La Trobe University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Unlocking the potential of optimised crop height . This project aims to understand how crop hormone pathways intersect to regulate plant height. The project expects to use newly developed technologies and genetic resources to discover genes and regulatory elements that control crop height, tiller number and yield in sorghum and maize, to improve protection from storm damage and lodging, and reduce dwarfing side effects. Expected outputs include enhanced understanding of growth responses that determine crop height, and analysis of crop varieties to help breeders develop cultivars that are more resilient to climate extremes. This should provide significant benefits to agricultural productivity and help train and educate future researchers of agri-tech industries in regional Australia. Field of research: 3004 - Crop and Pasture Production Wind damage to crops such sorghum and corn is increasing due to climate change, resulting in major grain losses. The ability of plants to resist damage (such as toppling over) during these adverse events is known as ‘lodging resistance’. Lodging resistance is significantly greater in crop plants that have semi-dwarfing genetics. However, semi-dwarf varieties often have other detrimental side effects, due to plant hormone deficiencies. This project seeks to uncover new ways to improve lodging resistance in corn and sorghum by optimising plant height while avoiding plant hormone side effects. Our partner organisation, Bayer, has developed new short-stature varieties in North America, but they are transgenic (i.e. genetically modified) and not commercially viable for world-wide sales. Bayer has partnered with us to gain the new knowledge and genetics that is needed to develop non-genetically modified, short-stature corn and sorghum. This initiative will boost agricultural output (aligning with the National Science & Research Priority of Food and the National Farmers Federation’s ambition to increase annual agricultural productivity to $100B by 2030). Information and beneficial genetics will be released through the breeding pipelines of our industry partners. Resultant crop varieties will save growers millions of dollars in storm damage, and improve farming income reliability and social stability.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Systematic Identification of Novel Immunotherapy Targets Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Improving outcomes for BRAF and KRAS mutant colorectal cancer Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Unravelling the molecular basis of CD8+ T cell development and behaviour . The immune system is essential in disease resistance and resilience across diverse species and ecosystems. CD8+ T cells are a critical component of effective immunity. However, the molecular mechanisms governing their development and behaviour are poorly understood. This project aims to explore these mechanisms in unprecedented depth using an innovative in vivo CRISPR/Cas gene editing platform. Expected outcomes from this project include transformative insights into the genetic networks regulating CD8+ T cell immunity, and the establishment of an advanced novel platform for studying immune cell biology. This research promises significant benefits in advancing fundamental immunology and facilitating future studies in this field. Field of research: 3204 - Immunology The immune system is made up of a complex network of specialised cell types. Despite a comprehensive understanding of the roles different cell types play within the immune system, the mechanisms controlling their development and how they move through the body to target infection are poorly understood. This is largely due to the complexity of studying these cells within their natural environment inside the body. Using advanced animal modelling and molecular techniques, this project will pioneer a new platform to track immune cells throughout their lifecycle, from early-stage cell growth to end-stage immune function. The dramatically enhanced insights into immune cell networks made possible by this new platform could pave the way for future development of treatments for both animal and human disease. This will benefit wildlife conservation efforts and public health, crucial for preserving both Australia's unique ecosystems and the well-being of its population. Further, the platform technology established in this project has the potential to be widely adopted across Australia and internationally. To ensure effective dissemination and translation of our findings beyond academic networks, we will collaborate with industry and policymakers to facilitate expanded investigation of all facets of immune cell biology, and position Australia globally at the forefront of science and technology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Addressing reproductive violence in migrant and refugee communities. This project aims to address a critical gap in knowledge about migrant women’s experience of a serious form of family violence: reproductive coercion and abuse. Through a mixed methods design this project expects to advance understanding and identify opportunities to increase the safety of survivors. Expected outcomes include a new conceptual model, co-designed, culturally responsive resources for communities and health professionals, and recommendations for legislative and policy change. The results should benefit migrant communities, legal and health professionals working with migrant communities, and policy makers through improved conceptual knowledge, suggestions for legal reform, and evidence-based resources for workforce training. Field of research: 4203 - Health Services and Systems Family violence is recognised as an issue of national importance due to the significant negative effects it has on health and well-being. Reproductive coercion and abuse is an understudied form of family violence that causes significant harm. There is little knowledge or data available about the experiences of reproductive abuse in the community and there is a critical gap in knowledge regarding migrant and refugee communities. Because of this lack of knowledge and data we cannot appropriately shape policies and practices in health and law. Upcoming reforms in reproductive healthcare, such as universal access to abortion, could create additional risk for migrant and refugee communities if our evidence base and laws are not advanced and inclusive. This project will provide world first knowledge to extend our conceptual understanding of reproductive abuse, allowing us to make recommendations for legislative change to support appropriate policing and justice responses, and develop community led, culturally responsive resources for health professionals and migrant and refugee communities, ensuring Australia upholds its responsibilities to keep migrants safe and that they can access their human rights.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia. Sport is intrinsic to Australian culture, particularly in rural and regional communities. However, sport cultures can also perpetuate gender inequalities and violence. This project aims to examine and address gender-based violence across Australian sports communities. The project expects to develop an in-depth understanding of the gendered nature of violence in this context and how communities can address such violence. Using an interdisciplinary approach, mixed methods and collaborative co-design, the project’s expected outcomes include a new evidence base, enhanced international interdisciplinary collaborations, and practice guides to improve the capacity and response of sport communities across Australia to address gender-based violence. Field of research: 4407 - Policy and Administration Gender-based violence results in significant harms for individuals and communities at great social and economic cost to Australia. As specifically identified in the Commonwealth of Australia 2022 National Plan, sport is considered a key setting for prevention work, given its importance in Australian culture. Yet, international research shows high rates of violence in sport, up to 76% across psychological, physical, and sexual violence. Little is known about the prevalence or experience of gender-based violence in Australian community sport nor how to address it. This project aims to address this knowledge gap and in so doing to reduce gender-based violence through creating safer sports spaces in Australia. To do this we will work closely with those who have experienced violence in community sport to develop practical tools and guides for identification and response and the means to apply them across diverse sports spaces. These will be shared through an online information hub and community of practice, as well as within our existing extensive networks, to build the capacity of sports organisations and their communities to reduce gender-based violence. In the current epidemic of violence against women, addressing sport’s gendered culture and practices will reduce the risk of gender-based violence for the benefit of all Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Addressing the opportunities and risks of HIV elimination in Australia. This project aims to provide the first critical analysis of public policy related to HIV ‘elimination’, including the emerging notion of ‘micro-elimination’. Using a novel ‘policy ecology’ approach involving an analysis of media coverage, policies, health promotion materials, and qualitative interviews with stakeholders and people affected by HIV, it seeks to identify the benefits and risks of implementing this policy in Australian settings. It also seeks to identify the role of this policy in perceptions of HIV prevalence and transmissibility, and its potential role in relation to HIV stigma. Expected outcomes of the project include urgently needed new knowledge on the adoption and implementation of a powerful global public health policy. Field of research: 4410 - Sociology With the annual number of new HIV cases having halved in the past decade, Australia is on track to become the first country in the world to achieve the UN target of eliminating HIV transmission. However, given there are still approximately 500 new cases per year and 30,000 people currently living with HIV in Australia, questions remain about the risks to HIV prevention from messaging that suggests elimination is imminent. Using an innovative and interdisciplinary approach that combines policy, biomedical and social aspects, this project will generate urgently needed new knowledge about the effects of global public health’s focus on elimination on understandings of HIV risk and experiences of stigma. In doing so, it will identify factors likely to support the success of this ambitious goal and provide an understanding of the potential dangers of virtual elimination in specific areas in the context of global mobility and the interconnectedness of communities. This new knowledge will inform HIV policy in Australia and internationally, supporting prevention and reducing costs of HIV care, and provide social benefits by identifying the dynamics of HIV-related stigma in the contemporary era. It will also offer lessons for other areas of infectious disease public policy. To support translation of the findings, outcomes will be communicated via knowledge-translation workshops with policy makers and health-promotion practitioners, and by direct communication with affected communities.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Defining the molecular basis of apoptotic cell disassembly for... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

The sounds of Papua. This study investigates speech in the Papuan languages spoken to the immediate north of Australia, which have very simple consonant and vowel systems, but which have been consistently reported as showing a very high level of language-internal variability. The New Guinea area is recognised as having the highest language diversity in the world, yet the sound systems of its languages are greatly under-studied. This project aims to produce the first ever large-scale phonetic studies of these superficially simple sound systems of Papuan languages. This is expected to provide a better understanding of human speech production in general. In addition, online dictionaries are planned based on the sound recordings from this project. Field of research: 4704 - Linguistics Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest geographical neighbour, and a country that has been recognized as having the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. However, the sound systems of its languages are greatly under-studied. This project aims to produce the first-ever large-scale study of speech sounds of Papuan languages. Compared to major European languages (from which most knowledge of speech production has been generated), Papuan languages tend to have very simple sound systems but show a tremendous amount more variability. Studying the potentials and limitations of this extreme variability will generate a much deeper understanding of the human capacity for speech. A highly significant outcome of this research will be a series of digital dictionaries, including audio recordings, produced in consultation with native language speakers and freely available online. This co-creation approach will ensure effective communication of the research outcomes to stakeholders. Other benefits of this project will be to help preserve these languages and reverse the language loss that is a legacy of colonization, and to help strengthen cross-cultural communication and foster understanding with one of our most important neighbours. Further, a better understanding of speech production has potential clinical implications for the treatment of speech disorders and for improving language technologies, which are currently mostly trained on major world languages.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

A Human Rights Implementation Assessment for Mental Health Law and Policy. This project aims to develop an implementation assessment framework to assess Australia’s compliance, in mental health law, policy and practice, with international human rights law. This framework would be a world-first, created using participatory research methods that involve mental health service users as experts by experience, and therefore in accordance with norms of mental health policy and human rights. The framework would be tested in two jurisdictions at a critical moment of change in Australian mental health law and policy. The anticipated goal is to develop clear and measurable standards to help advance human rights compliance, which will benefit mental health service users, as well as their families, communities and governments. Field of research: 4804 - Law In Context Human rights violations are on ongoing issue in Australian mental health settings. Recent Royal Commissions highlight how service gaps and experiences of involuntary psychiatric intervention can undermine a range of rights, including people’s right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. A major barrier to change is the absence of a human rights implementation assessment tool for mental health-related policy, practice, and law. This project will develop such a tool that offers a way to measure Australia’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’), creating a ‘CRPD indicator’. The research team will use co-design methods so that people affected by rights violations can co-develop the indicator as experts by experience. A CRPD indicator will help analyse the commitment of governments to enact international human rights law in the mental health context. The indicator will be designed for governments and a range of civil society organisations, including associations for mental health service users, practitioners, families, and carers. Engagement activities will be held with these stakeholders throughout the project to ensure the indicator can be readily integrated into law, policy, and practice. Social, economic, and cultural gains will result from mental health services that better meet people’s needs, improving health and safety for all Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Sustainable working conditions: Requirements to enable long working lives? This project aims to build a contemporary post-covid model of sustainable work, through examining the necessary workplace conditions required to address current age and gender inequities. This project expects to generate new knowledge of changes to the work environment following the unprecedented large scale labour market disruption caused by the COVID-19. A model of the key requirements for supporting sustainable work will enhance our capacity to create more equitable conditions to address current age and gender inequities. This should provide significant benefits to the Australian economy through improved work participation rates of older workers and women and the associated productivity gains. Field of research: 3505 - Human Resources and Industrial Relations Optimisation of working conditions is critical to address current workforce shortages that are exacerbated by an ageing population and well-established gender inequities in the labour market. Increasing workforce participation of older workers could deliver significant benefits to Australian society, estimated at $48 billion per annum. This project will generate a comprehensive new body of rigorous evidence on ‘new ways’ of working emerging after the COVID-19 disruption. We will identify the key requirements to design and support sustainable work with a focus on age and gender. Key benefits will be resultant improvements in productivity and quality of work and in workforce participation, enhancing Australia’s leadership in this area. Good quality and safe work are central to assisting Australia in meeting four UN Sustainable Development Goals: ‘gender equality’, ‘good work and well-being’, ‘decent work and economic growth’ and ‘reduced inequalities’. Results will be disseminated to policy makers, workplace health practitioners and employers who can use project outputs to design, deploy and then evaluate the impact of sustainable working conditions on ageing worker retention and subsequent economic benefits.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Connecting Patients to Cancer Rehabilitation: Delivering CaRe at the... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

The origins of our direct ancestor Homo erectus and its contemporaries . The project aims to investigate the origins of the early human species Homo erectus, our direct ancestor, and other contemporary early human species around 2 million years ago. The project expects to do this by expanding on our discovery of fossils of the oldest evidence of Homo erectus and Paranthropus from Drimolen Cave in South Africa. The project will generate new knowledge by the excavation and analysis of a newly discovered partial skeleton, thought to be Homo erectus, from Drimolen, and the dating of a newly discovered, unique skull from Kromdraai Cave. Expected outcomes and benefits of the project include a better understanding of the shared ancestry of the multi-cultural society that is Australia and all modern humans alive today. Field of research: 3705 - Geology Understanding how past species adapted to increasingly dry landscapes is critical to understand the future of adaptation to climate change in similar landscapes such as Australia. This project will address a major knowledge gap by helping us determine how the earliest representatives of our direct ancestor, Homo erectus, managed to survive a changing, more dry world compared to other relatives of contemporary humans and animal species that went extinct. We will take advantage of our teams unique set of recent discoveries; a partial Homo erectus skeleton, our discovered 2-million-year-old skull (the oldest example of this species), and fossils we recovered and believe represent other early human relatives. As well as increasing our understanding of climate adaptation, we aim to highlight the shared ancestry of the multi-cultural society that is Australia and all humans alive today, vital in an increasingly culturally divided world. The project findings will be used to engage the public in science by 3D printing the fossils and using them in outreach programs with Australian schools, as well as making them available to museums throughout the world for educational purposes. Australian students will be able to excavate these fossils on a field school and we will promote the research through media, podcasts and live streams so that people can watch the excavations and learn about the research on their direct ancestor as it progresses.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Finding the limits of oxidative capacity in hypervalent iodine chemistry. This project aims to develop new ways to convert simple hydrocarbon feedstocks into value added fine chemicals, through the development of the strongest known organoiodine oxidizing agents. This project expects to result in the discovery of new high oxidation state iodine compounds that will be the most reactive in their class to date, which will provide a widely sought capability to directly convert simple C-H bonds into more valuable C-X bonds, where X can be virtually any other element. The new capabilities that this project aims to develop may benefit Australian SME chemical manufacturers to better use Australia's abundant simple hydrocarbon resources and enhance the value of these molecules by 10- to more than 100-fold. Field of research: 3405 - Organic Chemistry Converting chemicals from one type to another type is crucial for the further development of the multi-billion dollar worldwide chemical industry. For this industry to progress forward to developing more renewable products with less reliance on fossil fuels, invention of new techniques is needed. Natural gas and wood, both of which Australia has an abundance, are renewable materials that can act to fuel machines and industrial processes. However, at the moment, these materials are not used frequently in the Australian chemical industry. This project will develop new chemical agents and methods to convert these simple and cheap natural materials, worth cents per kilogram, into high-value fine chemicals worth more than $10 per kilogram, a value addition of multiple orders of magnitude. The results of this project will be of particular interest to many small-medium enterprises within the chemical industry in Australia and will be highly economical to produce and sell to an internal market thus benefiting the Australian economy. To maximise future translation, results from the project will be communicated through the project teams established networks in the Australian fine chemical production sector and CSIRO, as well as through social media channels and mainstream media to extend sector reach.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Understanding and reducing the psychological and physical burden of... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Industry Scale Extracellular Vesicle Customisation and Analytics. This project focuses on developing methods for loading small molecules into tiny particles naturally released by cells, called extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs from stem cells have natural healing properties, and this project aims to enhance natural EV functionality by loading them with inorganic molecules and RNA. Additionally, using EV manufacturing facilities coupled with single particle analysis and in-depth mass spectrometry methods, this project aims to develop analytical assays and set industry standards for large-scale production and testing of EVs. The expected outcome is development of novel EV loading methods and enhanced quality assurance for EV products. This should have significant benefits for EV manufacturing in Australia. Field of research: 3106 - Industrial Biotechnology This project focuses on harnessing extracellular vesicles (EVs), small particles produced and released from most cells, including human stem cells, to create an advanced customisable nanoparticle technology platform. Stem cell-derived EVs deliver molecular messages around the body and can cross the blood brain barrier to modify cellular processes and induce tissue regeneration after damage. In this project, we aim to invent novel methods to load small molecules and RNA species into brain-targeting EVs at large scale under manufacturing conditions. Additionally, this project aims to establish industry standards for the analysis and characterisation of manufactured EVs. The project outcomes will strategically position Australia as a leader in the EV biopharmaceutical sector by reducing cost, enhancing the quality of EV products, and increasing the potency of EV-based delivery systems. The EV technology developed in this project will have broad industry applications for targeted delivery of molecules to specific cells and tissues both in humans and animals, with significant future benefits for sectors such as health, veterinary medicine and agriculture. The outcomes will be shared through media outlets and industry presentations, ensuring wide dissemination of the project's benefits to the scientific and industrial communities and the general public.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

What tickles T cells? Understanding the drivers of T cell activation Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Novel regulators of immune cell development in the digestive tract. This study aims to better understand immune cell development, homeostatic maintenance and essential repair processes in the intestine. This project aims to generate new knowledge of how immune cells of the intestine, known as gamma delta T cells, engage with intestinal barrier epithelial cells and endothelial cells to promote homeostasis and repair. Expected outcomes of this project will be the identification of new molecules for future drug and vaccine development to improve gut health in mammals. This could provide significant downstream benefits to the Australian population and livestock industry through improved protection against cancer and intestinal infections, as well as increased productivity. Field of research: 3204 - Immunology As the centre of our digestive system, the intestine suffers daily damage from chemicals and pathogens in the food that we eat. Consequently, to maintain proper function it must constantly repair itself. Though vital to our gut function and our survival, these repair processes remain poorly understood and present a significant knowledge gap. Recent evidence suggests that immune cells play a key role in these processes. Using novel research tools, this project will uncover the critical communication networks between these immune cells and other cell types that make up our gut that control these repair processes. The knowledge generated in this project will position Australia to in future develop next-generation therapeutics and vaccines that promote intestinal health and defend against disease and infection. These emerging industries, projected to be worth more than 2 billion dollars by 2028, represent considerable economic and job-creating opportunities for Australia. The project findings will also inform new avenues to protecting both the Australian population and the livestock industry through improved disease prevention and increased productivity. To ensure the project outcomes are translated they will be shared with the broader community at open research forums, by press releases, public lectures and consumer meetings.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Improving the response to anti-cancer therapy Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Understanding inequalities in alcohol use and drinking problems. This Fellowship aims to take an innovative approach to understand the mechanisms that drive the Alcohol Harm Paradox – whereby those with higher socio-economic status (SES) drink more alcohol but those with lower SES experience more problems from alcohol. Expected outcomes include the generation of new knowledge about how access to social and material capital such as money, knowledge, power, and social connections contribute to the Alcohol Harm Paradox in Australia. Findings should provide significant benefits to Australian society through supporting the development of new policy and practice changes to reduce alcohol-related inequality. Field of research: 4410 - Sociology Alcohol use generates $66B in avoidable costs in Australian per year and is a fundamental driver of health inequality. Those of low socioeconomic status drink less than those of high but have higher rates of alcohol-related morbidity, mortality and social issues. This is called the Alcohol Harm Paradox and suggests that alcohol-related problems are driven by broader experiences of inequality. Inequality is rising in Australia and as wealth inequality widens so too do alcohol-related problems. Between 2021 and 2022 there was a 9% increase in alcohol-induced deaths in Australia, the highest rate for >10 years. However, despite its increasing significance most research on the Alcohol Harm Paradox comes from Europe and little has been done in Australia. Through innovative methods and working with drinkers and alcohol prevention, policy, treatment and advocacy groups, this project will generate new data to better understand inequalities in alcohol-related problems. A publicly available strategy for reducing alcohol-related inequalities will be communicated to key stakeholders in the alcohol treatment, prevention and policy fields, advocacy groups and the community via webinars, lay summaries and media engagement. The project findings will inform the development of effective social policies and interventions and ultimately will help to reduce alcohol-related inequality in Australian society.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

What tickles T cells? Understanding the drivers of T cell activation Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Unveiling the order of the gamma delta T cell immune synapse. B cells, ab T cells and gd T cells have co-evolved for 500 million years to fulfil unique roles. gd T cells have central roles in vertebrate development and immune defence. Poor understanding of gd T cell activation means these cells remain enigmatic and an immune research frontier. I will use cutting-edge cryo-electron and lattice-light sheet microscopy to answer this. Expected outcomes include molecular clarity of gd T cell triggers. Detail of gd T cell signalling cascades in concert with in situ studies will define how this immune cell lineage is activated. These discoveries will inform future immune and health research. This work will yield influential publications, foster international collaborations and advanced microscopy training. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology The immune system contains a variety of cell types with specific roles. One of these cell types, gamma delta T cells, are a unique type of white blood cell. These cells surveil the body to find ‘stressed’ cells that are not functioning properly. This fellowship will increase our understanding of how these cells are switched on in an immune response. This knowledge will offer new tools that could be used to turn on or turn off gamma delta T cells. This is important to understand how these cells function in development and health. The outcomes include future biotechnology linkages to develop gamma delta T cell immunotherapies. Thus contributing to both health and the Australian economy. These cells are abundant in humans, sheep, cattle and Australasian marsupials. Understanding how these cells function will be informative for their study in vertebrate immunity and health broadly. Thus, these discoveries will benefit Australian agriculture and efforts to protect fauna.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Harnessing transcription factors for nitrogen efficient crops. Nitrogen fertiliser is essential for crop production, but it is expensive and negatively impacts our health and the environment. This project aims to investigate the regulatory mechanism of a family of genes that controls nitrogen acquisition in cereal and legume crops. This project expects to generate new knowledge around gene expression regulation and plant nutrient acquisition. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity to develop major cereal and legume crops with desirable traits, including efficient nitrogen use. This should provide significant benefits, such as reduced nitrogen fertiliser use and improved environmental outcomes for the primary industries. Field of research: 3108 - Plant Biology Nitrogen is essential for growing plants, and we currently use large amounts of nitrogen fertilisers to grow our crops. Producing and using these fertilisers is expensive and causes significant environmental problems including accounting for approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This problem is exacerbated because for cereal crops like wheat less than half of applied fertiliser ends up in the harvested grain. Legumes like chickpeas get their nitrogen from bacteria in the soil (nitrogen fixation), however inefficiencies in their biology mean legumes often get only half their nitrogen this way. This project will investigate the control of nitrogen uptake by cereal crops and the rate of nitrogen fixation by legume crops, providing critical new knowledge to enable the development of varieties with improved nitrogen use efficiency and reduce nitrogen fertiliser use. Australian agriculture would benefit from a reduced environmental footprint of our food production, increased profitability for farmers, and commercial opportunities arising from improved genetic material that could be used in plant breeding programs worldwide. Future translation of the knowledge and genetic material developed in the project will be enabled through partnership with plant breeders, trials with grower groups and presentations to industry conferences and key stakeholders such as the Grains Research and Development Corporation.