. Autonomous vehicles alone are projected to prevent more than 1,000 deaths and 30,000 hospitalisations each year in Australia and save the economy more than A$16 billion a year in crash-related costs once fully implemented. This project will improve the functionality of detection mechanisms within these machines by improving their capability to automatically analyse data from camera input and decide how many structures and obstacles there are in a scene. It will also more precisely determine the physical characteristics of structures (precise shape and/or motion). The applications of this research are not limited to robotics: for example mobile phone apps that can analyse a scene and prosthetic aids for the vision impaired could all benefit from such enhanced capabilities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Perceptions of harm from adolescents accessing online sexual content. This project aims to investigate Australian adolescents’ responses to online sexual content through a comparative communication-based study with teens in Greece, Ireland and Norway. The project seeks to generate knowledge through in-depth interviews with Australian high school students, aged 12-17, and their parents, comparing their perceptions with children and parents from other countries. The project will combine qualitative and quantitative data to explore why Australian teens might access sexual media more often than their peers overseas, and be more likely to feel bothered by it. Expected outcomes include strategies to support teens who feel affected by access to online sexual content, thus minimising negative impacts. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Personalised Online Learning Analytics by Exploring Multilayer Graph Data . Learning analytics is becoming a significant factor in reducing the drop-out rate of students in online learning. The aim of this project is to develop a reliable, robust, real-time analysis system that automatically reveals multilayered relationships, evaluates students' learning performance, and generates a personal study plan through discovery. This project includes the design of novel algorithms for multilayer graph processing, pattern recognition in learning activities, learning performance assessment, and personalised study plan recommendations. The success of this project will significantly enhance the success of online education both in Australia and worldwide and; hence, will save time, money and resources for end users. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Do teacher research experiences affect student outcomes in science? This project aims to determine whether authentic scientific research projects undertaken by teachers translate into improved science-related outcomes for students. Measures to redress declining levels of understanding and interest in science among Australian secondary students over more than two decades have had little effect. Using a cross-national multiple case study design, the project plans to generate new knowledge about improving teachers’ scientific literacy and classroom practice that translates to improved student understanding of, and engagement with, science. This will afford significant social and economic benefits through targeted research-informed education strategies that meet the needs of Australia’s future STEM workforce. Field of research: 1302 - Curriculum and Pedagogy

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The internet of toys: examining connected toys for children. This project aims to investigate the emerging communication world of the internet of toys where toys relate one-on-one to children and also connect to other toys, other children and/or database data. The project will examine the emerging benefits and risks of these connected toys through engaging with families and industry, as well as with regulatory and policy developments. It will inform and influence policy makers, toy designers and families of children too young to understand the implications of data privacy and security that these toys bring. It will benefit decision-making regarding the design and regulatory environments in which these toys are made. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Hybrid radiofrequency/optical catheter for effective atrial fibrillation ablation. This research project aims to advance engineering knowledge by applying an innovative, fibre-optics-based discrete optical coherence tomography to technology used for atrial fibrillation catheter ablation. RadioFrequency catheter-based ablation is far superior to cardiac drug therapy for atrial fibrillation patients. RadioFrequency catheters are not equipped with real-time lesion formation monitoring means, which enable the assessment of continuity-transmurality and prevent extra-cardiac complications, such as steam pops. Optical Coherece Tomography enables non-invasive, microscopic lesion formation assessment in real time during atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. The expected outcomes of this project are to develop a new hybrid fibre-optic/RadioFrequency catheter system and user-friendly driving software that will enable cardiac electrophysiologists to perform three key tasks not previously available. Field of research: 0903 - Biomedical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Preserving Aboriginal language through song archives. This project aims to explore how song can preserve vanishing Indigenous languages. Song and language are integral to the wellbeing and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and the loss of Indigenous languages is a national and global crisis. Focusing on the endangered Nyungar language of the south-west of Western Australia, this project will develop a model to recirculate and perform archival songs in online and physical spaces, engaging the community while developing resources for future use. The outcomes of this project are expected to inform global efforts to sustain intangible cultural heritage and contribute to the Australian reconciliation agenda. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Past and future dynamics in coastal ecosystems. This project aims to understand how humans and nature affect coastal ecosystems. Globally, billions of dollars are spent on understanding ecosystem services and responses to human and natural pressures, but contemporary datasets’ short time-span makes them inadequate, since ecosystems change at multiple spatial and temporal scales. This project will use seagrass archives to reconstruct the history of coastal ecosystems over millennia, identifying baseline conditions, the time-course of ecological change, cycles and thresholds of ecosystem dynamics driven by human and natural forces, and determining their role as biogeochemical sinks. Intended outcomes are to manage ecological change and remove constraints on sustainable coastal development. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

A multi-institutional environmental radioactivity research centre. This project aims to establish an environmental radioactivity research centre, equipped with ultra-low background and high-resolution alpha and gamma spectrometry systems, radon detectors and radium delayed coincidence counters. The centre will address a critical demand in Australia for precise analysis of a large suite of natural and artificial radionuclides, which will be used as tracers and chronological tools to investigate key questions in oceanography and the mining and energy, archaeological, agricultural, and forestry sectors. The facility is expected to substantially increase expertise and training in radionuclides in Australia, and promote high-level research collaborations and outputs of both national and international significance. Major outcomes of the proposed facility include better understanding of how oceans regulate climate and improved capacity to assess effects of radiation on natural ecosystems. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications