Flinders University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Chemical signature analysis of surfaces. This project aims to develop a vacuum infrared spectroscopy facility to provide a new analytical capability for researchers to identify and measure the chemical signatures of a broad range of surfaces in the pristine environment of high vacuum. The project will develop an integrated facility to meet the current needs of surface science research across a wide range and type of samples, from biological systems to photocatalysis and nanocomposites. The new facility will analyse surfaces with unprecedented chemical accuracy that will foster the development of new joint research programs targeting biological, macromolecular and nanotechnological-based systems, with positive benefits for the Australian economy. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Digitisation and the immersive reading experience. This project aims to investigate how reading and literature work in the post-print age. Digitisation is the future of the preservation of and access to Australia's literary and cultural record and yet its implementation is not well understood. This project will investigate what determines forms of digitisation, which books are digitised, who can access them and how these changes influence our reading experiences. The project will use digitisation cases studies to generate a history of digitisation and the policies that govern it. The project will develop recommendations for cultural infrastructure projects, nationally and internationally. This project will provide significant benefits including improved knowledge and policy for the future protection and development of digital text technologies. Field of research: 2005 - Literary Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

An international environmental history of the 'world ocean', 1950s-2000s. This project aims to investigate the ways in which states, international organisations, and international communities have engaged with the ‘world ocean’ as a natural environment from the 1950s to the 2000s. In the context of current environmental and geopolitical challenges for the ocean, this project will analyse how these actors built institutions, communities, and territories in and for the ocean environment as a foundation for generating knowledge and claiming power, rights, and resources. By understanding the structures and origins of contemporary ocean ideas, spaces, and institutions, this project aims to benefit current efforts to create resilient ocean environments and communities at the international scale. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Thin film microfluidic systems facility. This project aims to establish a major research facility centred on thin film microfluidics. The participating organisations have developed the vortex fluidic device as a novel microfluidic platform, and key equipment is required to establish a unique world-leading facility. The recently developed, scalable and continuous-flow vortex fluidic device has a growing number of applications, with patents covering areas such as protein folding, nano-carbon processing, enhancing enzymatic reactions, liposome fabrication and manipulation, fluorescent polymers and biodiesel generation. The equipment will further develop the technology for incorporating field effects and novel real-time monitoring into the processing for rapid optimisation. It will enhance a diverse variety of applications in areas including energy production, controlling chemical reactivity and selectivity, protein folding and purification, enhancing enzymatic reactions and drug delivery and materials processing. Field of research: 0305 - Organic Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Visualisation of latent DNA. This project aims to deliver a proof-of-concept that allows visualisation of invisible DNA (latent DNA) into a quick, inexpensive and practical DNA collection method that will lead to DNA evidence being available in more cases. It will build upon a proof-of-concept method ready for transferal to forensic casework. This will allow DNA evidence recovery technicians to improve their hit rate in recovering latent DNA from real crime items, leading to more informative DNA profiles. Crime items that currently yield no genetic information will now be informative, assisting investigations of serious crimes or terrorist incidents. Field of research: 0699 - Other Biological Sciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Large-volume, multi-use micro-computed tomography. This project aims to augment the existing X-ray micro-computed tomography (CT) scanning capabilities in South Australia and Australia by introducing a large-volume micro-CT scanner. This will enable three-dimensional scanning of large and heavy samples including whole machine parts, limbs/segments, prosthesis devices, large animals and vertebrates, fossils and plant root systems. The project expects to allow experimental testing rigs to be placed inside the scanner to test samples, such as mechanical testing of femurs or medical devices, while scanning, to study the structure-function relationships. This will build unlimited computer simulations of mechanical tests, valuable for precious specimens. Benefits will include aiding in risk reduction, decision making on products and a higher quality workforce. Field of research: 0903 - Biomedical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Decolonising the archives of Aboriginal domestic history. This project aims to investigate an undocumented history of Aboriginal domestic service in South Australia. It will create new knowledge about historical assimilation-based policies, particularly those that targeted girls for removal from their families, and that enabled indentured domestic labour. This work will improve understandings of local, national and international colonial histories. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Managing migrants and border control in Britain and Australia, 1901-1981. This project aims to historicise the creation and control of ‘suspect’ migrant communities and the restrictions on the further immigration of members of these groups by the British and Australian authorities from 1900-81. The project aims to scrutinise the creation of 'suspect communities' and the policies of surveillance, community control and restricted entry. The expected outcome is to show that such policies and practices did not prevent Britain and Australia from becoming multicultural societies by the 1970s. This will provide a greater understanding of how Britain and Australia’s border control systems have evolved since 1900 and how past historical policies relate to contemporary practices. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Characterising wind farm noise to reduce community disturbance. This project aims to address the issue of wind farm noise. The rapid global expansion of wind farm facilities has resulted in widespread community complaints regarding noise emission. This project aims to identify, quantify and characterise the signal components of wind farm noise that are responsible for annoyance and sleep disturbance. The anticipated outcome is establishment of dose-response relationships between wind farm noise and community disturbance. Significant benefits include improved health and quality of life for people living near wind farms and greater public acceptance of wind farms in rural communities. Field of research: 0913 - Mechanical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Extricating extinction histories at Lake Callabonna’s megafauna necropolis. This project aims to determine the nature, timing and causes of megafaunal extinction in arid Australia using an extensive fossil necropolis at Lake Callabonna. An approach combining geochronology, morphology and histology studies will be used to generate novel understanding of both the life and death of Australia’s most iconic megafaunal species. Expected outcomes of the project include generating critical new insights into the globally significant megafauna extinction debate, and enhancing institutional and international collaborations in palaeoecological research. By providing a deep time perspective on Australia’s extinction dynamics, this project will benefit future conservation management strategies. Field of research: 0403 - Geology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Reducing Aboriginal imprisonment: An offence-specific study. This project aims to capture the complex personal, cultural, and social factors underpinning behaviours of Aboriginal prisoners in South Australia and Northern Territory. This project expects to generate new knowledge through focus groups and interviews with Aboriginal prisoners as well as intensive immersion within key communities to which Aboriginal prisoners return. The project will result in place-based and culturally informed approaches for supporting desistance from crime among high-rate offenders. This will provide significant benefits by enhancing scholarly and policy understanding of Aboriginal incarceration and pathways to social and economic well-being. Field of research: 1602 - Criminology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Target Of Rapamycin control of nutrient uptake. This project aims to study nutrient uptake in eukaryotes. It is expected to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of environmental and Target Of Rapamycin (TOR)-mediated control of nutrient uptake, specifically endocytosis, building on novel preliminary data that identifies novel TOR control points. The expected outcomes include new insights into mechanisms controlling nutrient uptake and fostering institutional collaboration. This knowledge is highly relevant to any industry or research project utilising living organisms, as nutrient availability supports survival, cell growth and proliferation. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Central pathways regulating visceral pain. This project aims to investigate the neural pathways within the spinal cord and brain processing colorectal pain perception. The project aims to identify the spinal cord neurons relaying colorectal signalling into the brain and the influence of descending modulation from the brainstem upon these pathways. The outcomes will greatly benefit fundamental understanding of the central pathways processing visceral pain. Field of research: 1109 - Neurosciences

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

An account of wetting phenomena on nano-engineered surfaces. This project aims to provide researchers and industry with a toolbox to predict wetting behaviour on surfaces with nanoscale topography. A combined experimental and numerical study will lead to the discovery of the mechanisms by which topographical and chemical properties of the surface trigger the formation of nanostructure-induced air pockets and how these phenomena determine surface wettability. This will provide significant benefits, as the predictive surface-wettability model will enhance controllability and productivity of diverse manufacturing processes and lead to new applications, high-value products and economic benefits in mining, energy, electronics, biomedicine and other fields. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Things don’t always go better with Coke. This project aims to test whether soft drink use is governed partly by automatic processes (cognitive biases) that operate largely outside of conscious control. In so doing, the project expects to generate a new conceptual understanding of the mechanisms that drive the overconsumption of soft drinks. Expected outcomes include theoretical innovation, new research methodologies, and accessible cost-effective technologies for reducing excessive sugar intake from soft drinks, in line with recent World Health Organization guidelines. These outcomes will contribute to combatting obesity and tooth decay. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Monarchy, democracy and empire: German imperial policy before 1914. This project aims to improve knowledge of the history of constitutional monarchy as a political form outside of Britain. It asks who drove Germany's global imperialist foreign policy prior to World War One and how they did so. By studying the contest for power between the German monarch and other arms of the state and society, the project will establish the effects of political change on the German Empire. Laying bare the tension between the royal prerogative and the constitutional state prior to 1914, this project explains how the struggle between the principles of monarchy and democracy was reflected in the history of Europe's imperial rivalries. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Institutional abuse and organisational reform in the Australian defence force. This project aims to investigate institutional abuse within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) since 1969. It will collect survivor accounts of Defence abuse and the formal ADF institutional responses to abuse. The focus is to uncover the experiences of survivors of Defence abuse within the historical context of the military at the time. The research intends to analyse the processes of change to policies and practices, matched to wider cultural shifts influencing the ADF to diversify its workforce. It is intended the project outcomes will inform wider questions about how institutions respond to social change. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Interrogating the Riverland's colonial frontier. This project aims to deliver the first comprehensive study of the colonial frontier in South Australia’s Riverland, a region that was the scene of nationally significant colonial endeavours coupled with violence towards Aboriginal people. While previous studies have focused on discrete events from the historical record, this project will to use a multi-layered strategy to explore this past and present. By coalescing archaeological, anthropological and oral history evidencethis project expects to generate meaningful narratives for and with Aboriginal descendants. These insights should substantially contribute to understandings about the colonial frontier in Australia and globally. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

A new quality of life instrument with older people for economic evaluation. This project aims to develop and validate a new preference-based quality-of-life instrument with applications in aged-care. The new instrument will be developed with older people receiving aged care services, and will focus upon incorporating their values into the measurement and valuation of quality of life for economic evaluation. The new instrument will have immediate applications in quality assessment and economic evaluation, improving the quality of life and wellbeing of older Australians, and will assist in determining the relative cost effectiveness of new and existing services. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Meaningfully communicating the value of arts and culture through reporting. This project aims to investigate how the value of cultural organisations and activities can be effectively communicated in official reporting processes. It aims to change the ways culture’s value is publicly determined by researching two innovative, socially responsible reporting frameworks, thus creating a dedicated framework for culture. Expected outcomes include new on-line reporting processes, principles and forms for cultural practitioners and funding agencies, and enhanced understanding in both policy and cultural domains of meaningful reporting practices. The project will transform the way artists and cultural organisations communicate the value of what they do to governments. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Going beyond genetics: the shape of marsupial evolution and conservation. This project aims to explain the past and protect the present biodiversity of endangered marsupial mammals such as bilbies and koalas. It will generate new knowledge using an interdisciplinary combination of 3D analysis of skull shape, reflecting a mammal’s ability to feed and sense its surrounds, with the fast-moving fields of marsupial conservation and evolutionary genetics. This will help to anticipate if, and how, changing environments and declining numbers reduce these species’ ability to adapt. Benefits include better information to support improved conservation decisions and identification of genes underlying the evolution of marsupial skull diversity. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Early human dispersal: identifying the key environmental drivers. This project aims to investigate if environmental or human evolutionary processes drove the dispersal of early humans eastwards from Africa into Southeast Asia—and beyond into Australia. The project will examine archaeological sediments using an Earth-science approach, providing direct links between cultural and environmental records. The project will reveal the types of environment that were favored by early humans and provide a greater understanding of the role of environmental change on the colonisation of new environments. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

The virtual human knee. This project aims to investigate the Virtual Human Knee (VHK) which provides a baseline knowledge about knee mechanics in healthy individuals and a tool for studying knee mechanics in silico. The new knowledge can be used for identifying individuals most at risk for injury, developing solutions for preventing injury and for assessing knee reconstruction and implantation methods. As such, VHK will mitigate the burden of knee injury to Australia and worldwide by progressing disciplines including anatomy, bio-mechanics, sport science, rehabilitation, surgery and medical devices. Field of research: 0903 - Biomedical Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Closing the loop between salience and brain activity. This project aims to understand how animals exposed to an abundance of highly complex information decide what to attend to, that is, how they determine visual saliency. The project will approach this question by systematically tracking visual decision-making in the smallest animal brains, in closed-loop virtual reality environment. This approach will uncover basic working principles applicable to any system that needs to pay attention in a visually cluttered world, from insects to humans or autonomous vehicles. Field of research: 0608 - Zoology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2018 · 2018-01

Target detection: neural networks, behaviour and biomimetic applications. This project aims to understand the neural and behavioural mechanisms that allow insects to efficiently detect moving targets in visual clutter, despite being equipped with small brains and low-resolution eyes. The project is expected to generate fundamental knowledge using a unique combination of quantitative behaviour, neurophysiology, pharmacological intervention and biomimetic modelling. Expected outcomes include an increased understanding of neural mechanisms underlying sensory selectivity, the development of novel techniques, and enhanced capacity for interdisciplinary collaborations. The project will provide significant knowledge as the developed biomimetic algorithms should be applicable for increased performance in drones or other unmanned vehicles. Field of research: 1109 - Neurosciences