Flinders University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Develop materials for stable and efficient printed polymer solar cells. The project aims to develop strategies to overcome current limitations of polymer solar cells by enhancing the thermal stability of these devices. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of stable and high-performance polymer solar cells, that can be manufactured by the printing industry in Australia. The expected outcome of this project includes new high performing materials, processing and additive strategies to overcome the key challenge to commercialising polymer solar cells. A significant benefit is their printability, providing the opportunity to establish a sovereign capability to manufacture low cost energy production systems in Australia. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering Polymer solar cells have the potential to provide an inexpensive and green complement to other types of solar cells. One particular advantage of polymer solar cells is that they are printable, which reduces the complexity and cost of manufacturing infrastructure, providing the opportunity to establish a sovereign capability to manufacture energy production systems in Australia. Solar cells that can be manufactured on equipment already used in the printing industry offer an enormous opportunity for advanced manufacturing in Australia. This project will develop new materials for stable active layers in organic solar cells to provide an environmentally friendly pathway to overcome the key challenge to commercialising what holds the potential for a very cost-efficient technological pathway.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Quantitative Metagenomics. This project aims to revolutionize our view of the microbial world once more by transforming microbiome studies from relative counts of organisms to actual numbers of microbes. This project expects to impact all the microbiome studies that are being performed worldwide by unveiling the actual numbers of microbes. Expected outcomes of this project include new techniques to enumerate the number of bacteria in different environments and new approaches to measure gene expression within individual bacteria in any environment that will be demonstrated with complex microbial communities. This should provide significant benefits because microbes affect every aspect of our lives and those effects are driven by how many microbes are present. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology As we have come to realize this year, Viruses, Bacteria, and Archaea (hereafter microbes) are all around us and, for better or worse, they affect our everyday lives. Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections are one of the biggest threats to human and animal health today and are already estimated to cost Australia ~$250 million per year. Some microbes cause food, beer, and wine spoilage, while others can be used to prevent it. There are fundamental gaps in our knowledge about how many microbes are in different environments and how they impact those environments. We know that the number of each species is important in understanding the whole community, but without this work, there is no accurate method for enumerating them. Solving these challenges will provide the foundation for exciting new therapeutics that have the best possible potential to positively transform health care, agriculture, food production, and bioindustrial processes. This DP will expand the knowledge base in Biological Sciences and enhance research capability across Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Evolution. Morphodynamics and History of the Younghusband Peninsula. This project will examine the history and evolution of the Sir Richard-Younghusband Peninsula (SRYP) complex barrier in SA. The aims are to derive a understanding of how the influences of relative sea-level changes, neotectonics, and sediment supply, can produce remarkably different responses in barrier development. No complex barrier (i.e. foredune ridges in one portion, transgressive dunefields in another) has ever been comprehensively drilled, dated, modelled, or examined in the context of indigenous occupation and oral histories in Australia. The study provides excellent analogues for barrier and dune response, and shoreline translation to varying rates of sea level rise, paralleling pressures facing all coastlines today. Field of research: 0406 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience This project will study the geology and history of the Sir Richard-Younghusband Peninsula, a coastal barrier that separates the Coorong Lagoon from the Southern Ocean and which includes the Murray River mouth. The study will use geophysical and drilling techniques, advanced modelling, and Indigenous knowledge to understand how the influences of relative sea-level changes, wave energy, tectonics, and sediment supply can produce different responses in barrier development. No Australian complex barrier (a barrier displaying different coastal dune types) has ever been comprehensively examined, so the benefit to Australia will be a foundational understanding of barrier response to sea level rise with implications for the management of the Murray mouth and adjacent Coorong lagoon and the Australian coast. The project will produce a better understanding of 7000 years of Aboriginal occupation of the peninsula and information on the evolution and geography of a significant Australian national park for the benefit of school students and tourists, whose visits play a vital role in sustaining rural communities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

How do cells survive nutrient stress? Insight into mechanisms. This project studies cell survival under nutrient stress in eukaryotes. Building on extensive preliminary data that identifies novel TOR (Target of Rapamycin) Complex 2 (TORC2) control points it expects to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of stress control of macroautophagy that ensures cell survival. It uses interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to validate and characterize nutrient-stress dependent signaling. Expected outcomes include novel insights into environmental control of cell proliferation and forging cross institutional collaborations. This knowledge benefits basic and applied biology and is relevant to industries/projects utilizing living cells as nutrient supports cell survival and proliferation. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology The nutrient stress response in all eukaryotic cells promotes survival and sufficient nutrient availability in limiting nutrient conditions (nutrient stress).  Macroautophagy is a fundamental process whereby cells scavenge nutrients to ensure survival. In this proposal advanced genetics and innovative molecular (mass spectrometry) techniques will be used to identify and characterize molecules in the cell that regulate Macroautophagy.  The benefit to Australia derives from an improved understanding of nutrient control of cell growth and cell proliferation through elucidation of the strategies used by TORC2, the key molecular nutrient sensor molecule, to regulate macroautophagy and therefore the response to nutrient stress. This will benefit any industrial or research programme utilizing and propagating living organisms, because cell proliferation, survival, secretion and differentiation are universally dependent on nutrient availability. Thus, this project is likely to have far-reaching applications, including in agriculture, medicine and bio-manufacturing industries.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Nanoengineering of Biomaterial Surfaces to Tailor Innate Immune Responses. The overarching aim of this project is to provide a mechanistic understanding of how surface nanotopography affects inflammatory responses. Recently, we showed that surface nanotopography induced conformational changes in adsorbed proteins can activate or deactivate immune cells. These exciting findings are important because they show that it may be possible to engineer the nanotopography of a biomedical device surface in a manner which leads to a desired and predictable level of inflammation. The outcomes of the project will create new fundamental knowledge that in the future can instruct the development of the next generation of biomaterials capable of controlling and directing the body’s inflammatory responses. Field of research: 0903 - Biomedical Engineering Unpredictable inflammatory response generated by biomaterial surfaces is a longstanding and unresolved problem for patients, clinicians and the biomedical industry. This project will provide the missing fundamental knowledge of how biomaterial surface properties affect physiological processes, and how these properties can be tailored to modulate innate immune responses, the associated inflammatory pathways and the subsequent Foreign Body Reaction in a desired manner. The scientific breakthroughs delivered through this project will underpin the design of the next generation, innovative, high value-added products, such as implantable devices and tissue engineering constructs, which have manageable and predictable inflammatory consequences. Although focused on fundamental science, the project has the potential to develop innovative IP protected solutions that can be exploited by Australian companies to create new high added value manufacturing industries in Australia. In turn, this will create skilled employment, increase revenue and enhance the wellbeing of Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Structure and metabolism of bioactive carbohydrates from brown algae. Brown algae produce a diversity of species-specific carbohydrates in their cell walls that exhibit a variety of biological activities that can be exploited for the development of functional food and biopharmaceutical formulations. However, the metabolic pathways responsible for the biosynthesis of these carbohydrates are poorly characterised. This multidisciplinary project aims to understand the molecular events that control the structure and metabolism of bioactive carbohydrates in the prominent Australian brown alga Ecklonia radiata, with particular focus on alginates and fucoidans. This knowledge will be used to produce in yeast bioactive oligosaccharides that are of high commercial interest to the biopharmaceutical industry. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This project aims to define an important fundamental process, specifically, the biosynthesis of bioactive polysaccharides from Ecklonia radiata, a prominent Australian brown alga of high industrial relevance. The multidisciplinary approaches used for genome analysis, cell wall characterisation, biochemical and functional characterisation of cell wall biosynthetic enzymes will generate new, ground-breaking knowledge on metabolic processes involved in carbohydrate formation in the cell wall of this species. The project will also deliver new tools for the production of structurally-defined oligosaccharides that have been shown to be efficient for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) as well as diseases whose prognosis is negatively impacted by fungal and bacterial biofilms, such as chronic sinusitis. The target bioactive oligosaccharides are also inhibitors of fungal growth, which can be exploited for the treatment of various forms of invasive candidiasis.Thus, beyond the delivery of new fundamental knowledge, this research has high potential benefit to the biopharmaceutical sector.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

SA Spectromicroscopy Facility: From Band Mapping to Atomic Scale Imaging. This proposal aims to establish Australia’s first advanced spectromicroscopy facility capable of energy filtered momentum space imaging of advanced materials in real time. The facility will enable the direct correlation between electron band-structure of advanced materials with device function. This is essential for understanding the electron transport in materials including topological insulators and transistors for quantum computers; nanomaterials for energy storage devices and catalysis, and geoscience. The investment will ensure innovation in Nanotechnology, Characterisation, and Advanced Manufacturing that is crucial for Australian to remain competitive in the global market. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology The Specromicroscopy Facility will provide Australia with a unique world class facility capable of mapping the electronic properties of advanced materials with unprecedented spatial, energy and momentum resolution. This facility is critical for understanding the intrinsic properties of advanced materials and their link with device performance. The facility will build capacity to address key global challenges in Advanced Manufacturing, Energy and Resources. It will enable a highly skilled workforce by training HDR students, post doctoral fellows in world class instrumentation and materials characterisation. The facility will ensure that Australia is at the forefront of advanced materials research for years to come, supporting local companies competitiveness in international markets.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Re-imagining Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts. This project will develop an Indigenous Creative Arts Framework to reimagine and transform the Humanities across Australian Universities. It will engage Indigenous creative arts academics, scholars, curators, practitioners and communities to conceptualise new innovations in teaching, research, community engagement and ethics. This project will centre critical Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing; contribute new Indigenous research methodologies and restorative practices; and reframe knowledge through creative arts praxis. Such innovative and dynamic advances in research will recognise and grow Indigenous capacity building across the Humanities, as vital to cultural wellbeing for all Australians. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies The social and cultural benefits of this research are significant. Indigenous communities within Australia continue to face inequality (Closing the Gap 2019). How Indigenous peoples creatively envision collective futures are of fundamental benefit for all Australians. Creative arts can offer opportunities for Indigenous peoples to reconceptualise relationships within Indigenous contexts as well as with the broader Australian state. Using Indigenous led creative/scholarly interventions, this research locates Indigenous well-being and Indigenous ways of knowing and doing as central to any decolonising processes. Indigenous creative decolonising methodologies have the potential to transform and reform relationships with settler-state institutions such as universities, galleries, museums as well as other public, cultural and political institutions. This research is beginning in many places globally and this project will contribute new knowledge to the creative and scholarly work being undertaken within Universities and contribute to ethical, healing ways forward for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Understanding the relationship between the social environment and cognition. The predominant theory for the evolution of intelligence, the social intelligence hypothesis (SIH), posits that within-group social interactions drive cognitive evolution. But the SIH overlooks a major component of social life: interactions with outsiders of the same species. Using a unique combination of meta-analytical and experimental approaches, the DECRA project will test the predictions of an expanded SIH, incorporating the “Napoleonic” cognitive challenges posed by outsiders. The expected outcome is to gain a new understanding of which factors govern cognitive evolution – one of the longest-running debates in evolutionary biology. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology The predominant theory for the evolution of intelligence, suggests that the cognitive demands of living in complex social environments are the main drivers of cognitive evolution. However, this theory overlooks a major component of social life: interactions with outsiders of the same species. This project will test the cognitive challenges posed by outsiders and will deliver a new understanding of the factors that govern cognitive evolution. The project will show how social living influences intelligence and will reveal new insights into the evolution of human intelligence and its relationship with the emergence of different societies, from hunter-gatherers to complex multi-level social groups. This will be of profound importance to understanding our place in evolution, and will be of cultural benefit to the Australian and international community by revealing the origins of our own intelligence. The project will provide insights into the social dynamics of human populations and deliver a new understanding of the capacity for cognitive development.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

How Spinal Afferent Neurons Control Appetite and Thirst . This project aims to provide major new insights about how the gut communicates with the brain, to regulate how much food and fluids have been consumed. The proposal expects to generate new knowledge about gut-brain communication and how one of the major sensory nerves from the gut relays information about thirst and appetite sensations. The project addresses fundamental questions that rely on techniques only recently developed in our laboratory. We expect to demonstrate a major new sensory nerve pathway from the gut to the brain that plays a major role in appetite and thirst sensations. We will learn how gut to brain communication underlies the feeling of "fullness" when people consume food and drink. Field of research: 0606 - Physiology There is a clear lack of understanding about how animals regulate how much they eat and drink. Understanding how and why animals (including humans) eat and drink as much as they do is of major relevance to Australia's national interest, because excessive consumption of food and drink has major detrimental effects on several key fields at a commercial, social, cultural and environmental level. By understanding the mechanisms that determine how animals regulate how much food and liquids they have consumed, we have the potential to selectively target the mechanisms that underlie appetite and thirst sensations. This could occur by developing new drugs, with the pharmaceutical industry, or via non-pharmaceutical techniques. Therefore, the new information obtained will likely lead to significantly improved economic, commercial, environmental and social benefits to the Australian community. This project will provide essential new insights about how a major sensory nerve pathway controls appetite and thirst sensations in animals. The proposal relies on new methodologies that only exist in our laboratory.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Using facial recognition for bird conservation management. Long-term monitoring of reintroduced species is essential to measure conservation success. This project aims to use a novel and non-invasive facial recognition software developed by our research group to measure the recovery of a vulnerable and native bird species following introduction outside of its historic range. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of animal monitoring. Expected outcomes of this project include improved ability to track individuals and their persistence to better inform conservation priorities. This should provide significant benefits to researchers, government agencies and industries to improve conservation planning as well as the outcomes of reintroductions and other translocations. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management This project aims to use facial recognition for individual bird tracking to better understand the recovery of a vulnerable and native bird species following introduction outside of its historic range. The project merges animal behaviour, population dynamics, conservation, and artificial intelligence to deliver improved conservation planning for Australian’s wildlife. Practical outcomes include the development of software that will track individual birds with minimal training and time, and that can be transferred across species and readily adopted by researchers, government agencies and industries to enhance their management plans. The findings of this research will have important implications for informing conservation planning policies, which will benefit various end-users at the departmental, national and international level and will set the world standard for non-invasive monitoring. The research will improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of monitoring programs, producing actionable outcomes for environmental agencies for less effort and with lower impacts on target species.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliances with the government, industry and community partners will develop a practice framework to prevent everyday harms and the escalation to abuse, and to promote safety and wellbeing. The research has policy benefits for capacity-building in the sector to act on the rights and voices of people with disability. Field of research: 1605 - Policy and Administration The project will use extensive observations, interviews and analysis to understand and define ‘everyday harms’ arising from poor support worker interactions with people with cognitive disability, to then devise policy, organisational and practice-based approaches to address them before they escalate to abuse. It addresses a key national interest, the safety and wellbeing of people with disability. New evidence is needed to address the stark problems of abuse and neglect identified in the Disability Royal Commission. Incorporating new understandings of abuse, safety and wellbeing into national policy and practice collaboration will help organisations efficiently and safely improve the quality of disability support, improving effectiveness and value of key mechanisms such as the NDIS. The research will contribute to achieving Australia’s Disability Strategy 2022-2032, addressing Outcome Area: Safety, Rights and Justice. It will also support conceptual and practical approaches to enhance safety and wellbeing in the related sectors of aged care and children’s services.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route. Beginning in the mid 1400s the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade. But the legacy of artefacts retrieved from this time has not been appropriately understood because the objects were mostly salvaged and dispersed without recording the archaeological details of their find-spots. Our multilateral consortium aims to discover the cultural value of the largest Southeast Asian ceramic collections in Indonesia and Australia with archaeological science. By employing and enhancing international conventions, the project will generate new knowledge about this decisive epoch in world history and build capacity to preserve the underwater cultural heritage of our region for future generations. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology This research aligns with Australia’s national interest by contributing to the ‘Plan of Action for the Indonesia Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership 2020 – 2024’ and by addressing antiquities held by Australian public institutions and private individuals. It will deepen Australia’s existing bilateral relationships with the Indonesian government and cultural institutions. Researching the most significant collections of Asian ceramics recovered from shipwrecks in Indonesian waters tell the stories of the first direct trade routes between Europe and China. An international team of experts will use the latest methods in archaeological science to discover the find-spots of these objects and develop procedures for Australians and relevant communities in the Asia-Pacific to restore meaning to public and private collections of cultural heritage that have been disconnected from their origins. Importantly, the project will provide Australians with the opportunity to experience and enjoy the shared heritage of our region.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research and Innovation . The ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research and Innovation aims to transform biofouling management strategies for maritime platforms by building on local and international expertise to mentor and train the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers. Anticipating evolving regulatory stringency, this project expects to establish a dynamic environment for industry partners, students and scientists to collaborate and develop biofilm management strategies. Expected outcomes include new and enhanced collaborations that advance and translate knowledge to better manage biofouling. The significant benefits will include a generation of industry-focused researchers critical for growing Australia’s Defence industry. Field of research: 4015 - Maritime Engineering Australian marine equipment and accessory manufacturers are globally recognised; and the shipbuilding sector has been significantly strengthened by the Government’s long term commitment to continuous building and sustainment of major maritime platforms in Australia. Controlling the biofouling of external and/or internal surfaces in maritime platforms is part of sustainment plans, but current biofouling control measures are not sufficient. The aim of the ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research and Innovation is to foster close partnerships between academic experts, industry and other end-users to translate research into innovative biofouling control solutions to benefit industries worldwide. This centre will train a new generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers and transform the Australian sustainment of maritime platforms into an international leader. It will also foster the relationship between shipbuilding companies and SMEs who can participate in the sustainment chain and/or contribute to knowledge, increasing the Australian capability in Defence manufacturing.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Quantifying the economic and social impacts of drought in rural Australia. Climate-change research predicts drought is likely to increase its frequency, duration and severity, drastically challenging Australian agriculture and rural societies. The aim of this project is to use innovative techniques to analyse (i) national datasets to determine the economic and social impacts of droughts in rural and regional Australia; and (ii) the results of a national survey to estimate and understand farmers’ drought adaptation responses to carbon-credit market signals. The outcomes are expected to be a major step in developing and implementing cost-effective drought policies and services to minimise its complex impacts, strengthen rural and regional community resilience, and enhance sustainable agriculture in Australia. Field of research: 3801 - Applied Economics Drought typically starts without overt warning signs, making identifying impacts complex, costly, and challenging. Rigorous impact assessments are lacking in Australia, yet they are vital to effective and efficient drought policies that prepare farmers and rural communities for an increasingly hotter and drier climate. This project will use state-of-the-art modelling techniques to quantify drought’s economic and social impacts in rural Australia and understand farmer preferences for carbon-credit trading as a market incentive to implement drought adaptations. It will identify drought’s diverse impacts on different community groups and the associated impact pathways. Findings on the role farm, land and water management play in the impact pathways could be used by government agencies to allocate resources to specific measures that enable farmers to manage drought. The knowledge generated is expected to significantly improve the design, targeting and implementation of drought policies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Dead Heart Beating? Landscape, Climate and People in Desert Australia. This project aims to undertake the first detailed investigation of the archaeology, landscape history and paleoenvironment of dryland lakes in the Simpson, Strzelecki and Stuart Stony Deserts in Central Australia. Using cutting edge methods, the project expects to discover new archaeological sites, provide a new climate record for inland Australia and develop innovative new analytical and field techniques. Expected benefits also include the development of new cutting-edge methodologies for the investigation of Australian desert landscapes, comprehensive baseline data of how this region has evolved prior to European colonization and resolving why no Pleistocene aged archaeological sites have been found in the region. Field of research: 4301 - Archaeology This research will investigate the archaeology and environmental history of dryland lakes in the Simpson, Strzelecki and Sturt Stony Deserts in Central Australia. This region is a globally significant arid landscape with a rich human and natural history. It includes the Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert and Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Parks and a Ramsar Wetland site and makes an important economic contribution to Australia via the petroleum and pastoral industries. Innovative techniques, including satellite remote sensing, field survey, geochemistry, plant analysis, dating and archaeological excavation, will produce a comprehensive understanding of water distribution, landscape change and Indigenous occupation over the last 60,000 years. These results will reveal when, where and how people have lived in arid regions and benefit Australia by providing the first comprehensive understanding of how these deserts have changed over time. This will be used by Traditional Owners and land managers, who are co-discoverers on this project, to better manage this fragile landscape for future generations.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Indigenous Living-Legacy Archives: Memory Story Innovations for our Time. This project aims to investigate Indigenous community and colonial archives as powerful sites of social and cultural memory, and creative intervention. These sites can locate, repatriate, and transform fundamental narratives of history and collective memory to reassert and determine Indigenous voice and agency. This work partners with peak Indigenous arts and archive networks to demonstrate the value of Indigenous living-legacy archive innovations and initiatives for cultural preservation and renewal, through unique community-led modes of storytelling. It benefits community wellbeing and healing through self-determined knowledge production and memory stories of local and global impact, and truth-telling legacy work for future generations. Field of research: 4501 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture, Language and History Colonial archives represented in public institutions like galleries, libraries and museums have historically lacked Indigenous engagement and perspectives. This research project will examine contemporary and Indigenous community-led archives that aim to reinstate Indigenous voice to the public record in unique ways. The research will focus on Indigenous-centred creative works that draw on archival records and oral histories, and contribute to important local, state and national stories. It will supplement and engage with colonial archives as ethical sites of encounter, respect and collaboration with Indigenous communities. Outcomes include a deeper understanding of Australia’s history and contemporary life through public engagement with new and creative modes of Indigenous storytelling. These new archives will benefit both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, support community wellbeing and healing in the Australian community, and provide a balanced and truth-telling legacy for future generations.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Sulfur-based materials for infrared optics and thermal imaging. This project aims to investigate novel sulfur polymers for use in infrared optics and thermal imaging. Current thermal imaging lenses are made in energy-intensive processes from expensive semiconductors and toxic chalcogenide glasses. In contrast, highly abundant elemental sulfur can be converted into polymers that are highly transparent to mid- and long-wave infrared light, providing a promising low-cost alternative. In developing this technology, expected outcomes include novel methods to manufacture polymers from low-cost sulfur and their use as lenses for thermal imaging. Significant benefits are expected, such as access to low-cost, recyclable materials for thermal imaging required in surveillance, diagnostics, and spectroscopy. Field of research: 3403 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry Thermal imaging is used in medical diagnosis, surveillance, and in the operation of autonomous vehicles. The lenses used in thermal imaging equipment are, unfortunately, made from expensive substances such as germanium or toxic substances such as selenium and arsenic. This project aims to use highly abundant sulfur to make thermal imaging lenses that are low-cost, recyclable, and safe. Additionally, the method of manufacture for the sulfur materials is more amenable to high-throughput moulding that is not possible with traditional materials used in thermal imaging. The benefits to Australia in developing this technology are potentially immense: economically, thermal imaging is estimated to be a $15B market so lower-cost technologies could be commercially valuable as the market expands into new commercial sectors such as self-driving cars. Furthermore, surveillance systems based on thermal imaging are critical for defence and the security of Australia. The materials developed in this project could, for instance, improve night vision capabilities and surveillance systems of Australian Defence forces.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Strengthening Australia's Domestic and Family Violence Workforce . This project aims to generate an evidence base on the nature of domestic and family violence (DFV) work and the implications for the DFV workforce across victim, perpetrator and Aboriginal specialist services. Using the innovative method of rapid ethnography, this project expects to provide a comparative understanding of DFV work and workforce practices and requirements. Expected outcomes include workforce development strategies that are responsive to the context and needs of DFV work. Given the high social, health and economic costs of DFV, investing in the DFV workforce has national benefits including improved services and better client and worker wellbeing. Field of research: 1607 - Social Work The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence and the Fourth National Action Plan have identified the domestic and family violence (DFV) workforce as pivotal in solving Australia’s DFV crisis. However, the nature of DFV work and workforce remains largely invisible. There is currently no comprehensive analysis of the inter-relationship between DFV work, workers’ capacities, needs and experiences, and workplace structures, cultures and conditions. Without detailed and contextualised data and related theorising of the work and workforce, policy makers, educators, managers and practitioners will continue to struggle to address the complexity of DFV. Strengthening the capacity of the workforce to respond to DFV will improve the immediate and longer-term health and wellbeing of victims and perpetrators, and those who work with them, and reduce costs to health, welfare and criminal justice systems. Investing in responses to DFV reinforces Australia’s cultural shift towards taking seriously the interpersonal and social harms of DFV.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Conducting coatings for control and eradication of unwanted marine biofilms. Biofilms grow on all surfaces and environments posing environmental threats and economic issues globally, costing billions each year to those attempting to eradicate them. To date, biofilm's detailed response to variations in electrochemically generated redox stress and shear is unknown in marine environments. The project aims at (i) developing novel electrically conducting carbon based paints that are stable in marine environments and (ii) investigating how marine biofilms respond to these coatings. The expected outcome of this project is the development of a green alternative antifouling technology that can be used on demand in marine applications. This provides a new solution for controlling the biofouling of surfaces immersed in oceans. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering The research proposed here contributes to Australia's national interest through its potential benefits to various Australian industry sectors. The benefits will be (i) commercial: the fabrication of innovative electrically conducting carbon-based coating technology, (ii) environmental: these coatings will be stable in marine environments and provide a green alternative antifouling method and (iii) economic: these coatings can be used on demand in the maritime, defence and water industries to reduce the costs of controlling biofilm formation. They can also be the basis for the development of antifouling coatings in many other industry sectors. This research thus sits within the Australian science and research priorities for food, water, transport and advanced manufacturing.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

AusStage LIEF 7: The international breakthrough . The aim of AusStage LIEF 7 is to enhance the world's oldest and most extensive national dataset on live performance. The project expects to maximise research arising from the global flow of data now accessible following the adoption of the AusStage schema by Norway, the UK, and potentially, China. Expected outcomes include improvements to the AusStage user interface; adaptation of the AusStage schema to support longitudinal studies of the impact of government policies; and development of AusStage immersive virtual reality theatres to popularise delivery of performing arts research. These innovations should benefit Australia by reinforcing AusStage’s position as an international leader in the provision of digital research infrastructure. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing AusStage is a pioneering database that holds over quarter of a million records about Australian performance. It is recognised as a significant Australian discovery that transforms our understanding with strong cultural benefits. It is a model for performing arts databases across the world; with the adoption of the AusStage schema, particularly in the UK, new opportunities for research into the global transmission of performance culture have become possible. In the midst of ever faster changes in technology, radically new ways of analysing these increasingly large flows of data need to be developed. This project will enhance the AusStage interface to support all its users, whether the general public, students or researchers, to enable them to create their own experience and use of this data. In doing so this project will increase Australia’s research and innovation capacity to generate new knowledge and result in the development of new technologies. This project will enhance AusStage to ensure that Australia retains its position as an international leader in research infrastructure for the performing arts.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

A home-centred approach to support children and young people in state care. This project aims to determine how conceptions of home can enhance an understanding of and responsiveness to young people’s needs in state care. It expects to generate novel data on home for young people in state care and for the first time develop a home-centred approach to supporting young people across multiple care contexts. Expected outcomes include developing and evaluating home-centred care principles, practice guidelines and an online training module. These should provide benefits including better experiences and placement stability for young people, effective training for carers and evidence-informed strategies guiding the work of service providers and governments, with the potential to improve young people's life chances. Field of research: 1607 - Social Work There are currently around 45,000 Australian young people living in state (out-of-home) care. Many experience trauma, loss, placement instability and a feeling that they do not belong. These experiences have far-reaching impacts, eroding young people's life chances, connections with family and community and their capacity to imagine and enact brighter futures. By integrating the concept of home into more responsive state care principles, practice frameworks and carer training, this research will offer the following benefits: 1) improved placement stability and a sense of belonging, thus mitigating the poor outcomes linked to abuse and neglect in families of origin and placement upheavals in state care; 2) develop resources that may strengthen carers' capacity to support young people with complex needs; 3) assist government and service providers to develop and procure appropriate supports for carers and young people; and 4) reduce the long-term social and economic costs associated with care leavers' heavy social and health services use.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Rockshelters and Rock Art in the River Murray Gorge: New Data and Syntheses. This project, undertaken in partnership with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, aims to explore Aboriginal rock art and rockshelter occupation deposits in the Upper Murray River Gorge, South Australia. The project will conduct the first archaeological excavations of stratified rockshelter sites in this region in more than 50 years and record a threatened and rapidly diminishing corpus of rock art. The cultural importance of the located sites will be considered in conjunction with their archaeological significance to produce meaningful narratives. New understandings about Holocene societal and environmental changes will be generated. Traditional owners will benefit from a range of socio-economic capacity-building measures. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology The Murray-Darling Basin is the largest and most complex river drainage system in Australia. The Murray River forms the longest river in this system, yet despite its importance our knowledge of its deep Aboriginal cultural history is poorly defined, particularly in relation to Aboriginal rock art and rockshelter deposits. This project, conducted in partnership with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, will transform our understanding of the archaeology of the Murray River, which will be shared with local communities and the general public to improve cross-cultural understanding. This project will have important cultural heritage management benefits by providing a comprehensive inventory and condition assessment of Aboriginal sites in the Upper River Murray Gorge. The results of these investigations will also improve our palaeo-environmental understanding of the region via the employment of earth sciences methods. This research will have an economic benefit through built-in employment and skills development for traditional owners in a region that experiences high socio-economic disadvantage.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Designing successful genetic-rescue approaches for threatened species. This project aims to determine how threatened populations of inbred native species can be 'genetically rescued' by introducing genetically healthy individuals. This is significant because Australia is a global hotspot of extinctions and threatened species, so tools that can be used to offset extinction risk will benefit entire ecosystems at risk. We will focus on two inbred populations of koalas in South Australia to (1) measure and map patterns of genetic diversity, (2) map densities and track individuals to measure demography, (3) develop advanced spatial models that combine population demography and genetic processes to predict the effectiveness of genetic rescue, and (4) source and rear healthy individuals to test our predictions. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management Australia is a global hotspot of extinctions, leading the world's nations in mammal extinctions in particular. Invasive predators, deforestation and forest fragmentation, and general human encroachment have caused many populations of remaining native species to dwindle. This results in the genetic erosion of the remaining, fragmented populations, and eventually leads to inbreeding depression that further reduces a population's resilience to threats like climate change and other human-caused environmental degradation. This project aims to test how one type of intervention called 'genetic rescue' can be used efficiently to increase the genetic diversity in populations of threatened species. We will test the degree of inbreeding in two introduced populations of koalas in South Australia (and ideal test species), and combine this information with advanced computer models to predict how the introduction of healthy koalas can 'genetically rescue' inbred populations. The information derived can then be applied to threatened populations of koalas and potentially other species in other parts of Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods. This project aims to develop state-of-the-art conceptual and numerical models of river-soil-groundwater interactions to address complex and persistent questions on water sustainability in the Lower Burdekin Delta, Queensland, where groundwater pumping to irrigate sugarcane has been supplemented by artificial recharge for over 50 years. This project expects to deliver new knowledge of critical aquifer processes to inform the scheme operation, the largest in the country. Expected outcomes include ground-breaking management plans for the aquifer-replenishment scheme. Anticipated benefits involve balancing the needs of agriculture and the protection of pristine environments, including groundwater discharge to the Great Barrier Reef. Field of research: 0406 - Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience This project is expected to develop new investigative techniques and enhanced knowledge of coastal aquifer processes and water and nutrient cycling associated with an intensive agricultural area of the Queensland dry tropics, the Lower Burdekin Delta. The project will inform artificial-recharge operations, the largest scheme of its type in Australia, through the creation of ground-breaking adaptive management strategies to protect freshwater resources, environmental assets (including nationally important ecosystems) and economic activities of the region. The world-class research team and highly motivated partner organisation propose innovative hydrological modelling and novel field measurements to address persistent knowledge gaps that will underpin the development of exemplar management plans, meeting global standards for adaptive management, including under future climate conditions. These are expected to guide sustainable practices in water and land management to achieve economic, environmental and social outcomes for the study area.