University of Technology Sydney

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Garuwanga: Forming a Competent Authority to protect Indigenous knowledge. Garuwanga: Forming a Competent Authority to protect Indigenous knowledge. This project will work with the Aboriginal Community to identify, evaluate and recommend an appropriate Competent Authority legal structure so Australia can meet the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol. This Protocol calls for a Competent Authority to govern and administer a legal framework that ensures Indigenous communities’ informed consent is obtained for access to their traditional knowledge, and that establishes fair and equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms for use of that knowledge. This project will work with the Indigenous community to address concerns over the form, independence and funding of the Authority so Indigenous knowledge and culture can be protected and shared. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Understanding mud pumping in heavy haul railroads. This project aims to examine the factors that cause mud pumping and evaluate the effectiveness of sub-surface drainage to prevent rail track instability. Fast heavy haul operations (such as loads used in mining and agriculture) impart repeated loads on the natural formation that can result in mud pumping. If the build-up of water pressure becomes excessive this can cause track failure. Through an experimental program and field study, the mechanisms of mud pumping, incorporating train loads and frequencies, will be studied, and the role of vertically installed drains will be quantified for improved practical design. The project aims to contribute to improved track longevity and reduced maintenance costs, with a corresponding boost in rail productivity. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Rapid CYBERNOSE ® detection of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals. Rapid CYBERNOSE ® detection of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals. This project aims to develop a novel biosensor prototype based on CYBERNOSE® technology to rapidly identify volatile traces of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals in concealed environments. The CYBERNOSE® technology employs sensors using the highly sophisticated and sensitive olfactory receptors of microscopic nematode worms linked to an optoelectronic detector. The need for rapid, non-contact screening devices to detect and identify illicit drugs and precursors entering Australia has never been greater. Law enforcement agencies should directly benefit from the capability to more rapidly screen people and cargo, improving efficiency of illicit drug detection and protection of our borders. Field of research: 1003 - Industrial Biotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Cohort discovery and activity mining for policy impact prediction. Cohort discovery and activity mining for policy impact prediction. This project aims to develop an intelligent systematic framework to predict policy impacts on Australian patients, by discovering inherent patient cohorts and assessing the impact of the policies on these cohorts. The proposed methods lay the theoretical foundations for building intelligent automated tools for policy assessment. Expected outcomes are data-driven patient group discovery, which could more precisely identify the patient cohorts most likely to benefit from a specific policy; and a model to predict the efficacy of policy options, which could increase the sustainability of the national health system by enabling smarter, more efficient policy decision-making. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Disability entrepreneurship in Australia. Disability entrepreneurship in Australia. This project aims to study disability entrepreneurs who run private enterprises in Australia, their experiences, the contributions they make and the barriers they face. Private and social entrepreneurship is an innovative response to the considerable economic and social exclusion people with disability face in Australia. People with disability have a relatively high rate of entrepreneurship but research on disability entrepreneurship in Australia is almost non-existent. The introduction of the NDIS will create new opportunities for disability entrepreneurship. This project is expected to develop new policy initiatives, including a pilot program for new disability entrepreneurs in Sydney. Field of research: 1503 - Business and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Photosynthetic traits as “key performance indicators” of coral health. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge on the healthy functioning of the coral–algal symbiosis, which defines the response of coral reef ecosystems to worldwide environmental change. Current approaches to address this problem have linked coral health to algal symbiont diversity but have been unable to resolve the fundamental symbiont functional traits that govern this link – the “key performance indicators (KPIs)”. This project plans to couple advanced physiological and functional genomics techniques to transform our understanding of how algal symbiont metabolic KPIs regulate coral growth and stress susceptibility. This may provide new diagnostic capability for the assessment of coral health and may enable us to improve coral reef ecosystem management. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Copyright and Cartography: Understanding the past, shaping the future. This project investigates the history of copyright in maps. It aims to discover what is at stake when we seek to regulate the production and dissemination of geographic data, a field which sits at the highly contested intersection of private rights and public access. Making extensive use of historical archives and taking an interdisciplinary perspective, the project plans to produce a comprehensive history of copyright in maps, charts and plans in Australia and the United Kingdom. It aims to highlight the ways in which copyright and the cultural field shape each other and the significance of this for geographic knowledge. The project is designed to engage with contemporary efforts to reform copyright law and policy relating to geographic data. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

What is a Document? Evidentiary Challenges in the Digital Age. This project plans to investigate the changing nature and role of documentary evidence in modern Australian litigation. The transformation driven by digital technologies presents challenges to traditional distinctions in the law of evidence. Using case studies, interviews with court officials and legal professionals and observational fieldwork, the project plans to explore methods developed in the fields of information science and the humanities, where understandings of material cultural in the digital age have advanced rapidly, to examine their potential for law. The project is expected to inform policy development in evidence law so that it remains relevant in the information and cultural economies of the digital age. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Where are Indigenous women in the sentencing of Indigenous offenders? The project aims to explore the experience of Indigenous women in Australian courts. Legal sentencing principles for Indigenous defendants have been formulated almost exclusively with Indigenous men in mind. Insufficient research has been undertaken on whether these principles are applicable for Indigenous women. This project undertakes a qualitative analysis of local court sentencing remarks, case files and interviews with Indigenous women prisoners, court actors and pre-sentence reporters. It seeks to ascertain how local courts represent Indigenous women's experiences such as family violence and family responsibilities and the quality of information before sentencing courts. The project's aim is to ensure appropriate engagement with Indigenous women in courts and sentencing outcomes for Indigenous women offenders. Field of research: 1801 - Law

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

The language complexity of problems in algebra and logic. This project focuses on a major problem at the intersection of algebra, logic and computer science, concerning equations over free groups and free monoids. Expected outcomes include a language-theoretic characterisation of solutions of equations in a wide class of groups and monoids, a language-theoretic understanding of the existential and first-order theories of free groups, and a classification of groups with indexed multiplication tables and EDT0L word problem. The project is designed to expand the frontiers of knowledge in theoretical computer science and pure mathematics, but in the longer term to deepen our understanding of computers, their computational power and intrinsic limitations. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

The control of archaeal cell structure by tubulin-family proteins. The objective of this project is to deliver new insights into the evolution and diversity of cell structure and function. Cell theory has been a cornerstone of biology for over 150 years. Yet how early cells developed into modern forms is still a mystery. The primitive and poorly understood third domain of life, Archaea, could hold clues. Recently, proteins were discovered in archaea that are related to the tubulin proteins of all higher organisms, which provide the structural framework of cells essential for survival. This project aims to reveal the basis of how the archaeal tubulin proteins control cell shape in response to environmental change, and to develop a new paradigm for archaeal cell biology. This may find application in Australia's biotechnology industries. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Beyond1914: knowledge, war, peace, and nation. This project aims to investigate how Australian university graduates with World War One experience contributed to the formation of the post-war Australian nation. It theorises the relationship between Australia's participation in World War One, and the production and dissemination of expert knowledge, including the creation of new professions in the 1920s and 1930s. This project plans to shift the focus of analysis from the ANZACs as a generic category, towards specific groups of ANZACs and their education and training and impact on the development of Australia, placing knowledge and expertise at the heart of the national story in the interwar years. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Verification of quantum cryptographic protocols: a process algebra approach. Security analysis of quantum cryptographic systems is notoriously difficult. This project aims to develop theoretic foundations and algorithms, as well as efficient software tools, to verify quantum cryptographic protocols by innovatively bridging two research fields: quantum cryptography and quantum process algebra. The pioneering research may provide innovative, game-changing security technologies for banks, business, finance, security industry, police, and counter-terrorism both within Australia and globally. Field of research: 0802 - Computation Theory and Mathematics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Accounting for preference seperability in stated choice experiments. This project aims to unite three separate streams of applied economic research into a single framework in order to develop a micro-economically consistent framework for demand forecasting and analysis. Forecasting demand to improve product performance or policy impacts requires realistic representations of how humans actually make choices. Combining theories of preference separability with recent developments in both activity and time use modelling and stated choice techniques, the project plans to develop new insights into consumer equilibrium as well as new econometric methods to test for the assumption of preference separability. Project outcomes would lead to an improved understanding of consumer behaviour as well as demand forecasting, with benefits to studies involving the need for benefit cost comparisons. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Robust Intelligence: Rational Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty. This project seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice with an innovative framework for rational decision-making under risk and uncertainty. Intelligent agents exercise profound and growing impact in business and society. However, significant problems arise in intelligent agent deployment as their theoretical underpinnings do not ensure rational decision-making in complex real-world settings. The project aims to open the door to transformational technologies that may drive new entrepreneurial opportunities in agent-based global services. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Development of a novel mobile sensory system for bridge health monitoring. The aim of this project is to provide accurate, rapid and cost-effective ‘health checks’ for bridges. Transportation infrastructures are subject to continuous degradation due to the environment, ageing and excess loading. This project plans to develop a vehicle equipped with sensors as a mobile sensing platform to catch the dynamic interaction between the vehicle and the bridge. The interaction information would be used to assess the health of the bridge infrastructure through substructuring techniques. The expected output of this project would enable managers to monitor the structural conditions and provide an economical infrastructure asset management scheme to protect the structure and human lives. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Synthetic Aperture Radio Holography for High Resolution Remote Sensing. This project aims to develop fundamental theory and enabling technology for a novel radio remote sensing system using a breakthrough synthetic aperture radio holography concept. Such a system would leapfrog current capabilities to produce high-resolution, day-and-night and weather-independent 3-D images for many applications (eg geoscience and climate change research, environmental and agricultural monitoring, defence and security-related target detection, and planetary exploration). Expected project outcomes include advanced sensing and data processing knowledge and a prototype demonstrating the developed analogue and digital hardware. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance. The project aims to test a model of adaptive personality, to cross-validate the model in Italy, China and the United kingdom, and to develop and test a model for the modification and development of adaptive personality factors that enhance adaptive performance. Adaptive tasks differ from routine tasks in degrees of novelty, difficulty and uncertainty which require higher levels and different types of cognitive processing. Individuals who adapt their focus, emotions and exploratory activities in response to the changing cognitive demands of tasks are expected to outperform those with less adaptive personalities. Those with more adaptive personalities are expected to perform better on problem solving, learning, innovation and development activities. Field of research: 1503 - Business and Management

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Light-bending strategies of next generation scalable plasmonic devices. This project will focus on a goal of engineering novel plasmonic metamaterials for manipulating light at the nanoscale. In particular, it will employ curved anodized alumina templates as well as 3D hybrid structures to explore light bending and strong resonances at the visible spectral range. Plasmonic metamaterials offer a unique ability to control subwavelength light propagation, for achieving unprecedented sensing sensitivities and emerging nanophotonics phenomena. However, fabrication challenges and high losses hamper their application in the visible spectral range. Engineering these plasmonic structures in a scalable manner should strengthen Australia’s economy, lead to new industrial companies in the emerging field of plasmonics, attract international investments and create job opportunities. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2016 · 2016-01

Mechanism Design with Aftermarket Dynamics. This project aims to design optimal selling policies, allowing for aftermarket dynamics such as resale and inter-buyer competitions. The existence of an aftermarket greatly affects the optimal design of license auctions, procurement, franchising and the like. For instance, when market licenses are auctioned off, incumbent firms may compete fiercely for licenses they do not need simply to keep entrants out. Existing sales designs that overlook such bidding incentives often underperform in practice. The project aims to examine informational policies that influence buyers’ activities to best suit the seller's objectives. It expects to help regulatory bodies to design more efficient license auctions, provide franchisors with more profitable strategies, and save taxpayers' money when procuring services. Field of research: 1402 - Applied Economics