UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Effect of disease on reproduction plasticity and evolution in amphibians. The project aims to explore the impact of disease on reproductive success in amphibians by utilizing a holistic approach of both lab and field techniques to understand ecological mechanisms for resilience of wildlife to emerging diseases. The project will explore reproductive effort as a population persistence mechanism of declining species. This should advance knowledge of both reproductive plasticity and evolutionary adaptation in the face of disease. The expected outcomes include developing targeted approaches for conservation agencies. Field of research: 0707 - Veterinary Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Discovering nature's photonic devices to control light and heat. This project aims to discover how and why beetles and butterflies reflect near-infrared light. Reflection of near-infrared radiation may be critical to prevent overheating, yet its role in thermal protection remains largely unexplored. The project will integrate evolutionary biology, optical physics and biophysics to reveal the diversity, mechanism, function and evolution of near-infrared signatures. Expected outcomes include the discovery of nature’s solutions to selection for both optical (camouflage, communication) and thermal functions. The project will have significant benefits such as creating opportunities to develop biomimetic and bioinspired materials to enhance energy efficiency, which will have significant economic and environmental benefits. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

New physics with strongly correlated and spin-orbit-coupled electrons. This project aims to identify new physics in quantum magnets and emergent phenomena in solids where the electrons are strongly coupled and intertwined in a complex manner. As a consequence, quantum effects are dramatically enhanced and, in certain situations, force the electrons to split into different exotic particles. This project expects to identify suitable physical systems, candidate materials and appropriate conditions required for the experimental observation of this phenomena with neutron scattering methods. The advanced materials and exotic particles identified in this project will inform the development of next generation technologies, becoming the quantum bits in future quantum computers. Field of research: 0204 - Condensed Matter Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Practical utility of new classes of species distribution models. This project aims to improve species distribution modelling practice by developing new tools and determining the net value of competing approaches under realistic data-availability scenarios and for real applications. Expected outcomes are clear protocols for using process-based distribution models in biodiversity management. This will have significant benefits, such as equipping researchers, governments and land managers with tools and guidance necessary for better prediction of distributions, enabling them to efficiently allocate public resources while also protecting biodiversity and natural assets. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Global childhoods: Life-worlds and educational success in Australia and Asia. This project aims to investigate how everyday life-worlds of year four students (nine-ten years of age) in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore shape children’s orientations to educational success. Situated in the global cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, the study explores connections between policy contexts, school experiences and everyday activities of children growing up in the Asian Century. Findings will advance knowledge of factors that contribute to children’s understandings of how their experiences in and out of school prepare them for futures in a global world. This will enable policy-makers, educators and parents to provide improved learning opportunities in children’s lives. Field of research: 1303 - Specialist Studies In Education

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Spanning ten billion scales from millimetre turbulence to global circulation. This project aims to explain the role of convection in the ocean. Convection is a key climate process yet it remains one of the most poorly understood mechanisms in the ocean and is crudely represented in climate models, leading to uncertainties in predictions of heat transport, climate change, polar ice loss and sea level rise. Using a unique turbulence-resolving approach and high-performance computing, the project will determine both the global role of buoyancy-driven convection in the broad ocean circulation and the local turbulence controls on melting rates of Antarctic ice-shelves. This will contribute to the formulation of better climate models and keep Australia at the forefront of oceanography and environmental fluid dynamics. Field of research: 0404 - Geophysics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Social attentive user interfaces for the age of interruption. This proposal aims to enable the development of social attentive user interfaces—those that employ sensors such as eye trackers and thermal cameras to monitor the locus and level of users' attention and adapt their behaviour accordingly. The project lies in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, drawing from machine learning methods to design novel user experiences. Expected outcomes include insights into how people manage their attention, new methods for attention estimation and classification, and novel systems for e-learning and work productivity that demonstrate these new capabilities. As a result, this project will provide the benefit of enabling system to no longer be blind to users’ attentional, social, and cognitive contexts. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

How neurons regulate the myelinating process. This project aims to identify novel mechanisms that govern brain myelination and functions. Myelination in the brain is a lifelong process that is vital for normal nervous system functions. This project will generate a new level of understanding as to why nerve cell signals are important for myelination and brain functions, and how this is tightly regulated by cell signal transmission. The data generated will identify new mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of a healthy brain. Field of research: 1109 - Neurosciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The mechanisms driving microbial navigation in marine systems. This project aims to apply advanced video-microscopy to characterise microbial motion at the single cell level, interrogating their navigational responses in precisely controlled physical and chemical conditions. Ocean carbon cycling is driven by the concerted action of marine microbes, but the fine-scale interactions between these microbes and their physical and chemical environments remains elusive. The project findings will unravel the fundamental processes governing microbial motion in real environments, and develop the mechanistic modelling tools required to make quantitative ecosystem-level predictions of how soil-atmosphere-water-marine systems respond in the face of environmental change. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Putting emotion regulation in context. This project aims to develop and test a contextual emotion regulation model, positing that effective regulation depends on how “who”, “when”, and “why” emotions are regulated. This project will combine naturalistic smartphone assessment with lab techniques to develop a generative and comprehensive theoretical model. Using this model, this project expects to reshape how emotion regulation is studied, and understand how emotion regulation shapes well-being. The findings will have implications for well-being, and provide a basis from which to develop community programs. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Prior sensitivity analysis for Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo output. This project aims to develop the first set of techniques to implement an automated output sensitivity analysis for Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation methods. Computationally intense Bayesian MCMC provide a powerful alternative to classical methods for the estimation of economic models. An obstacle to their wider application is that researchers need to specify prior beliefs about model parameters that will affect the results. The expected outcomes will enable researchers to undertake a routine assessment of the sensitivity of the results to prior inputs. Field of research: 1403 - Econometrics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

A New framework to improve human-robot interaction in financial markets. This project aims to investigate the interaction of humans with robots (automated, algorithmic traders) in financial markets. It will build a novel environment based on controlled experiments within the context of financial markets. It is expected to discover how market participants choose to engage robots, and when and why robots are disengaged. The project will also investigate how the use of robots affects price behaviour, and efficiency of allocation. This will provide significant benefits, such as enhancing Australia’s capacity for the scientific study of financial markets and for developing financial technology using an experimental method. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Metal-promoted bond functionalisation: new routes to amides and thioamides. This project aims to discover new metal-promoted methods to synthesise amides and thioamides, important structural motifs in chemistry and biology. The project will use a mechanism-based approach that integrates theory with gas- and solution-phase experiments to discover new chemical reactions. A benefit of this research will be new eco-friendly alternatives to existing processes, thereby reducing waste and eliminating toxic and expensive reagents. Field of research: 0302 - Inorganic Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Water information services to boost irrigation productivity. This project aims to develop an integrated irrigation scheduling, benchmarking and forecasting capability delivered through a water ordering portal that is used by most Australian irrigation farmers and many farmers internationally. Ensuring adoption is critical and this will be facilitated through integration into the existing water ordering system. Expected outcomes include improved ability to manage irrigation water through better use of existing weather observations and forecasts, irrigation data, and satellite observations to inform farmer decisions. This is expected to result in improvement in water productivity, leading to economic benefit and an improved ability to meet growing global food demands. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Frobenius manifolds from a geometrical and categorical viewpoint. This project aims to provide connections between Frobenius manifolds obtained from algebraic curves in diverse ways. The different constructions, using complex geometry on the one hand and category theory on the other, provide, respectively, a quantitative and qualitative view on the same Frobenius manifold. Together, these distinct points of view allow for the calculation of previously inaccessible physical quantities, and point to deep new relations between algebraic, complex and differential geometry. These relations are expected to guide new fundamental research on the border of mathematics and physics. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies of hydro-climate forecasting, with federal, state and regional water agencies. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Building connections: schools as community hubs. This project aims to support school systems and planning authorities enhance engagement between schools and local communities. The key objective is to advance the cost-effective development of the infrastructure required to deliver community programs and services from school sites, in addition to education programs for school-aged students. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how best to plan, design, govern and manage facilities and infrastructure to enable schools to operate successfully as more than a school, encouraging the development of resilient and connected communities. The outcomes are expected to include a development framework for maximising schools as community hubs. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Biosolid flow, separation and activity in anaerobic lagoons. This project aims to develop a fundamental model of the complex, non-steady state flow behaviour in anaerobic lagoons. The project will develop new operating procedures and designs for large municipal, industrial and agricultural anaerobic lagoons. This will improve the efficiency of anaerobic digestion and reduce wastewater treatment costs, as well as increase renewable and sustainable biogas production. The intended outcome is a validated 3D model that captures the physical and biological complexities of anaerobic lagoons. This will impact the design and operation of partner organisation lagoons, reducing capital and operating costs and improving biogas production. Field of research: 0904 - Chemical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Nano-bioscience imaging facility. This project aims to investigate the interactions between nano-engineered materials and biological systems through the use of cutting-edge imaging technologies. The project will consist of an ImageStreamX Imaging Flow Cytometer and a Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscope. Together these will allow high throughput and label-free imaging of cell-nanomaterial interactions, which will underpin research by leading researchers as well as promoting collaborations between researchers in the physical and life sciences. This will provide significant benefits, such as the development of new materials for potential applications in nano-bioscience. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Designing injury rehabilitation schemes for transport systems of tomorrow. This project aims to develop new models for understanding the effect of road transport system design on injury insurance, compensation and rehabilitation scheme performance. Injury rehabilitation schemes are critical facilitators of recovery for people injured in road crashes. However, rapid developments in artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles are heralding a transportation revolution that may disrupt their performance. The project expects to generate new knowledge for policy-makers and injury scheme managers to ensure injury schemes remain viable and perform well in the face of transport system change. It will assist injury schemes to prepare for potential challenges generated by future transport system design. Field of research: 1205 - Urban and Regional Planning

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Harnessing optical metasurfaces for reconfigurable optoelectronic devices. This project aims to demonstrate ultra-thin optical components known as metasurfaces, to demonstrate a new class of reconfigurable optoelectronic devices. This project expects to generate new knowledge in optics and photonics, a field whose impact upon modern society ranges from telecommunications to computing, green energy technologies, the arts, healthcare, and basic science. Expected outcomes of this project will be elucidation of the fundamentals underpinning optical metasurfaces. Such devices will permit optical systems with drastically smaller footprints, contributing to continued progress of the field of optics and photonics, and its ensuing benefits to society. Field of research: 0205 - Optical Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Multimodal testing for a fast subcortical route for salient visual stimuli. This project aims to uncover links between underlying brain circuitry, uncertainty and consciousness, and perceptions of fear. The project will use a multi-modal combination of brain imaging and neural recording techniques to generate new knowledge about the brain’s processing of biologically relevant information. The expected outcomes will enhance our knowledge of how the brain rapidly and non-consciously prepares the body for potential escape behaviours and of the brain pathways engaged in fear perception. The outcomes have the potential to inform strategies for overcoming anxiety and its effects on daily life, social interactions and workplace productivity. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Effect of climate boundary changes on the Southern Westerly Winds. This project aims to produce high quality data on how the Southern Westerly Winds (SWW) respond to largescale changes in climate boundary conditions over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Because the SWW are key drivers of Southern Hemisphere climate, Southern Ocean circulation and global carbon dioxide concentrations, it is important to understand how they respond to changes in boundary conditions. Uncertainty about how they do so limits attempts at accurate predictive climate modelling. This project will test conceptual models of SWW dynamics and provide essential boundary conditions for predictive climate models. The project intends to simultaneously build and support a research capacity and global network, and advance Australia’s knowledge and contribution in the area of global climate dynamics. Field of research: 0406 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Surveillance of the mechanisms controlling proteome foldedness. This project aims to measure how cells keep the proteome folded. Cells have extensive quality control networks to govern synthesis, folding and transport of every protein but the buffering capacity of this system is not definable. This capacity is needed to understand how problems arise in managing proteome foldedness, a central feature of human diseases and biotechnology and synthetic biology applications that need cell-based production of engineered proteins such as hormones and antibodies. The outcomes are expected to provide basic knowledge of this fundamental process and provide biosensors and screening methods for use in health and biotechnology industries. Field of research: 1004 - Medical Biotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2017 · 2017-01

Increasing inclusion in rural, generalist health services. The project aims to develop a 'toolkit' for health services to better serve minority groups. If health outcomes in Australia are to improve, health care must be provided to the poorest and sickest residents who need it most. However, these consumers will endure sickness rather than seek out services that are often exclusive and disrespectful. To provide accessible health care to disadvantaged residents, many of whom live rurally, all health services need to be responsive to diverse cultures and identities. This project works with rural health services to implement service-wide changes and discover how health services can adapt to the needs of diverse consumers. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services