Theoretical Foundations of Ethical Machine Learning. The project aims to develop a systematic theory of ethical machine learning. Machine learning is a powerful and pervasive technology that is already having a huge impact on Australia. When applied to data about people there are a range of ethical harms that can arise (fairness, and privacy are two of them). The project aims to develop a rigorously grounded foundation for managing such ethical harms. For example it will allow the quantification ....Theoretical Foundations of Ethical Machine Learning. The project aims to develop a systematic theory of ethical machine learning. Machine learning is a powerful and pervasive technology that is already having a huge impact on Australia. When applied to data about people there are a range of ethical harms that can arise (fairness, and privacy are two of them). The project aims to develop a rigorously grounded foundation for managing such ethical harms. For example it will allow the quantification of the inevitable trade-offs between fairness and utility. The benefits of the project should include better ways of managing these trade-offs, a competitive advantage for Australian firms developing the technology, and will ensure that the country retains a social license to use the technology.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL200100176
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,128,080.00
Summary
Theoretical Foundations of Ethical Machine Learning. The project will develop a systematic theory of ethical machine learning. Machine learning is a powerful and pervasive technology that is already having a huge impact on Australia. When applied to data about people there are a range of ethical harms that can arise (fairness, and privacy are two of them). The project will develop a rigorously grounded foundation for managing such ethical harms. For example it will allow the quantification of t ....Theoretical Foundations of Ethical Machine Learning. The project will develop a systematic theory of ethical machine learning. Machine learning is a powerful and pervasive technology that is already having a huge impact on Australia. When applied to data about people there are a range of ethical harms that can arise (fairness, and privacy are two of them). The project will develop a rigorously grounded foundation for managing such ethical harms. For example it will allow the quantification of the inevitable trade-offs between fairness and utility. The benefits of the project will include the best possible ways of managing these trade-offs, competitive advantage for Australian firms developing the technology, and will ensure that the country retains a social license to use the technology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100803
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$405,763.00
Summary
Slicing dead stars to reveal the origin of heavy elements in the Universe. This project aims to improve our understanding of how massive stars forge heavy elements like oxygen, that are key to life. It will use state-of-the-art spectrographs on Australian and Chilean telescopes to observe the ashes of dead stars, and test recent theoretical models. Expected outcomes include spectral maps of young supernova remnants, new observational constraints for theoretical models of massive stars and core-c ....Slicing dead stars to reveal the origin of heavy elements in the Universe. This project aims to improve our understanding of how massive stars forge heavy elements like oxygen, that are key to life. It will use state-of-the-art spectrographs on Australian and Chilean telescopes to observe the ashes of dead stars, and test recent theoretical models. Expected outcomes include spectral maps of young supernova remnants, new observational constraints for theoretical models of massive stars and core-collapse supernovae, and innovative visualization solutions for complex 3D datasets. This project is expected to largely refine our grasp of the formation of heavy elements in the Universe, and thus provide significant cultural benefit in enhancing our understanding of mankind's cosmic origin in the heart of massive stars. Read moreRead less
Understanding the robustness and plasticity of metabolite concentrations. This project aims to further the understanding of how organisms mitigate the effects of changing environment by altering metabolite concentrations, important for food quality, energetics, and health. Through this understanding, the project provides the potential to precisely tailor metabolic intervention strategies, highly beneficial for applied sciences. The expected outcome of the project is a suite of computational appr ....Understanding the robustness and plasticity of metabolite concentrations. This project aims to further the understanding of how organisms mitigate the effects of changing environment by altering metabolite concentrations, important for food quality, energetics, and health. Through this understanding, the project provides the potential to precisely tailor metabolic intervention strategies, highly beneficial for applied sciences. The expected outcome of the project is a suite of computational approaches that allow for integration of large-scale data with networks to predict metabolite concentration ranges. This will provide significant benefit with the aim of maintaining outstanding research in Australia, and has clear potential for improved human health and enhanced food quality via metabolic reprogramming.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL160100170
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,887,531.00
Summary
Scaling in biology: size control at the cell, organelle and organism level. This project aims to decipher the universal mechanisms that coordinate growth with division and thereby dictate the size of the cell. It would investigate this question from the triangulating perspective of evolution using yeast and animal models. It plans to interrogate the complex sub-networks that govern cell size using novel genome-scale reagent sets for systematic genetics and other approaches. It would integrate th ....Scaling in biology: size control at the cell, organelle and organism level. This project aims to decipher the universal mechanisms that coordinate growth with division and thereby dictate the size of the cell. It would investigate this question from the triangulating perspective of evolution using yeast and animal models. It plans to interrogate the complex sub-networks that govern cell size using novel genome-scale reagent sets for systematic genetics and other approaches. It would integrate this data in predictive mathematical models of size control that illuminate how the cell processes size-related information, and how size mechanisms evolve to impact form and function in biology. This research is expected to have commercial applications in biotechnology processes and bioengineering.Read moreRead less
Safe and accessible care for older survivors of psychological trauma. This project aims to improve the safety and accessibility of community aged care services for older survivors of psychological trauma, particularly those from diverse populations. We will co-design and test a practice framework that transforms the conceptual principles of trauma-informed care into actionable care behaviours and processes for implementation. Outcomes will include a world-first roadmap to guide implementation of ....Safe and accessible care for older survivors of psychological trauma. This project aims to improve the safety and accessibility of community aged care services for older survivors of psychological trauma, particularly those from diverse populations. We will co-design and test a practice framework that transforms the conceptual principles of trauma-informed care into actionable care behaviours and processes for implementation. Outcomes will include a world-first roadmap to guide implementation of trauma-informed aged care, as well for policy makers to regulate and monitor its delivery. The project will also increase knowledge about the priorities for change within aged care from the perspective of older trauma survivors, and improve understanding of how best to engage this group in co-design.Read moreRead less
A Method for Analysis of Complexity in Cognitive Processes: Applications to Prediction of Industrial Workloads. The project will develop a method for analysis of cognitive complexity in human and animal cognition. It will contribute to basic research because it will enable equivalences and relative complexities of cognitive functions to be determined, independent of content or methodology. It will have applications to education, because it enables complexities of concepts to be recognised and a ....A Method for Analysis of Complexity in Cognitive Processes: Applications to Prediction of Industrial Workloads. The project will develop a method for analysis of cognitive complexity in human and animal cognition. It will contribute to basic research because it will enable equivalences and relative complexities of cognitive functions to be determined, independent of content or methodology. It will have applications to education, because it enables complexities of concepts to be recognised and appropriate pedagogies determined. It also has application to human factors, especially industrial performance and decision making. It will advance on currrent methods because it enables workload to be analysed and predicted, so that it can be factored into job and system design. Read moreRead less
Speech perception precedes, indexes, and is changed by language acquisition. What is exceptional about human infants is not their sophisticated speech perception (for animals perceive human speech similarly) but their use of speech to regulate linguistic attention and bootstrap language. Using a new validated measure, language specific speech perception (discrimination ability for native minus non-native speech sounds), we can ascertain children's distribution of resources in linguistic tasks. T ....Speech perception precedes, indexes, and is changed by language acquisition. What is exceptional about human infants is not their sophisticated speech perception (for animals perceive human speech similarly) but their use of speech to regulate linguistic attention and bootstrap language. Using a new validated measure, language specific speech perception (discrimination ability for native minus non-native speech sounds), we can ascertain children's distribution of resources in linguistic tasks. This measure will be used in conjunction with a raft of experimental psycholinguistic techniques to investigate speech perception bases of phoneme perception, tone perception, word meaning, reading, and their vestiges in adulthood, to arrive at a dynamic new conception of language development. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100803
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,094.00
Summary
Impact of screen time on preschoolers’ social skills and cognitive function. This project aims to determine how the quantity and nature of screen time interacts with parental co-participation to affect pre-schoolers’ social skills and cognitive functioning. Seventy per cent of pre-schoolers exceed current screen time guidelines and this causes considerable concern among Australian parents. This project will assist in evaluating how much, and which types, of screen time have benefits for social ....Impact of screen time on preschoolers’ social skills and cognitive function. This project aims to determine how the quantity and nature of screen time interacts with parental co-participation to affect pre-schoolers’ social skills and cognitive functioning. Seventy per cent of pre-schoolers exceed current screen time guidelines and this causes considerable concern among Australian parents. This project will assist in evaluating how much, and which types, of screen time have benefits for social skills and cognitive functioning. It will also provide insights into the ways parents may best support these outcomes. Findings are expected to provide evidence for policy development and inform programs to support healthy behaviours to give young children the best start in life.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100849
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,000.00
Summary
Advanced thermal protection systems to enable Mars return missions. This project aims to advance the modelling of spacecraft heat shield performance to enable future returns to Earth from Mars, where vehicles will encounter heating loads an order of magnitude higher than Lunar returns. Survival depends on sacrificial heat shields which intentionally lose mass through ablation to form a protective layer. Currently, this process cannot be predicted accurately leading to compromised safety, excessi ....Advanced thermal protection systems to enable Mars return missions. This project aims to advance the modelling of spacecraft heat shield performance to enable future returns to Earth from Mars, where vehicles will encounter heating loads an order of magnitude higher than Lunar returns. Survival depends on sacrificial heat shields which intentionally lose mass through ablation to form a protective layer. Currently, this process cannot be predicted accurately leading to compromised safety, excessive weight, and increased mission cost. The expected outcome is an ablation model for vehicle design which, for the first time, is based on experiments with a realistic aerodynamic flow. The significance and benefit of this project is its potential to make ambitious missions such as a Mars return feasible.Read moreRead less