Who determines gestation length - mother or fetus? This project will extend our knowledge of a key biological process - pregnancy. Variation of gestation length by 10% is generally deleterious to the offspring, and smaller babies have been shown to be more susceptible to later life diseases. Therefore, extension of the information gained from this project will likely impact researchers in species conservation, pest control, and the livestock industries, as well as human, obstetric care and pract ....Who determines gestation length - mother or fetus? This project will extend our knowledge of a key biological process - pregnancy. Variation of gestation length by 10% is generally deleterious to the offspring, and smaller babies have been shown to be more susceptible to later life diseases. Therefore, extension of the information gained from this project will likely impact researchers in species conservation, pest control, and the livestock industries, as well as human, obstetric care and practice. Specifically, knowledge gained from this project may lead to means of limiting (pest control) as well as enhancing (endangered species) species survival.Read moreRead less
A novel microtubule severing protein involved in male germ cell biology. The project aims to better understand the cellular and biochemical mechanisms underlying a key component of male fertility. Microtubules are a fundamental component of all cells. A mechanism that is increasingly recognised as essential for microtubules regulation is severing. It has been discovered that an uncharacterised microtubule severing protein, KATNAL2, has a key role in male germ cell development. This project aims ....A novel microtubule severing protein involved in male germ cell biology. The project aims to better understand the cellular and biochemical mechanisms underlying a key component of male fertility. Microtubules are a fundamental component of all cells. A mechanism that is increasingly recognised as essential for microtubules regulation is severing. It has been discovered that an uncharacterised microtubule severing protein, KATNAL2, has a key role in male germ cell development. This project aims to define the mechanisms underlying KATNAL2 function in the male germ line. It is expected that these data will generate a comprehensive picture of KATNAL2 function and provide foundation data of relevance across multiple species and tissues. In the longer term, it may also reveal a rational strategy for fertility enhancement or suppression.Read moreRead less
Gravitating relativistic material bodies: A mathematical analysis. This project aims to establish the local-in-time existence and geometric uniqueness of solutions to the Einstein-Elastic equations representing systems of gravitating relativistic material bodies, and to understand the long-time behaviour of these solutions. In spite of their importance to astrophysics, almost nothing is known about the mathematical properties of solutions to the equations of motion governing gravitating systems ....Gravitating relativistic material bodies: A mathematical analysis. This project aims to establish the local-in-time existence and geometric uniqueness of solutions to the Einstein-Elastic equations representing systems of gravitating relativistic material bodies, and to understand the long-time behaviour of these solutions. In spite of their importance to astrophysics, almost nothing is known about the mathematical properties of solutions to the equations of motion governing gravitating systems of relativistic material bodies. This project would provide mathematical tools for the study of gravitating relativistic material bodies and provide guidance on developing stable numerical schemes for simulations that are essential for comparing theory with experiment. This would significantly improve current understanding of the behaviour of matter and gravitational fields near the matter-vacuum boundary of bodies and help understanding of the physics of these boundaries.Read moreRead less
A Transdimensional Approach to Gravitational-Wave Astronomy. This project uses ripples in the fabric of spacetime––gravitational waves––to understand the cosmos and the fundamental nature of reality. We aim to discover new sources of gravitational waves from exploding stars. Using gravitational waves from colliding black holes, we aim to uncover new physics beyond Einstein's theory of general relativity. To achieve these goals we will develop tools from the cutting-edge of data science.
Gravitational wave astrophysics with Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The prediction that space and time vibrate is one of Einstein's greatest legacies, implying the existence of a new form of radiation with which to study the Universe. This project puts Australia in the vanguard of the billion-dollar effort worldwide to detect and harness this radiation for the first time.
Shaping the heart in early development - new insights into cellular modelling processes. Heart health is an important contributor to quality of life and longevity. This research will provide new insights into the way hormonal influences early in development shape a healthy heart. The project builds on the application of recently patented, sophisticated cell imaging techniques. Research students and trainees recruited to this project will benefit from their involvement with this leading edge tech ....Shaping the heart in early development - new insights into cellular modelling processes. Heart health is an important contributor to quality of life and longevity. This research will provide new insights into the way hormonal influences early in development shape a healthy heart. The project builds on the application of recently patented, sophisticated cell imaging techniques. Research students and trainees recruited to this project will benefit from their involvement with this leading edge technology. These studies are important in providing a basis for developing optimal management strategies for congenital heart conditions and preterm infants. Improved knowledge of the cardiac effects of fetal and neonatal exposure to steroids (to assist with lung maturation in prematurity or to control maternal asthma) will be gained.Read moreRead less
Stuttering in childhood: Patterns of recovery and persistence. This project will benefit the 1 in 20 Australian children who stutter and their families. We will learn for the first time how stuttering impacts on child development in the early school years and document the relationship between stuttering and other childhood conditions. The study will produce much needed information about recovery from stuttering and stuttering persistence. Therefore new knowledge will result to inform the scienti ....Stuttering in childhood: Patterns of recovery and persistence. This project will benefit the 1 in 20 Australian children who stutter and their families. We will learn for the first time how stuttering impacts on child development in the early school years and document the relationship between stuttering and other childhood conditions. The study will produce much needed information about recovery from stuttering and stuttering persistence. Therefore new knowledge will result to inform the scientific community and provide professionals and families with much needed evidence-based information about stuttering progression. Together this information will inform intervention approaches and help direct resources to those children who need them most. Read moreRead less
Precision cosmic expansion in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. The disagreement in the size of the cosmic expansion rate, between measurements from local galaxy indicators and predictions from the early Universe, is a crisis for cosmology. This Project aims to resolve this situation using recent scientific breakthroughs in both observations and theory. We will optimise expansion measurements from the standard sirens discovered by gravitational-wave astronomy by accurate modelling of th ....Precision cosmic expansion in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. The disagreement in the size of the cosmic expansion rate, between measurements from local galaxy indicators and predictions from the early Universe, is a crisis for cosmology. This Project aims to resolve this situation using recent scientific breakthroughs in both observations and theory. We will optimise expansion measurements from the standard sirens discovered by gravitational-wave astronomy by accurate modelling of the cosmic velocity field which limits this analysis. And we will use recent breakthoughs in numerical general relativity to explore the influence of space-time curvature variations on these measurements. We will hence improve our understanding of the most important parameter describing the Universe, and its physics.Read moreRead less
An upgraded pulsar timing array for gravitational wave detection. Millisecond pulsars are remarkably regularly-rotating neutron stars that offer the opportunity to detect gravitational waves via the technique known as pulsar timing. Australia has long been a world leader in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars, and the Parkes pulsar timing array is one of three major programmes in the world aimed at making the first direct detection of gravitational waves in any frequency band. This p ....An upgraded pulsar timing array for gravitational wave detection. Millisecond pulsars are remarkably regularly-rotating neutron stars that offer the opportunity to detect gravitational waves via the technique known as pulsar timing. Australia has long been a world leader in the discovery and timing of millisecond pulsars, and the Parkes pulsar timing array is one of three major programmes in the world aimed at making the first direct detection of gravitational waves in any frequency band. This project is designed to capitalise on Australia's position of strength in this field by extending the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array dataset (PPTA) so that it has the best chance of detecting gravitational waves in the nanohertz regime until the SKA pathfinders start to come online in 2017.Read moreRead less
Weighing the Universe using fast radio bursts. Fast radio bursts are a newly-discovered astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission occurs at cosmological distances, rendering them exceptional probes of the matter that lies in intergalactic space. This project aims to measure the positions and obtain the distances to these bursts to make a direct measurement of the density of ordinary matter in the Universe, at least 50 per cent of which is believed to remain undetected in inter ....Weighing the Universe using fast radio bursts. Fast radio bursts are a newly-discovered astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission occurs at cosmological distances, rendering them exceptional probes of the matter that lies in intergalactic space. This project aims to measure the positions and obtain the distances to these bursts to make a direct measurement of the density of ordinary matter in the Universe, at least 50 per cent of which is believed to remain undetected in intergalactic space. This project will measure the distribution of this missing matter, and find how it has evolved throughout the history of the Universe. This will provide significant benefits, such as addressing two fundamental questions about our Universe: how much matter does it contain, and has a large fraction of it hitherto evaded detection in intergalactic space?Read moreRead less