Investigating the role of Zona Incerta RXFP3+ cells in learning and memory. Learning and memory are fundamental to human and animal behaviour. We identified a specific population of cells in the zona incerta of the brain, where activation inhibits expression of memory, and facilitates the acquisition of new learning. Aside from our observations, nothing is currently known about the anatomy and function of these cells. This project aims to map how they connect to the rest of the brain, to observe ....Investigating the role of Zona Incerta RXFP3+ cells in learning and memory. Learning and memory are fundamental to human and animal behaviour. We identified a specific population of cells in the zona incerta of the brain, where activation inhibits expression of memory, and facilitates the acquisition of new learning. Aside from our observations, nothing is currently known about the anatomy and function of these cells. This project aims to map how they connect to the rest of the brain, to observe how these connections are recruited during learning and memory, and then to test their function experimentally. The outcomes will extend the known neural circuitry that controls learning by defining how and where these unexplored pathways fit within it; thus advancing knowledge regarding neural regulation of behaviour.
Read moreRead less
Fluid-thermal-structural interactions on high-speed aerospace vehicles. Sixteen years after the retirement of Concorde, high-speed commercial flight is once again on the rise with the development of new supersonic business jets and small airliners as well as hypersonic transport and reusable space launch systems. Robust and efficient designs for these light-weight vehicles must address the problem of aerodynamic heating and its effect on structural performance and lifing. This project will desig ....Fluid-thermal-structural interactions on high-speed aerospace vehicles. Sixteen years after the retirement of Concorde, high-speed commercial flight is once again on the rise with the development of new supersonic business jets and small airliners as well as hypersonic transport and reusable space launch systems. Robust and efficient designs for these light-weight vehicles must address the problem of aerodynamic heating and its effect on structural performance and lifing. This project will design and perform first-of-kind experiments that reproduce the complex fluid-thermal-structural interactions representative of those experienced by these aircraft and rockets. We will then use these measurements to assess, validate and improve the current state-of-the-art of simulation and modelling approaches for design.Read moreRead less
Adaptive Key-value Store for Future Extreme Heterogeneous Systems. Safe, lasting storage of data, and efficient access to it, is vital for all aspects of computing, ranging from e-commerce applications, and data-management in governments. For the storage of data, persistent key-value stores are central in modern computing platforms. However, contemporary key-value stores have not been designed for emerging extreme heterogeneous computational systems with future hardware accelerators and storage ....Adaptive Key-value Store for Future Extreme Heterogeneous Systems. Safe, lasting storage of data, and efficient access to it, is vital for all aspects of computing, ranging from e-commerce applications, and data-management in governments. For the storage of data, persistent key-value stores are central in modern computing platforms. However, contemporary key-value stores have not been designed for emerging extreme heterogeneous computational systems with future hardware accelerators and storage capabilities, including graphics processor and flash-based memory. This project will devise an adaptive key-value store framework for heterogeneous systems. Our new framework will adaptively harvest the performance potential of future hardware such that applications can cope with fast-growing data sets.Read moreRead less
Towards a cognitive process model of how attention and choice interact. Before making any decision, we must gather information on what options are available. This process may influence the choices we make: if we do not notice an option, we will not choose it even if it would have been valuable. This project aims to examine how prior experience can produce attentional biases that influence decisions, and will develop a new computational model of this interaction of attention and choice as an outc ....Towards a cognitive process model of how attention and choice interact. Before making any decision, we must gather information on what options are available. This process may influence the choices we make: if we do not notice an option, we will not choose it even if it would have been valuable. This project aims to examine how prior experience can produce attentional biases that influence decisions, and will develop a new computational model of this interaction of attention and choice as an outcome. This new knowledge will enhance the world-class status of Australian cognitive psychology. Moreover, it should provide significant benefits through improving our ability to predict and shape behaviour, and shedding light on the role of biases in healthy cognition and in the context of compulsive behaviours.Read moreRead less
Algorithms for Future-Proof Networks. This project will design algorithms to construct, augment and route on geometric graphs in the presence of obstacles. Such graphs have many real-world applications, including transport networks. This project aims to give solutions with hard guarantees on the timeliness of the delivery of the people, goods, or information being transported in these networks. Expected outcomes of this project include efficient and innovative algorithms for realistic geometric ....Algorithms for Future-Proof Networks. This project will design algorithms to construct, augment and route on geometric graphs in the presence of obstacles. Such graphs have many real-world applications, including transport networks. This project aims to give solutions with hard guarantees on the timeliness of the delivery of the people, goods, or information being transported in these networks. Expected outcomes of this project include efficient and innovative algorithms for realistic geometric graphs, which both advances the knowledge in this field of computer science and make our existing networks more reliable. This should provide significant benefits in the maintenance and utilisation of the communication and transport networks we use every day.Read moreRead less
Meta-composites of high level thermal dimensional stability. This project aims to design and manufacture meta-composites of high level thermal dimensional stability for future space-based imagery applications. The project will develop the fundamentals of novel enabling technologies including: meta-composite material design, miniature fibre tow placement, optimal processing window and the high precision net-shape additive manufacturing of continuous fibre laminated composites without needs of fol ....Meta-composites of high level thermal dimensional stability. This project aims to design and manufacture meta-composites of high level thermal dimensional stability for future space-based imagery applications. The project will develop the fundamentals of novel enabling technologies including: meta-composite material design, miniature fibre tow placement, optimal processing window and the high precision net-shape additive manufacturing of continuous fibre laminated composites without needs of follow-up machining. This is expected to eliminate or minimise the current need to use a motorised adjustment system for space-based imagery applications. This project will develop the know-how for design and technology to manufacture meta-composites of high level thermal dimensional stability.Read moreRead less
Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations ....Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations and make available to anglophone scholars primary and secondary sources in various European languages and Chinese. The project will advance our understanding of the personal and textual networks through which the first substantial philosophical exchange was conducted between Europe and China.Read moreRead less
Quantum algebras with supersymmetries. The project aims to make fundamental advances in the theory of quantum algebras. It will develop explicit
structure and representation theory of major classes of quantum algebras which are of great importance to
quantum field theory and integrable models with supersymmetries. The intended outcomes include a solution of
the outstanding classification problem for representations of quantum algebras with supersymmetries, which has
remained open for the last tw ....Quantum algebras with supersymmetries. The project aims to make fundamental advances in the theory of quantum algebras. It will develop explicit
structure and representation theory of major classes of quantum algebras which are of great importance to
quantum field theory and integrable models with supersymmetries. The intended outcomes include a solution of
the outstanding classification problem for representations of quantum algebras with supersymmetries, which has
remained open for the last two decades. It will involve newly-developed methods within the theory of quantum
groups, and both the methods and classification will bring new mathematical instruments for the advance of
supesymmetric conformal field theory and soliton spin chain models.Read moreRead less
Short- and long-term corrosion of steels in highly calcareous seawaters . This project aims to quantify the development of the long-term (25-100 year) protective effect of calcareous deposits on the marine corrosion of mild steels. This is significant because such steels used extensively in major and very expensive coastal and offshore infrastructure. The project outcomes will improve scientific understanding, including the role of microbiological activity. It will develop and calibrate corrosio ....Short- and long-term corrosion of steels in highly calcareous seawaters . This project aims to quantify the development of the long-term (25-100 year) protective effect of calcareous deposits on the marine corrosion of mild steels. This is significant because such steels used extensively in major and very expensive coastal and offshore infrastructure. The project outcomes will improve scientific understanding, including the role of microbiological activity. It will develop and calibrate corrosion prediction models using classical and recently available 100 year data from Europe, the Pacific, Australia and also new project-specific experimental data. These models are expected to be of benefit for Australian engineering consultants in maintain their internationally competitive edge in offshore engineering.Read moreRead less
Quadratic fusion categories: A frontier in subfactor theory. This project aims to investigate the quantum symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories. Fusion categories are mathematical structures that generalise the symmetries of finite groups. These structures arise as invariants of subfactors in operator algebras and in mathematical models of conformal field theory. The quadratic fusion categories encompass most known subfactors that do not come from finite or quantum groups and form a vast ....Quadratic fusion categories: A frontier in subfactor theory. This project aims to investigate the quantum symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories. Fusion categories are mathematical structures that generalise the symmetries of finite groups. These structures arise as invariants of subfactors in operator algebras and in mathematical models of conformal field theory. The quadratic fusion categories encompass most known subfactors that do not come from finite or quantum groups and form a vast frontier about which little is known. By uncovering the symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories, the project will advance subfactor theory and provide new models for conformal field theory. Progress in these fields will have applications to the emerging technology of quantum computing.Read moreRead less