MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Ancient Egyptian papyri: unlocking secrets to the history of writing. This project aims to investigate the chemical composition of papyri from ancient Egypt and their inks to identify scribes, date texts, detect forgeries, match fragmentary texts, and illuminate environmental and technological change. Papyrus and carbon-based ink were the primary writing materials in the ancient Mediterranean world from 2600 BCE to 1000 CE, but the uncertain provenance and date caused by clandestine excavation and the antiquities trade limits our understanding of them. The non-destructive and inexpensive analysis will provide new understanding of environmental, technological, and socio-cultural change in ancient cultures from Egypt to Rome by providing new insights into writing technology, scribal identity, dating, and authenticity. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A robotic telescope leveraging global science from Veloce. This project aims to Implement RAPTOR, a dedicated, robotic telescope allowing the use of state-of-the-art Veloce spectrograph. This project will leverage substantial value from Australia’s existing investment in the Veloce facility by allowing Veloce’s use on the 290 nights per year when the Anglo-Australian Telescope is being used by other instruments. Veloce+RAPTOR will enable a new class of transformative science that demands high-cadence, repeated observations over many nights. Expected outcomes include a broad sampling of the properties of exoplanets around nearby stars, critical for informing theories of planet formation, as well as new data addressing a wide range of astronomical questions requiring high-resolution optical spectroscopy of bright stars. Combined with data from the $300m Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, and leveraging the existing $5.9m investment in the Veloce instrument, the RAPTOR telescope will place Australia at the forefront of the global pursuit of the question of how common life is in the Universe. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Harmonic analysis: function spaces and partial differential equations. This project aims to solve a number of important problems at the frontier of harmonic analysis on metric measure spaces. Harmonic analysis has been instrumental to several fields of mathematics including complex analysis and partial differential equations which have had many applications in engineering and technology. This project will solve a number of important problems as well as develop new approaches and techniques for research in harmonic analysis and related topics. The project will maintain and enhance the strength of Australian mathematical research in harmonic analysis and contribute to the training of the next generation of mathematical researchers in Australia. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Deep analytics of non-occurring but important behaviours. This project aims to build a systematic theory for the deep analytics of complex and important occurring and non-occurring behaviours. Behaviours that should occur but do not take place, called non-occurring behaviours (NOB), are widely evident but easily overlooked, such as missed important medical treatments. While often occurring behaviours are focused, such NOB may be associated with significant effects such as a threat to health. This project expects to fill the knowledge gaps in representing, analysing and evaluating NOB complexities and impact, with significant benefits for the evidence-based detection, prediction and risk management of covert NOB applications and their important effects. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A new asymptotic toolbox for nonlinear discrete systems and particle chains. This project aims to pioneer a mathematical toolbox of new asymptotic techniques for discrete systems driven by vanishingly small influences. The purpose of these techniques is to permit the asymptotic study of discrete problems in which significant effects originate due to subtle causes that are invisible to existing asymptotic methods. Discrete systems play a significant role in modern applied mathematics, and it is vital that mathematical tools be designed in order to explore their behaviour. The aim of this project is to open new pathways for resolving open scientific problems, providing benefits such as understanding the energy dissipation of particle chains and granular lattices contained in small-scale technological components. Field of research: 0102 - Applied Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Decimetre-level indoor positioning on Wi-Fi. This project aims to exploit both spatial and frequency diversities based on the multiple-input, multiple-out and frequency hopping techniques to achieve the goal of decimetre-level position accuracy by significantly increasing Wi-Fi bandwidth. Wi-Fi positioning is utilised in locations where GPS is blocked, typically this is within a structure. The project will design a set of mechanisms to facilitate Wi-Fi positioning, discover key principles to guide practical design, and develop advanced algorithms to push the performance limit to decimetre-level accuracy. The project will develop key fundamental technologies which are expected to promote innovative, practical, and cost-effective applications to local industry and service sectors and contribute to Australia's long-term economic growth. Field of research: 0805 - Distributed Computing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Measuring uncertainty in global housing markets and its risk to Australia. This project aims to develop and construct a measure of systemic risk for the national real-estate markets in Australia, and its main trading partners, namely China, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States of America. Recently developed methodology will be used to investigate how real estate risks migrate across these countries over time, and during periods of financial turbulence. This methodology is intended to be employed as part of a market stability surveillance program and for assessing the impact of real-estate risk on the overall economy. Early detection of the onset of future housing bubble collapses would be of significant benefit to policy makers, Australia’s trading partners, the real estate industry and ultimately home buyers. Field of research: 1403 - Econometrics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The effect of sound change on children's speech in community diversity. This project aims to explain how children's speech processing adapts to cultural and linguistic diversity and how such adaptation may seed sound change in language. Using acoustic and articulatory (ultrasound) methods, the project intends to explain how children rapidly and authentically acquire the intricately nuanced accents of their communities. The project aims to advance theories of language variation and change by providing new insights into the forces that shape the sounds of language. An understanding of how children's speech patterns develop and ultimately converge to local norms has implications for the social integration of second language learning children and refugee/asylum seekers, and for clinical and speech technology applications for children. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Yolngu women keening of songspirals: nourishing and sharing people-as-place. This project aims to extend a close collaborative relationship with Yolngu researchers to nourish and, where appropriate, share Indigenous and Country-led understandings of women’s keening of songspirals. The project’s unique spiral-based framework intends to extend ideas of songlines to generate new knowledge that centres Yolngu women’s conceptions of place and time. Intended outcomes are Indigenous and non-Indigenous intergenerational and intercultural applied learnings. This project should provide the benefit of ensuring keening of songspirals is not lost, helping to fulfil songspirals' potential to enrich and awaken Country, and support deep, healthy relationships between people and place in the context of disruptive environmental change. Field of research: 1604 - Human Geography

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry. This project aims to develop more efficient algorithms to simulate quantum chemistry on quantum computers. Quantum computers have the potential to perform calculations that would be intractable for even the largest supercomputers, but need to be programmed in a radically different way to achieve this speed. One of the most important applications of quantum computers is to simulate quantum mechanics to predict the properties of molecules and materials, and thereby design them. Current quantum algorithms are very resource intensive, making them impractical for the foreseeable future. The expected outcome of this project is to provide much more efficient algorithms that can be run on quantum processors in the near future. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Role of water in earth and planetary evolution. This project aims to understand the role of water in the building of our solar system, Mars and Earth. Surprisingly little is known about key issues surrounding the origin of water and its subsequent recycling on Earth. This project will use new techniques for measuring low abundances of water along with oxygen isotopes, to measure water abundances and oxygen isotopes in meteorites and terrestrial rocks to establish how water was delivered to Earth and to understand how water is geologically recycled. This is expected to have direct bearing on where and how Earth's water originated, how water is retained in mantle and crustal minerals and it will have broad implications for understanding volcanic hazards and formation of ore deposits. This will lead to a new capability for combined water and oxygen isotope analysis in Australian geoscience leading to technological development and commercialisation of instrumentation. Field of research: 0403 - Geology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A new look at perceptual expertise: the attentional Gestalt framework. This project aims to propose and rigorously test a new, mechanistic framework for understanding how training and experience alters our capacity to perceive and engage in skilled visual processing. The project intends to explain why trained visual experts often rapidly perceive things that elude novices. Expected outcomes of the project include new knowledge about the key mechanistic features that underlie skilled visual performance. Intended benefits of this knowledge include the development of artificial systems and improved training environments to facilitate and enhance human expert visual processing. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Unveiling the fine structure of the Australian continent using ocean waves. This project aims to develop new methods to better image lithospheric and upper-mantle structures by using noise from ubiquitous ocean waves, and then use these methods to illuminate fine-scale lithospheric-asthenospheric structures in Australia, from the surface to the upper mantle. Imaging the Earth’s structure using seismic tomography is one of the most fundamental tasks of geoscience. Conventional earthquake-based seismic tomography has difficulties in deciphering fine-scale lithospheric structures. The images from this project will provide a better understanding of the nature of intraplate earthquakes and volcanoes, and improve the assessment of intraplate seismic and volcanic hazards in Australia. Field of research: 0404 - Geophysics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The pathway to planets: formation of protoplanetary discs. This project aims to expand our knowledge of how planetary systems are born. Observations are bringing new insight into the structure of discs of dusty gas orbiting young stars, but not in sufficient detail to understand how planets form within them. This project aims to link the structure of discs to the well-characterised interstellar cloud cores that collapse to form star-disc systems. The project aspires to use innovative techniques to enable the rapid collapse calculations needed to map core properties to disc structure. Expected outcomes include knowledge of the disc structures critical to interpreting observations of forming planetary systems. The benefit will be guidance to the theory needed to explain the incredible variety of planetary systems we see today. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Covalently immobilised molecular catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction. This project aims to develop innovative catalytic systems on semiconductor surfaces, to use sunlight for conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into high energy-content products. Sustainable chemical transformation of CO2 into valuable products, especially fuels, is one of the most important chemical processing challenges. This project will use innovative molecular engineering to covalently fix light-harvester to semiconductors. The expected outcome will be an efficient system to enhance CO2 conversion, which will not only reduce the environmental impact but also generate a cheap source of energy by closing the carbon loop. Using this approach, existing high carbon-emitting processes will be able to be replaced by new carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative ones for much-reduced environmental impact on our society. Field of research: 0904 - Chemical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Social constructionism about race. This project aims to show that there are no races, only racialised groups. Race was once thought to be biologically real, a position which is increasingly rejected by specialists. Now race is commonly believed to be a social construct, which is often taken to mean that races are real social groups. This project aims to demonstrate that when race is defined socially it loses its conceptual and historical specificity, and that racial classification should be abandoned altogether. An expected outcome of the project is a scholarly and public shift away from racial classification. This project develops and defends the category of the racialised group as an alternative to one of history’s most misleading and dangerous ideas. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A history of Australian businesswomen since 1880. This project aims to produce a substantive history of Australian female small business owners since 1880. It will introduce new methodologies and directions to business and feminist history and engage in global conversations about historical female entrepreneurship. The project seeks to provide new knowledge about the gendered nature of economic, legal and networking structures and how they have impeded or supported female participation in small business; it will trace representations of businesswomen over time. The project expects to enable broader, socially-embedded and historically-informed understandings of how gender has operated in business, and contribute to current debates about gender, diversity and small business. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Cosmic alchemy: revealing the origin of elements in the universe. This project aims to address the long-standing question in astrophysics of how elements are produced by stars and recycled through galaxies. While it is established that stars are key producers of many of the elements in the universe, the processes that govern their elemental production remains unclear. This project will use an innovative interplay of pioneering observations of dying stars in our galaxy and its neighbours, with state-of-the-art stellar models. The expected outcomes should provide a framework for understanding the chemical make-up of galaxies and the evolution of the Universe. This project will further elevate Australia's global standing in the field of astronomy and maximise returns on Australia's national investment in astronomy infrastructure. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Monitoring financial bubbles using high-frequency data. This project aims to develop an econometric procedure for monitoring speculative behaviour, often labelled as bubbles, in financial markets. There has been widespread recognition that financial speculation can inflict harm on the real economy. Crises or recessions are often preceded by excessive asset market speculation. This project will utilise intraday information for bubble detection and address major technical challenges arising from high-frequency financial data. It is expected to significantly improve the speed and accuracy of bubble detection, thereby providing more timely and precise warning alerts for investment decisions, market surveillance and policy action. Field of research: 1403 - Econometrics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Learning to read and understand complex words. This project aims to study the development of morphological reading skills from kindergarten through to high school, providing insights into the full spectrum of abilities required to move from novice to expert reader. Over 80 per cent of English words comprise multiple morphemes, but how children learn to read such complex words is not well understood. Understanding this key reading process will have the potential to inform reading instruction practices from primary school through to high school. Expected outcomes are a richer understanding of the predictors, developmental time-course, and mechanisms involved in the acquisition of morphological processes in reading. This project has the potential to inform the effectiveness of explicit morphological teaching and intervention, to the benefit of Australia’s children. Field of research: 1799 - Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Economic analysis of time constraints on decision-making in health. This project aims to determine whether and how time constraints affect decision-making. Time constraints can impair the quality of decisions in health, resulting in serious medical and financial consequences. This project will employ experimental economic methods to examine how misaligned preferences and incentives influence decision-making under time constraints. The project will offer scientific evidence and accurate measurements, provide insights into interventions to align the preferences of doctors and patients, and to lower the overtreatment of patients in the health-care market. The project expects to benefit society and contribute to a more efficient healthcare system. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Ant-inspired rules for self-assembly in swarm robotics and complex systems. This project aims to investigate how ants use self-assembly to build bridges and chains, joining their bodies using simple rules at the individual-level to build complex structures at the group-level. The long-standing conceptual gap between these two organisational levels will be addressed using innovative animal behaviour experiments, computer modelling and embodied testing of theory in a robot swarm. The expected outcomes of the project include new models for understanding self-assembly in complex systems and new control algorithms for robot swarms. The project should provide significant benefits such as programming to allow robot swarms to autonomously self-assemble useful structures that enhance their operational capabilities. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Re-engineering rice root architecture to maximise water use efficiency. This project aims to discover gene networks responsible for producing deeper and more branched roots in rice plants. The roots of plants are the primary mechanism for absorbing water and nutrients from the soil. Manipulating roots to penetrate deeper with greater branching allows plants to thrive with less water and less nutrients. The project will identify key genes and proteins responsible for this process, and alter their expression in order to assess the role of these regulatory elements in root development in rice plants. The project expects to provide new, more sustainable varieties of rice which will help provide enhanced food security. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The case for work. This project aims to make a substantial contribution to theoretical debates about the future of work. There is growing concern that technological advances will lead to a crisis of work in the near future and challenge the idea that work is central to social inclusion and personal development. This project will systematically map out and respond to the arguments against the centrality of work. The expected outcome is a significant reduction in complexity regarding fundamental assumptions in debates on future work. The project will aim to advance the national conversation on a crucial issue of social and economic policy. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Ultra-faint signatures of galaxy growth seen through the cosmic haze. This project aims to uncover the cosmic cannibalism of galaxy mergers, by using innovative new instrumentation to detect some of the faintest structures ever seen by astronomers. The project will provide a comprehensive measurement of the mass growth experienced by large galaxies consuming their smaller siblings, which will provide a critical test of our understanding of dark matter. The project will also conduct ultra-high-sensitivity measurements of the foreground haze from nearby interstellar clouds, a crucial step towards mitigating its impact on billion-dollar projects such as the Euclid space telescope. The statistics of spatial structures in these clouds will help us to understand how new stars are born in our own Milky Way. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences