Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to prom ....Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to promote a more informed national conversation about the costs and benefits of Australia's security relationship with the United States of America (USA) and contribute to debates over the future of the Australia-USA Alliance during a period of strategic uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Understanding influences on physical activity and sedentary behaviour from preschool to preadolescence. While promotion of optimal levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviours during childhood is important for health, much remains unknown in this field. This study will extend an existing cohort of children, recruited at ages three to five years and followed up at six to eight years by reassessing these children at nine to eleven years. Novel additions to the cohort include long term foll ....Understanding influences on physical activity and sedentary behaviour from preschool to preadolescence. While promotion of optimal levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviours during childhood is important for health, much remains unknown in this field. This study will extend an existing cohort of children, recruited at ages three to five years and followed up at six to eight years by reassessing these children at nine to eleven years. Novel additions to the cohort include long term follow-up spanning preschool to preadolescence, application of an ecological framework, and collection of objective neighbourhood data using a Geographical Information System. Findings will provide important information for policy and interventions focused at the individual, family and neighbourhood level, to improve physical activity and sedentary behaviour levels across childhood.Read moreRead less
Forgiveness in conflict resolution and peacebuilding: international dimensions. In an age in which ongoing conflicts and tensions have very real ramifications for international and regional security, finding new and more effective ways to resolve international disputes is critical to ensuring Australia's ongoing security. This project will therefore benefit Australia by 'enhancing our nation's understanding of social, political, and cultural issues' associated with the resolution of conflict in ....Forgiveness in conflict resolution and peacebuilding: international dimensions. In an age in which ongoing conflicts and tensions have very real ramifications for international and regional security, finding new and more effective ways to resolve international disputes is critical to ensuring Australia's ongoing security. This project will therefore benefit Australia by 'enhancing our nation's understanding of social, political, and cultural issues' associated with the resolution of conflict in the Asia Pacific region. By helping to develop an alternative peacebuilding tool, it will also assist those engaged in the practical delivery of peacebulding initiatives in the region.Read moreRead less
Establishing a missing link between the global nitrogen and carbon cycles - anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification. Methane is a strong greenhouse gas and currently accounts for 20 per cent of the total radioactive forcing in the atmosphere. This project investigates a previously unrecognized microbial process that oxidizes methane before it reaches the atmosphere. The project will deliver knowledge support to sustainable environmental management.
Epigenetic mechanisms regulating sex differences in fear-related learning and memory. Anxiety disorders represent an enormous burden on society and are associated with premature aging and infertility in men and women. Evidence also indicates that parental anxiety affects child development. Given that fear-related learning has an important influence on emotional health which, in turn, affects lifestyle and the aging process, an understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating sex differences in ....Epigenetic mechanisms regulating sex differences in fear-related learning and memory. Anxiety disorders represent an enormous burden on society and are associated with premature aging and infertility in men and women. Evidence also indicates that parental anxiety affects child development. Given that fear-related learning has an important influence on emotional health which, in turn, affects lifestyle and the aging process, an understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating sex differences in fear learning will enhance our ability to develop better therapeutic approaches for treating anxiety and preventing relapse, potentially through a gender-specific approach. The studies outlined in this proposal will have implications for promoting and maintaining good health.Read moreRead less
The changing roles, avenues and Impacts of public interest whistleblowing in the era of secure online technologies. This project will consolidate the place of Australian researchers at the cutting edge of world research on whistle blowing, and place Australian integrity and regulatory institutions at the forefront of new knowledge about the maximisation of employee disclosures as a tool of law enforcement, corruption resistance, financial security, public accountability and institutional effecti ....The changing roles, avenues and Impacts of public interest whistleblowing in the era of secure online technologies. This project will consolidate the place of Australian researchers at the cutting edge of world research on whistle blowing, and place Australian integrity and regulatory institutions at the forefront of new knowledge about the maximisation of employee disclosures as a tool of law enforcement, corruption resistance, financial security, public accountability and institutional effectiveness. Through unique access to the organizers and users of www.wikileaks.org and like technologies, the project provides a special opportunity for Australia to continue the development of its world-leading expertise in the study, promotion and best-practice regulation of public interest whistle blowing.Read moreRead less
Theories of time and closed timelike curves. Do our views about time allow for time to be looped? Einstein's theories of relativity allow for warped and twisted structures of space and time, including some that permit time travel. This project shows how both commonsense, traditional and contemporary scientifically-based theories of time can be made consistent with these structures.
Radical right populist parties. This project aims to explain why some radical right-wing populists in Western democracies enter governmental alliances with mainstream parties while others remain isolated. The emergence, spread and electoral success of radical right populists is a problem facing liberal democracy in the twenty-first century. While these parties’ policies, ideologies and rhetoric are similar, their relationships with mainstream parties are different. By examining explanatory facto ....Radical right populist parties. This project aims to explain why some radical right-wing populists in Western democracies enter governmental alliances with mainstream parties while others remain isolated. The emergence, spread and electoral success of radical right populists is a problem facing liberal democracy in the twenty-first century. While these parties’ policies, ideologies and rhetoric are similar, their relationships with mainstream parties are different. By examining explanatory factors that Political Science studies have so far been neglected, this project seeks to explain this variation and explore its implications for coalition theory.Read moreRead less
Imagining globalisation: The world and nation in Chinese Communist Party ideology. Since the late 1990s, there has been intense interest in globalisation among leaders and theorists of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These debates on globalisation represent an important development in the Party's ideology and provide an insight into the way in which it formulates its claim to legitimacy. This project will analyse these debates in the context of the Party's ideological history, and from the pe ....Imagining globalisation: The world and nation in Chinese Communist Party ideology. Since the late 1990s, there has been intense interest in globalisation among leaders and theorists of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These debates on globalisation represent an important development in the Party's ideology and provide an insight into the way in which it formulates its claim to legitimacy. This project will analyse these debates in the context of the Party's ideological history, and from the perspective of Western globalisation theory. The project will be of benefit to those institutions and individuals needing to understand changes in China's political elite's perception of the world and the Chinese nation's position within it.Read moreRead less
The Dilemmas of Energy Security in China and India. As a major energy exporter to both China and India, Australia to a significant extent is dependent on the stability and integrity of the international energy trade and more broadly of the global trade in goods and services. China and India are major trading partners of Australia and have emerged as major potential markets for Australia's energy exports. Developing a comprehensive understanding of the energy policy making dilemmas of these two e ....The Dilemmas of Energy Security in China and India. As a major energy exporter to both China and India, Australia to a significant extent is dependent on the stability and integrity of the international energy trade and more broadly of the global trade in goods and services. China and India are major trading partners of Australia and have emerged as major potential markets for Australia's energy exports. Developing a comprehensive understanding of the energy policy making dilemmas of these two emerging great powers thus sits at the core of this country's security and foreign policy considerations.Read moreRead less