UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Investigating the evolution of innate and adaptive cellular immunity. This proposal aims to assess the impact of geographical and genetic isolation of the Australian Indigenous population on adaptive and innate immune systems. The project will use novel DNA sequencing approaches to generate the high resolution sequences of two genetic loci that regulate innate and adaptive immune responses, the major histocompatibility complex locus and the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor locus. In an initial screen, distinct variants and combinations of these genes were identified. This project aims to interrogate how variation in these critical genes impacts on the function of cytotoxic lymphocytes, providing insights into the evolutionary drivers of immune recognition mechanisms. Field of research: 1107 - Immunology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Galaxies in the epoch of reionization. This project aims to study how and when the first galaxies formed and how they influenced the environment in the early Universe. The project will utilise the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope in combination with the natural magnification of distant galaxies afforded by the gravitational lensing effect. This project will result in the discovery of the most distant galaxies ever seen and will explore a never-before-seen epoch of the early Universe. It will will advance understanding of galaxy formation in the early Universe and will inform the priorities and expectations for the next generation of ground-based telescopes. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Novel conversion process for carbon dioxide to chemicals. This project aims to develop a novel sorption enhanced material and system to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol. Climate change is one of the primary long-term problems confronting humankind today. Since the production of CO2 through burning fossil fuel is far greater than the current usage of CO2, there is currently little alternative to storage. As a result, there is concerted effort globally to develop alternate uses and conversion technologies for CO2. This project will help further this goal. Field of research: 0904 - Chemical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Governing peace? Institutions, politics and peace-building in Sri Lanka. This project aims to strengthen peace-building interventions by studying post-war governance. The project will utilise an institutional ethnographic analysis to generate a robust understanding of Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern Provincial Council, and their attempt to govern peace. The expected outcome of this project is a strong account of post-war governance with new insights on peace and political order. The research design is ideally suited to deliver constructive policy inputs for key actors in Sri Lanka, Australia, the UK, Norway and the EU. Field of research: 1601 - Anthropology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Regulating cumulative environmental effects: Designing global best practice. This project aims to analyse and evaluate laws regulating cumulative environmental effects in the United States of America, European Union, Canada and Australia. The project will use methods combining law, ethics, and natural and spatial science to develop a framework of globally relevant best practice tools for regulating cumulative effects. The outcomes will increase the capacity of regulators, industry, and the community to better manage common challenges in managing environmental effects and reducing environmental harms. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Integrable models and topological strings. This project aims to develop advanced methods to compute n-point correlation functions in two-dimensional integrable models. The project expects to use recently discovered connections with topological strings to compute currently-inaccessible conformal blocks in conformal field theories, and their analogues in integrable massive field theories and statistical mechanical models. Expected outcomes include explicit expressions for the n-point correlation functions, advances in the theory of topological vertices and the related representation theory, and new solutions of the Yang-Baxter equations. This should provide benefits that include a better understanding of two-dimensional integrable models and their deep connections with topological strings. Field of research: 0105 - Mathematical Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Pushing the limits of fluorescence microscopy with adaptive optics. This project aims to establish an adaptive optics, super-resolution optical microscopy facility to image cellular events with the highest possible spatial resolution, in a whole cell or tissue context. Sophisticated computer-controlled deformable mirrors will be used to correct the way light is distorted as it passes through specimens, thereby overcoming aberrations found in thick and complex samples. This adaptive optics system will enable researchers to study complex behaviour of biological specimens, at the optical resolution limit in plant and animal tissues, leading to basic biology and biotechnology outcomes in biofuels, biomaterials and biomedicines. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Constructing social hierarchy. This project aims to generate new philosophical tools for understanding the persistence of social injustice. It will integrate anti-individualist approaches to mind, language, and action explanation in order to better understand the ways in which social hierarchies are created and maintained, often as the unintended outcome of the actions of multiple agents. The project will enrich the public discussion of hate speech, Indigenous/Non-Indigenous relations, and gender equality. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Agricultural skill development in India: Assessing acquisition and impact. This project aims to investigate the impact of new agricultural vocational training programs in rural India on processes of skill acquisition and youth livelihood trajectories. As India rapidly expands its capacity for formal skill development in agriculture, this study will be among the first to employ an innovative qualitative longitudinal research design to assess these programs’ ground-level impacts. Expected outcomes include deeper understandings of how agricultural skill development occurs in social contexts over an extended period. Research will inform policy in India and other developing countries on how to maximise the social impact of these initiatives. It will also provide insights on how Australia can deepen engagement with India in areas of vocational training. Field of research: 1604 - Human Geography

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

No pain no word gain: toward a new neurobiological account of word learning. This project aims to generate a novel neurobiological account of word learning, going beyond a simple mapping between words and objects and recognising the sensory and socio-communicative embedding of language. Capitalising on interdisciplinary approaches to research, this project will use state-of-the-art neuroimaging to reveal the neural architecture and mechanisms supporting contextualised sensory word learning. The results are expected to bring about a paradigm shift in the fields of neurobiology of language and learning, having a profound impact on the practice of language teaching and improvement of language functioning. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Aboriginal language evolution in urban contexts. This project aims to investigate how Aboriginal languages evolve in, and shape, Aboriginal engagement in cities. It will focus on Darwin-based speakers of Murrinhpatha, a language with unusually complex word structure. The expected outcome of this project is an understanding of linguistic complexity in an urban context. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Understanding how water-transporting vessels in plants are made. This project aims to understand how cytoskeleton-associated proteins underpin the formation of water-conducting vessels. Uncovering molecular mechanisms that lead to efficient water transport in plants opens up new avenues to address food and crop safety, particularly in times of environmental change. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Genomic diversity, tolerance and ecology of wildlife disease. This project aims to understand the regulation of viral disease by vertebrate hosts. Viruses are rapidly evolving threats to humans, agriculture and wildlife and understanding of these threats can be transformed by combining the latest genomic, ecological and immune-pathological approaches. This project expects to reveal how hosts manage the bad effects of viruses in natural populations and fill gaps in fundamental knowledge of virus-host evolution. Anticipated benefits include improved management, risk assessment and decision-making for animal disease and biosecurity in Australia and globally. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Using nanostructured scaffolds to understand and engineer neuronal circuits. This project aims to understand the formation of neuronal circuits in the brain. While the role of biochemical features in the brain is well understood, it is not clear how the biophysical properties of the brain affect circuit formation. The outcomes of this project will improve our understanding of neuronal circuit formation as well as provide design rules for creating scaffolds to repair neuronal circuits after brain damage. This project will integrate Australia’s strengths in nanotechnology and neurosciences, bringing Australian research at the forefront of neural engineering. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Ready to launch? young Australians’ work and family transitions. This project aims to establish reasons for young Australians delaying life-course milestones such as nest leaving and marriage. Are we seeing a shift of these milestones from “cornerstones” that lay the foundations for accomplishment to “capstones” that depend on economics accomplishments in areas such as employment? The project will investigate the timing of and conditions surrounding young Australians’ economic accomplishments and key household transitions. This will provide significant benefits such as identifying the economic, personal and family drivers of life-course transitions that are consequential for Australians' health, economic and social well-being, and use of public assistance programs. Field of research: 1603 - Demography

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Efficient spatial data management for enabling true ride-sharing. This data management project aims to examine ride-sharing as a model of a complex decision system that can be optimised to deliver better outcomes. Popular ride-sharing apps have quickly evolved into ride-sourcing services that are comparable to calling a taxi on a mobile phone. Such arrangements miss many of the key benefits of true ride-sharing for the society. The project will model incentives by helping people agree on points of interest rather than directly seeking trips from others to set destinations. It also aims to introduce privacy-aware dynamic matching of sharers, and expand to transportation at large, to generate new shared transportation services. The expected outcome of this project is to elevate today's taxi-like ride-sharing services to true ride-sharing arrangements. This is expected to provide benefits such as reduced traffic and emissions, as well as addressing parking issues and other traffic problems. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Improving the security of anchoring systems under extreme cyclones. This project aims to investigate the behaviour of anchoring systems under cyclonic loading and to innovate anchor designs to improve their security during extreme cyclones. Anchoring systems are increasingly playing the vital role of securing floating structures to extract ocean energies, but the current empirical knowledge and design method hinder confidence in engineering application. This project expects to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of the geotechnical mechanism of anchors under cyclonic loading using innovative experimental and advanced numerical modelling. Outcomes will include quality first-hand data contributing to the knowledge base, innovative anchor designs and new scientific based design guidelines. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Left-right patterning of the heart. This project aims to investigate how the heart responds to left-right (LR) signals, which tissue is dominant in this response; determine tissue intrinsic factors at play, and determine whether we can manipulate this. Expected outcomes include fundamental information about how organs are patterned. Field of research: 0604 - Genetics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Improving the seasonal prediction of Australian rainfall extremes. This project aims to investigate the predictability of Australian extreme rainfall using the latest Bureau of Meteorology seasonal prediction system and new re-analyses and climate models. Extreme rainfall events in Australia are often associated with loss of life and damage to infrastructure and the environment, but some impacts can be mitigated with improved forecasting. This project will analyse influences of climate change and climate variability on seasonal-scale predictability of extreme rainfall. This will increase our understanding of the processes behind extreme rainfall events and where predictability arises from, and this would result in improvements in forecasting. Field of research: 0401 - Atmospheric Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Emotional and socio-communicative domains in development. This project aims to test whether Research Domain Criteria are effective in predicting developmental outcomes, for example educational attainment, social participation, and mental health, across both general and clinical populations. Using a large prospective community sample of children, adolescents and adults, and large cross-sectional sample of individuals with autism, this research will provide the first exploration of how these candidate dimensions, both directly and indirectly, accurately predict long-term outcomes across both normative and atypical development. The findings will contribute to new understanding of typical and atypical development and have immediate potential to impact clinical and educational decision-making and practice. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Evolutionary impacts of climate change in Australia’s fossil record. This project aims to identify evolutionary responses to climate change in Australia's fossil record by comparing variation in lizard and frog communities across geological time. Using X-ray techniques on museum specimens, this project will generate a large-scale database for tracking evolutionary shifts in relation to historical climatic events. Expected outcomes include the first anatomical descriptions for many species, filling major gaps in our ability to place fossils in a contemporary framework. This research will demonstrate the value of our national collections for addressing important environmental issues, such as biodiversity, extinction, and future habitat change. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Aboriginal remote narrowcast TV and the audio-visual archive. This project aims to investigate the world’s best practices in community narrowcast digital TV and contemporary methods for the long-term storage of both digital and analogue audio-visual cultural materials. This will assist in the long-term preservation of Indigenous languages and culture and will investigate whether health promotion and other messages in Aboriginal languages community impacts on community well-being. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Preserving our rivers: environmental water use in a changing climate. This project aims to develop an 'active management' tool to improve the robustness and transparency of environmental water management. Managing Government investment on environmental water requires decisions on when and where to use water, involving complex trade-offs between competing benefits. This project will develop a tool to address shortcomings in currently available approaches based on the assumption of stationary climate, leading to more environmental benefit for less water, and greater resilience in the face of a changing climate. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Characterising the lipid droplet-mitochondria proteome. This project aims to determine the mechanisms by which the mitochondria and lipid droplets associate, and how this interaction influences lipid metabolism. Both critical for survival, lipid droplets are the bulk energy store in cells and the mitochondria break down this lipid to generate energy. It is anticipated that this project will identify the proteins that are critical for regulating contact between these organelles and the consequences if this process becomes dysregulated. The project expects to provide fundamental new knowledge in understanding how organelles interact and how lipid metabolism is regulated. This knowledge has applications for the primary industries and biotechnology sector. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

A new design strategy for supercapacitors. This project aims to build a new equivalent electric circuit model using structurally tuneable graphene-based porous electrodes to establish a quantitative structure-property-performance relationship for super-capacitors. The new model will then be used to design novel electrode and device architectures to realise new energy storage devices with high usable storage capacity at high operation rates. This new computer-aided strategy will greatly accelerate the design of next-generation high-performance super-capacitors, and bring significant benefit to Australia's emerging knowledge-based manufacturing industry. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology