Targeting chloroplasts to enhance crop salt tolerance. Yield losses in crop plants due to increasingly saline soils are linked to the effects of salt on chloroplasts. By comparing chloroplast water- and salt-transport mechanisms of closely related salt-loving and salt-sensitive plants, this Fellowships aims to discover how chloroplasts maintain function in saline conditions. Novel biophysics and molecular techniques will be used to characterise transporters in model plants, and proof-of-concept ....Targeting chloroplasts to enhance crop salt tolerance. Yield losses in crop plants due to increasingly saline soils are linked to the effects of salt on chloroplasts. By comparing chloroplast water- and salt-transport mechanisms of closely related salt-loving and salt-sensitive plants, this Fellowships aims to discover how chloroplasts maintain function in saline conditions. Novel biophysics and molecular techniques will be used to characterise transporters in model plants, and proof-of-concept complementation experiments aim to confer salt tolerance on sensitive plants. These fundamental insights are likely to lead to rapid, step-change improvements in salt tolerance, especially in agriculturally relevant crops, to benefit Australia’s agri-industry and ensure food security in the future.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresour ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresources to capitalise upon emergent and rapidly expanding domestic and global markets. Anticipated outcomes include industry uptake of innovative plant forms, foods, technologies, and commodities; and an ambitious education and international co-ordination agenda to position Australia as a global leader in research supporting Space habitation.Read moreRead less
Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations t ....Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations that optimise plant yield and fitness will be defined and explored in other, more complex, cereals such as wheat. Expected outcomes will be fundamental breakthroughs in understanding how plants respond to, and buffer, the effects of heat to lead to translational breeding strategies that bolster grain yield.Read moreRead less
How do protein quality control mechanisms maintain neuronal ageing? This project aims to interrogate how mechanisms of protein quality control act in the brain - an organ that is particularly vulnerable to a high load of misfolded protein - to maintain normal physiology during ageing. This project expects to make advances in cellular biochemistry and neuroscience, using an innovative proximity labelling approach to identify quality control regulators in neurons that specifically engage with misf ....How do protein quality control mechanisms maintain neuronal ageing? This project aims to interrogate how mechanisms of protein quality control act in the brain - an organ that is particularly vulnerable to a high load of misfolded protein - to maintain normal physiology during ageing. This project expects to make advances in cellular biochemistry and neuroscience, using an innovative proximity labelling approach to identify quality control regulators in neurons that specifically engage with misfolded proteins during ageing, within the nervous system of a living animal. Expected outcomes of this project will generate new knowledge of brain physiology and ageing relevant to all animals. This should provide significant benefits, such as a greater understanding of long-term brain functions including memory.Read moreRead less
What Can You Trust in the Large and Noisy Web? This project will develop innovative techniques to efficiently and effectively distill truthful information from the inherently unreliable and large-scale Web environment, where misinformation has been widely regarded as a grand challenge for the next decade. The results of this project will not only maintain Australia’s leadership in this frontier research area, but also support many important applications that safeguard Australian people and econo ....What Can You Trust in the Large and Noisy Web? This project will develop innovative techniques to efficiently and effectively distill truthful information from the inherently unreliable and large-scale Web environment, where misinformation has been widely regarded as a grand challenge for the next decade. The results of this project will not only maintain Australia’s leadership in this frontier research area, but also support many important applications that safeguard Australian people and economy such as emergency and disaster management and online healthcare. This project also serves as an excellent vehicle for the education and training of Australia’s next generation of scholars and engineers.Read moreRead less
Australia’s first direct-detection dark matter search, at Stawell Gold Mine. This project aims to develop an underground integrated laboratory at Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria to host the Southern Hemisphere's first-ever direct-detection dark matter experiment. Following the Higgs boson discovery, the direct detection of dark matter is seen as the next major challenge for particle physics. This project sees Australian physicists team up with local and international partners in research and indus ....Australia’s first direct-detection dark matter search, at Stawell Gold Mine. This project aims to develop an underground integrated laboratory at Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria to host the Southern Hemisphere's first-ever direct-detection dark matter experiment. Following the Higgs boson discovery, the direct detection of dark matter is seen as the next major challenge for particle physics. This project sees Australian physicists team up with local and international partners in research and industry to join the search for dark matter. This Australian experiment aims to help to confirm or deny current results from Northern Hemisphere experiments. As the mine nears the end of its working life as a gold mine, this project is expected to benefit the local economy and provide opportunities for education and outreach.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms of memory function involving site-specific tau phosphorylation. This project aims to understand the molecular principles that facilitate encoding, maintenance and retrieval of memories in the brain. To store memories in brain circuits, electrical and chemical signals are crucial. Brain cells can integrate signals into biochemical modifications of intracellular proteins. The nature of the protein modifications that represent memory within brain cells is unknown. This project uses innov ....Mechanisms of memory function involving site-specific tau phosphorylation. This project aims to understand the molecular principles that facilitate encoding, maintenance and retrieval of memories in the brain. To store memories in brain circuits, electrical and chemical signals are crucial. Brain cells can integrate signals into biochemical modifications of intracellular proteins. The nature of the protein modifications that represent memory within brain cells is unknown. This project uses innovative genome editing, mathematical modelling and proteomic approaches, to study how biochemical modifications of a key protein called tau help encode and retrieve memories. These molecular insights will make a significant advance in the current understanding of a brain function that is essential to all human activities.Read moreRead less
Organic Bioelectronics: Solving Key Barriers to Precision Neuromodulation. This project aims to combine the principles of molecular electronics and neurobiology to create organic conductors with enhanced biocompatibility that enable optical neuromodulation. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the properties of materials that promote connectivity with neurons and the ability of new microscopy tools to visualise this bio-interface. The expected outcome of this project includes ....Organic Bioelectronics: Solving Key Barriers to Precision Neuromodulation. This project aims to combine the principles of molecular electronics and neurobiology to create organic conductors with enhanced biocompatibility that enable optical neuromodulation. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the properties of materials that promote connectivity with neurons and the ability of new microscopy tools to visualise this bio-interface. The expected outcome of this project includes new high performing materials, measurement tools and fabrication approaches to overcome the key challenges to precision neuromodulation. A significant benefit of the new materials is their printability, providing the opportunity to establish a sovereign capability to manufacture low-cost bioelectronic systems in Australia.Read moreRead less