MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Working synthetically in higher categorical structures. This project aims to develop tools for synthetic reasoning in the mathematical discipline of higher category theory. Since its introduction in Euclidean geometry, synthetic reasoning has repeatedly revolutionised mathematics. The project expects to bring these benefits to important new structures such as (infinity, 2)-categories and monoidal bicategories, as well as building the expanding circle of applications of these structures. The project's key outcome will be new scientific tools which will greatly benefit workers in areas of application as diverse as algebraic topology and geometry, quantum physics and computer science, while also helping to train Australia's next generation of scientific leaders. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

How brains become lateralised. This project aims to understand how the left and right sides of the brain become specialised for different cognitive functions, a phenomenon called lateralisation. Lateralisation is one of the least understood organisational principles of the brain, yet is crucial to the way we think and behave. Manifested most clearly as handedness, the brain is lateralised for many cognitive tasks such as language, reasoning, memory and emotion. However, the developmental origin and anatomical substrate of most cognitive asymmetries are unknown. This project will use a chick model of brain lateralisation to quantify and localise to specific brain circuits the patterns of differential gene expression that give rise to anatomical and functional asymmetries. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Does word similarity across languages help or hinder bilingual speakers? This project aims to understand in more detail how bilinguals can accurately speak in both their languages. Speaking is a complex skill, particularly if you have two languages to choose from, which will be true for over half of Australia’s population by 2025. This project aims to investigate the factors that influence speech production in both monolinguals and bilinguals including those with language impairment, and develop a better bilingual theory. The benefit of this new theory will be to provide a clear basis for diagnosis and treatment for children in bilingual households who have problems learning to speak, and for bilingual people with language problems after a stroke or dementia. Field of research: 1702 - Cognitive Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape. This project aims to investigate how local environmental factors and predator communities affect warning colour expression across the Australian landscape. Warning colours protect toxic prey from predators who learn to associate the colours with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, warning colours should not vary, but in nature we find appreciable and unexplained variation. This project will utilise Australia's excellent environmental and biodiversity informatics infrastructure to inform the public and decision makers about the adaptability of animals to environmental change such as predator loss. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The evolution of host-parasite interactions during a biological invasion. This project aims to elucidate how host organisms and their parasites adapt to each other, exploiting the fact that a biological invasion imposes novel evolutionary challenges. This project expects to generate new knowledge about how the interaction between host and parasite species is affected when the system is exposed to powerful new selective forces. Expected outcomes of this project include development of theory, training of students in an emerging field, and a nuanced understanding of this important topic. This should provide significant benefits, such as an enhanced ability for wildlife managers to predict the impact of parasites on species of wildlife that are extending their geographic ranges. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Challenging the Bystander Effect via documentary film. This project aims to challenge the Bystander Effect. Social experiments from the 1960s have entrenched the view that in groups we fail to act to prevent harm to others in public emergencies. Film has played a significant role in promoting this theory. Drawing on an innovative screen performance method, this project is likely to generate knowledge about how bystanders can co-ordinate their actions to safely intervene; it will result in an innovative and accessible documentary. The project has the capacity to contribute to a reduction of violence in public spaces and more effective responses in the face of emergencies. Field of research: 1902 - Film, Television and Digital Media

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Building your future: builder-building coevolution in animal architectures. This project aims to reconstruct how animal architectures change throughout time and how this affects body shapes and functions of their builders. By clarifying the biological role of building behaviour this project will assist in predicting long term responses of wildlife, ecosystems and human life to a changing environment. The project expects to be achieved by comparing the structure, assembly and mechanical performance of animal architectures with animal morphology and performance in a global phylogenetic framework. This is critical for strategic planning of wildlife and landscape management. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Cause and effect: new mechanisms of particles formation in thunderstorms. This project aims to identify meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle formation and alteration during thunderstorms. How thunderstorms develop is well-understood. However, identifying meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle alteration during a thunderstorm is still not clear. This project will practically contribute to the evidence of the impact of air particulates, thereby having direct implications for meteorological, and air pollution policy in Australia and worldwide. This project will allow researchers to understand the impact of these factors on the escalation of the causative effects, and to find a way to prevent unnecessary fatal outcomes. Field of research: 0306 - Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural)

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Predicting misdiagnoses in the transition from competence to expertise. This project aims to test whether the utilisation of cues predicts vulnerability to misdiagnosis during skill acquisition. This project uses newly developed measures of cue utilisation, together with innovative, on-line scenarios and a longitudinal design, to measure different types of misdiagnosis amongst qualified radiologists, pathologists and pilots as they acquire expertise. With potential applications in medicine, aviation, energy, transportation, and defence, the expected outcomes will facilitate interventions such as targeted training and the provision of technical support, that will guide the diagnostic process and thereby reduce the impact of misdiagnoses on individuals and infrastructure. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Why are complex habitats more diverse? This project aims to develop and test theory for the ubiquitous relationship between habitat complexity and biodiversity. Whether in forests, grasslands, kelp forests or coral reefs, habitat complexity is increasingly being flattened by natural and human-based processes. The project will integrate novel three-dimensional habitat models with established ecological theory, and then validate the theory on coral reefs that have undergone disturbances with different effects on complexity (cyclones and bleaching). This project will significantly advance the predictive capacity of biodiversity risk assessments of these threatened ecosystems and potentially others worldwide. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Language for learning: Developing learning-oriented talk in long-day-care. This study aims to identify, for the first time, key features of infant-toddler long day care (LDC) environments that support or constrain the development and use of language as a critical tool for early learning. This project expects to generate new knowledge by investigating early LDC predictors of preschool language skills, and will deliver much-needed new evidence to inform LDC pedagogy and curriculum development and practice and, ultimately, to improve long term educational outcomes. This will provide significant benefits, such as improving the quality of infant-toddler LDC programs, which stands to enhance children’s learning and life-long outcomes. Field of research: 1301 - Education Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Analysis of fully non-linear geometric problems and differential equations. This project aims to investigate non-linear geometric evolution equations that have received considerable attention in the past decades through their use in solving outstanding problems in mathematics, such as the Poincare conjecture. By developing innovative new techniques intertwining geometry and analysis, the project endeavours to make advances in non-linear problems modelling complex phenomena. The project addresses topics as varied as hyperbolic geometry, and a geometric approach to irregularities forming in crystal growth in materials science, focusing on developing cutting-edge mathematical tools and connections to geometry. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Digitising art projects archive. This project aims to theorise and document the creation of a permanent record of the development of public art in Australia through the digitisation of the Kaldor Public Art Projects (KPAP) archive. Digitising the archive will advance knowledge in social history and art history, and cement the cultural legacy of the KPAP archive. The project will make the KPAP archive an online resource widely available to researchers and the public. Over five decades KPAP, the first organisation of its type in the world which has attracted strong public interest, has created innovative, ground-breaking public art projects that, although temporary, have left a cultural permanence in the Australian art landscape. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

New mathematical theory for fluid motion on surfaces with holes. This project aims to develop new explicit mathematical results to enhance the understanding of potential theory – a fundamental area of mathematics - on surfaces with complicating geometrical properties. There are very few such fundamental results on complicated curved surfaces, such as those with holes. This project should provide a toolbox for solving many different mathematical problems on curved surfaces. The new results should also have application to the analysis of fluid flows over porous media and practical engineering structures. Field of research: 0102 - Applied Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Stronger together: understanding antibiotic synergy on a molecular level. This project aims to use genomics-based approaches to answer fundamental questions about how antibiotic synergy works. Antibiotic combination therapy presents an opportunity to revive the use of antibiotics in otherwise resistant bacteria, yet currently there is little understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying antibiotic synergy. Studies indicate that additional mechanisms of action (MOA) occur during synergistic killing beyond those of the original antibiotics. This project will identify genes involved in multiple synergistic treatments and determine how bacterial cells gain resistance. The synergy-specific MOA identified also represent an untapped reservoir of primary drug targets. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen. This project aims to understand the roles of carbon, water and nitrogen in the development of plate tectonics as drivers of mantle evolution. Through improved understanding of the impact of melting on the deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen, this project intends to better understand how key elements are enriched towards economically viable concentrations. This project will generate knowledge of long-term benefit for decision-making in the minerals exploration industry and key government agencies. The project will establish a new generation of Australian scientists with a deep interdisciplinary understanding of earth sciences, and pave the way for eventual unification of plate tectonic with climate systems. Field of research: 0403 - Geology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Cognitive ecologies: a philosophical study of collaborative embodied skills. This project aims to develop a new theory of embodied collaboration and interaction in expert groups, asking how individuals with diverse technical and emotional skills align and cue their actions, or recover together from challenges. It combines foundational philosophical analysis and cognitive theory with empirical studies of experts in sport and music. The project will extend knowledge of how groups under pressure work in socially and culturally significant settings. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Modelling human perceptual-motor interaction for human-machine applications. This project aims to develop a new modelling framework for identifying the perceptual-motor processes that underlie cooperative and competitive human interaction. The project will also determine whether this modelling framework can be combined with modern machine-learning methods to develop artificial agents capable of human level performance. Expected outcomes will include a practical methodology for rapidly generating models of effective human interaction that can be easily implemented in human-machine systems. This will provide a richer understanding of the fundamental perceptual-motor processes that support robust human interaction and enhanced the effectiveness of human-machine collaboration and training technologies. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Building intelligence into online video services by learning user interests. This project aims to build an intelligent video streaming service by characterising users’ view interest patterns and predict user interest changes through learning data from Internet to address the challenge caused by astronomic video population. The outcomes of the project will be of great values for users and our society by intelligently filtering out valueless, harmful, illegal and unwanted videos in advance. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The new voice of Multicultural Australian English. This project aims to generate an integrated and inclusive model of Australian-English, through phonetic analysis of the spoken language used by adolescents from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world yet the complex relationship between speech production and cultural diversity is largely unknown in 21st century multicultural Australia. This project aims to establish how adolescents from different ethnicities use speech patterns to symbolically express their diverse sociocultural identities. The project expects to inform sociophonetic theories of variation, ethnicity, and identity, providing a framework for supporting sociocultural cohesion in Australia. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Communicating with people who have limited English proficiency. This sociolinguistic project aims to investigate how fluent English speakers interact with people who have limited proficiency. In contemporary Australia such mundane interactions may determine employment, education or health outcomes. While research into language barriers has mostly focused on the experiences of migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds, this project will investigate how English speakers deal with increasing linguistic diversity. Expected outcomes include an understanding of the role of majority members in facilitating the integration of newcomers. This will provide significant socioeconomic benefits for institutions and individuals as they navigate everyday intercultural communication. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Non-intrusive human activity sensing with radio signals. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework for sensing and detecting human activities based on wireless radio signals. The framework advances the state-of-the-art by discovering the fundamental theory, and defining a set of principles to guide practical system design. The framework will be validated and its scientific merit demonstrated through building several applications such as contactless human activity detection and vital signs monitoring. This should benefit existing hospital and clinical patient services and promote home-care and self-care services at nationwide. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Trust, politics, fear: 'Generation 9/11' Muslim & non-Muslim youth compared. This project aims to explore issues of trust relations, political consciousness and fears among Muslim and non-Muslim youth in Australia. By combining in-depth interviews with innovative workshops in Sydney-based schools and universities, it will offer important insights on the comparative lived experiences of Muslim and non-Muslim youth who have grown up after the events of 9/11. Expected outcomes include new knowledge and enhanced understandings of Muslim and non-Muslim youth’s trust relations and political consciousness in education. This will provide significant benefits in formulating multicultural education and policies that are aimed at countering violent extremism. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Developing innovative concrete composites by upscaling material properties. This project aims to develop an upscaling process to correlate micro-nano properties of engineering materials to their comprehensive physicochemical properties based on systematic mechanical and statistical analysis approaches and nanoindentation technology. The process will enable assessing material mechanical and viscoelastic properties at a microscale level thus will generate a new knowledge in structural engineering discipline including health monitoring, assessment of existing structures, historical buildings, and strengthening and repairing materials in structures. The outcomes are a multiscale link model for upscaling material properties and a development of innovative reinforced concrete composites which are cost-effective and efficient. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Intelligently linking nanoscience to neuroscience with glycan biology. This project aims to provide a comprehensive description of the unique cell-surface glycan expression on inflamed neurons, astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes. This project will use glycan profiling data to engineer luminescent nanoparticles with superior neuroimaging qualities for cell type-specific in vivo targeting and drug delivery in the central nervous system. The project outcomes are expected to improve our fundamental understanding of neurobiological cell-surfaces. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology