University of Technology Sydney

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Urban interiors: architectural change and the city since the 1960s. This project aims to examine architectural and urban change since the 1960s. Increasingly, urban lives are spent indoors as we move from the concourses of transport interchanges through commercial lobbies, shopping malls and the atriums of hotels and museums. Using new methods for visualising and analysing urban interiors, this project will show how these spaces have changed understandings and experiences of public and private space in cities. Outcomes from the project will aid the professional and public understanding of urban change in Australia. Field of research: 1201 - Architecture

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Thin antenna beam steering systems with exceptional performance. This project aims to develop a revolutionary antenna beam steering method. A high-gain antenna with the ability to steer its pencil beam to any direction in two-dimensions within a wide range is an essential part in many telecommunication and defence systems. The project expects to produce compact, low-cost antenna systems with high performance, to circumvent the limitations of existing methods in applications such as providing internet connectivity to those who are unconnected or poorly connected, or data transfer from satellites to earth stations. The proposed technology should significantly improve internet services in regional Australia and connect billions of people worldwide who do not have regular internet access at present. Field of research: 1005 - Communications Technologies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Seafood safety: high throughput diagnostics for ciguatoxin risk assessment. This project aims to develop a novel, high throughput platform for rapidly assessing ciguatoxins. Species of the marine microalgae Gambierdiscus produce ciguatoxins, which accumulate in fish through marine food chains to cause the often debilitating human illness called ciguatera fish poisoning. Ciiguatera fish poisoning is a growing and substantial risk for the $2.2 billion Australian commercial fishing industry. This serious illness is increasingly impacting more southerly areas of Australia due to environmental changes. The outcomes of this project include new knowledge of the risk of ciguatoxins at Australian 'hot spot' sites, extensively field tested methods for detecting Gambierdiscus and ciguatoxins in situ and key data to inform policy to safeguard the seafood industry and consumers. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Archaeal vesicles: new insights into viral evolution and DNA transfer. This project aims to determine the basis for plasmid and membrane vesicle generation and DNA transfer at the cellular and molecular level. Recent discovery of plasmid vesicles, which transfer plasmid DNA between host cells using viral capsid-like membrane vesicles, suggests they may be an evolutionary precursor for virus particles. The expected project outcomes include the first substantive characterisation of membrane vesicles in the phylum Euryarchaeota, how plasmid vesicles are generated and transmitted, and new insights into how viruses may evolve. This may lead to new avenues for preventing viral transmission and supporting development of new and improved applications biotechnology and the safe delivery of vaccines or genes in animals and humans. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Controllable synthesis of multifunctional boron-based 2D materials. This project aims to make it possible to control the synthesis of boron-based two-dimensional (2D) materials with the desired following features in single or multiple aspects: thickness, composition, lateral sizes, porosity, surface area, and functionality. It intends to do so by designing and synthesising novel precursors, and by optimising the fabrication process of boron-based 2D nanosheets for different applications. The project will advance our fundamental knowledge in synthetic chemistry, materials chemistry, materials engineering and physics. It is expected to take us closer to unlocking the potential of boron-based 2D materials for real-world applications in, for example, energy storage and high-performance flexible electronics. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Real-time phylogenetics for food-borne outbreak surveillance. The project aims to introduce, for the first time, real-time evolutionary analysis of agricultural pathogens so that outbreaks affecting crops and the food supply can be managed precisely and rapidly. An expert team will implement a large-scale data analytics framework in user-friendly software that integrates Australian infectious disease genomics data with global data. Underpinning this work are new theory and algorithms that apply Sequential Monte Carlo to update phylogenetic analyses continuously as new data arrives. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of statistical algorithms for evolutionary analysis, relevant to biological disciplines beyond infectious disease; and enhanced capacity for infectious disease analysis. Field of research: 0604 - Genetics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Dialogue-to-Action:Towards A Self-Evolving Enterprise Intelligent Assistant. The project aims to develop a novel Self-Evolving Enterprise Intelligent Assistant (EIA) by leveraging the Chatbot-based dialogue technique to acquire information, infer user intentions, understand languages, and determine subsequent actions to take through Dialogue-to-Action modelling. This new generation EIA is equipped with Artificial Generalised Intelligence, with a broad skill set able to tackle multiple business tasks and handle fast-changing scenarios in business. The Self-Evolving EIA is a critical step on the path towards the future generation of EIA. Expected outcomes of this project are to develop adaptive EIA for Small and Medium Enterprise to improve their customer service quality. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Autonomous learning for decision making in complex situations. The project aims to create a novel research direction – autonomous machine learning for data-driven decision-making – that innovatively and effectively learns from big data to support decision-making in complex (massive, uncertain, dynamic) situations. A set of new theories, methodologies and algorithms will give artificial intelligence the ability to learn autonomously from data to enable machine learning capability to effectively handle tremendous uncertainties in data, learning processes and decision outputs, particularly enabling smart learning in massive domains, massive streams, and massive-agent sequentially changing environments. The project’s outcomes are expected to improve data-driven decision-making in multiple industry sectors. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Indigenous Justice Reports: new narratives and practices in sentencing. This project engages a participatory action research model to assess the impact of Indigenous Justice Reports in criminal sentencing on sentence practices and outcomes for Indigenous women. It introduces Indigenous Reports for Indigenous women in Victorian Koori Courts and expands their availability in Queensland Murri Courts. Its comparative research approach identifies how place-based factors influence the process and impact of Indigenous Reports on sentencing. This project seeks to improve sentencing processes and outcomes for Indigenous defendants by providing courts with reports that address personal and community circumstances of Indigenous women, provide relevant sentencing options and are accompanied with appropriate supports. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Elucidating the roles of steroid receptors in mitochondria. This project aims to elucidate the roles of newly discovered steroid receptors in the functions of mitochondria. The project will characterise their impact on cellular respiration, oxidative stress, and the induction of inflammation. By defining these processes in the healthy state and in response to common environmental challenges of infection and smoke exposure, the project will characterise the fundamental biology of entirely new processes of how normal body hormones and administered steroids may function. This may eventually lead to new and more effective ways to control inflammation that will have significant benefits to mammalian health and improve health care and agriculture outcomes. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Fostering global digital citizenship: diaspora youth in a connected world. This project aims to identify the global digital citizenship dimensions of diaspora youth’s everyday digital media use. The project intends to use a new approach in order to investigate how these practices can be fostered through digital citizenship policy and programs to improve the inclusion and participation of culturally diverse youth and maximise their effectiveness. Expected outcomes include advances in understandings about the opportunity and capacity of diaspora youth experience. Findings will be used to strengthen digital citizenship initiatives in Australian secondary schools, connect them more closely to global citizenship education programs, and enhance the engagement of a diverse student body. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

New consumer cultures in the Global South. This project aims to understand how globalised economic growth is transforming lives among low-income urban communities of the Global South. In emerging economies, the former poor have become mass consumers. This economic shift has consequences not only for material wellbeing, but also for social status, identity formation and belonging. This project will document the emergence of new consumer practices using four urban case studies in Mexico, the Philippines, China and Brazil. The project will offer new data on the changed global experience of urban life, with the potential to reshape social theories of poverty and improve development policies across the Trans-Pacific region. It will provide benefits for understandings of business, culture and transformation of urban environments worldwide. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

A new molecular machine required for bacterial development into spores. This project aims to provide new knowledge on how bacteria produce dormant, stress-resistant cells called spores, and how bacteria transport molecules across their cellular layers to execute biological functions. Spores can act as a source of new and recurring infections in many bacterial pathogens. This project expects to reveal molecular details on a new class of nanomachines required for spore development. The new knowledge generated may expand the arsenal of molecular targets required to develop strategies interfering with spore formation. This provides a platform from which industry could attract investment for exploring innovative strategies for controlling bacteria. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The experience of precarious housing among international students. This project aims to investigate the housing circumstances of international students in the private rental sector of Sydney and Melbourne. Using a mixed methods approach and a new measure of precarious housing, the project intends to generate new knowledge on students’ housing circumstances, the extent of precariousness and the impacts on their wellbeing and academic experience. Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of the housing experiences of international students across the three key post-secondary education sectors and their housing risks in a super diverse environment. This project should provide significant benefits as the high quality evidence produced should help policymakers reduce precarious housing among international students. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Dynamics and control of complex social networks. This project aims to understand the extent to which a given complex social network can be controlled and how different control mechanisms influence network structure and dynamics. There is a great interest in controlling complex networks including social networks as it might contribute to solving important societal challenges. Using gender imbalance, minority marginalisation, and criminal behaviour as case studies, this project will investigate the direction of networks controllability and mechanisms that would enable alteration of the network in a desired way. This project will have an impact on our current understanding of network's behaviour, and will contribute to solving a range of societal challenges. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The foundations of civil justice in Australia. This project aims to provide an in-depth historical account of the origins of our civil justice system in Australia. Judicial institutions and their practices were key to the founding of civil society in the Australian colonies. This project will produce new knowledge about the origins of our civil justice system. The project will trace legal reformist ideas in England, their dissemination across Britain's Empire and the impact these had on how judges and administrators in the Australian colonies crafted their judicial practices to provide speedy and effective access to civil justice. As well as scholarly writing, this project will provide a podcast and multi-media website that explains how civil trials worked in the mid-nineteenth century. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Drift learning for decision-making in dynamic multi-stream environments. This project aims to provide application-ready real-time decision support systems for big data situations. Real-time support for organisational decisions is crucial in fast-changing environments that are highly dependent on data from multiple large streams. Unforeseen changes in data distribution (drift) are inevitable. The ability to learn drift in dynamic environments with multiple large data streams will benefit innovation and decision quality in challenging data situations. The project will have wide applications, such as in cybersecurity, telecommunications, bushfire control and logistics. The project will advance machine learning knowledge, providing a foundation and technologies to support real-time decision-making in big data environments. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

The Australian environmental and planning law library. This project aims to provide comprehensive and free access to relevant Australian Environmental and Planning legal research resources, in all Australian jurisdictions not currently available online. A subject-specific ‘Australian Environmental and Planning Law Library’ will improve the ability of all researchers in the field to conduct the highest quality research. The project will build a comprehensive resource of materials including case law, legislation, Impact Statements, Planning Approvals, Plans and similar resources. Expected outcomes include support of the highest quality research relating to the array of issues arising from the protection of natural resources, the prevention of pollution, and the planning of urban development and infrastructure. This database will support the development of improved public policy and better outcomes for the natural and built environments. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Shear stimulated Brillouin microscopy for cell mechanobiology. This project aims to develop novel technology for non-contact imaging of micro-mechanical properties in cells and tissues to answer fundamental questions of cell mechnanobiology. Based on principles of Brillouin light scattering, the project takes advantage of a radio-frequency lock-in detection scheme. The project will result in a real-time, high-sensitivity, non-contact 3D imaging solution for spatial characterisation of cell's local stiffness and compressibility. This will underpin the advancement of knowledge in the area of cell mechanobiology and the investigation of diseases, where microscale changes in cell mechanical properties lead to cell dysfunction and apoptosis. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government. This project aims to produce new knowledge about Indigenous nation building (INB) processes. Based on research that self-governance increases Indigenous socioeconomic and community capacity, this project will collaborate with two Aboriginal communities to investigate factors that impact the transition from 'identifying' to 'organising' as political collectives to enable self-governance. Such knowledge has the potential to directly contribute to increased wellbeing for Indigenous communities as they define it. It aims to contribute to Australian and international Indigenous governance, political science and Indigenous methodologies literatures. The project could significantly benefit Indigenous peoples, the broader Australian community, Australian governments, and Australian and international INB researchers. Field of research: 1699 - Other Studies In Human Society

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Aptamer imaging mass spectrometry for biomarker quantification. This project aims to develop novel methods for quantifying bio-markers in histological specimens using aptamers, lanthanide visualising tags and laser ablation plasma mass spectrometry. Aptamers are short synthetic strands of nucleic acid with complex three dimensional structures that bind targets with exquisite specificity. This technology meets a major gap in current imaging modalities, has wide application to basic biology and diagnostics, and will eliminate the subjective interpretation of immunohistochemical stains. Field of research: 0301 - Analytical Chemistry

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Elemental diagnostic of coral resilience to future reef climates. This project aims to integrate elemental stoichiometry, bio-elemental imaging and metabolomics to develop a common ‘elemental currency’ as an entirely new diagnostic of coral fitness. Coral reefs generate invaluable ecosystem services, but are on the verge of global collapse. Efforts to resolve coral traits that promote ecological resilience have been unable to integrate biological and environmental complexities of reef systems into a unifying diagnostic of reef health. Natural extremes will provide the platform to identify key metabolic traits vital for future survival, to establish adaptive elemental signatures that can scale from organism to ecosystem. The project is expected to enhance capacity of marine managers and reef stakeholders to effectively manage and safeguard Australia’s reefs and the cultural and ecosystems. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Towards data-efficient future action prediction in the wild. This project aims to build state-of-the-art deep learning models to predict future actions in videos. The project expects to produce the next great step for machine intelligence, the potential to explore a handful of labelled examples to better understand, interpret and infer human actions. Expected outcomes of this project lay theoretical foundations for learning future action prediction in the wild scenario and build the next generation of intelligent systems to accommodate limited supervision. This should benefit science, society, and the economy nationally through the applications of autonomous vehicles, sensor technologies, and cybersecurity. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Towards extreme object detection. This project aims to provide a comprehensive and practical extreme object detection system considering three extreme object detection challenges, that is small and distance objects, occluded objects and sparse (rare) objects. Reliable extreme object detection is critical for intelligent agents in many aspects and is becoming increasingly important for developing a smart nation by building intelligent transportation and smart cities. To design and develop such an effective system, this project provides novel scale-invariant learning, occlusion-robust learning and semi-supervised learning solutions to address the corresponding challenges. The project is expected to have a significant impact on a broad array of application areas including autonomous vehicles, robotics, and intelligent surveillance cameras. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2019 · 2019-01

Intelligent bibliometrics for tracking and predicting technological change. This project aims to construct an intelligent bibliometric system to track and predict technological change and recombination from bibliometric streaming data. This project expects to spearhead a new cross-disciplinary direction of research in both bibliometrics and innovation and technology management. Expected outcomes of this project include an intelligent bibliometric system, a technological change tracking method and a dynamic knowledge mapping and prediction method. The project seeks to create a systematic solution for understanding technological change in Australia’s emerging sectors that support governments in developing science policy, and assists researchers to explore frontier research priorities Field of research: 0807 - Library and Information Studies