Mathematical Methods for Next Generation Sequencing. The emergence of a new generation of high throughput genomic sequencing technologies is providing unprecedented opportunities for biological research. Hidden within the huge amounts of data generated by this technology is information about the expression and regulation of genes, and the complex functional purpose of non-coding, so called 'junk', DNA. Development of mathematical and statistical tools is essential to interpreting these data. The ....Mathematical Methods for Next Generation Sequencing. The emergence of a new generation of high throughput genomic sequencing technologies is providing unprecedented opportunities for biological research. Hidden within the huge amounts of data generated by this technology is information about the expression and regulation of genes, and the complex functional purpose of non-coding, so called 'junk', DNA. Development of mathematical and statistical tools is essential to interpreting these data. The proposed research will enhance Australia's reputation for developing novel quantitative techniques at the cutting edge of modern biology. The proposed project has a broad range of potential applications in biotechnology, particularly in the medical and agricultural industries.Read moreRead less
Reasons and Rationality. The project explains how we assess the truth and falsehood of everyday claims about what people have reason to do. It also explains what legitimizes our practice of praising and blaming people for their success and failure at doing what we think they have reason to do. In so doing it provides a foundation for both our ordinary practice of holding people responsible, and for the more institutionalised counterpart of this ordinary practice in the law.
Preparation of silica-based thin film materials with large optical nonlinearity. There is currently a lack of advanced thin film materials suitable for fabricating integrated electro-optic devices to use in optical telecommunication. Such materials will be produced, and their application will be developed through this project. The physical mechanism of the marvelous optical nonlinearities of the materials will also be investigated. Thus the achievement of this project will bring great advancemen ....Preparation of silica-based thin film materials with large optical nonlinearity. There is currently a lack of advanced thin film materials suitable for fabricating integrated electro-optic devices to use in optical telecommunication. Such materials will be produced, and their application will be developed through this project. The physical mechanism of the marvelous optical nonlinearities of the materials will also be investigated. Thus the achievement of this project will bring great advancement in both scientific knowledge and technologies for Australia, and provide huge opportunities to boost Australian telecommunication industries, which are developing quickly in recent years.Read moreRead less
Integrated magneto-optic waveguide materials and devices. We aim to develop chalcogenide glass films for fabricating integrated waveguide magneto-optic (MO) devices as a radical alternative to the use of crystalline MO materials that have proven difficult to manufacture in integrated form. Using our ultra-fast pulsed laser deposition (UFPLD) technique we will produce a wide range of chalcogenide glass compositions through combinatorial materials synthesis and assess them for magneto-optic activ ....Integrated magneto-optic waveguide materials and devices. We aim to develop chalcogenide glass films for fabricating integrated waveguide magneto-optic (MO) devices as a radical alternative to the use of crystalline MO materials that have proven difficult to manufacture in integrated form. Using our ultra-fast pulsed laser deposition (UFPLD) technique we will produce a wide range of chalcogenide glass compositions through combinatorial materials synthesis and assess them for magneto-optic activity. UFPLD will also be used to deposit high optical quality films for device prototyping. We will design and fabricate prototype MO components which are essential, but currently unavailable, for use as optical isolators in integrated optics.Read moreRead less
Chanted tales from Highland New Guinea: a comparative study of oral performance traditions and their role in contemporary land politics. In parts of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of epic-like chanted tales. Often dealing with relationships between people and land, these are a highly valued cultural resource. From the perspective of comparative poetics they are one of the clearest known examples of measured verse that has developed independently of alphabetic or syllabic writing. ....Chanted tales from Highland New Guinea: a comparative study of oral performance traditions and their role in contemporary land politics. In parts of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of epic-like chanted tales. Often dealing with relationships between people and land, these are a highly valued cultural resource. From the perspective of comparative poetics they are one of the clearest known examples of measured verse that has developed independently of alphabetic or syllabic writing. This project brings together an interdisciplinary team of investigators to analyse the wide range of styles in which these narratives are performed, and further the understanding of their implications for cross-cultural study of verbal art and the politics of land ownership in present-day Papua New Guinea.Read moreRead less
Statistical Advances in the Post-Genome Era. Biologically relevant statistical foundations for post-genome biology and biotechnology will be developed. Specific goals of the topics include the development of accurate and more efficient algorithms for sequence alignments, improved models to maximise the accuracy of analyses for gene expression data and superior statistical methods for identification of complex gene networks that predispose an organism to disease. The Project will make significant ....Statistical Advances in the Post-Genome Era. Biologically relevant statistical foundations for post-genome biology and biotechnology will be developed. Specific goals of the topics include the development of accurate and more efficient algorithms for sequence alignments, improved models to maximise the accuracy of analyses for gene expression data and superior statistical methods for identification of complex gene networks that predispose an organism to disease. The Project will make significant contributions to the new and evolving priority research area of Bioinformation Science (including bioinformatics). Outcomes will include novel techniques for analysis and mining of post-genome data, with applications to developments in Bio-medicine and Bio-agricultureRead moreRead less
Looking back to see the future: Change in the Lambert Glacier and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. To develop a comprehensive understanding of the Lambert Glacier of East Antarctica, from the time of the last maximum glaciation to the present, through an integrated and interdisciplinary study combining new field evidence - ice retreat history, geodetic measurements of crustal rebound, satellite measurements of present ice heights and changes therein - with other geological and glaciological data an ....Looking back to see the future: Change in the Lambert Glacier and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. To develop a comprehensive understanding of the Lambert Glacier of East Antarctica, from the time of the last maximum glaciation to the present, through an integrated and interdisciplinary study combining new field evidence - ice retreat history, geodetic measurements of crustal rebound, satellite measurements of present ice heights and changes therein - with other geological and glaciological data and numerical geophysical modelling advances. The project contributes to the quantitative characterisation of the complex interactions between ice-sheets, oceans and solid earth within the climate system. Outcomes have implications for geophysics, glaciology, geomorphology, climate, and past and future sea-level change.Read moreRead less
Understanding phenomenal experience as a natural part of our world. The natural sciences?physics, chemistry and biology?provide compelling accounts of our world. They contain, however, no overt mention of mental states and in particular the mental states with a phenomenology: states like itches and colour experiences. The challenge for naturalists is locate these states within the naturalist picture. This project develops and draws on representationalist accounts of mind to explain how to locate ....Understanding phenomenal experience as a natural part of our world. The natural sciences?physics, chemistry and biology?provide compelling accounts of our world. They contain, however, no overt mention of mental states and in particular the mental states with a phenomenology: states like itches and colour experiences. The challenge for naturalists is locate these states within the naturalist picture. This project develops and draws on representationalist accounts of mind to explain how to locate mental states that have a phenomenology within the naturalist's picture. This will yield new perspectives on the mental lives of machines.Read moreRead less
Enabling Technologies for Structural Genomics. New technologies will be developed to save time, money and effort in rapid preparation of protein samples for structural genomics. Systems will be devised for preparing sufficient isotope-labelled proteins for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy without using living organisms, for efficiently identifying points at which proteins can be broken into smaller fragments with the right properties, and for joining the ends of proteins and peptides toge ....Enabling Technologies for Structural Genomics. New technologies will be developed to save time, money and effort in rapid preparation of protein samples for structural genomics. Systems will be devised for preparing sufficient isotope-labelled proteins for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy without using living organisms, for efficiently identifying points at which proteins can be broken into smaller fragments with the right properties, and for joining the ends of proteins and peptides together to make them much more stable. This combination of technologies are widely applicable to current problems in protein chemistry, molecular biology, functional genomics and the medical sciences.Read moreRead less
Conscious Experience and the Hegemony of Representation. Many things make humans special but three stand out: the possession of a moral sense, rationality, and consciousness. This project aims to explain consciousness in a way fully comppatible with the aspirations of cognitive science to see humans as a natural part of the physical world.