Markov invariants and phylogenetic tree reconstruction. The project will assist Australia to progress as an innovator in the production phylogenetic tree reconstruction techniques.
Identifying species is a difficult task with environmental, social and economic benefits to Australia. DNA evidence and phylogenetic methods clearly achieve this task. Conservation of rare species depends upon identification and hence robust phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetically identifying fish species has econom ....Markov invariants and phylogenetic tree reconstruction. The project will assist Australia to progress as an innovator in the production phylogenetic tree reconstruction techniques.
Identifying species is a difficult task with environmental, social and economic benefits to Australia. DNA evidence and phylogenetic methods clearly achieve this task. Conservation of rare species depends upon identification and hence robust phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetically identifying fish species has economic importance as different fish species are all managed separately, having different catch limits, catch areas and market values. Using effective phylogenetic methods, epidemiologists can track the spread of a disease through a population. Read moreRead less
Outflows, Jets and Plumes. This project studies how fluid flows out from a small concentrated object into a second surrounding fluid. New solution methods will be provided, and new results about how these fluid flows evolve will be obtained. These are important problems with significance in modelling underwater explosions. They are also important in astrophysics, and will help explain the shapes of outflows from some stars or galaxies. The outcomes of the project will be a deeper mathematical un ....Outflows, Jets and Plumes. This project studies how fluid flows out from a small concentrated object into a second surrounding fluid. New solution methods will be provided, and new results about how these fluid flows evolve will be obtained. These are important problems with significance in modelling underwater explosions. They are also important in astrophysics, and will help explain the shapes of outflows from some stars or galaxies. The outcomes of the project will be a deeper mathematical understanding of which outflow shapes are stable, and under what circumstances they might become unstable. This will provide valuable information about galaxy shapes, and a new suite of computational methods for solving such problems.Read moreRead less
Mathematical and computational analysis of ship wakes. This project aims to develop mathematical and computational tools to compute the energy in a given ship wake and to determine a range of properties of a ship by taking simple measurements of the water height as the ship travels past. The expected outcomes of this project include a suite of algorithms that back-calculate the hull shape and operating conditions of a moving ship given only the surface height data measured at a single point. The ....Mathematical and computational analysis of ship wakes. This project aims to develop mathematical and computational tools to compute the energy in a given ship wake and to determine a range of properties of a ship by taking simple measurements of the water height as the ship travels past. The expected outcomes of this project include a suite of algorithms that back-calculate the hull shape and operating conditions of a moving ship given only the surface height data measured at a single point. These results should have direct implications for measuring damage to coastal zones by ship wakes and for surveillance of shipping channels.Read moreRead less
Algebraically informed models of biological sequence evolution. To make sense of the patterns they see in the natural world, biologists across fields as diverse as genetics, epidemiology and biogeography need an accurate picture of evolutionary history. DNA sequences provide an exciting means to establish this picture of the past, but to decode it successfully requires mathematical models of how DNA evolves. Mathematical inconsistencies have been identified with current approaches. In particular ....Algebraically informed models of biological sequence evolution. To make sense of the patterns they see in the natural world, biologists across fields as diverse as genetics, epidemiology and biogeography need an accurate picture of evolutionary history. DNA sequences provide an exciting means to establish this picture of the past, but to decode it successfully requires mathematical models of how DNA evolves. Mathematical inconsistencies have been identified with current approaches. In particular, understanding the effect of natural selection in different parts of the tree of life requires models that behave robustly in the face of shifting evolutionary processes. This project aims to use insights from algebraic methods to construct mathematically consistent models of wide biological utility.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100423
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,061.00
Summary
Group theory and phylogenetics: exploiting symmetry to uncover evolutionary history. Using advanced algebra, structural symmetries inherent in phylogenetic methods will be studied and improved approaches will be derived. DNA sequences contain a wealth of information about evolutionary events that occurred millions of years ago, but extracting this information requires the application of robust methods.
An efficient approach to the computation of bacterial evolutionary distance. This project aims to apply advanced mathematical tools to improve our understanding of bacterial evolution. Bacteria account for as much total Earth biomass as all plant species put together, and have an unparalleled ability to evolve quickly and adapt to changing environments. Unfortunately, the existing mathematical models used to model bacterial evolution are generally computationally intractable. This project will r ....An efficient approach to the computation of bacterial evolutionary distance. This project aims to apply advanced mathematical tools to improve our understanding of bacterial evolution. Bacteria account for as much total Earth biomass as all plant species put together, and have an unparalleled ability to evolve quickly and adapt to changing environments. Unfortunately, the existing mathematical models used to model bacterial evolution are generally computationally intractable. This project will rectify this situation by using representation theory to transform combinatorial group theory into linear algebra, allowing for the application of advanced methods of numeric approximation. This will provide a better understanding of how bacteria evolve and improve our ability to manage their impact.Read moreRead less
Interpreting biological sequence information: untangling hybridisation. Hybridisation is believed to be important during adaptive radiations where species rapidly colonise new niches and respond to new environments, e.g. in times of climate change. This project will create the statistical tools and software required for evolutionary biologists to understand how hybridisation has helped shape the Australian flora.