La Trobe University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Low-cost Sensing Methods and Hybrid Learning Models. This project aims to revolutionise the theory and practice of sensing and monitoring by developing novel Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things technologies. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of Artificial Intelligence of Things by combining sensing, machine learning, and big data analytics. Expected outcomes of this project include novel low-cost sensing methods and new hybrid machine learning models for predictive sensory data analytics. This should provide significant benefits, such as substantially reduced operating and service costs and improved accuracy for real-time monitoring in the fields where cheap-to-implement and easy-to-service monitoring systems over large geographical areas are imperative. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing Improving water quality of inputs to the Great Barrier Reef is a major national priority, with $2 Billion committed by Australian Governments to protect the reef for the coming decade as stated in the Australian Government’s Reef 2050 Plan. Current monitoring practices are laborious and costly, with many gaps in the available data. This project proposes innovative low-cost, low-maintenance, and high-accuracy monitoring solutions by developing cheap-to-implement and easy-to-service Internet-of-Things monitoring systems. The outcomes of this project will find widespread application for monitoring agricultural runoff nationally and internationally and thus promote best farming and irrigation practices. Further potential benefits include making accurate monitoring available to communities that previously could not afford traditional sensory systems, as well as making conservation and monitoring projects more accessible to smaller/poorer governments globally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Motoring On? A New History of the U.S. Car Industry since 1900. This project aims to provide a new history of the U.S. car industry between 1900 and 2020. America was the industry’s birthplace, and the car is integral to national identity and history. Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. was the world's biggest auto market, and today it has almost as many cars as people. For decades, the auto sector was central to policy-making; today it is integral to Climate Change. The intended outcome is the first comprehensive history that blends the perspective of business and labor, rather than treating them separately, and the first history that covers the domestic and foreign-owned sectors. Its central question interrogates how this industry assumed - and maintained - a prominent place in American life. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies This project has considerable benefit to Australia. The U.S. is Australia’s closest and most important ally, and its second-biggest trading partner. The industry’s development in the U.S. greatly influenced Australia, where American-owned Holden and Ford were the main players for almost a century. As the ABC has observed, Australia is a “car country,” and few industries evoke such passion. Australians spend over $78 billion a year buying, fuelling, and servicing their cars, and few other consumer products are as emotive. In 2017, car production in Australia ceased, generating considerable public engagement. Radio National described Holden’s shutdown as “a turning point in our history," while the axing of the "iconic" Holden brand has also attracted widespread commentary. This project will illuminate why car-making has survived in the U.S. but not in Australia, investigating the role of government support, labor costs, and the size of the market, among other factors. The Australian perspective will also be directly explored through a Ph.D. scholarship to study the history of Australian car-making.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Reclaiming Child Rights: Activism, Public Inquiries and Social Change. This project aims to develop an historical sociology of activism against institutional child abuse from the 1990s to the present. It examines the reform strategies, actions and rationales of activists before, during and after the Child Abuse Royal Commission using media-rich methods, and it investigates the mobilisation of child rights discourse in Australia and internationally. The project expects to generate new insights into child rights and activism, new understandings of a globally significant Royal Commission, and new knowledge on research translation. Expected outcomes and benefits include an archive of activist stories, a digital memory project, and a new model for public engagement with sensitive topics. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology This project contributes to Australia’s national interest by generating new knowledge about how a diverse group of Australians fought against historical injustices and worked for social change to better protect children in the future. It investigates how activism against institutional child abuse contributed to a Royal Commission that is regarded globally as gold standard, which prompted sweeping reforms, and shaped the processes of inquiries internationally. The project will enrich sociological and historical scholarship of social action, and public understandings of an important chapter in Australian social, legal and political life. It will contribute to child protection efforts by exploring how difficult materials and research on the topic of child sexual abuse can be made available safely to the public and stakeholders, while respecting sensitivity and privacy. A lasting record of social change activism will be created for future generations through a public memory project and a digital archive, which will enhance public understanding of one of Australia’s most important royal commissions.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

How is the blood cell population size controlled? Macrophage-like cells are an ancient animal blood cell lineage critically important for development, immunity, and homeostasis. This fellowship seeks to reveal the genes and control mechanisms used by animals to achieve an optimally-sized army of these cells - to contain threats for survival upon infection, heal following acute stress exposures, or for development, ongoing maintenance, and repair of wear and tear. By marrying the genetic tractability of the model organism Drosophila and its simple, yet conserved blood cell system, this project will yield new insights into the mechanisms that govern the animal blood cell population. This will benefit our fundamental understanding of how animals maximise their health throughout life. Field of research: 3105 - Genetics There is a lack of understanding about how animals control the size of their blood cell populations. Gaining fundamental insights into how and why animals (including humans) grow and shrink their blood cell populations is in Australia’s national interest because it will enable an advanced understanding of key cellular processes that underpin health and ageing. Blood cells serve to protect and repair the body, and therefore the knowledge generated has the potential to be harnessed in fields such as regenerative medicine with the goal of promoting the repair of injured or aged tissue and enhancing longevity. This could occur via the development of future new therapies together with the pharmaceutical sector, or via alternative means including novel environmental and nutritional interventions. As animals include livestock, pets, native wildlife and humans, a new understanding of blood cell population control will likely lead to significant benefits to the Australian community through economic, commercial, and environmental gains.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Family Violence Triage in Family Courts: Safety, Efficacy and Benefit. Domestic and family violence (DFV) risks are highest during relationship separation, elevated further for parents and children involved in Family Court disputes. Utilising the federal Family Courts’ Triage pilot program, this partnership project aims to examine risk pathways, burdens and costs of post-separation DFV, and the efficacy and cost-benefits of early DFV triage. The project intends to produce new knowledge about family and systemic drivers of safety, to advance evidence on the efficacy of DFV triage and to translate findings into new resources for preventing DFV harms. This world-first study aims to inform global family law policy and practice, with inter-generational benefit for vulnerable Australian families and for society. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services Without well targeted intervention strategies, the social cost of domestic and family violence (DFV) to Australian society is estimated to accumulate to $323.4 billion over a thirty-year period. The most serious burdens of DFV occur for women and children during the process of family separation. This project would contribute to Australia’s national interest through comprehensive new knowledge about the modifiable individual and service factors that enhance safety for this vulnerable population. This project will answer long-standing and persistent calls to fill data gaps on the pathways of post-separation DFV victimisation and perpetration and their costs, and will provide new knowledge about the effects and cost-benefits of early Triage processes. Findings translated into new education resources will support effective partnership between services and parents. The project aims to contribute to the capacity of policy makers, family court and allied relationship services to enhance safety, lift the personal, economic and social burdens of DFV in Australia, and to lead globally on prevention innovation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Multi-functional probes for global analysis of proteome stress in cells. This project aims to create a suite of multi-functional chemical probes to identify damaged proteins that undergo unfolding or specific modifications in cells under stress. These probes will not only generate fluorescence responses to reflect on protein quality control capacity but allow associated proteins and their networks to be identified in complex cellular environments, which is difficult to achieve by current methods. The expected outcome is to deliver new methodology for a comprehensive understanding of the correlation between quality control machinery, stress responses and cell functions. This should provide significant benefits, including contributing to fundamental knowledge on the molecular causes of neurodegenerative diseases. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This project will deliver robust chemical probes to report on the integrity of protein quality control in cells, which will advance our understanding of fundamental aspects of protein folding in cell biology and its implications in pathological conditions such as viral infection, autoimmunune and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This innovative project will provide significant economic and commercial benefits to Australia through new technologies based on novel chemical compounds to assess cell stress and protein stability. Such technologies can be applied to the pharmaceutical industry for identifying drug targets for combating the above-mentioned diseases and conditions and as effective methods for quality control of protein-based pharmaceutical production including vaccines. The commercialisation of the technology will contribute to the sectors of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and academia across the fields of chemical, cell and molecular biology in Australia and internationally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

An atom-scale fabrication technique for diamond quantum microprocessors. This project aims to develop an atomically-precise fabrication technique for the production of diamond quantum microprocessors through the pursuit of a novel bottom-up approach. This project expects to create significant new knowledge and capability in precision diamond growth, surface chemistry, electronics and characterisation, establish a long-term strategic partnership between Quantum Brilliance and the participating organisations, and enable the realisation of high-performance quantum microprocessors. These outcomes will potentially deliver Australia and Quantum Brilliance a profound advantage in quantum computing, thereby securing their positions in the emerging global quantum market and the associated economic and security benefits. Field of research: 0206 - Quantum Physics Quantum computing is rapidly emerging with an expected $50B+ global market by 2040, driven by the potential for transformative applications across science, industry and defence. Significant current investment is directed towards engineering quantum computers that offer a large-facility mainframe supercomputer. This project will take a different approach by manufacturing a diamond quantum microprocessor at lower cost that is compact and robust, expanding the scope of quantum computer applications and where they can be employed. This will deliver unparalleled capabilities to Australian industry through applications in chemical and materials innovation, drug discovery, food production and defence. Australia’s diamond material science capability will be combined with an innovative microprocessor design to develop a technique for atom-scale engineering of diamond quantum microprocessors, enabling the Australian quantum industry to capture a significant share of the global quantum computer market, enhancing its sovereign quantum capability, and supporting the training of a future quantum industry workforce.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Using pollinators to optimise plant conservation translocation. This project aims to address the low success rate of conservation translocations of threatened orchids. While pollinators are critical for plant reproduction, they are very rarely considered when establishing new populations of endangered species. Our innovative approach to conservation translocation involves using pollinators in site selection, developing strategies to mitigate risks of hybridisation, and optimising plant reproduction through planting design. The key outcome will be best-practice protocols to fast-track the establishment of self-sustaining populations. Due to their novelty, the approaches we develop will benefit plant translocations worldwide, and lead to enhanced conservation outcomes at reduced financial cost. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management Orchids are renowned for their intricate flowers and often bizarre pollination strategies. In Australia, the spider orchids (Caladenia) are among are most iconic wildflowers. Yet, they are also one of our most threatened plant groups. Consequently, effective large-scale conservation translocation programs are urgently needed to prevent extinction. This study will: 1. Investigate how knowledge of pollination systems can be used to fast-track the establishment of new self-sustaining populations. 2. Establish protocols for testing if pollinator availability limits suitability of candidate introduction sites. 3. Design planting strategies for mitigating the risks of hybridisation and enhancing plant reproduction in newly established populations. The development of new protocols and methods would be internationally ground-breaking, and provide new guidelines for the successful translocation of plants in general, leading to more effective use of conservation funding. By engaging citizen scientists, the project will also enable strong science-community engagement.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Promoting Long-Term Employment of Autistic Individuals . Autistic adults tend to have poor employment outcomes and poor well-being, but these outcomes have mostly been treated separately. This project aims to investigate the links between sustainable employment and well-being of autistic adults. Survey and interview data will be collected in partner organisations after implementing two training programs for autistic staff and colleagues. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity of both employers and employees to pro-actively manage job demands and build resources of autistic employees. This should provide significant benefits by improving sustainability of autism employment programs, thus providing social and financial benefits to autistic individuals, employers, government, and society. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology Project findings will benefit the national interest as follows: 1. Contribute to economic and social benefit by ensuring successful and sustainable autism employment. Research from Deloitte suggests 100 autistic individuals with a 20-year working career results in savings accrual of $167 million and the additional generation of $425 million in gross domestic product. 2. Support ‘better models of health care and services that improve outcomes, reduce disparities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, increase efficiency and provide greater value for a given expenditure’. A project objective is to provide an evidence base for business and government to improve existing workplace training programs to reduce disparities in the employment of autistic people, as well as reducing economic and social costs associated with their un- and under-employment. 3. Increase the likelihood and success of autism employment by enhancing well-being and the dissemination of effective autism employment practices to organisations, thereby ‘promoting greater integration and co-investment between the health system and industry.’

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Outfoxing the fox: new cost-effective ways to protect threatened species. This project aims to address the damage caused by invasive foxes by applying new methods of protection for threatened species. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of conservation biology and invasive species management by comparing the effectiveness of fox control strategies for improving the population viability of declining freshwater turtles. Expected outcomes of this project include a community-based conservation model that prevents turtle extinctions in south-eastern Australia at considerable cost savings. Significant benefits include improved management of the impacts of invasive species, and restoration of ecosystem services provided by the scavenging role of freshwater turtles for maintaining water quality. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management Australia’s annual $10 billion investment into feral and invasive species control represents considerable waste due to the ineffectiveness of lethal predator management for protecting many native species. This project tests a revolutionary model of conservation that protects threatened species from foxes at a much lower cost. The conservation model saves cost by giving local communities a range of independent ways to protect their local threatened species from invasive predators, which has direct benefits for the strategic research outcome “environmental change”. The model is designed to serve as a blueprint for collaborative community-led conservation that does not rely heavily on federal and state support. As federal funds for conservation dwindle, community-driven initiatives like ours will be essential for protecting Australia’s biodiversity. The project will restore threatened freshwater turtle populations, whose scavenging of carrion in rivers is essential to maintaining water quality, particularly during fish kill events. This outcome will directly benefit communities who rely on rivers for water.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

How bacteria form resistant aggregates and biofilms. This research aims to use interdisciplinary approaches to advance fundamental knowledge on bacterial aggregates and biofilms. These bacterial clusters are a significant problem as they have extraordinary resistance to disinfectants and antibiotics, and currently no effective methods are available to disrupt them. The expected outcomes of this project are to dissect how autotransporters, the most common group of bacterial cell-surface proteins, promote aggregation and biofilm formation, and to develop inhibitors that prevent the formation of these damaging bacterial clusters. Ultimately, this new knowledge will help address the increasing economic and social burden of industrial, environmental and biomedical biofilms. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology Bacterial aggregates and biofilms are a global problem. These bacterial clusters cause corrosion and biofouling in plumbing, heating and ventilation systems, equipment and machinery, and result in important economic losses to many industries (biocorrosion alone costs over US$440 billion worldwide, 0.6% of the world’s GDP). Biofilms are also of great importance in biomedicine. Approximately 80% of human infections are biofilm-associated, which contributes to significant morbidity and healthcare expenditure (the annual cost for biofilm infections in the US alone is ~$94 billion, with an equivalent cost in Australia with respect to population size). No effective approaches are currently available to disrupt and eliminate biofilms. This study will define the molecular mechanisms underlying aggregation and biofilm formation and provide the basis for the development of approaches to block these processes, which will have future economic, social and health benefits. Other short-term benefits include building capacity; training students; building international collaborations and generating high impact papers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

The investigation of an unconventional Human Leukocyte Antigen molecule. This project aims to characterise a unique and understudied surface molecule (HLA-E). The immune system is activated and regulated by a complex set of molecules including HLA molecules present on the cell surface that inform the immune system of infection. Therefore, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of cellular biology and immunology by utilising a cutting-edge and multi-disciplinary approach. Expected outcomes of this project include the generation of new knowledge of this unconventional molecule and its interaction with immune cells. This should provide significant impacts by defining the non-conventional role of HLA-E within the immune system, which may advise future research into vaccines or therapeutics. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This project will generate knowledge in a new area of cellular biology and immunology, probing the role of an understudied molecule (HLA-E) in the immune system. Up until now, this molecule has only been studied in one side of the immune system; innate immunity. This project adapts gold-standard techniques to provide fundamental knowledge on the role of this molecule in the immune response across both adaptive and innate immunity. The results will provide insights into complex immune function that could ultimately yield a new pathway for anti-viral therapeutics or vaccine targets. Valuable intellectual property underpinning these discoveries could generate future patents and attract commercial partners to ultimately produce Australian health and economic benefits through existing industry links.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Rhizosphere priming regulates soil carbon cycle under high carbon dioxide. Australian farmers will be producing crops under elevated CO2 in the future. However, it is unknown how the increased CO2 level will affect agricultural production and soil health. This project aims to understand the effect of high atmospheric CO2 on carbon and nitrogen cycles in major cropping soils. It will examine how combinations of crop and soil types lead to differences in loss of soil organic carbon. Soil microorganisms that link to carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils will be examined in the long-term field trials. The project intends to provide fundamental information that is essential to evaluate the future impact of climate change on the fertility and productivity of our poor, already infertile soils in semi-arid regions. Field of research: 0503 - Soil Sciences This research will explore the impacts of climate change on soil carbon management and food production. It will provide new knowledge that addresses a key component of the climate threat to rural social communities, and engages farmers to implement strategies to sustain food production, profitability, and security. The findings on the elevated CO2-induced nitrogen transformation, associated with soil organic carbon decomposition, will assist Australia to gain the economic benefits through effective management of nitrogen fertilisers and soil fertility in response to climate changes. This proposal directly responds to three key Science and Research Priorities through 1) improving understanding of sustainable limits for productive use of soil; 2) developing solution for restoring soil carbon for a resilient, sustainable and productive future; and 3) providing fundamental data to devise a model to predict soil carbon stocks in the future. It also aligns closely with the research priority of La Trobe University “Securing Food, Water and the Environment”.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Mothers' little helper: Alcohol use in working mothers. This project aims to generate unique insights into the strains that Australian working mothers face in their daily lives and the impact these strains have on their alcohol consumption. Using innovative methods to understand strains resulting from two major life domains, family and work, the project expects to generate new knowledge which can be used to develop interventions to address this important issue. The results of this study can provide significant benefits not only to the quality of life of working mothers in Australia but also has society-wide implications. This is due to alcohol use being a leading avoidable cause for productivity loss alongside other social, community and economic costs. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services This study will generate unique knowledge on predictors of heavy drinking among working mothers in Australia, which causes significant social and economic harm. Middle-aged women are currently the only group increasing their alcohol consumption in the context of otherwise stagnating or decreasing trends. Performing double shifts of paid work and family tasks are proposed to influence heavy drinking but at present, this group is largely understudied. By providing an in-depth understanding of the driving forces behind the daily strains resulting from the interplay between mothers’ work and family duties, our results will address an important gap in knowledge not only to increase the quality of life in working mothers but also to reduce the social and economic costs resulting from absenteeism and productivity loss. Knowing that parental alcohol use shapes the knowledge and expectations of children, this research may have implications on the visibility and normativity of alcohol use within the home witnessed by underage children and as such on the intergenerational transmission of alcohol-related cognitions.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Finite dimensional integrable systems and differential geometry. Mathematical models of many processes in science (physics, engineering) and in the real world (nature, economics) are governed by complicated systems of differential equations. An important, distinguished class of such models is described by integrable systems, the systems for which one can provide a comprehensive qualitative picture, and in many cases, a complete solution. Using recently developed, powerful methods of integrable systems and differential geometry, this project will focus on a range of important, interconnected theoretical problems in both disciplines. The expected outcomes will provide new, deep, mathematically and physically significant results which will lead to applications and developments across a range of fields. Field of research: 0101 - Pure Mathematics This project provides deep contributions to higher mathematical concepts in geometry and dynamics that underly a diverse range of current and future technologies such as quantum computing, nano-optics and applied hydrodynamics, all important to Australia’s modern digital and industrial directions. The project investigates the behaviour of a wide class of mathematical models, from very classical ones (like the harmonic motion of a spring or planetary motions), to highly complex systems which govern processes in modern physics, biology and industry (for example, power transmission in the electricity grid, or the spread of bushfires). New mathematical techniques developed in this project will establish effective ways to understand and predict the behaviour of such systems.  Wider cultural importance in the development of novel methods in the mathematical sciences is pivotal to the advancement of new scientific outcomes in Australia and to providing research training to highly skilled graduates.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

A general theory for ecological trait-strategy dimensions. This project aims to bridge the gap in understanding of ecological strategies between plant and animal ecology, globally, using ants. It will test how environmental change influences the success of species, based on ecological strategies, and the consequences for ecosystem function. This project is expected to make a significant contribution to generality and prediction in ecology. Expected outcomes of this project include theory development and application and enhanced global networks of trait researchers. Intended benefits include improved ecological theory, an enhanced capacity to predict how global change will affect organisms and increased understanding of the cascading effects of changes for ecosystem function. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology Environmental benefits for Australia and internationally: We will contribute to the priority area of “Environmental Change” in the subcategory of: “Improved accuracy and precision in predicting and measuring the impact of environmental changes caused by climate and local factors”. By combining a new understanding of ecological strategies and functional traits and their distribution among ant species, we will, firstly, enhance our ability to predict the responses of species to environmental change, based on their ecological strategies. Secondly, by linking ecological strategies with effects on ecosystems, we will be able to predict the effect of changes in species abundances on ecosystem function, thus improving our ability to predict ecosystem change following climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding ecological strategies is critical to this benefit because different traits underlying response to and effects on ecosystem function may be linked if they are part of the same ecological strategy. Importantly, this broad approach means that findings are globally applicable.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Determining how the soluble dietary fibre beta-glucan is made in cereals. This Project aims to define the molecular mechanisms that control the processes involved in the biosynthesis and regulation of mixed linkage glucan, a major soluble dietary fibre in the cell walls of cereal grains. Plant cell walls determine the quality of most plant-based products used in modern human societies, yet the regulatory mechanisms responsible for their modulation are not well understood. Key distinguishing features of the Project will be the international, integrative, and multidisciplinary approach towards addressing this major challenge in plant biology and the potential of the fundamental scientific discoveries to benefit end-users in the food, feed and beverage industries. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology This project is a step in the pathway towards developing fit-for-purpose cereal grains to increase Australia’s agricultural productivity, profitability, wealth and health through higher production (grower benefits) and improved nutritional quality (consumer and community benefits). For Australia, the cost of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases is $70 B, greater than our entire agricultural output of $65 B. Grain with enhanced levels of soluble dietary fibre provides a means of commodity differentiation and added value to growers and aligns with the strategic ambition of the National Farmers’ Federation to expand the Australian agricultural industry to $100 B by 2030. Producing raw food ingredients of greater nutritional quality is an alternative approach to changing dietary habits to tackle the rising incidence of food-related diseases and the unsustainable burden on our health budget. Healthier communities and a more productive labour force are also predicted outcomes of this work.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Earliest Village People: the shift to sedentary life in the Natufian period. This project aims to investigate the shift to sedentary life by excavating one of the earliest villages, founded by hunter-gatherers around 12,500 BCE. Of key interest are foundational burials at Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan and their role in the establishment of this new kind of settlement. Well-preserved deposits present a rare opportunity to track a community in the act of settling down so significant knowledge about the transition to sedentism should be generated. An interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology, bioanthropology and archaeogenetics may provide new explanations of early social organisation. Potential benefits include the building of international collaborations and the development of Australia’s role in the Middle East. Field of research: 2101 - Archaeology To understand recent claims for the pre-colonial occurrence of Indigenous Australian village life and farming it is crucial to provide comparative data from early global settlements and farming practices at the dawn of the transition from hunter-gatherer life to agriculture. Our project site of Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan is one of the earliest villages in the world, dating from 14,500 years ago. Its unusually well-preserved sequence of layers provides a rare opportunity to study the origins of modern settlement practices and the initial move to farming that is critical for understanding the nature of the Australian record, where archaeological traces of such activity are often ephemeral. The project will reveal the sources of our modern lifeways; ancient DNA analyses on foundational burials at our site will clarify the diversity of human communities in the Middle East, a seminal region for ancient human dispersal, and the ancestral origin point for many Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Networks in Flux: Examining how sector relationships adapt to rapid change. This study aims to investigate why, when and how inter-organisational networks adapt or remain resistant to change. Responding to complex social problems and technological change requires inter-organisational networks to be adaptable. Through a combination of longitudinal network analysis, survey research and qualitative interviews, this project plans to study the Victorian HIV and hepatitis C sector as it responds to major advances in prevention and treatment, requiring community, health, policy and research organisations to adapt their roles and relationships. This timely and novel study aims to improve our knowledge of how to enable inter-organisational networks to adapt and improve organisational responsiveness to complex issues. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology Inter-organisational networks are common where collaboration is required to effectively address complex, dynamic problems, such as in the public health and social services sectors. Understanding how these networks adapt to change, and the factors that enable or limit organisations’ capacity to change, are important steps in developing more suitable governance and support systems. This study examines the Victorian HIV/HCV sector as an exemplar, charting its response to the largest changes in treatments and prevention strategies in 20 years. In doing so, it will unlock more of the potential of inter-organisational networks to improve the health and well-being of the clients they serve, promote health and reduce inequity. We build upon the baseline data collected and work conducted with the Victorian health sector in 2018. The results will be useful to inform any complex policy challenge where understanding, enabling and guiding organisational network structures plays an important role in achieving successful health and social outcomes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Mechanism and function of cell asymmetry during cell death. This project aims to investigate how dying cells rearrange their cellular contents to aid their removal. More than 200 billions cells die daily in the human body. It is critical that dying cells are rapidly cleared as their buildup can interfere with normal tissue functions. This project will use a suite of contemporary molecular/cell biological approaches to study a newly identified process that occurs during cell death. Expected outcomes include a paradigm-shift in understanding the process of cell clearance. This project is expected to generate fundamental new knowledge of the mechanisms by which dying cells are efficiently removed from tissues. This should provide significant benefits to the cell death and general cell biology fields. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology In adult humans, billions of cells die daily as part of normal turnover. It is vital that dying cells are rapidly removed, otherwise their accumulation can interfere with organ functions. To aid efficient clearance of dead cells, dying cells can disassemble into fragments for neighbouring cells to remove. This project aims to elucidate the molecular machinery that controls how cellular contents are partitioned during the disassembly of dying cells, and the role of this process in cell clearance. Understanding the mechanistic basis and function of dying cell disassembly will generate fundamental new knowledge of the downstream consequences of cell death, continuing Australia’s world leading research in this field. This breakthrough will yield high impact academic outcomes that have broad significance in other fields of research including cell biology, biochemistry, developmental biology and will generate basic knowledge that can be applied in medical science in Australia to understand or treat pathological conditions such as infectious, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Melting Futures: An Environmental History of the Himalayan Cryosphere. The Himalaya’s cryosphere (or frozen realm) has underpinned Monsoonal Asia’s climate and water supply for millennia, and now it is disappearing. This project forecasts the Himalaya’s melting future by documenting how its ice has shaped Asia’s past and produced its present. Focusing on the period since the end of the Little Ice Age (the mid-1800s), it investigates the climatic, cultural and geopolitical causes of ice loss, and asks how they have influenced and intensified each other. The project’s multifaceted approach to the cryosphere challenges the current fragmented debates on the melting ice, and will, therefore, generate improvements in cryosphere management. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies The Australian Government’s aid program invests heavily in river management within the Greater Himalayan Watershed. The Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio, the South Asia Water Initiative, and Australian Water Partnerships run programs in the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong River Basins. This investment recognises that Himalayan rivers sustain approximately 45 per cent of the world’s human population and 20 per cent of its economy, underpinning trade, and socio-political stability in our region. Despite this investment, Australia has supported only limited research into the Himalayan cryosphere (icy realm), which provides around 40 per cent of this watershed’s flow and faces profound challenges from climate change. This environmental history project will produce new and accessible, world-leading insights that explain the dynamic ecologies, societies and politics of the icy realm to Australians, our regional partners and the world. It will lead to more effective cryosphere management policy and advance Australia’s regional interests.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Institutional abortion stigma as a barrier to equitable access. This project aims to understand how ingrained institutional abortion stigma produces barriers to access. Despite progressive law reform, access to abortion in Australia remains uneven and discriminates against the most marginal women. Institutions of law, government, medical training and health care significantly influence access to abortion. The nature and extent of this influence is under-researched and poorly understood. The project expects to identify and begin enacting the institutional-level change required for more equitable access to reproductive health care. The anticipated benefits include developing tools to optimise abortion access and, in so doing, helping to meet a goal repeatedly highlighted by State and Federal governments. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies Abortion provision in Australia is uneven and discriminates against the most marginal women. Now that the long-standing goal of decriminalising abortion has largely been achieved, women’s access to abortion must be guaranteed. Currently, underappreciation of the central role that certain institutions play in regulating abortion hampers the success of state and Commonwealth reproductive health policies that identify improved access as a core priority. This is the first in-depth study of the key institutions that regulate abortion provision: institutions of law, government, medical education and training, and health care provision. It examines how institutional norms, practices and policies form barriers to abortion access that are felt most acutely by women who are already disadvantaged. Embedded stakeholder engagement will transform this knowledge into specific tools and strategies for addressing ingrained abortion stigma within institutions. By understanding and transforming institutional cultures and practices, the project aims to improve equality of access to reproductive health care in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer identifying women. This project aims to examine practices of alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer-identifying (LBQ) women, which are considerably higher compared to heterosexual women. By using an innovative, longitudinal qualitative approach, this project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the cultural and social forces that shape higher rates of alcohol and tobacco use among LBQ women, and to better understand their impacts. It is anticipated that the project will enhance the capacity of health promotion and policy organisations to meet the alcohol management and smoking cessation needs of this population. Findings from this project should help to alleviate health and social inequalities experienced by LBQ women. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology Numerous national and international studies have documented poorer social and health outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ) populations. The reasons for this are diverse and may connect with both social stigmas directed towards sexual and gender minorities as well as differing cultures that shape health-related behaviour. The health of gay and bisexual men has long been the focus of study given their disproportionate experience of HIV. LBQ women, by contrast, have been relatively overlooked, despite widely documented inequalities relating to mental health, alcohol and other drug use. The proposed study will bring social benefits to the Australian community by exploring the ways in which LBQ women use alcohol and tobacco and to better understand the social and cultural forces that facilitate higher rates of use. By working in partnership with leading organisations across the alcohol, tobacco control and LGBTIQ sectors, we anticipate new insight that can transform the design and delivery of health interventions for this group, in turn addressing inequality in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

How do extracellular vesicles fuse with cells to deliver messages? Aims: This project aims to investigate how tiny packages released by all cells in the human body, called extracellular vesicles, deliver messages into neighbouring cells facilitating cell-to-cell communication. Significance: This project expects to generate key knowledge in the area of cell-to-cell communication by using innovative molecular biology approaches and cutting-edge microscopy and biophysical techniques. Expected outcomes: Expected outcomes include high resolution details of which molecules are packaged onto extracellular vesicles and how they are delivered into recipient cells. Benefits: This project should contribute significantly to understanding extracellular vesicle function and guide their eventual use as therapeutics. Field of research: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

The Australian Council of Trade Unions in the Making of Modern Australia. This project brings political, economic and social history together with a feminist analysis to explore the Australian Council of Trade Unions' significance in shaping modern Australia. Positioned within a national framework of labour politics and economic restructuring, and an international context of Cold War adversarialism, the project goes beyond the ACTU's key role in workplace bargaining to an assessment of its international profile and the impact on the organisation of a feminising labour market and emergent women’s leadership. In an innovative study that highlights the Hawke era to show the ACTU's history as one of transition to governance, we aim to reveal the potential of the Australian labour movement to effect change. Field of research: 2103 - Historical Studies This history of the Australian Council of Trade Unions provides a much-needed long-term analysis of the labour movement’s significance in shaping modern Australia. By investigating how the ACTU effectively enabled the emergence of political leadership, especially among women, the project will bring a new understanding of a significant shaping influence on our national life. Documenting past practices and policies will expand knowledge of the recurring issue of gender bias in our public life. Showing how the organisation itself changed, and locating when and why it responded to and embraced grassroots social movements will heighten awareness of the processes by which community activism can translate into political governance. The study puts a currently localised Australian labour history into an international context and brings a new perspective to the ACTU's confrontation with recent economic challenges. Resulting outputs will inform discussion of the continuing place of trade unions on the national political stage and the development of strategies for managing transformations at work and in society.