University of Technology Sydney

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Developing phytosystems for the biofiltration of air pollutants . This project aims to develop, evaluate and apply a range of biotechnology driven solutions for the use of phytosystem biofilters designed for air purification. The findings of the project will demonstrate the fundamental mechanisms behind botanical air pollutant biofiltration, apply systematic technological development against a range of air pollutants, and provide strategies to deploy the technology. With a transdisciplinary approach utilising techniques new to this discipline, the project will substantially advance the fundamental science underlying this novel and highly valuable area of air-bioremediation technology, and will create a much stronger economic driver for this Australia-led innovation. Field of research: 1002 - Environmental Biotechnology Urban air pollution is an emerging worldwide health concern. As our cities experience increasing population and traffic densities, and as bushfires increase in frequency and severity, Australia is facing an impending air quality crisis. This project tackles this challenge. It will develop innovative biological air cleaning technology that is cost-effective, sustainable, and capable of removing a greater range of air pollutants at lower energy use and lower maintenance than any current air filtering technology. Improved indoor air quality for inhabitants within and close to commercial, industrial and transport infrastructure settings will facilitate healthier, more environmentally and economically sustainable built environments and, over time, will contribute to governmental climate adaptation strategies by informing future planning policy on urban form and resilience. Implementation of the project’s new air filtration technologies will create new markets and stimulate job growth, delivering significant economic benefits to Australia as well as cementing our position as a leader in this emerging industry.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Intelligent Backscatter Communications for Green and Secure IoT Networks . This project aims to develop novel technologies empowered by intelligent radio wave backscatter to address the significant problem of connecting a very large number of wireless devices with low energy consumption and limited communication channels for future Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. This project expects to advance knowledge in the area of green communications by utilising ambient backscatter, a breakthrough wireless communications technology. This will significantly reduce energy costs, enhance spectrum usage efficiency, and improve communication security thus greatly benefiting Australian industry, society and economy. Expected outcomes of the project include key technologies that promote the development of future IoT networks. Field of research: 1005 - Communications Technologies The outcomes of the project will provide advanced knowledge in the area of low-cost wireless communications by utilising ambient backscatter, a recent breakthrough communications technology. This technology enables two wireless devices to communicate by leveraging surrounding radio signals. Hence, it does not require any internal energy on the devices and costly infrastructure deployment, e.g. base stations, as in conventional mobile networks. As a result, the project will assist Australia to pioneer in the field of high-tech industry development for Internet-of-Things (IoT), thereby making Australian industry more competitive in the global IoT market and enabling creation of new high-value jobs in the manufacturing and services sectors. The project will also pave the way for a new era of batteryless IoT devices which eliminate battery production cost and significantly reduce hazardous battery waste for the environment. Finally, the outcomes of the project will promote a new type of commerce, called IoT-Commerce, which is increasingly dominating conventional commerce services, e.g. e-Commerce and m-Commerce.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Wireless Power Transfer for Battery-Free Internet-of-Things Ecosystems. This project aims to develop the pioneering antenna technologies for far-field wireless power transfer (WPT) applications. New scientific and advanced engineering methodologies will be created to address the related fundamental technical challenges. Expected outcomes include the advanced multi-functional antenna arrays that will broadcast electromagnetic energy to remote IoT elements and the ultra-compact, highly efficient rectennas that will convert it to empower the sensor and communications functions seamlessly integrated into them. The intended first zero-waste battery-free wirelessly powered IoT ecosystems will support the realisation of the Australian Government’s goal to pursue sustainable and environmental-friendly economic growth. Field of research: 1005 - Communications Technologies National think tank ACOLA has identified the benefits that Internet of Things (IoT) technology can deliver to enhance Australia’s economy, environment and social wellbeing. The wirelessly powered IoT technology expected from this project will be pollution-free, leading to the development of environmentally friendly battery-free sensor networks and helping Australia limit the damage to the environment caused by electronic waste. The anticipated technology is uniquely suited for deployment in remote areas and will offer enhanced bushfire monitoring capabilities for parks and resource managers to protect Australian's valuable natural resources. Cable- and battery-free monitoring of pipe health in water systems is another expected application of the technology, significantly reducing maintenance costs for water and other utility providers. With Australia’s 5G development, the project outcomes will also facilitate the digitalisation of the agriculture sector through more sustainable real-time monitoring of temperature, air humidity, soil pH, and other variables to better manage relevant scarce resources.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

A novel electronic nose to locate victims of mass disaster events . The risk of global mass disaster events is increasing due to climate change and acts of terrorism. The most critical action following these events is locating victims. This proposal aims to develop an electronic nose capable of locating living and deceased victims by targeting volatile chemical components emitted from the human body. This project expects to overcome current limitations of current detection methods (e.g. cost, limited operational time, deployment constraints in hazardous scenarios). The expected project outcomes include the development of innovative techniques that will improve mass disaster recovery on a global scale and provide significant benefit to human welfare. Field of research: 0301 - Analytical Chemistry This research aims to improve victim recovery for both natural (e.g. earthquakes, volcanos, bushfires, tsunamis, hurricanes) and human-induced (e.g. acts of terrorism - explosions, arson, deliberate plane crashes) mass disaster events. Currently, there is a significant deficiency in reliable, accessible, and versatile methodologies used for the detection of entrapped victims. The rescue and recovery of both live and deceased victims is critical to human and social welfare. Additionally, the focus of creating a cost-effective instrument will allow for the electronic nose to be available to areas with limited resources. Thus, the proposed outcomes of this research will have profound social, economic, and welfare impacts both to the Australian and the international community. As mass disaster events are increasing both locally and globally due to climate change and the increased acts of terrorism, it is critical that research efforts are focused on aiding the victims, their family and loved ones and the impacted communities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Australian Design, Trades and Manufacturing 1945-2007: Connecting Histories. This project aims to generate a new history of Australian design and manufacturing, by turning attention to the shifting relationship between designers and manufacturing tradespeople from 1945 to 2007. In so doing, this project will re-evaluate design's transition to a globally-networked, digitised practice. Anticipated outcomes include a monograph, oral history interviews in the National Library of Australia's collection and a podcast. Expected benefits include an enhanced understanding of occupational pathways across Australian design, manufacturing trades and the creative industries, to inform understandings of skills shortages, retraining, and how best to support knowledge-sharing between designers and manufacturers in the future. Field of research: 1203 - Design Practice and Management This project aims to investigate the changing relationship between manufacturing trades and the design sector, so as to enhance understandings of the nature of work and collaboration in Australian design and local manufacturing between 1945 and 2007. Emphasis will be given to investigating workers' employment pathways between manufacturing, design, and the creative industries, in order to inform contemporary understandings of skills shortages, young people's career choices, worker retraining and technological adaptation. Anticipated outcomes include oral histories highlighting the voices of Australian tradespeople and designers, thereby addressing a gap in Australian oral history collections, which currently do not represent manufacturing trades or design in great depth. Expected benefits include a reframed understanding of technical expertise and creativity that can be applied to future work challenges, as well as new knowledge about the collaborative relationships between Australian designers and manufacturers, so as to support design innovation and manufacturing quality.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Cortical layers: examining the role of feedback in human visual perception. This project aims to generate a detailed mechanistic understanding of the neural circuitry underlying human visual perception. Through an international collaboration with the world-renowned Max Planck Institute, Germany, the project will exploit powerful new tools to measure human brain activity in cortical layers to test major theoretical models of human vision. The anticipated results are expected to significantly advance our basic understanding of how the human visual system parses complex visual input into objects and visual scenes, which may inform the development of artificial vision systems. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology The human brain is the fundamental organ allowing us to perceive and interact with our world. Animal research provides insight into the neural circuitry of animal brains, but conventional human neuroimaging is limited in its ability to measure human brain circuits non-invasively at a sufficient spatial scale. This project overcomes that limitation by using Magnetic Resonance Imaging at an unprecedented magnetic field strength to measure human brain activity at a resolution previously reserved for invasive electrode experiments in animals. The results are of immediate relevance to human neuroscience and psychology and will impact the design of new artificially intelligent systems, computer processors, and neuromorphic technologies that mimic the human brain. This collaboration with the Max Planck Institute, Germany, will provide Australian scientists and students with access to world class facilities and training in the most advanced methods for studying human brain function.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Equitable funding for health care: integrating social outcomes. This project will develop an innovative method for decision makers to achieve more equitable allocation of scarce health care resources. Health programs and treatments affect not just health (survival & health related quality of life) but also broader aspects of well-being (e.g. dignity, autonomy, safety). Our current methods for evaluating value for money in health do not capture these aspects. The project will provide benefit by allowing health system decision makers to achieve fairer allocation of resources across diverse health conditions, interventions and patient populations. Expected outcomes include a new tool for assessing interventions and measuring population health incorporating both health and social outcomes. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics Value for money is central to decision making for health and social programs- we must use scarce resources wisely to provide the best outcomes for the population. To do this, our tools need to measure benefits across all interventions, from those that focus narrowly on extending life to those which aim to improve overall wellbeing, which encompasses health related quality of life and other outcomes: independence, dignity, safety, autonomy. This project will develop a new approach to valuing outcomes of health and social interventions, to capture these broader impacts. It will develop a new instrument that measures effects on health and other outcomes and the trade-off between these. It will do this by using a novel approach to combining dimensions of quality of life and by undertaking discrete choice experiments to measure trade-offs between the different dimensions of health and social outcomes. The new approach will allow existing measures of outcome to be combined to provide a new measure with the capacity to measure value for money in a broad range of populations, conditions and settings.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Do marine heat waves cause pathogen outbreaks in Australian coastal waters? This project aims to identify links between increasingly frequent Marine Heat Wave (MHW) events and outbreaks of microbes that cause disease in marine animals, reduced aquaculture yields and human health hazards. Pathogenic bacteria from the Vibrio genus exhibit a preference for elevated seawater temperature and this project will test the hypothesis that episodic MHWs will trigger blooms of dangerous species. Using innovative ecogenomic tools, this project will track the impact of MHWs on the dynamics of pathogenic Vibrio within coastal habitats, oyster farming facilities and coral reefs. The benefit of this project will be essential new knowledge on an emerging threat to Australia’s valuable marine estate, food security and public health. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology The increasing regularity of marine heat waves represents a tangible and devastating impact of climate change on Australia’s $50 billion/yr marine estate. An emerging, yet largely over-looked implication of these events, is the potential for outbreaks of marine pathogens from the Vibrio genus, which includes dangerous human pathogens that cause severe gastrointestinal and skin infections in swimmers, fisherman and consumers of seafood, and are responsible for a global health burden exceeding $1 billion/year. Other Vibrio species cause disease in habitat-forming marine organisms, that reduce the resilience of critical marine ecosystems including coral reefs, while several species cause disease within aquaculture industries, threatening global food security. The proposed research will use cutting-edge genomic approaches to deliver critical new mechanistic knowledge on the dynamics of marine pathogens in coastal environments to provide a strong foundation for the development of strategies to monitor, predict and manage the threat of increased marine pathogen outbreaks within the Australian marine environment.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Sound Control Panels Made of Digital Acoustics Elements. This project aims to pioneer a new generation of smart sound control panels made of digital acoustics elements for broadband sound control. The project expects to generate a break-through mechanistic understanding of energy dissipation among the acoustical, mechanical and electrical components in the proposed devices. It is expected that these devices will have superior sound absorption performance from 50 Hz to 10 kHz, and will be low cost, compact (<10 mm thick), environmentally sustainable, clean (fibreless), and be adaptive to environments. It will provide a solution for broadband sound control, which is critical for many domestic, industry, and military applications to create a quieter and more comfortable sound environment. Field of research: 0913 - Mechanical Engineering The expected outcome of this project is a new generation of smart sound control panels for broadband sound control, which can reduce the thickness of traditional sound absorption structures (e.g., a micro-perforated panel or a layer of porous material backed by a 500 mm deep cavity) from 500 mm to 10 mm, but with better sound absorption performance in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 10 kHz. It can be used in many domestic, industry and military applications (e.g., 3D sound reproduction in virtual reality, traffic noise control, and quiet aircraft and ship design) for creating a quieter and more comfortable sound environment. In particularly, the project responses to the calling from Department of Defence Science and Technology for exploring how acoustic metamaterials can provide enhanced stealth capabilities to Defence platforms. It is expected that this project will contribute to the national innovation agenda, expand Australia’s knowledge base in acoustics and mechanical engineering, and provide high quality researcher training to build capability to support Australia’s advanced manufacturing sector.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Stochastic Assessment of Terrorist Blast and Fragmentation Casualty Risks. The project will develop probabilistic models to predict the likelihood and extent of casualties and other losses from terrorist car bombing threats. Car bombs comprise a large quantity of explosives, and produce primary fragments such as wheels, engine block, parts of door panels and other shrapnel that pose a serious safety hazard to people exposed in a street or other mass gatherings. An improved understanding of safety risks will assist in setting safe evacuation distances. A quantitative assessment of terrorism risks will also allow the effectiveness of security measures to be assessed to provide cost-effective levels of protection that are acceptable to society. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering The project will develop stochastic models to predict the likelihood and extent of casualties and other losses from a terrorist Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED – also known as a “car bomb”) threats. Risk-based decision-making for assessing risk acceptability and risk mitigation from terrorist VBIEDs will allow loss mitigation to be maximised leading to optimal security expenditures. The setting of realistic and risk-based safe evacuation distances if a VBIED is detected, or blast-mitigation measures designed to prevent or ameliorate mass casualties will benefit the security and emergency services, business and the public. The risk-based approach will provide a means to allocate funds to places of mass gatherings and infrastructure systems shown to have high risk of loss of life in the event of a terrorist attack. This will reveal the efficiency of risk-mitigating options such as bollards, walls and barriers, and suggest improved resource allocation. Maximising risk mitigation will minimise damage, loss of life, and other economic and social impacts in the event of a terrorist attack.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Quantum computation: through the algorithm and complexity theory lens. This project aims to advance our knowledge of quantum computation through the lens of algorithm and complexity theory. Three core areas of the theory will be examined: interactive computing models, query complexity, and circuit lower bounds. The expected outcomes include: revealing the quantum advantages of interactive computing models; techniques for verifying quantum devices in the cloud and quantum cloud computing in general; sharpening the separation between algorithm performance in quantum and classical query models; establishing both unconditional and conditional hardness results for quantum circuits. This comprehensive understanding will enhance Australia's research portfolio in the theory of quantum computing. Field of research: 0802 - Computation Theory and Mathematics Quantum computing has increasing importance to both academics and industry. A better understanding of the power of quantum computation and its impact on industry, government, and society is of great scientific and economic value. Addressing fundamental problems in the theory of quantum computing from the algorithm and complexity theory perspective will significantly progress research in this field. The outcomes will greatly improve our knowledge about the power, the structures, and the limits of various quantum computation models. More specifically, the research in this project will provide deep insights into distributed quantum computing in the cloud, clarify the nature of quantum speedups in query and circuit models, and help us understand the impact of quantum computing on the national economy and security. The computer science emphasis of the project complements Australia’s strength in quantum computing research in the physics community and will help secure Australia's place in a changing world and our global position in cutting-edge quantum computation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Replication and transfer of novel plasmid classes in Acinetobacter. The project aims to reveal basic biology of plasmids found in Acinetobacter baumannii. A. baumannii is a bacterial pathogen that can rapidly acquire resistance to antibiotics, including last-resort antibiotics. In modern strains, acquisition is often mediated by plasmids. On the basis of DNA sequencing data, A. baumannii plasmids are likely to function differently to well-studied plasmids. However, surprisingly little experimental work has been done to evidence this. By combining microbiological and bioinformatics approaches the project expects to generate new knowledge on the mechanisms of replication and transfer of A. baumannii plasmids. This may lead to new targets for strategies to slow and track the spread of antibiotic resistance. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Visual Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping in Deformable Environments. This project aims to investigate the problem of building a three-dimensional map of a deformable environment in real-time using images and at the same time localising the camera within the map. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of simultaneous localisation and mapping in deformable environments using visual sensors. Expected outcomes include in-depth understanding of the fundamental sensing requirements for the problem to be solvable, the achievable accuracy, and efficient algorithms for achieving accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of deformable environments. The research outcomes from this project offer significant benefits to diverse areas such as minimally invasive robotic surgery. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing Using surgical robots to perform minimally invasive surgery can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of the surgery operations. The new techniques for visual simultaneous localisation and mapping in deformable environments to be generated in this project will significantly speed up the development of surgical robots through enhancing the robot’s navigation and environment awareness ability. The potential future applications of the developed techniques in surgery and diagnostics could hold down the rising healthcare costs, which benefits the Australian community significantly. The project will further strengthen Australian contributions to robotics research by propelling the next generation of robotic applications in multiple areas.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Microbial Control in Wastewater Systems Using a Renewable Material. The project aims to address 3 long-standing problems and an emerging problem for wastewater systems by developing a suite of innovative technologies for microbial control. These will use a renewable material from wastewater. The project expects to advance understanding of microbiology to improve processes for removing phosphorus, managing sludge bulking, cleaning membranes, and reducing the spread of antibiotic resistance. Expected outcomes include substantial cost reduction, a secure resource future, and elimination of the need to use chemicals that present safety risks to workers and the environment. The project should benefit public health, the environment and the water industry, as well as create commercial opportunities in Australia. Field of research: 0907 - Environmental Engineering The project will contribute solutions in an area of priority for Australia—minimising damage to soil and water. It will develop a suite of innovative technologies that will reduce the operating costs of wastewater treatment plants, reduce safety risks to workers and the environment from conventional chemical treatment, and improve the effectiveness of key treatment processes. It will thus address long-standing operational problems around removing phosphorus, managing sludge bulking, and cleaning membranes. It will also benefit public health—beyond the existing benefits offered by wastewater treatment—by addressing the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance genes in sludge. Treated sludge from wastewater is reused as a soil conditioner. A problem has arisen because we now know that sludge is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes and these therefore need to be reduced in sludge before it is reused. The project’s technology centres on a renewable material obtained from wastewater, helping drive a circular economy while also creating jobs through commercialisation opportunities.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Taming Large-Volume Dynamic Graphs in the Cloud. This project aims to develop efficient and scalable algorithms to process large-volume dynamic graphs in the cloud. The project expects to address key challenges and lay theoretical foundations in large-volume dynamic graph processing, which plays an important role in developing general-purpose, real-time structural search engines. Expected outcomes of this project include theoretical foundations and scalable algorithms to process big graphs that evolve rapidly over time. These enable users to monitor and analyse structural information in large dynamic networks in real time. The project expects to open up a new research direction for graph processing to enrich frontier technologies and benefit many key applications in Australia. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems This project will develop effective and innovative solutions for large-volume dynamic graph processing in the cloud, which is in high demand for many data-intensive applications in Australia including social network analysis, cybersecurity, real-time web searching, crime monitoring, e-marketing, and online recommendation systems. The delivered theoretical foundations and frontier technologies will enhance Australian’s competitiveness in this important research field. By developing new foundational techniques for the next-generation of structural knowledge database systems, the outcomes of this project are expected to unlock the power of large-volume dynamic graph processing and facilitate key breakthroughs in Big Data analytics, which will benefit both the economy and society in Australia. The industrial collaboration established in this project will also benefit local industry. The participants trained in this project will enrich the pool of professionals for data science in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Waithood: The experience of being on the social housing waiting list. This project aims to investigate the circumstances of people on the social housing waiting-list and how they manage their everyday lives while waiting for a social housing property to become available. It also aims to conduct a review of how social housing waiting list assessments are done and profile the waiting list population. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study expects to generate new knowledge on different groups of applicants. Expected outcomes include an enhanced understanding of the impacts of being on the waiting list for extended periods. This study will provide significant benefits as the high quality evidence produced should enhance policymakers’ understandings of applicants' circumstances and lead to better outcomes. Field of research: 1605 - Policy and Administration The study aims to develop a profile of people on the social housing waiting list (waitees), obtain an understanding of their circumstances while waiting and examine the impacts of being on the waiting list for extended periods. The provision of safe, affordable and secure housing for all Australians is a matter of national interest, particularly when those seeking such housing are already members of society’s most disadvantaged groups. About 189,000 Australian households are on the social housing waiting list and this wait for housing is likely to have implications for their current housing, employment prospects, the education of their children, sense of home and community, and health and well-being. A better understanding of these effects and current circumstances gives Australian governments and relevant organisations the tools to direct policy interventions towards priority issues and identify current modes of service provision that may not be working effectively. Improved housing situations will foster social inclusion, reduce the pressure on service providers, and contribute to positive health outcomes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Clogging of Permeable Reactive Barrier when treating Acidic Groundwater. Proper understanding of soil-water interaction is vital for sustainable development of floodplains, and to halt acid mine drainage caused by the oxidation of pyritic soil. Permeable reactive barriers (PRB) offer a cost-effective solution to neutralize acidified groundwater. The project aims to quantify the clogging potential of PRB’s granular medium by coupling geotechnical fundamentals with integrated hydro-bio-geochemical processes. Time-dependent clogging will be evaluated through geotechnical laboratory & field testing. Expected outcomes are enhanced PRB design methods and sound geotechnical field monitoring to provide significant industry benefits, such as mine-site rehabilitation, increased productivity and infrastructure longevity. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Acid sulphate soils (ASS) prevalent in organically-rich floodplains as well as acidified mine-water drainage in certain coal mines pose major geoenvironmental concerns, because, these acid-polluted effluents can cause (a) serious damage to the soil-water environment, (b) adversely affect the dairy and aquatic productivity, and (c) acid-attack on civil infrastructure. This project aims to quantify the performance of permeable reactive barriers (PRB) utilizing alkaline aggregates to neutralize groundwater and soil acidity prior to its discharge to nearby waterways. Expected research outcomes will be disseminated through scholarly publications, workshops and guidelines for the most appropriate geotechnical practices to be implemented in affected coastal terrains and coal mine rehabilitation. In the future, it is hoped that enhanced PRB design and field health monitoring will be adopted by the relevant industry and government organisations, which in turn should provide significant benefits in terms of enhancing agriculture/aquaculture productivity while extending the longevity of strategic infrastructure.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

3D Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterisation facility. This project aims to establish a revolutionary nanoscale fabrication and characterisation facility in Australia. The facility is an angle-based nanoscale etching system with integrated chemical analysis capabilities and will be the first instrument of its kind in Australia. The facility will enable unprecedented fabrication and characterisation of 3D nanostructures and new device geometries from semiconductors, oxides and metals that underpin modern nanoelectronics for innovative energy, nano-optical and quantum device applications. This unique equipment will facilitate breakthrough discoveries in nanomaterials, and foster collaborations amongst Australian researchers to accelerate industry in advanced nanodevice technologies. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology Australia has been at the forefront of advanced science and technology in recent years. The requested facility will help to maintain Australia's leadership and transform it to be Industry 4.0 ready. The equipment will facilitate state-of-the-art nanofabrication and nanocharacterisaton of advanced nanoscale devices needed for energy generation and storage, nanoelectronics, computing, optics, communications, and sensing. New generation of three dimensional etching process of advanced semiconductors combined with advanced characterisaton facilities will enable development of devices with new functionalities, beyond whats currently available. The unique facility will strengthen Australian's global leadership in advanced manufacturing and cybersecuirty, while providing excellent training for their graduates.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Nanoscale laser cooling in physiological environment. By developing fluorescence pattern-based 3D motion-detection technology in optical tweezers, this project aims to reveal how to achieve nanoscale laser cooling in physiological media. It plans to discover new mechanisms of cooling associated with surface phonons and energy looping in optically trapped lanthanide-doped nanoparticles. Key expected outcomes are technology and a toolset to create interaction between cooled nanoscale objects and biological samples. These are expected to create a research area of biological laser refrigeration, enabling intracellular organelles cooling, nanoscale membrane disruption and high sensitivity force-sensing for integrin study for use in single-molecule biophysics and multimodality subcellular sensing. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Bayesian nonparametric learning for practical sequential decision making. This project aims to develop new methods to support practical sequential decision making under uncertainty. It expects to pave the way for the next generation of sequential decision making uniquely characterised by uncertainty modelling, high sample-efficiency, efficient environment change adaptation, and automatical reward function learning. The expected outcomes will advance machine learning knowledge with a new deep learning schema for data modelling and sequential decision-making knowledge with a novel deep reinforcement learning methodology. These developments have immediate applications in autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing, and dynamic pricing, with scientific, economic, and social benefits for Australia and the world. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Reef Breath Testing (RBT): exhaled volatile-gas biomarkers of coral health. This Project aims to uncover volatile gas "fingerprints" of coral reef taxa and how they are diagnostic of healthy reef functioning over space and time. All organisms emit distinct volatile gases via physiological fine-tuning and signalling as their environments change. Whilst coral reef taxa and coral reefs are hotspots for volatile gas emissions, which gases are produced, when and why, is entirely unexplored. This project unites a multidisciplinary team of experts to, for the first time, couple volatile gas assessment, metabolic physiology and functional genomics techniques to transform understanding of how key volatile gases underpin coral resilience to stress and disease, which is essential to improve coral reef ecosystem management. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology Our Project will deliver new knowledge of how volatile gas emissions by coral reef taxa signify healthy reef functioning, further advancing Australia as a global leader in innovative coral reef science. Our outcomes will identify volatile gas “fingerprints” that diagnose susceptibility of reef taxa to key stressors (climate change, disease), and so directly address national Science and Research Priorities, as well as Strategic Plans (e.g. Reef 2050) for transforming management of Australia’s reef estate. In doing so, the Project carries direct benefit to stakeholders and industries reliant on healthy coral reefs, which in Australia alone underpins a >$6B per year economy and iconic cultural identity (including World Heritage Status of the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo). Identifying volatile gas fingerprints of reef health unlocks new potential for application of electronic-nose sensor technology to reef management – sensors that are now transforming the human health and sustainable agriculture sectors through non-invasive early-warning health diagnostics, and central to growth of new bio-sensor industries.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Discovering how termites use vibrations to thrive in a predators' world. Our recent research revealed termites use vibrations to avoid predators/competitors for survival. However, the enabling mechanisms of this amazing ability remain unknown. The project aims at unlocking the secrets of these mechanisms by relating the mechanical properties of termite, legs, antennae and sensing organs (measured with advanced micro measurement techniques) to vibration signatures of ants and termites (extracted using innovative signal processing techniques and nonlinear dynamics). We will develop novel bio-dynamics models that incorporate machine learning. We will test the models’ ability to manipulate termites foraging behaviour, with the ultimate objective of developing chemical-free, vibration-based pest control devices. Field of research: 0913 - Mechanical Engineering This project aims to significantly advance fundamental knowledge of the evolution of vibrational communication in termites and their interrelations with competitors, parasites and predators. We will demonstrate the potential to develop innovative, environmentally friendly, vibration-based termite control technologies using bioassays on live termites. The results will put Australia at the forefront of science and technology in this field with national and international health benefits by reducing or eliminating chemical means of termite control. Further, Australia will benefit economically through reducing termite-damage related costs, currently estimated at well over A$1 billion per year, as well as generating jobs and export income.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Optimal policy and mechanism design in education and labour markets. This project aims to investigate the optimal design and efficiency implications of education and labour market policies such as differential treatment in school assignment, university admissions, hiring and promotions within organisations. The project expects to develop novel theoretical models of public policy using techniques from information economics and mechanism design. The expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity to design policies and a new conceptual framework to assess their efficiency. This should enable policymakers and organisations to implement more efficient policies, and inform public debates on the merits of preferential treatment, gender equity policies and other education and labour market policies. Field of research: 1401 - Economic Theory

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Responsive ‘OFF-ON’ switchable anion receptors for transmembrane transport. The project aims to develop switchable anion transporters and new assays to monitor the switchability of these compounds. Anion transport into cells has been shown to trigger cell death and so could be used as a method of killing cancer cells. However in order to do this the transporter compounds must target cancer cells specifically and not affect normal cells. Should this project be funded it will provide new fundamental knowledge on transporter design (switching transport on in cancer cells) which will be applicable to the future development of transporter-based therapeutics. It will also also provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for a PDRA, PhD and Honours students in a successful Australia-Spain collaboration. Field of research: 0303 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry This project will develop new switchable anion transporters designed to function in the environment found in cancer cells but not in that present in healthy cells. There are currently 138,00 new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia each year and it is the leading cause of death in this country. The project will develop fundamental new knowledge on the design of switchable anion transporters which could be applied in the future to develop transporter-based therapeutics for cancer. This project is providing the foundations for what would constitute a completely new way of treating cancer. Should the project be funded it will also result in training for a post-doctoral research associate, PhD student and honours students in an important multidisciplinary area of science. The students will gain experience of synthetic chemistry, membrane biophysics and supramolecular chemistry. Supramolecular chemistry is an area in which this country is world-leading and this project will reinforce the strength of this important area in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Sequential decision-making in dynamic and uncertain environments. Current machine learning and optimisation methods cannot well support sequential prediction and decision-making due to the dynamic nature and pervasive presence of big data. This project aims to create a foundation and technology for sequence and uncertainty learning, sequential and dynamic optimisation, and their integration. It is expected to improve robustness and mitigate the vulnerabilities of machine learning algorithms, to increase prediction accuracy and reliability in dynamic sequences, and to support decision-making in complex situations to achieve robust and adaptive results. Anticipated outcomes can help data scientists with state-of-the-art skills to manage sequential data and benefit data-enabled innovation in Australia. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing Data-driven prediction and decision-making in dynamic, uncertain and sequence environments are critical for governments, businesses and individuals. The intended outcomes of this project are fundamental, translation-ready methodologies for sequential prediction and decision-making in complex environments by sequentially, robustly, and adaptively integrating sequence learning for prediction and sequential optimisation for decision-making. The proposed techniques and prototype systems will benefit innovation and the quality of decisions when the complexity of the data environment challenges humans. Examples of potential impact include dynamically scheduled cloud computing, dynamically decision-making in autonomous vehicles and real-time anomaly detection in cybersecurity. The outputs of this project can be commercialised, promoting our ICT economy, data science, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. By opening a new research direction, the project should also increase Australia’s capacity to effectively exploit data.