MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Intrinsic structures in partial differential equations Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Dissecting nutrient uptake and metabolism in a fast-growing... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Energy on Wheels: A New Approach to the Smart Grid with Electric Vehicles. This project will pioneer a transformative approach to the optimization of distributed Smart Electrical Energy Grids with intermittent, renewable energy sources, electric vehicles and battery storage. It will leverage the movement of electric vehicles that are capable of storing significant amounts of energy in their batteries, and investigate how to harness these movements to increase the capacity and efficiency of a metropolitan-area Smart Grid. It will answer the question: how much could mobility of electric vehicles increase the capacity and reliability of the Grid? Expected outcomes include significantly reduced reliance on base-load fossil fuels, less blackouts, and new tools for dimensioning battery storage in the smart-grid. Field of research: 4008 - Electrical Engineering For Australia to become an energy superpower we need to develop new technologies for the management of renewables. This project will pioneer a transformative approach to the optimization of distributed Smart Electrical Energy Grids to make the most efficient use of renewable energy sources, and minimize the use of non-renewables. It will do this by leveraging the movement of electric vehicles and the emerging technology of bi-directional charging. ARENA’s National Roadmap for Bidirectional EV Charging predicts that there could be wholesale market benefits of more than $2.7 bn for Australia from bi-directional EV charging, and speed the transition to Net Zero. Our project goes well beyond this by exploiting the electric vehicle (EV) battery as a means of mobile energy distribution, as well as storage. Expected outcomes include a new framework for quantifying the performance of the future smart grid with distributed renewable generation, storage, and electric vehicles, and a solution to the current problem of blackouts which occur at peak periods. Software packages will be developed for designing and dimensioning future smart grid infrastructure, and for optimizing vehicle charging and discharging strategies. These software packages could be used by ARENA to help advance uptake of renewable energy in Australia, and by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in planning the distribution of renewable energy sources and EV charging stations across Australia.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Using gene knockouts to control cane toads and buffer their impacts Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut: mouth versus nose breathing. This project will use a specialised airflow and particle deposition model to investigate the effects of mouth breathing on particle deposition in the upper airways. Specifically, it will compare how breathing through the mouth versus the nose impacts the deposition of environmental particles, with a focus on how different factors such as humidity, acidity, and osmotic pressure influence this process. This research will advance our understanding of airway cell behavior and physiology, offering a foundation for potential innovations in targeted particle-based delivery systems. Field of research: 3214 - Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences This project will investigate how mouth breathing affects airway function and the movement of moisture and particles in the respiratory system, addressing a gap in understanding how different breathing patterns influence airway biology. Unlike nasal breathing, mouth breathing exposes the airways to drier air, which can impact airway surface hydration and function. By developing advanced laboratory models that replicate real-world conditions, this research will provide critical insights into how environmental factors influence airway physiology. The outcomes will benefit Australians by improving knowledge of respiratory function and supporting industries involved in biotechnology, and environmental health. The development of innovative in vitro airway models will strengthen Australia’s capabilities in aerosol science, biology and environmental impact studies. Findings will also have applications in air filtration technologies, workplace safety guidelines, and industrial air quality management, benefiting industry, workers, and communities. To maximize impact, findings will be shared through public engagement, collaboration with industry and regulatory bodies, and engagement with environmental and occupational health organizations. The project will foster national and international partnerships, ensuring the research benefits policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the broader community, contributing to innovation in air quality and respiratory health solutions.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Analysing business decisions through the Business Outlook Scenarios... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Blood, Sweat, and Peers: Employee Blood Donations through the Workplace. Blood donations save lives, but Australia's critical supply and demand gap requires a new approach. Employee blood donation through the workplace as a novel, under-researched phenomenon could be the key. Using a comprehensive mixed-methods research, corporate volunteering knowledge, and six different studies over four years, this collaboration of Lifeblood and three universities aims to investigate why and how employees donate blood and how companies support it. Its expected social impact includes addressing the demand for blood donations to save lives and contributing to Australia's healthcare and economy. Extensive findings' dissemination will build global knowledge to help implement the findings worldwide, making this study essential. Field of research: 3507 - Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour Donating blood saves lives. It helps with emergencies, cancer treatments, mothers and babies during childbirth, and more. Because only 3% of Australians donate blood, but 33% need blood, the Red Cross Lifeblood Teams program encourages people to donate blood through their workplace as a novel corporate social responsibility (CSR) form. While this program works well, we still don’t fully understand why people participate or how to get more involved. Based on corporate volunteering knowledge, this four-year research project will study how to encourage more employees and companies to join. Doing so can help recruit the additional 100k people needed yearly to close the gap, and save money for the Australian healthcare and economy (e.g., blood products’ import cost Australia $399M in 2023, to cover domestic shortfalls). It will strengthen communities by increasing giving, social capital, and resilience. The project will show how businesses can support workplace blood donations meaningfully to offer many benefits to healthcare, bringing people together, reducing the need to travel to donate, improving the company’s image and encouraging kindness and giving in the workplace. The findings will be shared widely through articles, workshops, media, and best practice guides to engaging employees in blood donations. By making blood donation a normal part of work life, this project offers a thoughtful and lasting way to boost donations and save more lives across Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

A climate-aware future for sustainable sea cucumber harvesting. This project future-proofs Australia’s sea cucumber fisheries by developing innovative, scalable stock assessment technologies. By combining cutting-edge remote sensing, machine learning, fishery metrics, and population dynamics, the project addresses critical data gaps, powered by the largest sea cucumber survey dataset ever assembled. The expected outcome is a suite of integrated tools to ensure sustainable fishery practices continue under a changing climate. This initiative will support the sustainable management of these species while ensuring the long-term profitability for industry. Ultimately, the project enhances biodiversity protection and ensures the long-term viability of the sea cucumber fisheries across Australia. Field of research: 3005 - Fisheries Sciences Trade in Australian sea cucumbers predates European colonisation, and sea cucumbers remain a highly valuable export for Australia. While the industry is currently well managed, sea cucumbers are vulnerable to overfishing, particularly in the absence of strong science and effective regulation. Climate and environmental changes now pose additional challenges. This project and future-proof Australia's sea cucumber industry by developing innovative, climate-aware management tools. As a world first this project generates species distribution models that estimate populations of sea cucumbers, with the algorithms informed by data from novel remote sensing platforms and techniques coupled with the latest machine learning. These models, together with fishery metrics and population dynamics, will form an integrated toolset to fill critical data deficiencies and reduce uncertainties in stock assessment and management. Critically, we will create climate-informed management pathways for commercially important species, supporting tailored and adaptive strategies for sustainable harvest. The project has immediate and tangible benefits, with outcomes directly aligned with the needs of Australia’s two largest sea cucumber industry operators in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Using multisensory illusions to test the cause of bodily desires. Bodily sensations (e.g., rumbling stomach) can lead to desire (e.g., hunger). While this may have a psychological basis, it is hard to test as bodily sensations cannot be ‘made to order’. Our aim is to create illusory bodily sensations, independent of physical state, and test their impact on behaviour (e.g., eating). Understanding bodily desire is significant. It is a key part of motivation, and dysregulated desire is linked to many ills (e.g., over-eating). Expected outcomes are a new way to generate bodily sensations, and a first test of a psychological model of bodily desire. Identifying the basis of bodily desire opens new ways to address its dysregulation, and an ability to create bodily sensation has many uses (e.g., marketing). Field of research: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology The environment contains many reminders of rewarding things, like hearing a lover’s voice. When we perceive these things, they cause desire because we have learned they are rewarding. Knowing how this works is critical for understanding motivation, but a key part of our understanding is missing. Bodily sensations can also cause desire, like an empty rumbling stomach signalling hunger. Changes to bodily physiology cause these sensations, so it is often thought that such changes also cause desire. Instead, we think that just like environmental reminders of reward, the meaning of bodily sensations are learned. We test this by inducing illusory bodily sensations (e.g., making you think your stomach rumbled) and see if this causes desire, even though there has been no physiological change to the body. Unless motivation is properly understood, novel approaches to its dysfunctions (e.g., excessive appetites for food etc) cannot be developed. This project is beneficial because it provides the basic understanding necessary for developing treatments in the future. In addition, an ability to induce illusory bodily sensations has potential commercial benefits, such as augmenting immersion in virtual environments and in advertising. To maximise translation the findings will be publicised via the Lifespan, Health & Wellbeing research centre that CI Stevenson & Francis belong to, via CI Dr Ho’s network, and via social, broadcast, and print media, and via a public seminar at project end.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Controlling invasive cane toads at a landscape scale. This project aims to develop gene-knockout methods to create a way of controlling the abundance and impact of invasive cane toads across their Australian range. This project expects to generate new knowledge about control of pest species even in areas that are too remote for direct management actions. Project outcomes include new knowledge and methods for cane toad control that present lower risk and greater geographic reach than existing strategies. These could be extended to other vertebrate pests in Australia and overseas. This should provide significant benefits, including recovery of native wildlife populations imperilled by the toad invasion. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology Invasive species rank as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide, including in Australia, and impose major ecological, cultural and economic impacts. The invasion of cane toads through tropical Australia has devastated native ecosystems, virtually eliminating some species of apex predators by fatally poisoning them. At best, current methods to reduce this impact are effective only over very limited areas and timescales as they rely on manual implementation. We urgently need a self-disseminating method of control that can naturally disperse over vast areas. Biocontrol can work in this way, but the risks posed by unanticipated effects of genetically modified organisms have prevented any application of that approach. This project will develop a way to reduce the abundance of cane toads, and to reduce their ecological impact and rate of spread, by using simple gene knockouts rather than by transferring genetic material from one organism to another. Our new method is low-risk, cost-effective, and well-suited to implementation by citizen scientists including Indigenous ranger groups; and could be extended to other invasive species worldwide. We will work closely with governmental wildlife management authorities and Indigenous communities to achieve the first landscape-wide control of cane toads in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Attention under threat: Maintaining attention in a noisy, cluttered world. This interdisciplinary project aims to understand how people sustain attention and what causes them to fail, focusing on the challenges of modern environments where rapidly changing information from multiple senses competes for our attention. Developing novel behavioural tasks and cutting-edge neural methods, this project will advance understanding of the interaction between attention and multisensory processing, discovering the factors that affect our ability to sustain attention in dynamic environments. The outcomes will contribute to the global endeavour to understand how the human brain processes incoming information, and provide an evidence-based foundation for designing environments which support, rather than impair, attention. Field of research: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology This project is about the consequences of modern environments for attention, to gain understanding of the factors that improve or impair attention in environments that are full of visual clutter, auditory noise, and changing events. It addresses a key concern about performance in semi-automated high-risk work such as train, aircraft, and traffic control where, increasingly, operators are monitoring computer systems for infrequent errors, often indicated by audiovisual signals. Because humans are extremely poor at sustaining attention under monitoring (vigilance) conditions, there is a strong likelihood of attention lapses in these workplaces, which can have tragic consequences. This project seeks to understand the impact of such conditions on attention and the brain, with moving multisensory stimuli mimicking real-world scenarios. Within the area of road safety, the project applies the initial findings to demonstrate how our choices about technology, such as wearing headphones, affects our attention. Illustrating the effects of attention in the specific area of pedestrian safety and decision-making, the outcomes will benefit Australians through providing guidance on how we can improve our attention, and better use audiovisual input to enhance, rather than impair attention. In addition to scientific publications, the findings will be promoted to the public and relevant industries through the media, public talks, and easily accessible science communication outputs.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Trustworthy data-driven discovery from complex high-dimensional data. This project pioneers new statistical methods that prioritise stability, resistance, and interpretability for analysing high-dimensional data. By integrating Bayesian and Frequentist principles for statistical model building, new solutions will enhance data analysis reliability in neuroscience, meat science, and climate change. Expected outcomes include innovative statistical tools that provide consistent, interpretable insights, enabling confident decision-making and interdisciplinary collaboration in these fields. This research will empower scientists to derive trustworthy findings from complex data in Australian and global contexts, advancing research and application in health, food science, and climate studies. Field of research: 4905 - Statistics This project addresses the challenge of analysing complex, structured, and heterogeneous datasets that underlie decision-making across several Australian industries and sectors. Existing statistical tools often fail to provide reliable, reproducible insights due to their inability to handle rich correlations, mixed data types, and hierarchical structures. By advancing feature selection methods that integrate frequentist and Bayesian principles, this research fills a critical gap in statistical modelling. These tools will empower users across diverse sectors—including agriculture, environmental policy, and health—to make data-driven decisions with confidence. For example, enhanced statistical models in meat science could help optimise livestock production systems, boosting profitability while addressing sustainability concerns. In climate research, our methods will provide robust predictions for risk mitigation strategies, while healthcare applications could revolutionise personalised treatment planning underpinned by transparent, reliable statistical models. Beyond academia, we will ensure broad accessibility by translating our innovations into intuitive, open-source software, fostering adoption by industry professionals and policymakers alike.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Convergence and Divergence Theories for Variational Decentralized Learning. Decentralized AI and learning meet the growing demand for hybrid, intelligent device, edge, and cloud systems and services. However, they face foundational challenges and knowledge gaps unexplored by existing learning systems. We aim to originate variational decentralized learning theories and methods to integrate variational, decentralized, and deep learning to satisfy complex stylistic, local-global integrative requirements. These transcend current aggregation-based learning frameworks by balancing local divergence and global convergence. The resulting groundbreaking theories and methods are foundational for real-world decentralized applications embedded with increasingly stylistic, divergent, and hierarchical settings and uncertainties. Field of research: 4602 - Artificial Intelligence Variational Decentralized Learning (VDL) is a key technology underpinning smart, decentralized, distributed, and federated devices, edge, and cloud systems, increasingly demanded by individuals and enterprises. It introduces groundbreaking learning theories and tools, enabling systems to adapt to both local divergences and global convergence in large-scale decentralized environments. VDL tackles fundamental challenges and knowledge gaps in current statistical, analytical, learning, and AI methods. It empowers learning systems to manage uncertainties, heterogeneities, and interactions among individualized devices, and between these devices and edge and cloud applications. This allows for precise decentralized AI, addressing both stylistic uncertainties and interactions at various scales. The innovations will transform industries by enabling personalized federated services across multiple sectors, such as tailored Internet of Things (IoT) devices, drones, and humanoid robots for manufacturing, logistics, and services, in addition to smarter decentralized financial services and distributed transport systems. To maximize the impact of the project, results will be disseminated through media releases, public talks, and professional engagement activities, fostering public understanding and broadening the adoption of the technology. The project will drive further discovery translation and stimulate commercial interest in decentralized AI applications.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

How our gender and sexuality euphorias predict our identity development. This project aims to discover how our gender and sexuality identity (GSI) euphorias (positive affect e.g. happiness) predict our lifespan GSI development. It creates the first interdisciplinary bio-social-cognitive model of people's lifespan GSI development and fluidity within ecological systems, via mixed methods. It identifies latent profiles of individuals’ ‘GSI euphorias’ (positive affect) – and others’ responses to these – and how these profiles are associated with typical vs. atypical GSI development and fluidity, education/service appropriacy, and lifespan wellbeing. Meeting gaps in male-and-youth-centred, deficit-based models; new GSI development models enrich professional approaches towards intervention benefits centring wellbeing. Field of research: 4405 - Gender Studies This project aims to discover how Australians’ gender and sexuality euphorias influence their gender and sexuality identity (GSI) development. Gender and sexuality euphorias are the feelings of happiness, joy, or ecstasy that emerge from experiences and expressions of GSI. In contrast to largely international, child-centred, male-centred and deficit-based identity models which focus on GSI dysphoria, we aim to develop a new “bio-social-cognitive" model of gender and sexuality which maps the role of both euphoric and dysphoric experiences in identity development, recognises identity fluidity, and acknowledges generational and lifespan changes. To build our model we use largescale quantitative methodologies and sophisticated latent profile modelling across the lifespan: identifying the individual, relational and structural influences which promote GSI euphorias vs. dysphorias in Australians of different ages and mapping their role in enhancing positive identity wellbeing. We use co-design approaches with education, health, mental health, and social service professionals to consider downstream benefits for wellbeing interventions and policy development.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Grief at the Margins: Conceptualising the Diversity of Loss. Grief is a fundamental human experience, yet varies significantly between individuals and cultures. Philosophical research has focused on the universality of grief, neglecting its diversity. Addressing this gap, this project aims to characterise the diversity and variability of grief experiences. It will generate new knowledge about marginalised groups who, due to intersecting forms of discrimination and disadvantage, are at particular risk of prolonged and complicated forms of grief. This project will lead to socio-cultural and economic benefits by offering theoretical foundations for future applied research on more inclusive and sensitive grief interventions addressing the unique needs of marginalised members of Australian society. Field of research: 5003 - Philosophy Grief is a fundamental human experience, yet it affects different people in different ways. By focusing on the universality of grief, philosophical research has neglected its diversity. This is problematic, because grief can compound the suffering of marginalised individuals who already experience disproportionately high rates of mental illness, heightening the risk of prolonged grief disorder, depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Grief can also exacerbate the associated impacts of structural disadvantage for marginalised groups, including psychological distress, social disenfranchisement, and financial, housing and employment insecurity. Addressing this gap, this project aims to conceptualise the diversity and variability of grief experiences, with a focus on understanding the grief of marginalised Autistic and LGBTQIA+ populations in particular. By creating new knowledge about the complexity of marginalised grief experiences, this project will work with key stakeholders to inform the development of more appropriate and targeted bereavement support for marginalised groups. In so doing, this project will be of significant social, cultural and economic benefit to Australia, enhancing the Australian Government’s Research Priority of ‘supporting healthy and thriving communities’ through undertaking critical research into the ‘social, cultural, developmental and environmental drivers of individual and community health’ for grieving marginalised Autistic and LGBTQIA+ Australians.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Convergence and Divergence Theories for Variational Decentralized... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Analysing business decisions through the Business Outlook Scenarios Survey. Both academic researchers and policymakers acknowledge the vital role of business expectations and uncertainties on investment, employment, and innovation decisions. While business survey data are essential for policy discussions in many advanced countries, they remain unavailable in Australia. This project bridges the gap by creating unique datasets based on a monthly survey of 500 Australian businesses. A standout feature is its integration with administrative data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, allowing for detailed analysis of the drivers of uncertainty and their effects on business decisions. The resulting datasets will enable natural experiments and provide valuable insights for research and evidence-based policymaking. Field of research: 3801 - Applied Economics Australian businesses are facing increasing uncertainty in conducting operations and making key decisions. However, Australia lags the world in collecting business expectation and uncertainty data, which severely limits our understanding of how business decisions are made under uncertainty and how policy design can best address elevated uncertainty. This project aims to enhance our understanding by delivering three new datasets generated from a novel survey. The project will benefit Australia by 1) enabling better-informed policy design through the availability of micro-level uncertainty data; 2) improving our understanding of how Australian businesses form their expectations in an uncertain environment, how these determine their actual business decisions and, in turn, the dynamics of the macroeconomy; 3) expanding national and international collaborations with key experts in academic and policy institutions, and 4) enhancing research mentoring and training support for the next generation of policy and academic researchers.The outcomes will be communicated to a public audience through various channels: 1) monthly public briefing tracking business expectations and perceptions of uncertainty; 2) opinion pieces for the general public in public outlets, such as The Conversation, newspapers, and the Macquarie University Lighthouse Series; 3) an annual workshop and a final-year policy conference with government policy makers, think-tank researchers and academic experts.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Dissecting nutrient uptake and metabolism in a fast-growing cyanobacterium. Nutrient uptake pathways in cyanobacteria (photosynthetic bacteria) are poorly understood, yet they are critical for understanding carbon cycling in the ocean, and for harnessing cyanobacteria in biomanufacturing. This project will systematically decode their nutrient uptake systems using advanced biochemical and molecular techniques. By identifying the organic nutrients that cyanobacteria can utilise for growth, this research will enhance models of marine carbon sequestration in the face of rapidly changing marine environments. This work will also pave the way for metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for industrial use, supporting the emergence of advanced Australian bioeconomy sustainably powered by light and CO2. Field of research: 3107 - Microbiology As Australia plans for an environmentally and economically sustainable future, it is crucial that we research topics addressing both. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria found in oceans worldwide. They perform 25% of all carbon fixation and serve as the base of global marine food chains. Consequently, the functioning of Australian marine ecosystems, as well as the dependent coastal tourism and fisheries industries, relies on the growth of marine cyanobacteria. However, our understanding of what nutrients cyanobacteria utilise for growth and the mechanisms behind it is limited. Therefore, the proposed research aims to investigate nutrient utilisation in a fast-growing marine cyanobacterium. Our research will enhance our understanding of how and where cyanobacteria will thrive in future oceans and what this implies for future carbon fixation. Additionally, it will improve our capacity to cultivate cyanobacteria for industrial use. Currently, cyanobacteria are being genetically engineered to serve as an alternative supply chain for manufacturing chemicals traditionally obtained from fossil fuels or endangered resources. By producing these chemicals in cyanobacteria, not only will manufacturing be powered solely by light and carbon dioxide, but it will also support Australian sovereign capabilities. These outcomes will be promoted to the Australian community through media/ social media channels as well as through our existing connections with public and political forums.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Activating the quantum advantage in Raman microscopy Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Generative Graph Modelling for Anomaly Detection. This project aims to develop cutting-edge generative graph modelling techniques to address critical challenges in anomaly detection, including data imbalance, lack of interpretability, and limited generalisability, for unforeseen anomalies. By leveraging diffusion dynamics to integrate local and global graph patterns, this project will discover hidden anomalies and provide human-understandable explanations. Anticipated outcomes include advanced generative graph algorithms, theories and models for next-generation anomaly detection. The research will benefit Australia’s economy and society, including advancements in fraud detection, smart devices, and urban transportation, while strengthening its global leadership in data science and AI. Field of research: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science Identifying anomalies in real-world applications, such as financial transactions, public transportation, and industrial systems, is crucial to Australia's economic stability. Undetected fraudulent activities, system failures, and operational inefficiencies cause billions of dollars in losses annually. However, today's solutions struggle with rare anomalies, making reliable analysis difficult for decision-makers. This project develops a new generation of AI-driven anomaly detection techniques through Generative Graph Modelling, enabling Australia to better identify abnormal behaviours across different domains. Unlike conventional methods, this approach can generalise unseen threats, enhancing detection capability while providing clear and interpretable insights for human operators. The research will deliver significant economic and social benefits. Strengthening fraud detection in finance will help protect businesses and consumers from economic losses. In industrial systems, it will enhance predictive maintenance, reducing downtime and improving efficiency. In public transport, it will optimise traffic flow and detect operational failures, ensuring better service reliability. To maximise impact, findings will be provided to government departments, to enhance their ability to detect complex anomaly patterns. By advancing Australia's AI capabilities in anomaly detection, this project will help the nation remain globally competitive in the rapidly growing data-driven economy.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Quantum computation combining learning and simulation for molecular... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Using gene knockouts to control cane toads and buffer their impacts. This project aims to develop novel methods to control invasive cane toads, and to buffer the impacts of cane toads on native biodiversity. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of biocontrol of invasive species. Expected outcomes of this project include improved techniques for control of vertebrate pests using synthetic biology. This should provide significant benefits, such as recovery of native wildlife imperilled by the cane toad invasion, and demonstration of using genetic methods for biocontrol without incurring the risks and obstacles previously associated with that approach. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology Invasive species impose huge ecological, cultural and economic impacts on Australia and threaten its unique biodiversity. The invasion of cane toads through northern Australia has been devastating for native wildlife, especially apex predators that are fatally poisoned if they consume a large toad. Current methods to reduce this impact have failed, or are very time-consuming and expensive to apply. This project will develop new and more powerful ways to reduce the abundance of cane toads, by exploiting the highly cannibalistic behaviour of toad larvae. We will also develop methods to make native predators more capable of surviving despite cane toad invasion via a low-risk approach designed to discourage vulnerable predators from eating cane toads. If successful, our new methods will be much more cost-effective, and are well-suited to implementation by Indigenous ranger groups. Our new approach could be extended to many other invasive-species problems worldwide, reducing the abundance of invaders that impose economic as well as environmental costs. We will continue to work closely with government agencies (state-based wildlife management authorities) and Indigenous communities (especially, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia) to translate our research results into effective wildlife management.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Activating the quantum advantage in Raman microscopy. Raman microscopy is a cornerstone of diagnostics and substance detection, and the latest devices are providing vital insights into the dynamics and internal structure of molecules and proteins. Unlike other spectroscopic techniques, Raman microscopy is yet to embrace the transformative potential of quantum technology to push the limits of resolution, sensitivity, and stability in precision measurement. In this project we will develop strategies for using nonclassical light to illuminate, control, and read out the unique “fingerprint” of molecular vibrations in a new breed of quantum Raman microscopes. This work will accelerate the development of faster, more precise, and sensitive tools for physical, chemical and material sciences. Field of research: 5108 - Quantum Physics Every day, a sensing technique called “Raman scattering” is employed to protect Australians from unclean water, contaminated food and medicines, explosives, and illicit drugs. The optical effect behind Raman scattering is exceedingly weak, and current methods to enhance it, using conventional tools of classical optics, cannot sustain the demand for higher sensitivity and resolution. In this project we will seek methods to bypass the classical constraints on Raman sensing, by applying and extending ideas from the quantum theory of light and matter. We will determine which forms of light, potentially very different from classical lasers, are best suited for building Raman microscopes, how to control the individual vibrations of molecules, and how best to extract the information they encode in the outgoing scattered light. Our findings will inform the design of a new generation of Raman microscopes and spectrometers with higher sensitivity and precision in monitoring a wide range of hazardous materials. The project will deepen Australia’s outstanding research record in the quantum technologies, and strengthen research ties with quantum research leaders in Europe and North America. By allowing students and early career researchers to focus on the detailed application of deep quantum ideas to a critical real-world problem, the project will be an ideal training ground for both industrial and academic careers in Australia's rapidly growing quantum industry.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Health, Biological Fitness and Environmental Diversity. Health is often impaired when evolved biological mechanisms interact with modern environments. But the idea that an ‘ancestral’ lifestyle will maximise health has been rightly derided as ‘paleofantasy’. Our team includes leaders of two fields that have taken a more productive approach to the impacts of diverse environments on biological fitness and on health: nutritional ecology and the evolutionary anthropology of altitude adaptation. Making explicit the ways in which these fields define reference environments and assess biological fitness will facilitate research on other health impacts of environmental diversity. This interdisciplinary collaboration will demonstrate the value of philosophy in science as opposed to philosophy of science. Field of research: 5002 - History and Philosophy of Specific Fields This project addresses foundational problems in measuring the ‘mismatch’ between evolved bodies and modern environments. Our results will facilitate research into managing the organism–environment interface in fields as diverse as human health, the health and welfare of domesticated animals, the impact of environmental change on endangered wild populations, and control of invasive species. For example, the interaction of our evolved bodies with the modern food environment is a major cause of overweight and obesity, leading causes of morbidity in Australia, which has a rate of obesity above the OECD average. Australia is a world leader in the study of this particular ‘mismatch’ and we draw on this expertise to ground our theoretical work. Progress in studying mismatch requires moving beyond the traditional paradigm that assumes a single ‘environment of evolutionary adaptedness.’ Organisms evolve across diverse environments, raising fundamental questions about defining environments for mismatch hypotheses and selecting appropriate fitness measures. By integrating insights from philosophy of science, nutritional ecology, and evolutionary anthropology, this project will develop a rigorous framework for analysing the organism–environment interface, facilitating the identification of divergences between ancestral and modern environments that could inform targeted interventions.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Where are all the Exo-Earths? Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research