UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Natural gas direct injection in advanced engines and powertrains. Natural gas direct injection in advanced engines and powertrains. This project aims to quantify and understand how future, advanced passenger vehicles might perform when optimised for the direct injection (DI) of natural gas. Such production vehicles do not exist, largely because production DI systems for natural gas, spark ignition engines are not yet available. This project will examine both advanced conventional and hybrid vehicles using a suite of state-of-the-art experimental and numerical techniques. This project will quantify these vehicles’ environmental, technical and economic performance to determine whether DI natural gas, conventional and hybrid vehicles might reduce substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions whilst avoiding any consumer penalty. This research could contribute to global GHG abatement. Field of research: 0902 - Automotive Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

New drugs against parasitic nematodes of livestock animals. New drugs against parasitic nematodes of livestock animals. This project aims to develop an innovative technology platform to deliver novel anti-infectives as biotechnological outcomes, using postgenomics, computing and chemistry. Advanced molecular, computer and chemistry technologies provide unprecedented opportunities to design radically new interventions against socioeconomically important infectious diseases affecting billions of animals worldwide. Anticipated outcomes are the design of radically new chemotherapies to control parasitic diseases, the translation of fundamental research into biotechnological outcomes, international visibility of Australian science, and a solid skills- and knowledge-base in veterinary drug development. Field of research: 1002 - Environmental Biotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Rapid prototyping 3-D nano-pattern large area writer . Rapid prototyping 3-D nano-pattern large area writer: The project aims to establish a nanoscale three-dimensional patterning rapid prototyping capability to enable advanced nanofabrication research and development. The extension of patterning nanostructured materials in three dimensions with nanometre resolution, developed for semiconductor processing, to nano-electronics, nanophotonics, nanosensors, nanobiotechnology and fundamental studies of nanoscale phenomena in science and engineering has opened new opportunities in these areas. As these areas accelerate, there is a need to develop nanoscale patterns and structures via rapid prototyping pathways and with methods accessible to an ever-diverse researcher base without a background in nanofabrication. By establishing the first NanoFrazor in Australia, this project aims to provide new technology for the fabrication of high-resolution nanoscale structures and patterns. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

The cell wall substrate delivery mechanisms in plants. This project aims to study the delivery of substrates plants need to biosynthesise sugar polymers. Sugar polymers play key structural and functional roles in plant development and determine quality for all plant-based products including food, textile fibres, building materials and renewable biomass. However, unknown mechanisms regulate and control the transport mechanisms that deliver the building blocks for polysaccharide biosynthesis. This project is expected to increase understanding of nucleotide sugar transport and develop and enhance the biological toolbox for applications involving modelling and engineering of plants, synthesis of industrial biopolymers and production of functional foods. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Targeted gene flow for conservation. This project aims to develop targeted gene flow as a broad conservation strategy, exploiting natural geographic variation to achieve conservation outcomes. Geographic variation and local adaptation are ubiquitous within species, but conservation managers do not use this heritable variation. The project will develop decision tools to address when to time a targeted gene flow action, and where to source appropriate genetic variation. As case studies, the project will try to use targeted gene flow to halt the invasion of the cane toad in northern Australia and reverse the decline of northern quolls. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

How the immune system recognises vitamin B-based allergies. This project aims to evaluate the range of molecules that can stimulate vitamin B-reactive T cells in mammals and amphibians, and the degree of conservation or variation in these molecules among diverse microorganisms. T cells are immune cells that recognise foreign molecules, including peptides, lipids and vitamin B metabolites, bound to specialised antigen-presenting molecules. In mammals, Mucosal Associated Invariant T cells, still poorly understood, recognise Vitamin B-based molecules. Combining immunology with structural biology and chemistry, this project aims to understand how the immune system detects molecules produced by diverse microorganisms. Field of research: 1107 - Immunology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

International Law and the Legacies of Fascist Internationalism. The project has three aims: to uncover and elaborate the fascist approach to international law that developed in inter-war Italy; to generate new comparative and interdisciplinary analyses of fascist internationalism; and to use this archival and comparative research to shed light on the contemporary global order and in particular its logic of violence, hierarchy and expansion. The project aims to improve our understanding of three interrelated phenomena of concern to Australia and globally: intensifying migration flows, increasing economic uncertainty, and the resurgent far right. It may provide a historical and legal framework for national and international responses to these phenomena and clarify the long-term structural consequences of military and financial interventions in the developing world. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation system for molecular structure determination. Dynamic nuclear polarisation system for molecular structure determination: This project aims to establish the first dynamic nuclear polarisation (DNP) spectrometer in Australia. DNP is designed to enhance the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance techniques for molecular structure determination. The instrumentation would enable advancements in the biological and material sciences by providing enhanced sensitivity to allow biomolecular and in-cell structure determination and the characterisation of new advanced materials. The facility is expected to drive interdisciplinary research and bring together scientific expertise that will accelerate advances in biomedical science, biochemistry, forensic science and security, polymers and nano-electronics. Field of research: 0304 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Virulence determinants influencing re-emergence of a complex RNA virus. This project intends to examine the effects that specific genes in naturally occurring recombinants have on their capacity to cause disease and spread between chickens. Coronaviruses are major pathogens of domestic animals throughout the world. Recurrent re-emergence of the coronavirus of chickens, infectious bronchitis virus, has been associated with recombination between wild type viruses and vaccine viruses, but the factors influencing this, and in particular the selective advantages genes from vaccine viruses confer on these recombinants, are unknown. The ultimate aim of the project is to identify both novel vaccines and alternative management strategies that might reduce the frequency of re-emergence of this virus and other coronaviruses. Field of research: 0707 - Veterinary Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Representing Children in Australian Political Controversies. This project intends to expand Australian knowledge and understanding about how children appear in politics, thus shaping public discussions about key social, cultural, health and national security policies. The project plans to investigate how children are represented in Australian political controversies: specifically, the 2008 Northern Territory Emergency Response and the ongoing debates about children in immigration detention. Through this, the project intends to demonstrate how politics is transformed by representative claims about children. By examining these claims and their impact on political decisions, this project seeks to develop an explicitly political account of childhood and explore its implications for Australian policy-making. Field of research: 1606 - Political Science

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Detector system for the First Australian Experiment on Dark Matter. Detector system for the first Australian experiment on dark matter: This project involves the installation of equipment for an experiment to detect our galaxy's dark matter via nuclear recoil. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, we have a crucial advantage in the search for dark matter via direct detection, which will allow us to independently test the most persistent and enigmatic signal in the worldwide dark matter detection effort. The detector system, called SABRE South, is designed to be paired with a matching one in the Northern Hemisphere. The research program is addressing one of the most important unsolved problems of contemporary science. Field of research: 0202 - Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Developmental genetics of malaria parasites. This project aims to improve our understanding of malarial genetics. The sexual cycle of malaria parasites occurs in mosquitoes. After sex, parasite progeny multiply to form infective spores that are injected into people by mosquito bite. Development of male and female malaria parasite gametes and their fusion to produce a diploid zygote are well understood, but the subsequent process of meiosis, development of a cyst stage and the sporogenic process to create haploid progeny for new infections are poorly understood in molecular genetic terms. The project aims to dissect the unique genetics of these insect stages using a rodent malaria model to generate crosses of different malaria parasite lines to determine when recombination takes effect. Field of research: 1103 - Clinical Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Memory Engram Storage and Retrieval. This project aims to probe how long-term memory is stored in the brain. Recently, memory engram-labelling technology has revolutionised the way memory can be experimentally studied. It is now known that sparse populations of neurons that were active during a defined training window are both sufficient and necessary for retrieval of specific memories, and that activation of hippocampal engram causes further downstream activity in connected engram cells of other brain regions. However, it is unknown whether engram cell connectivity is important for memory function. The project aims to test this question. Understanding more about memory function in normal conditions may help us to understand and treat disorders of memory. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

An Ultra High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Facility for Lipidomics Research. An ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry facility for lipidomics research: This proposal aims to establish an ultra-high-resolution, accurate mass spectrometry facility in Australia for comprehensive lipidomics research. The platform would consist of a Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion mass spectrometer interfaced with ultra-high-pressure high-performance liquid chromatography. This proposal will address a major need for advanced mass spectrometry-based lipid analysis capabilities across mammalian, plant, parasite, and microalgae research disciplines, as well as enabling fundamental studies of lipid separation, chemistry and reactivity. The instrumentation would be applicable to a diverse range of projects including studies of the role of lipid metabolism in mammalian biochemistry and cell biology, plant biology and parasitology, and micro algae biofuel production. Field of research: 0304 - Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Subtle Symmetries and the Refined Monster. The project plans to develop a new conceptual framework for the representations and characters of categorical groups. The field of representation theory exploits the symmetries of an object (eg a molecule) in order to facilitate its study. This project aims to investigate the case where the symmetries themselves are related by symmetries. Traditionally often ignored, this subtle but powerful information turns out to be at the heart of various deep phenomena. It is anticipated that the project’s approach recasts and simplifies some important and difficult mathematics, providing a new approach to affine representation theory, to the foundations and symmetries of string theory, and the Refined Monster Conjecture. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing patients in undersupplied sectors and sites). It then aims to propose changes to make the migration and health policy systems more effective and ethical in future compared to Canada (Australia’s key global competitor for skilled migrants), through evidence-based policy reform. Field of research: 1605 - Policy and Administration

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Super Resolution Confocal Microscopy Facility. Super resolution confocal microscopy facility: This project aims to establish a super-resolution confocal microscopy facility with unrivalled resolution, sensitivity and speed. The widespread application of super-resolution microscopy has so far been limited because of the special sample preparation and technical skills required. The project aims to provide us with the ability to image thicker samples, such as animal and plant tissue, without these limitations. This would enable us to capture three-dimensional data at both the cellular and tissue level, providing researchers with a level of detail never before seen. The facility may create new knowledge in life science, including visual neuroscience, developmental neurobiology, plant growth, stem cell regeneration, the role of trace metals in physiology, and vaccine and drug development. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

The Macroeconomic Effects of Global Uncertainty. This project aims to estimate the first global uncertainty index to enable Australian policymakers to design policies to efficiently manage global uncertainty shocks and limit the recessionary effects of such shocks. Uncertainty is a crucial driver of household and business consumption and investment decisions and, therefore, countries' business cycles. A global uncertainty index would aim to identify the role of global uncertainty as a driver of Australia's business cycle fluctuations, to understand if this role has become more relevant in recent historical periods due to globalisation, and to understand if the effects of fluctuations in global uncertainty have been more severe in economic recessions. The intended outcome of the project is to provide policy-makers with key inputs to design policies able to limit the severity of recessions and lift Australia's growth. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Turbulent flow over surfaces with spatially varying roughness. This project aims to improve understanding of the effect of spatial roughness transitions on turbulent flows. Fluids flowing over non-smooth surfaces influence our daily lives, such as water moving through a pipe, wind blowing over the Earth's surface or aircraft moving through air. The presence of surface roughness profoundly influences these flows. Though engineers have learnt to deal effectively with evenly distributed roughness, this is seldom encountered in reality. Rather, there are abrupt changes in roughness, for example at the edges of wind-farms or at rivets on aircraft. This project aims to investigate these important, but little understood, turbulent flows. Potential benefits include improved simulation, more efficient vehicle design and improved atmospheric and climate models. Field of research: 0915 - Interdisciplinary Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Predictive models to study neuromuscular control of walking in older people. This project aims to address a major challenge in human motion simulation: to deliver computationally-efficient predictive simulations of movement biomechanics. It plans to bring together the latest developments in computational modelling, medical imaging and nonlinear optimal control theory to advance current understanding of how individual lower-limb muscles stabilise and control body movement during locomotion in healthy young and older adults. New knowledge of how age-related changes in muscle mechanical properties affect the neuromuscular control of walking may assist in the design of more targeted exercise-based therapies aimed at maintaining independent function and improving the quality of life for older adults. Field of research: 0903 - Biomedical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Co-evolution of Cooperation, Mindreading, and Morality. The project aims to investigate the evolutionary and cultural–historical underpinnings of human cooperation. Human cooperation is critical to meet contemporary challenges to humanity such as climate change and humanitarian emergencies. Yet, when cooperation incurs some cost to benefit others, how can cooperation emerge? The project’s main contention is that human cooperation co-evolved with the human capacities to read each other’s minds and to monitor and sanction each other’s deeds in the social context of pursuing a collective goal for a greater good. The project plans to tests the theoretical integrity of this contention through computer simulations and its empirical validity through laboratory experiments and cross-cultural studies. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Collective Self-Regulation in Complex Social-Ecological Systems. This project plans to investigate the necessary supports and drivers for self-regulation for environmental purposes. Sustainable human uses of natural resources are central to meeting contemporary challenges to humanity such as deforestation and climate change. However, the complexity of the social and ecological interdependences tests the human capacity for collective self-regulation – ordinary citizens’ regulation of their own behaviours for a greater good. The project aims to investigate the importance of establishing a common ground for collective self-regulation, the process of common ground formation in complex social-ecological systems, and how best to achieve this critical condition for sustainable ecological practices with a view to informing public discourse and policy-making for sustainable living. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Is Precarious Employment Reshaping the Lives of Young Adults? This project aims to investigate the impact of the growth of insecure and non-standard employment on the transition to adulthood. It is recognised that precarious employment among young people can influence career outcomes, but very little is known about its impact beyond work. In Australia and other developed countries, many young people are making housing transitions, building relationships and forming attitudes towards work–life–family questions while negotiating complex and insecure employment. This project has the potential to provide new knowledge of the resources that government, educators, and youth service providers should make available to help young people achieve their goals, hence supporting economic participation, social inclusion and quality of life. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Symbiotic partnership between algae and animals that powers coral reefs. This project aims to unlock the molecular basis of a partnership between a microscopic plant and an animal that powers coral growth. Most corals depend on microscopic algae living inside their bodies to nourish them. Most corals have to recruit new algae each time they reproduce, but only a particular strain of algae is accepted. This project aims to establish how anemones and corals identify and take in the right alga, how the alga gives them food, and how the animal hosts regulate growth of their algae to optimise food production but avoid being overrun by algae. Understanding the partnership that drives reef growth and survival may better equip us to protect this threatened resource. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

What learning is there in learning control? This project seeks to establish a meaningful definition and quantifiable measure of learning in the context of adaptive or learning control. The project is designed within the context of human motor skill learning, and assesses the speed of learning and the quality of learning (reflected by the accuracy of the motor task execution). The project plans to use measures to provide a mathematically precise meaning for the notion of learning. The outcome has the potential to be applied to the design of technology-assisted training of motor skills, from the recovery of lost motor skills after trauma to the development of elite athletes. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering