MONASH UNIVERSITY

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Damage Tolerance Approach in Designing and Maintaining Truck Trailers. This project aims to develop a damage tolerance approach in designing and maintaining truck trailers. Combined with field test and computational simulation, machine learning will be used to generate loading spectrums. Following the damage tolerance philosophy, a mature approach in aerospace industry, the fatigue crack growth and the fatigue life will be predicted. In addition, structural optimisation will be applied in trailer design. This project expects to revolutionize the design and maintenance practices in Australian truck trailer industry. It should provide significant benefits, such as prolonging the life cycle of truck trailers, reducing the tare weight and increasing operating profit, to both trailer producers and users. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Freight transport plays a pivotal role in Australian economy. Besides rail and sea transports, over three quarters of Australia’s non-bulk freight is carried on roads. Truck trailers are the most important load bearing structures in the road freight transport exercises. Subjected to cyclic loading, trailers are failures eventually due to fatigue crack growth. This project aims to develop a damage tolerance approach in designing and maintaining heavy-duty truck trailers to replace current out-dated static strength based design approach. This project supported by Australia’s largest trailer producer will revolutionize current design and maintenance practices for truck trailers. The application of the damage tolerance approach will prolong the life cycle of truck trailers, reduce the trailer tare weights and bring huge economic benefits to both trailer producers and trailer users.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities. This project aims to help cities and urban regions reach net zero emissions by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transition. This project expects to co-create a new approach grounded in transition management and design anthropology. This will be tested in an action-oriented case study in the Monash Technology Precinct through three Living Lab experiments across energy, mobility and buildings. Expected outcomes include a validated approach for net zero transitions that delivers to the real-life experiences of the precinct community of business, government, knowledge institutes and civil society. This should provide significant benefits to industry seeking to enhance community engagement for accelerating urban transitions. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology This project expects to create ground-breaking and industry-relevant, cross-sector knowledge by delivering an applied approach to the transition of urban infrastructures at precinct scale. There will be three expected national benefits: 1) delivery of a framework for urban transition management that aligns with community interests and provides guidance tailored to local, state and federal government, and other policy actors with commitments to net zero; 2) creation of integrated urban solutions in energy, mobility and buildings that enable industry and government to standardise, commercialise and scale the outcomes of the project to other precincts; 3) transferring social and economic benefits to the broader community that improve the liveability and prosperity of our cities as a result of accelerating net zero urban transitions. This will significantly impact the value and resilience of future investments in urban infrastructures and create opportunities to grow domestic jobs and exports.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

A structure-based design approach to maximising targeting interactions. This project aims to build on a highly successful collaboration between the Australian biotechnology company Starpharma and Monash University, to better understand the design of next generation nanomaterials that home to specific target cells. The project seeks to capitalize on recent advances in dendrimer chemistry and protein engineering to explore the design of nanomaterials linked to engineered antibody fragments. The anticipated goal is attainment of exquisite, cell specific targeting affinity. Targeted nanomaterials have the potential to transform the clarity of imaging technologies; to facilitate the design of sensors and diagnostics that detect biochemical change in highly select cell populations and to revolutionise drug delivery. Field of research: 0303 - Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry This project will harness the expertise, infrastructure and capabilities of Monash University to support expansion and enhancement of Australia’s technology and intellectual property base in advanced biomedical manufacturing. More specifically the program will generate an improved fundamental understanding of interactions at the interface of polymer chemistry and synthetic biology, allowing accelerated development of hybrid nanostructures in fields including next-generation imaging, sensors and delivery vehicles. These new materials have the potential to revolutionise the field of biomedical engineering, where Australia is emerging as a world leader. The outcomes from the project will support economic growth and commercial success of the commercial partner, Starpharma, and will promote broad development, employment and training opportunities in a new platform technology, thereby expanding the national science base in macromolecular biotechnology. This is particularly vital in this time of economic uncertainty, where maintaining and developing high-value manufacturing is critical.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Diversifying Music in Australia: Gender Equity in Jazz and Improvisation. Emerging research demonstrates that the Australian Jazz and Improvisation Cultural Sector is not gender-inclusive and poses career development challenges for diverse communities. This project aims to develop new knowledge in historical and contemporary practices of inclusion, exclusion and participation in order to identify the individual, collective and institutional facilitators and constraints on gendered participation. The project's significance lies not only in its contributions to the sector's policy and practice, but also its mentoring of an emerging generation of researchers. The intended outcomes are recommendations for industry and education policy, practice and further research that will benefit the sector's sustainability. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing This research project will benefit the Australian cultural sector by providing new knowledge on those factors that contribute to the institutional, self-selected exclusion of female-identifying and Gender Non Conforming musicians. The sustainability of the Jazz and Improvisation sector is currently limited through the observance of individual, collective and institutional practices that actively work against gendered inclusion. Ensuring that there is a more equitable representation of female-identifying and Gender Non Conforming musicians in the Australian cultural sector promotes a healthier environmental, cultural and social sector with potential for increased activity and sustainable economic growth. This project addresses directly this significant gap in Australian cultural policy and practice.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Metaphors and identities in the Australian vernacular. This project investigates the uniqueness of Australian vernacular English from the late 1800s until today. This is an area of vocabulary which most people find fascinating, and yet its formal study has been largely ignored. The project expects to develop a new understanding of Australia’s novel, often entertaining, use of words. Expected project outcomes include a better appreciation of Australian culture and identity, and by employing a new interdisciplinary approach. Benefits of the project include the development of podcasts, educational materials, and publications aimed at building an increased awareness of Australian English and its reflection of Australian culture and values. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics Australians have always regarded their colloquial language as an important indicator of their Australianness, but many also worry that Australian slang is under threat. This project seeks to understand its nature, how it has changed over time, the metaphors underlying Australian English expressions and what this language tells us about Australian culture and its embedded values. The project brings together a team of leading researchers on Australian English to provide new and much needed insights into this under studied and poorly understood area of linguistic behavior in Australia. By distinguishing Australian colloquial English from other varieties, such as British and American English, the project seeks to uncover whether Australians really do live up to their popular image of having an unusually rich and creative slang — and if and how this language reflects Australian culture and identity.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

More than a guulany (tree): Aboriginal knowledge systems . This project aims to produce an Indigenous-led study of the significance of trees in southeast Australian Aboriginal cultures by investigating historical and contemporary sources. The project expects to identify new evidence of this significance and generate new methods in art-making and exhibition development to improve the awareness and understanding of Indigenous cultural heritage. This should provide significant benefits such as better recognition of the complexities of southeast Australian Aboriginal cultures, improved access for Aboriginal communities to cultural materials in institutional collections and new insights and resources for arts, heritage and museum professionals to engage appropriately with Indigenous cultural heritage. Field of research: 1905 - Visual Arts and Crafts The project will produce an extensive Indigenous-led study of the significance of trees in southeast Australian Aboriginal cultures. The research will focus on understanding the traditional practices of carving and scarring trees, as well as contemporary celebrations of living trees. Research activities will connect cultural materials identified in Australian libraries and European museums with communities of origin, investigate contemporary artmaking of relevance and document localised histories of significant trees. The project will maximise its impact by developing a multiform exhibition, including digital platforms, in partnership with museums and libraries, Indigenous communities and emerging Indigenous artists. The project will increase community access to cultural heritage housed in institutions and provide new evidence of the significance of trees to enrich contemporary identities and understandings of the past. The arts and heritage sectors will gain a better understanding of the cultural objects in their care and new resources and information will improve public programs and community engagement.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Unifying the mechanisms that drive spatial patterns in biological traits. The project aims to resolve the mechanisms that generate spatial variation in biological traits. This project expects to overcome several significant shortcomings of previous investigations by using mechanistic modelling, field-based ecophysiological studies, and macroecological analyses to develop a single, integrated approach to investigating geographic variation in size, colour, life history and reproduction. The expected outcomes are a comprehensive empirical test of a unified mechanism for spatial trait variation, using a diverse terrestrial vertebrate lineage as a model system. The results of this study should provide a powerful framework for predicting future patterns of biological trait variation under anthropogenic climate change. Field of research: 0603 - Evolutionary Biology Skinks are the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate family both in Australia. They exhibit substantial geographic variation in their size, colour, life history and reproduction. This project will use skinks as a model system to resolve the mechanisms that underlie the generation and maintenance of biological diversity, and how this diversity may be altered in response to anthropogenic climate change. Australia is a ‘land of lizards’, and skinks comprise the vast majority of this diversity, playing a critical role in many ecosystems, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, where they are hyperdiverse. As such, they have considerable environmental, social and cultural relevance to Australia, and this project will improve our understanding of the processes driving the diversification of this iconic group, now and into the future. The project will also strengthen Australia’s capability in critically important areas of ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Understanding the mechanisms of class B GPCR-transducer coupling. Current effort in developing drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) often result in low success rate due to the lack of understanding of the complexity and the spatiotemporal control of receptor function. The research program aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of receptor/transducer selectivity. The proposal integrated multi-disciplinary approaches to provide a deeper understanding of how the receptor is activated responding to different ligands. The anticipated outcome including an enhanced capacity for understanding the fundamental biology, a stronger national and international collaborations. This will provide significant benefits including expanded basic knowledge and improvements in drug development efficiency. Field of research: 1115 - Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences This project focusses on an important group of cell-surface receptors (called G-coupled protein receptors) that are the biological target for over 30% of all approved medications. Despite their widespread use, modern drug discovery programs that target these receptors still suffer from high failure rates. This is due, in part, to a lack of detailed models for how these receptors are activated by cellular signals. This project aims to understand how an important sub-group of these receptors receive and handle cellular signals. Whilst the research is fundamental in nature, the flow on benefits of this project include valuable intellectual property about the factors that influence drug success which may ultimately underpin the development of more efficient drug discovery programs in Australia and internationally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Bio-engineering Insect-Specific Flaviviruses for control of arboviruses. This project aims to study a family of commensal viruses of mosquitoes called insect-specific flaviviruses that are naturally found in mosquitoes and do not infect or cause disease in vertebrate hosts. Using an innovative approach, this project employs cutting-edge molecular virology approaches to modify these insect-specific flaviviruses to enhance their ability to block the replication of other pathogenic viruses in the mosquito vector. Expected outcome of this project is a bio-control strategy that is complementary to the Wolbachia approach. The anticipated benefits include the advancement of knowledge of insect-specific flaviviruses, and promotion of interdisciplinary research across the fields of Entomology and Virology. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology Mosquito-borne pathogens have a direct impact on Australia. Recently, an outbreak of encephalitis in horses in Southeastern Australia was cause by Kunjin virus which is transmitted by mosquitoes. These events have a negative environmental, social and economic impact, e.g. the risk it poses to the horse racing industry in the case of Kunjin virus. This project aims to advance innovation in methods for preventing mosquito-borne viruses, with a unique focus on studying and bio-engineering commensal viruses of the mosquito vector. The focus of this project is the better understanding of this technology, which may have future disease control benefits--that are out-of-scope from the current proposal. The advancement in knowledge will also benefit Australia's standing in the world, in terms of research into technologies that may have a major positive economic and social impact for many countries around the world inflicted by mosquito-borne viruses.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

New dimensions of electrocatalyst design for sustainable energy future. This project aims to produce valuable chemicals from air, water and Australia’s abundant renewable energy, by developing efficient, robust catalysts for water oxidation, nitrogen reduction and ammonia oxidation — key processes for sustainable production of green fuels and fertilisers. The interdisciplinary project strategy will use a suite of advanced instrumental and theoretical tools to understand and control how catalysts operate. Expected outcomes include new techniques to study catalysts, new catalyst design concepts, and novel high-performance catalytic materials and devices for sustainable electrosynthesis. These new technologies should reduce emissions and help Australia be a world leader in renewable-energy and fertiliser export. Field of research: 0306 - Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural) The project will directly contribute to the Australia's national interest in the following contexts: (1) Economic: by introducing cheap and efficient electrocatalysts for the energy-efficient generation of renewable hydrogen and ammonia for export and internal use, and for the renewables-powered production of fertilisers, which can be also exported or used locally. (2) Commercial: by improving the efficiency of renewables-powered generation of hydrogen and ammonia for energy storage, as well as renewables-powered production of ammonia and nitrates to provide a conceptually new technology – on-demand production of fertilisers from air and water. Both technologies can be implemented on either a large, medium or small scale, and in remote areas. This could significantly reduce the expenses for farming and mining operations. (3) Environmental: via development of sustainable technologies that will replace the existing strongly-polluting hydrogen, ammonia and fertiliser production processes. This will facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and N2O) in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

The nature and fate of quasiparticles in correlated quantum matter. The revolution in electronics and the Information Age were enabled by powerful theories based on the concept of the quasiparticle, an object composed of many particles such as electrons. This Fellowship aims to unravel the behaviour of new complex materials by investigating the nature of quasiparticles beyond the current paradigm. The key innovation is the use of trapped atoms, which allows new quantum theories and computational tools to be developed and precisely tested. The new knowledge generated by the Fellowship will advance a range of fields, including condensed matter physics, and could ultimately underpin a new generation of quantum devices featuring robust data memories, where information can be efficiently stored and extracted. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics The proposed research will generate new theories and computational tools that have the potential to revolutionise emerging quantum technologies such as quantum switches and sensors. This will further secure Australia’s place at the forefront of quantum science and strengthen the links between Australian and overseas institutions via an extensive network of collaborators. Moreover, it will expand knowledge in the physical sciences by combining expertise in condensed matter physics and atomic physics to investigate questions at the forefront of current research, as well as capitalising on research experience derived from working at world-leading institutions overseas. In particular, the research project involves the training of students and junior researchers in cutting edge techniques for quantum systems, thus driving materials innovation and delivering the skills needed for the development of the next generation of quantum-based devices in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Interactive learning for robots in human environments. This project aims to develop robots that can interact with and learn from humans to quickly and safely learn new skills. Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are poised to transform our economy, workplaces and homes, and even the organisation of society, however these advances are limited by robots’ inability to learn and adapt in uncertain environments. The outcomes of this project are expected to include new validated methods and frameworks to enable robots to be used by non-experts and to be quickly deployed in a variety of settings. This is anticipated to provide transformative benefits, improving safety and productivity in the workspace, and enabling improved comfort, convenience and quality of life in the home. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering This project will strengthen Australia's expertise in robotics and machine learning, and provide the needed robot capabilities to enable robot deployment in natural and dynamic environments. It is estimated that robotics can deliver AU$1 trillion in productivity gains through increased automation, while increasing employment by 6% and decreasing workplace injuries by 11%. This project directly addresses this vital need, by developing robotic systems that can be deployed quickly and easily by untrained users. Robots that are easy to teach and can learn quickly and safely from novice users can deliver productivity and safety improvements in a broad range of applications, including manufacturing, service, agriculture, mining and home assistance.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism. This project aims to develop a new approach to understanding the purpose and power of social contracts: implicit agreements among members of a society to cooperate for mutual benefit. Australia’s post-war prosperity has relied on a robust social contract, but it is under increasing strain today from new technological, environmental and socio-political realities. Using techniques from philosophy and social theory, this project seeks to examine the main pressures on the social contract today, and to propose how it can be reinforced. Intended benefits include strengthening social cohesion through better understanding the causes of reduced wellbeing, social fragmentation and unrest, and through proposing ways to mitigate their costly effects. Field of research: 2203 - Philosophy A strong social contract is the basis of a cohesive, civil and prosperous society. Social contract language is at the heart of a number of important contemporary debates such as the regulation of big data and artificial intelligence, measures to combat violent extremism, and how we best use and protect Australia's precious natural resources. There is also a documented pattern of movements such as Occupy and Extinction Rebellion evoking a broken social contract as legitimation for causing unrest in Australian cities. The perception that the social contract has been broken, along with the tensions and resentment to which this conviction can give rise, pose a threat to the civility, cohesion, and eventually the stability of Australian society. This project aims to increase Australia’s resilience to tensions within its social fabric through contributing to the understanding of how and why social contracts break, and through showing how they can be strengthened. Given the large social and economic costs of reduced social cohesion, this could be of enormous national benefit in the years to come.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Stereolithographic Additive Manufacturing of Semicrystalline Thermoplastics. This project aims to advance the development of high-throughput stereolithographic additive manufacturing of thermoplastic polymers and composites by employing a multi-colour irradiation schemes in conjunction with photopolymerisable, ring-opening monomer resin formulations. The fundamental scientific understanding, engineering expertise, and concomitant technology advances generated by this project are anticipated to enable additive manufacturing to transition from the rapid prototyping of individual, unique items to the high volume production of robust, reprocessable plastic parts. By obviating the large capital expense of conventional fabrication, this developed technology should provide a path to reinvigorate Australian manufacturing. Field of research: 0910 - Manufacturing Engineering Significantly greater penetration of additive manufacturing (AM) in medical, dental, automotive, and aerospace markets by improving material properties and increasing fabrication rates to afford a value proposition for potential customers requires a fundamental transformation in AM processes. The research described here will allow for the fabrication of polymer and composite objects with mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties far exceeding those of parts made by contemporary AM approaches, and provide extensive training and entrepreneurial opportunities for scientists and engineers in a rapidly expanding and locally-relevant industry. Importantly, the model of distributed manufacturing facilitated by this AM research, where bespoke product designs can be distributed digitally for local fabrication rather than the physical distribution of mass produced items from a global manufacturing site, provides substantial environmental and economic public benefits by reducing transportation emissions and boosting Australian manufacturing and economic growth through training, jobs, and apprenticeships.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Linking microstructural evolutions across the scales of granular failure. This project expects to transform the understanding of granular materials and their behaviour by establishing explicit links between the macroscopic responses of the materials and their evolving microstructural properties. This should lead to revolutionary constitutive models for granular materials that possess true mechanisms of evolving grain-scale structures. The proliferation of these new models should allow development of reliable predictive computational tools for the modelling and assessment of field-scale failure involving granular materials, enhancing the capability to assess the integrity and stability of earth structures, and benefitting the Australian economy, environment and public safety. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Failures associated with granular materials are often destructive and can occur in many different forms (e.g. submarine landslides induced tsunami, mine tailings collapse, dam/embankment failure, foundation collapse), all of which are major threats that can destroy infrastructure and can be fatal to human life. The project expects to transform the current understanding of granular materials and how they fail across the scales, which are the key factors towards better prediction of earth-structure failures for risk assessment and mitigation. It should lead to the development of a novel computational tool capable of predicting not only the onset and failure of earth structures, but also the outburst flow of stored materials and their mixtures (e.g. water, debris flows, mine tailings). The intended outcome of the project is to dramatically improve strategies for risk assessment and mitigation to secure Australian infrastructures (i.e. earth structures, water retaining structures, mine tailings dams) under global environmental changes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Synthesis, Synergy and Sustainability: Development of active-metal reagents. The design and realisation of new and important molecules requires innovative and efficient methods. This project will create a new store of active-metal molecular tools for the selective, catalytic and atom efficient construction of a diverse library of phosphorus heterocyclic scaffolds and chemical feedstocks relevant to biological, medicinal, and materials chemistry, and the fine chemical industry. Parallel studies employing environmentally friendly and benign deep eutectic solvents will allow for replacement of traditional hazardous volatile organic solvents, putting the newly created active-metal reagents at the forefront of the necessary shift towards a more sustainable and 'green' polar organometallic chemistry. Field of research: 0302 - Inorganic Chemistry This proposed world class research plan has been designed to create novel active-metal molecular tools for the selective, atom-efficient and catalytic formation of heterocyclic phosphorus scaffolds and critical bedrock chemical feedstocks relevant to the modern medicinal, materials and chemical industries. Replacing traditional toxic and hazardous volatile organic compounds with environmentally friendly benign eutectic solvents (DES) in newly crafted active-metal reaction protocols will establish a more sustainable synthetic chemistry and has the potential to underpin new 'green' and sustainable manufacturing methods for the chemical and polymers industry. Overall this project seeks to put Australia at the forefront of sustainable organometallic chemistry while the training of young researchers will create a highly skilled Australian workforce for pharmaceutical, material and chemical industries.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Modelling and manipulating brain network dynamics across the lifespan. This project aims to integrate advanced computational modelling and state-of-the-art recording techniques to generate new knowledge on the neural basis of ageing. People are said to grow wiser as they grow older, though more likely they will experience cognitive slowing and reduced memory functions that interfere with their daily lives. The anticipated goal of the project is to develop techniques to predict the personalised effects of brain stimulation on the ageing brain. The outcomes of this research could significantly improve understanding of brain ageing, and advance the fields of systems neuroscience, network science, and brain stimulation. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology Ageing is often accompanied by increasing forgetfulness, distractibility, inflexibility, and decreasing memory and ability to think quickly. This project focuses on better understanding the effects of ageing on the brain and establishing the groundwork for developing personalised, non-invasive, brain stimulation techniques to potentially alleviate these undesirable cognitive effects of ageing. With complete understanding of the effects of brain stimulation, we can drive towards major advances in the selective manipulation of brain dynamics in the future. This technique has the potential to assist our increasingly elderly population, to make them more resilient to neurodegeneration, and remain active and independent members of society for longer.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

ARC Training Centre for Cryo-Electron Microscopy of Membrane Proteins for Drug Discovery. This Centre aims to train industry-ready, world class graduates in cryo-electron microscopy of membrane proteins. The Centre’s graduates and research results would enable tomorrow’s industrial expansion in structure-enhanced drug design. Expected outcomes are world-first structural biology knowledge and techniques, and the entrepreneurial and technical skills desired by industry. This should provide significant benefits including advancing Australian biotechnological capacity and improved linkages with major pharmaceutical partners. It should also provide a substantive competitive advantage to nascent Australian biotechnology companies that also links into new National investment into drug discovery and development infrastructure. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology The ITTC will provide new links between academic and commercial partners, providing increased opportunity for generation of new IP and expansion of economic investment into the Australian biotechnology section. The breadth of training undertaken by our graduates will provide future flexible integration into both Australian and International pharmaceutical science industries. Current international commercially-focused cryo-EM platforms encourage placement of company scientists at their facilities to support sample preparation and data acquisition. These models are well suited to new start-ups and SMEs, allowing engagement with state-of-the-art imaging facilities but which require expert graduate staff. The ITTC could provide a substantive competitive advantage to nascent Australian biotechnology companies that also links into new National investment into pharmaceutical sciences infrastructure. Our ITTC trained staff could also support academic led innovation enabling improved commercial value prior to partnership with industry.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Nanofluidic Membranes for Sustainable Energy Future. This project aims to create a novel class of advanced membranes by making fundamental breakthroughs in nanofluidics, and harnessing this for developing new renewable energy and low-energy separation technologies. This project addresses the key challenges in understanding selective mass transport at the angstrom scale, thereby allowing the development of innovative materials design strategies to realise the ultrafast molecular and ionic permeation, and the ultrahigh selectivities observed in biological cell membranes. This new cross-disciplinary research will benefit Australia by the development of new materials for accelerating renewable hydrogen and biofuel futures, and enabling sustainable production of energy materials. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering This project will develop world-first membrane technologies to efficiently produce and use energy whilst reducing environmental impact. The project will develop a new class of advanced membranes for application in three different parts of the energy economy. These new membranes will allow: 1) the efficient production and use of hydrogen energy; 2) the sustainable manufacture and recycling of lithium-ion batteries and; 3) highly efficient biofuel production. The intended benefit and impact of the project includes the creation of new intellectual property to underpin the transformation and establishment of new manufacturing industries for a sustainable future. Commercialisation and technology transfer opportunities will be leveraged through a network of longstanding local and international industry partners.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Deafblind communication: Building professional competencies . This project aims to improve the quality of interpreting/support services provided to deafblind Australians by analysing the communication strategies used by deafblind sign language users. Many deafblind people use a modified form of Auslan (Australian Sign Language) to communicate, yet little is known about how interpreters or support workers should adapt their signing when working with deafblind clients to ensure effective communication. This project would develop evidence-based training and resources for these professionals. This should provide significant benefits such as improved communication between deafblind clients and professionals, and enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of support service provision for deafblind people. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics This Australian-first project partners with a deafblind service provider and the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters to better understand the communication strategies used by deafblind sign language users. Currently sign language interpreters and support workers receive no specialist training for working with deafblind signers, despite deafblind signers having a unique way of signing/ communicating. The project lays the groundwork for professionalising this workforce. It will lead to myriad service improvements for deafblind clients. As such the project has social benefits in enhancing the quality of life of deafblind Australians and also economic benefits in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of support service provision. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has seen a surge in demand for deafblind support services. This project will contribute to alleviating the shortage of professionals competent and available to work with Deafblind clients, and through this to the social inclusion of deafblind people in Australian society more generally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Ethical, Social and Regulatory Issues in Advanced Prenatal Testing. This project aims to investigate the social, ethical and regulatory issues arising with the rapid advancement and increased use of genomic non-invasive prenatal testing in early pregnancy in Australia. It expects to generate new insight into key issues such as consumer information before and after testing, consent, and equitable access to genomic health technologies in human reproduction. Expected outcomes include recommendations for addressing these issues, supported by ground-breaking social research and ethical and regulatory analysis. The project is expected to have major benefits, addressing the gap between policy and practice that has emerged in prenatal testing in Australia and shaping the ethics and regulation of pregnancy care. Field of research: 2201 - Applied Ethics Non-invasive prenatal testing techniques are now widely used and can provide information about an extensive range of genetic conditions prior to birth. Yet the increasingly broad uptake of NIPT and the expanded range of the test raises significant and complex questions about policy and practice in prenatal screening. This project will address these through ethical and regulatory analysis, supported by extensive social research, to generate recommendations and guidance for providers at the forefront of non-invasive prenatal testing. Issues to be addressed include pre-test information provision and informed consent; what information is provided to consumers after testing; and equity of access to new genomic medical technologies. It is expected to produce outcomes that will benefit partner organisations, as well as have significant impact and benefit within the broader context of the integration of genomic technologies and precision medicine in Australia. This project has potential for significant social and economic benefits, improving pregnancy care and fostering trust in genomics in human reproduction.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Measuring the benefits of reuse in the circular economy. The project will advance understanding of reuse commodity chains, their societal benefits and contributions to a more sustainable circular economy. Drawing on case study research with charitable and community reuse organisations, factors facilitating or inhibiting reuse will be identified, and rigorous methods developed for assessing the benefits of reuse organisations in terms of quantities of materials processed, employment, skills development and contributions to regional economic development. Research outputs will provide a sound evidence base for government policy and decision-making and strengthen conceptual understanding of drivers and enablers of reuse and links with broader economic activities. Field of research: 1604 - Human Geography The project will develop practical and rigorous methods for assessing the environmental, social and economic benefits of reuse facilitated by charitable and community sector organisations, that will allow inclusion of reuse activities in the National Waste Report, and in development of circular economy policy and reporting frameworks by state governments. It will provide a sound evidence base for government policy and investment decisions to promote socially inclusive sustainable development in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: Sustainable Production and Consumption.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Carbon-neutral copper: unlocking metal value through carbon sequestration. This project aims to explore how the concepts of reaction-induced porosity and coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions, which have had a profound impact in geosciences, can be exploited in the context of ore processing through carbon sequestration. The project's main outcomes are to generate a new process that maintains porosity in ore, and a combination of lixiviants, for effective Cu metal recovery and Fe capture. This project will benefit the mineral industry by providing an alternative to the current paradigm in Copper mineral processing that requires the destruction of the mineral hosting economic value, thereby developing sustainable mining technologies well suited for the increasingly complex ores being extracted in Australia. Field of research: 0914 - Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy The mineral resources industry is Australia’s largest export earner (40-50%), contributing ~8% of total GDP. However, the sector faces major challenges due to depletion of high-grade ore deposits, replaced by more complex, low-grade resources. In this context, exploiting chemically induced porosity to develop in-situ recovery technologies offers a step-change in enabling highly efficient and selective recovery of value metals from complex Cu-Au polymetallic ores; this also allows a significant reduction in generated waste rock as a by-product. Further, the process developed herein utilises a novel approach which incorporates the sequestration of carbon towards iron-entrapment and selective recovery of value Copper. Given the significant issues associated with climate change and Australia’s commitment to meeting its climate targets, the new science of the present project allows for simultaneous sequestration of Carbon and selectively recovering value; this is a vital step change towards an environmentally sustainable, ultra-low-cost alternative to traditional hard-rock mining practices and strategies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

On-site and comprehensive technology for chemical weapons, toxins and drugs. This project aims to evaluate and validate broad capabilities of advanced chemical profiling using benchtop and portable gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for forensic applications. Establishing guidelines for sampling various matrices, key performance measures, and improving chemical and residue identification for drug profiling in clandestine laboratories and public venues, chemical warfare agents, and chemical toxins is expected. Anticipated outcomes for project partners in defence and policing include detailed knowledge of sample and residue composition and on-site assessment of chemical risks with immediate feedback. Benefits should include improved community and security services safety by enhanced detection of harmful substances. Field of research: 0301 - Analytical Chemistry Analysis of chemical weapons, drugs and toxins is often confounded by interfering matrices and low concentrations. New gas chromatography with mass spectrometry methods offer improved identification of these samples and their residues. This will provide evidence on identity, source, extent of use, and environmental hazards. Secondly, rapid onsite sampling of these chemicals enables immediate drug detection and risk assessment of chemical weapons in potentially hazardous situations, and permits rapid mitigation strategies to be implemented. This allows security services to protect their personnel and the public from harmful materials, ensuring greater protection for the Australian community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Investigating the atomic structure of an immune cell inhibitory receptor. T cells play a key role in the adaptive immune system, whose reactivity must be controlled to prevent aberrant reactivity. Central to the function of T cells is the T cell antigen receptor, and a host of co-stimulatory molecules, co-receptors and inhibitory receptors. This proposal, in partnership with Immutep Ltd, aims to gain a basic understanding of the structure and function of a key inhibitory receptor found on T cells, termed the Lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3). The proposal utilises a combination of cellular immunology and structural biology to gain insight into the form and function of the LAG-3 molecule. Ultimately this fundamental knowledge can be used by the biotechnology industry. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This project will develop a deep understanding of the structure and function of a protein found on the surface of immune cells. The protein (called LAG-3), is part of an immune control pathway and understanding its basic structure will enable future drug development, particularly for immunotherapies that target this pathway. Partnering with ASX-listed biotech company Immutep Limited will speed creation of valuable new intellectual property, and generate new biotechnology product pipelines to benefit Australians.