The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) invites you to participate in a short survey about your
interaction with the ARDC and use of our national research infrastructure and services. The survey will take
approximately 5 minutes and is anonymous. It’s open to anyone who uses our digital research infrastructure
services including Reasearch Link Australia.
We will use the information you provide to improve the national research infrastructure and services we
deliver and to report on user satisfaction to the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program.
Please take a few minutes to provide your input. The survey closes COB Friday 29 May 2026.
Complete the 5 min survey now by clicking on the link below.
From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art ....From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art site complexes. It will develop management regimes and formal certification for Indigenous rangers while building heritage capacity in these partner communities: enabling intergenerational, culturally appropriate knowledge transfer protocols are in place to ensure sustainable economic heritage futures.Read moreRead less
Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier. This project plans to use archaeology to write the first modern synthesis of Australia’s north-west: a region hosting significant cultural, natural and heritage values including two National Heritage List estates. The project plans to conduct work at significant sites and collections which will build on recent exciting archaeological and rock art discoveries and theoretical innovations to analyse the cross-cultural encount ....Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier. This project plans to use archaeology to write the first modern synthesis of Australia’s north-west: a region hosting significant cultural, natural and heritage values including two National Heritage List estates. The project plans to conduct work at significant sites and collections which will build on recent exciting archaeological and rock art discoveries and theoretical innovations to analyse the cross-cultural encounters between Aboriginal people, Europeans and Asians in frontier colonial society. The project aims to provide data and tools for understanding and managing nationally-significant threatened archaeological resources valuable for future tourist industries.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100597
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$399,551.00
Summary
Pacific Matildas: finding the women in the history of Pacific archaeology. This project aims to investigate the scientific lives and contributions of women in the development of a particular discipline; using Pacific archaeology as a case study. The history of science has traditionally produced gender biased narratives, so an innovative interdisciplinary approach will be developed to document the hidden role of women in the history of archaeology. New knowledge will be generated in the history o ....Pacific Matildas: finding the women in the history of Pacific archaeology. This project aims to investigate the scientific lives and contributions of women in the development of a particular discipline; using Pacific archaeology as a case study. The history of science has traditionally produced gender biased narratives, so an innovative interdisciplinary approach will be developed to document the hidden role of women in the history of archaeology. New knowledge will be generated in the history of science, archaeology and gender studies. Anticipated outcomes include (i) a more inclusive history that provides diverse role models of women in science from our region, (ii) the identification of socio-cultural patterns limiting women's careers and successful strategies historically developed to overcome these.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. The ARC Centre of Excellence of Australian Biodiversity and Heritage will create a world-class interdisciplinary research programme to understand Australia’s unique biodiversity and heritage. The Centre will track the changes to Australia’s environment to examine the processes responsible for the changes and the lessons that can be used to continue to adapt to Australia’s changing environment. The Centre will support connection ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. The ARC Centre of Excellence of Australian Biodiversity and Heritage will create a world-class interdisciplinary research programme to understand Australia’s unique biodiversity and heritage. The Centre will track the changes to Australia’s environment to examine the processes responsible for the changes and the lessons that can be used to continue to adapt to Australia’s changing environment. The Centre will support connections between the sciences and humanities and train future generations of researchers to deal with future global challenges and inform policy in an interdisciplinary context. Read moreRead less
Ochre archaeomicrobiology: a new tool for understanding Aboriginal exchange. This project aims to identify the origins and movements of Australian archaeological ochre through the development of a novel tool combining genomic and chemical analysis. The geographic distribution of Australian ochre is closely linked to Aboriginal creation stories, while its physical distribution by people is evidence of cultural cooperation. Using this new archaeomicrobiological technique, the project aims to answe ....Ochre archaeomicrobiology: a new tool for understanding Aboriginal exchange. This project aims to identify the origins and movements of Australian archaeological ochre through the development of a novel tool combining genomic and chemical analysis. The geographic distribution of Australian ochre is closely linked to Aboriginal creation stories, while its physical distribution by people is evidence of cultural cooperation. Using this new archaeomicrobiological technique, the project aims to answer significant questions about past human behaviour, in terms of trade, cultural interactions, territoriality and colonisation. The method also has the potential to benefit traditional owners by contributing to repatriation projects. The collaborative detailed recording, sampling and analysis of ochre sources on traditional lands will also assist Aboriginal communities to manage this important aspect of their cultural heritage.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100601
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,254.00
Summary
Deep histories of occupational continuity and change in the coastal Pilbara. This project aims to use high-resolution methods to investigate the completeness of the archaeological record of human occupation in northwestern Australia (Pilbara region). It will show how this informs our understanding of human adaptation to a changing coastal environment over the past 50,000 years. This will have significant benefits, such as providing an improved understanding and better management of Australia’s u ....Deep histories of occupational continuity and change in the coastal Pilbara. This project aims to use high-resolution methods to investigate the completeness of the archaeological record of human occupation in northwestern Australia (Pilbara region). It will show how this informs our understanding of human adaptation to a changing coastal environment over the past 50,000 years. This will have significant benefits, such as providing an improved understanding and better management of Australia’s unique cultural heritage.Read moreRead less
The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. ....The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. Impact would include a re-organisation of gender roles and an associated improvement in women's fecundity. By examining evidence for such changes, this project will significantly contribute to knowledge about implications of the arrival of a living technology in Australia and, more generally, the human/dog relationship.Read moreRead less
Dating Murujuga's Rock Art: new scientific approaches. The Dampier Archipelago is on Australia's National Heritage List because of its significant rock art and stone features. Known as Murujuga to its traditional custodians, this land- and seascape has over 1 million art works. While the scientific and cultural significance of this area is acknowledged, we still know little about the age of this landscape, the regional palaeoclimatology, and the timing and intensity of rock art production since ....Dating Murujuga's Rock Art: new scientific approaches. The Dampier Archipelago is on Australia's National Heritage List because of its significant rock art and stone features. Known as Murujuga to its traditional custodians, this land- and seascape has over 1 million art works. While the scientific and cultural significance of this area is acknowledged, we still know little about the age of this landscape, the regional palaeoclimatology, and the timing and intensity of rock art production since Aboriginal people moved into this region 50,000 years ago. This project will develop new scientific approaches to direct-dating engravings and stone features, reconstruct climate from geological proxies, and model voyaging opportunities as this unique cultural estate transformed to an archipelago.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200473
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$283,678.00
Summary
Archives in Bark: Carved and inscribed Kimberley boab trees. This project seeks to record and contextualise Indigenous and non-Indigenous carvings and inscriptions on ancient Australian boab trees (Adansonia gregorii) growing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It will document a hitherto poorly recorded form of traditional Indigenous cultural and artistic practice, as well as information about the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on missions and pastoral properties ....Archives in Bark: Carved and inscribed Kimberley boab trees. This project seeks to record and contextualise Indigenous and non-Indigenous carvings and inscriptions on ancient Australian boab trees (Adansonia gregorii) growing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It will document a hitherto poorly recorded form of traditional Indigenous cultural and artistic practice, as well as information about the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on missions and pastoral properties prior to and immediately following European Contact. The significance of the project lies in its ability to record information about the lives of people not captured in other types of historical documents. The project should provide ecological information about the condition of these Kimberley heritage trees.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal rock art and cultural heritage management in Cape York Peninsula. The Laura Sandstone Basin of Cape York Peninsula hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in Australia and the world. It documents the life-ways of generations of Aboriginal Australians from their original settlement, through major environmental changes, to European invasion. This vast area, much of which is now jointly managed as National Parks by Traditional Owners, remains virtually unexplored archaeologically. Th ....Aboriginal rock art and cultural heritage management in Cape York Peninsula. The Laura Sandstone Basin of Cape York Peninsula hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in Australia and the world. It documents the life-ways of generations of Aboriginal Australians from their original settlement, through major environmental changes, to European invasion. This vast area, much of which is now jointly managed as National Parks by Traditional Owners, remains virtually unexplored archaeologically. This project aims to record this unique rock art so that its testimony remains for future generations. This will provide a framework for its sustainable management and findings will have profound implications for our understandings of the cultural behaviour and dispersal of the earliest modern humans to colonise Australia.Read moreRead less