Testing metabolic theories in ecology. There are striking similarities in the way plants and animals take up and use energy (metabolism), despite enormous variation in size and life-style. This project will make the first experimental comparison of the predictions of the two major theories for these broad patterns. The results will significantly progress this controversial and exciting field.
A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding .... A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding the critical exchanges of water and greenhouse gases (GHGs) combining field methodologies and hydrological models, under different climatic conditions. The intended outcomes will benefit management of GHG emissions, coastal flooding and vulnerable groundwater dependent habitats.Read moreRead less
Coupling tropical cyclone and climate physics with ocean waves. It is argued that without accounting for the wave effects directly, the physics of large-scale air-sea interactions is inaccurate and incomplete. The project will introduce explicit coupling of large-scale atmospheric and oceanic phenomena with the physics of surface waves which should lead to improved predictions of tropical cyclones and climate.
Testing the importance of large-scale climate factors to plant community assembly following land-use change. This project will examine the native plant species and functional diversity of Australia's rain forest communities to create a predictive framework of how plant communities recover following deforestation. Such a framework is key to focusing conservation efforts in degraded and multi-use landscapes.
Designing and Building Novel 2D Hybrid Materials. The aim of this project is to use computational and experimental techniques to discover and fabricate new hybrid materials. Single-layer (2-D) materials like graphene have gained prominence and new ones are constantly being reported. Hybrid materials built from combinations of 2-D layers are appearing but progress is slow. This project is designed to increase the rate of discovery and fabrication of hybrids. The outcome would be an extensive data ....Designing and Building Novel 2D Hybrid Materials. The aim of this project is to use computational and experimental techniques to discover and fabricate new hybrid materials. Single-layer (2-D) materials like graphene have gained prominence and new ones are constantly being reported. Hybrid materials built from combinations of 2-D layers are appearing but progress is slow. This project is designed to increase the rate of discovery and fabrication of hybrids. The outcome would be an extensive database of materials properties, clear direction on how to control material properties, and manufacturing protocols to build a wide range of new materials.Read moreRead less
Utilising artificial intelligence to elucidate the physics of galaxies. For decades astronomers have puzzled over the connection between the structure and evolution of galaxies and the role played by host environments. This project aims to resolve this problem by combining multi-wavelength observations, multi-component simulations, and pioneering data analysis using artificial intelligence. In particular, we target the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster as a laboratory for studying galaxy formation in ....Utilising artificial intelligence to elucidate the physics of galaxies. For decades astronomers have puzzled over the connection between the structure and evolution of galaxies and the role played by host environments. This project aims to resolve this problem by combining multi-wavelength observations, multi-component simulations, and pioneering data analysis using artificial intelligence. In particular, we target the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster as a laboratory for studying galaxy formation in dense environments. Using our novel machine learning techniques, we will elucidate the physical mechanisms that drive the rapid evolution of star formation, galactic nuclei, and gas and dust content within Fornax. Our predictions will benefit ongoing and future surveys at the national and international level. Read moreRead less
The major transformation mechanism of disk galaxies. This project aims to discover how lenticular (S0) galaxies formed, which has been a problem since they were first introduced as a possible transition between elliptical and spiral galaxies over 80 years ago. This project will compare observations at various wavelengths and high-resolution computer simulations. It also aims to advance physical understanding of star formation, gas and dust evolution, and morphological transformation driven by en ....The major transformation mechanism of disk galaxies. This project aims to discover how lenticular (S0) galaxies formed, which has been a problem since they were first introduced as a possible transition between elliptical and spiral galaxies over 80 years ago. This project will compare observations at various wavelengths and high-resolution computer simulations. It also aims to advance physical understanding of star formation, gas and dust evolution, and morphological transformation driven by environments. The expected benefit is to solve the problem of S0 formation and provide models to interpret the large volumes of data generated by Australian surveys.Read moreRead less
Matchings in Combinatorial Structures. The theory of matching in graphs concerns the problem of pairing up objects, subject to constraints on which objects may be paired. It is a well-developed theory that is not only of tremendous mathematical importance, but is also widely applied to efficiently deal with allocation and scheduling problems. Much less is known, however, about the equally important but harder problem of dividing objects into collections of three or more. This project aims to add ....Matchings in Combinatorial Structures. The theory of matching in graphs concerns the problem of pairing up objects, subject to constraints on which objects may be paired. It is a well-developed theory that is not only of tremendous mathematical importance, but is also widely applied to efficiently deal with allocation and scheduling problems. Much less is known, however, about the equally important but harder problem of dividing objects into collections of three or more. This project aims to address this deficiency by developing the theory of matching in important combinatorial objects. The problems it expects to solve are of great significance in their own right, and when considered together may help to lay a foundation for a more general theory of matching.Read moreRead less
Fractional decomposition of graphs and the Nash-Williams conjecture. Nash-Williams' conjecture is a famous unsolved problem about decomposing graphs (abstract networks). Breakthrough results achieved in recent years have shown that the conjecture, along with other major graph decomposition problems, could be solved if only more were known about fractional decomposition. This project aims to clear this bottleneck to progress by dramatically expanding the state of knowledge on fractional decomposi ....Fractional decomposition of graphs and the Nash-Williams conjecture. Nash-Williams' conjecture is a famous unsolved problem about decomposing graphs (abstract networks). Breakthrough results achieved in recent years have shown that the conjecture, along with other major graph decomposition problems, could be solved if only more were known about fractional decomposition. This project aims to clear this bottleneck to progress by dramatically expanding the state of knowledge on fractional decomposition. Expected outcomes include major progress on Nash-Williams' conjecture and related graph decomposition problems. This should enhance Australia's research reputation in pure mathematics and provide benefits in downstream applications areas including statistics, data transmission, and fibre-optic networks.Read moreRead less
Millennial climate change in southern Australia during the Last Glacial. Abrupt warming and cooling events were a persistent feature of Earth's most recent climate cycle. Surprisingly, little is known of how these events affected the climate of Australia. This project will produce precisely dated reconstructions of rainfall and temperature trends in southern Australia during these events. These new terrestrial and ocean data will be compared with model simulations to determine how rapidly abrupt ....Millennial climate change in southern Australia during the Last Glacial. Abrupt warming and cooling events were a persistent feature of Earth's most recent climate cycle. Surprisingly, little is known of how these events affected the climate of Australia. This project will produce precisely dated reconstructions of rainfall and temperature trends in southern Australia during these events. These new terrestrial and ocean data will be compared with model simulations to determine how rapidly abrupt climate perturbations in the Northern Hemisphere reached our region, and the processes by which this occurred. The results will advance theory on how abrupt climate change propagates globally and provide a long-awaited climatic context for capstone events in Australia's natural history.Read moreRead less