Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research u ....Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research using a common framework. More broadly, as demography takes on much greater significance with population aging, there is much to be gained through international cooperation between ANU Demography and Canada's leading centre for demography, the University of Montreal.Read moreRead less
Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent n ....Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent new Australian researchers in order to develop postdoctoral research, extending Australian potential for international and regional research leadership.Read moreRead less
Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will ....Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will lead to greater social inclusion, fair access to and smart use of information and services, urban sustainability and healthier local economies. Understanding the opportunities afforded by digital augmentation of social networks will help Australians negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net and participate in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life of their neighbourhood and city.Read moreRead less
Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and ....Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and two in Australia. Within each case community, an intensive qualitative and quantitative analysis will be conducted of the theorized mechanisms for the development of social capital and its mobilization for reconciliation of the ecological, economic and social imperatives required for sustainable development.
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University of Queensland/Arizona State University partnership to design industrially suitable zeolite membranes for desalination. For desalination, the highest costs are organic-based membrane replacement (lasting ~1 year) and energy requirement. Functionalised zeolitic membranes are low-cost, high performing, chemically tolerant and thermally stable. New zeolite membranes in principle could perform the separation outlasting their organic counterparts, while at the same time offering major energ ....University of Queensland/Arizona State University partnership to design industrially suitable zeolite membranes for desalination. For desalination, the highest costs are organic-based membrane replacement (lasting ~1 year) and energy requirement. Functionalised zeolitic membranes are low-cost, high performing, chemically tolerant and thermally stable. New zeolite membranes in principle could perform the separation outlasting their organic counterparts, while at the same time offering major energy reductions from higher fluxes. Current zeolite membrane research for desalination however is lacking. The proposed team offers experience in bringing highly significant lab scale technologies to industrial scales. The outcomes will address mutual priorities between Australia and USA for reliable low cost supply of fresh water.Read moreRead less
Comparing racism in Australian and Canada. Surveys of racist attitudes in Australia and Canada present a unique opportunity for comparative analysis. This project will demonstrate the central influence of place and context to attitudes to and experiences of racism. International comparative assessments of racism are rare. Comparable key concepts will be agreed, e.g.: attitudes towards cultural diversity and national identity; extent and experience of racism; multicultural policies. Overall findi ....Comparing racism in Australian and Canada. Surveys of racist attitudes in Australia and Canada present a unique opportunity for comparative analysis. This project will demonstrate the central influence of place and context to attitudes to and experiences of racism. International comparative assessments of racism are rare. Comparable key concepts will be agreed, e.g.: attitudes towards cultural diversity and national identity; extent and experience of racism; multicultural policies. Overall findings and spatial variations will be compared, aiming at publication in international journals. It will strengthen a significant relationship between geographers in Sydney and Vancouver. International recognition of the Sydney-based research cluster on racism will be enhanced.Read moreRead less
High energy neutrino astrophysics together with accretion flows into black holes. Neutrinos are very weakly interacting elementary particles that are opening a new view on astrophysical objects such as supernovae and active galactic nuclei (neutrino astronomy). Studies of astrophysical neutrino production, propagation and terrestrial detection will be made. This will shed light on the astrophysics of the sources as well as probing propagation effects such as neutrino oscillations. A distinct pro ....High energy neutrino astrophysics together with accretion flows into black holes. Neutrinos are very weakly interacting elementary particles that are opening a new view on astrophysical objects such as supernovae and active galactic nuclei (neutrino astronomy). Studies of astrophysical neutrino production, propagation and terrestrial detection will be made. This will shed light on the astrophysics of the sources as well as probing propagation effects such as neutrino oscillations. A distinct programme will study a large discrepancy in the energy balance for matter accreting into a black hole. Previous work of Buzzi and Hines will be extended to investigate whether plasma wave energy carried into the black hole can explain the discrepancy. Read moreRead less
The Chemistry of the Milky Way: From Micro- to Macro-Physics. The physics of galaxy formation in the early Universe is driving the development of billion-dollar investments such as the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array. Our team is undertaking a complementary `near-field cosmology' approach, systematically deconstructing the one galaxy in the Universe for which exquisite chemical and kinematical `fingerprints' of its formation remain observable on an individual star ....The Chemistry of the Milky Way: From Micro- to Macro-Physics. The physics of galaxy formation in the early Universe is driving the development of billion-dollar investments such as the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array. Our team is undertaking a complementary `near-field cosmology' approach, systematically deconstructing the one galaxy in the Universe for which exquisite chemical and kinematical `fingerprints' of its formation remain observable on an individual star-by-star basis - our own Milky Way. The unique synergy between computational cosmology, galaxy evolution, and stellar nucleosynthesis, intrinsic to our team, allows Australia to be at the forefront of theoretical galaxy formation research, in addition to the leadership role the observational community already enjoys.Read moreRead less
A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli an ....A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli and constitutes a perplexing problem for cognitive theory. This project involves an international collaborative effort by five leading researchers in mathematical psychology to develop a comprehensive, integrative model of human performance in absolute identification tasks.
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Increasing the effectiveness of quantitative verification. The ability to analyse the performance of complex systems and protocols is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications. Methods that improve the effectiveness of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, and would attract future development work (in complex systems) to Australia. The results of this project will have a direct influence on currently available design tools; the ....Increasing the effectiveness of quantitative verification. The ability to analyse the performance of complex systems and protocols is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications. Methods that improve the effectiveness of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, and would attract future development work (in complex systems) to Australia. The results of this project will have a direct influence on currently available design tools; the fact that Australian institutions will be (in part) responsible for key theoretical results in this growing field will strengthen Australia's position worldwide as an international centre for computer science.Read moreRead less