Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will ....Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will lead to greater social inclusion, fair access to and smart use of information and services, urban sustainability and healthier local economies. Understanding the opportunities afforded by digital augmentation of social networks will help Australians negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net and participate in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life of their neighbourhood and city.Read moreRead less
Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and ....Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and two in Australia. Within each case community, an intensive qualitative and quantitative analysis will be conducted of the theorized mechanisms for the development of social capital and its mobilization for reconciliation of the ecological, economic and social imperatives required for sustainable development.
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Womens access to welfare after prison - an international comparison. The aim of the proposed research is to undertake an comparative analysis of the services accessed by female prisoners following their return to the community and the potential of these services to reduce re-offending. This analysis will build upon the current ARC project in Victoria and a similar project in Scotland. Scotland and Victoria provide an interesting focus for comparative research, having similar populations, similar ....Womens access to welfare after prison - an international comparison. The aim of the proposed research is to undertake an comparative analysis of the services accessed by female prisoners following their return to the community and the potential of these services to reduce re-offending. This analysis will build upon the current ARC project in Victoria and a similar project in Scotland. Scotland and Victoria provide an interesting focus for comparative research, having similar populations, similar numbers of women imprisoned and similar increases during the last decade in the daily female prison population. Moreover in both jurisdictions initiatives are being introduced to enhance women's access to services when they leave prison.
The purpose of the proposed research will be to develop and implement a framework for the comparative analysis of data on women's experiences after prison that will be generated by two funded studies in Scotland and Victoria.Read moreRead less
Negotiating the minefield: Social conventions surrounding group criticism and their role in explaining defensiveness. People often describe the delivery of group criticism as a 'minefield', because of the potential for mistrust, hostility and defensiveness. When it comes to group criticism, being right is not enough; one must also obey certain conventions that are designed to minimize hurt and denial. In this project we explore for the first time what these 'rules of engagement' are, and what t ....Negotiating the minefield: Social conventions surrounding group criticism and their role in explaining defensiveness. People often describe the delivery of group criticism as a 'minefield', because of the potential for mistrust, hostility and defensiveness. When it comes to group criticism, being right is not enough; one must also obey certain conventions that are designed to minimize hurt and denial. In this project we explore for the first time what these 'rules of engagement' are, and what this means for those who wish to promote positive change in groups. This will have applied implications in that it will help provide specific recommendations regarding how to negotiate sensitive issues within a range of cultural, national, and corporate groups.Read moreRead less
Race and gender stereotypes on the brain: The case of emotion expression. Australia is a multicultural, multiethnic society in which people from different backgrounds interact every day. Successful interaction among persons from different backgrounds requires a mutual understanding of the manner in which emotions are expressed and perceived as emotions are a central part of any interaction. The current project will investigate whether there are systematic biases in the manner in which emotions ....Race and gender stereotypes on the brain: The case of emotion expression. Australia is a multicultural, multiethnic society in which people from different backgrounds interact every day. Successful interaction among persons from different backgrounds requires a mutual understanding of the manner in which emotions are expressed and perceived as emotions are a central part of any interaction. The current project will investigate whether there are systematic biases in the manner in which emotions are expressed and perceived within and across ethnic groups. It will rely on objective indices to achieve this aim, measures of the electrical activity of the brain. Read moreRead less
Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research u ....Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research using a common framework. More broadly, as demography takes on much greater significance with population aging, there is much to be gained through international cooperation between ANU Demography and Canada's leading centre for demography, the University of Montreal.Read moreRead less
Response style heterogeneity in empirical marketing research. This study aims to improve the validity of empirical studies by accounting for different ways in which respondents answer questionnaires (response styles) while analysing the data. Response styles have been shown to depend on the cultural background of respondents. This work therefore is of particular importance in Australia given the large number of cultural backgrounds residents come from. The proposed method will be empirically tes ....Response style heterogeneity in empirical marketing research. This study aims to improve the validity of empirical studies by accounting for different ways in which respondents answer questionnaires (response styles) while analysing the data. Response styles have been shown to depend on the cultural background of respondents. This work therefore is of particular importance in Australia given the large number of cultural backgrounds residents come from. The proposed method will be empirically tested in the context of surveys investigating sustainable tourism, public acceptance of alternative water sources and volunteering, three areas which are central to maintaining Australia's environmental sustainability and providing social and environmental services which are not covered by the commercial sector.Read moreRead less
Using integrated frontier and smart technologies to identify new drug targets for parasites causing major diseases in humans and animals. The national/community benefits are (1) enhanced focus on animal and human health biotechnology through the development of anti-parasite compounds and/or vaccines; (2) improved and sustainable control of important parasites with decreased risk of induction of drug resistance; (3) increased profitability of agricultural animal production; (4) consolidation of a ....Using integrated frontier and smart technologies to identify new drug targets for parasites causing major diseases in humans and animals. The national/community benefits are (1) enhanced focus on animal and human health biotechnology through the development of anti-parasite compounds and/or vaccines; (2) improved and sustainable control of important parasites with decreased risk of induction of drug resistance; (3) increased profitability of agricultural animal production; (4) consolidation of a technology platform for further applications in genomics and post-genomics of pathogens of global significance and construction of a pipeline for the validation of drug targets; (5) capturing the benefits from fundamental research and strengthening links between fundamental and applied research; (6) increasing the quality and quantity of scientifically skilled people in biotechnology.Read moreRead less
Automated, smart genomic data integration for the exploration of developmentally regulated molecules in parasites of major socioeconomic importance. The national/community benefits are (1) enhanced focus on animal and human health biotechnology through the development of safe anti-parasite compounds/vaccines; (2) improved and sustainable control of key parasites with decreased risk of induction of drug resistance; (3) increased profitability of agricultural animal production; (4) consolidation o ....Automated, smart genomic data integration for the exploration of developmentally regulated molecules in parasites of major socioeconomic importance. The national/community benefits are (1) enhanced focus on animal and human health biotechnology through the development of safe anti-parasite compounds/vaccines; (2) improved and sustainable control of key parasites with decreased risk of induction of drug resistance; (3) increased profitability of agricultural animal production; (4) consolidation of a technology platform for further applications in genomics and post-genomics of pathogens of global significance and construction of a pipeline for the validation of drug targets; (5) capturing the benefits from fundamental research and strengthening links between fundamental and applied research; (6) increasing the quality and quantity of scientifically skilled people in biotechnology.Read moreRead less
The role of turgor in hyphal extension of the Ascomycete Neurospora crassa. Cellular expansion is an absolute necessity during the growth and development of plants and fungi. This process relies heavily upon the accumulation of inorganic ions. Osmotically driven water influx then creates the hydrostatic pressure that underlies the increase in cell volume. Cellular expansion is normally asymmetric and localised in one small region, such as hyphal tip. How does the cell maintain the turgor that dr ....The role of turgor in hyphal extension of the Ascomycete Neurospora crassa. Cellular expansion is an absolute necessity during the growth and development of plants and fungi. This process relies heavily upon the accumulation of inorganic ions. Osmotically driven water influx then creates the hydrostatic pressure that underlies the increase in cell volume. Cellular expansion is normally asymmetric and localised in one small region, such as hyphal tip. How does the cell maintain the turgor that drives expansion? How is expansion controlled spatially? These questions will be addressed in this project by comprehensive study of ion transport processes in a model organism, Neurospora crassa, using osmotic sensitive and transport mutants.Read moreRead less