Biologically Inspired Binaural Coupling for Selective Machine Hearing. This project aims to investigate biologically-inspired binaural coupling models in the context of the deep learning paradigm by formulating desirable higher level auditory structures as neural network sub-systems. This project expects to generate new knowledge for developing the next generation of robust speech processing systems that are capable of mimicking the selecting listening ability of humans when faced with realistic ....Biologically Inspired Binaural Coupling for Selective Machine Hearing. This project aims to investigate biologically-inspired binaural coupling models in the context of the deep learning paradigm by formulating desirable higher level auditory structures as neural network sub-systems. This project expects to generate new knowledge for developing the next generation of robust speech processing systems that are capable of mimicking the selecting listening ability of humans when faced with realistic noisy speech signals and the ‘cocktail party problem’ using innovative binaural feedback systems. This work should provide significant benefits, including improved voice biometrics and selective auditory attention capabilities in machines.Read moreRead less
Drone-based Communications for High-speed Beyond 5G Wireless Systems. Drone-based communication is a revolutionised wireless paradigm for the development of highly flexible and cost-effective beyond fifth-generation (B5G) wireless systems. This project aims to develop novel communication theories and practical techniques to realise truly high-speed and ubiquitous communication required in B5G networks. The project intends to deliver resource allocation designs, robust transceiver designs and a s ....Drone-based Communications for High-speed Beyond 5G Wireless Systems. Drone-based communication is a revolutionised wireless paradigm for the development of highly flexible and cost-effective beyond fifth-generation (B5G) wireless systems. This project aims to develop novel communication theories and practical techniques to realise truly high-speed and ubiquitous communication required in B5G networks. The project intends to deliver resource allocation designs, robust transceiver designs and a system-level analysis as the foundations and tools to unlock the potential of this promising paradigm. The outcomes of this project are expected to fundamentally advance the knowledge of drone-based communications with significant economic values to service providers and benefits to mobile users over the world.Read moreRead less
Speech recognition adaptation for low resource populations. Automatic speech recognition is an essential attribute of mobile devices and consumer electronics. Unfortunately, as these systems are trained with adult speech, they perform poorly when used by children and people with speaking difficulties. The lack of available training speech from these groups makes developing models for them difficult. We will investigate efficient model adaptation methods that use minimal training data to adapt ex ....Speech recognition adaptation for low resource populations. Automatic speech recognition is an essential attribute of mobile devices and consumer electronics. Unfortunately, as these systems are trained with adult speech, they perform poorly when used by children and people with speaking difficulties. The lack of available training speech from these groups makes developing models for them difficult. We will investigate efficient model adaptation methods that use minimal training data to adapt existing adult speech recognition models for use with children and people with speaking difficulties. The intended outcomes will improve access to automatic speech recognition systems for Australians whose communication with speech-controlled environmental and educational devices is currently restricted.Read moreRead less
How do cells survive nutrient stress? Insight into mechanisms. This project studies cell survival under nutrient stress in eukaryotes. Building on extensive preliminary data that identifies novel TOR (Target of Rapamycin) Complex 2 (TORC2) control points it expects to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of stress control of macroautophagy that ensures cell survival. It uses interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to validate and characterize nutrient-stress dependent si ....How do cells survive nutrient stress? Insight into mechanisms. This project studies cell survival under nutrient stress in eukaryotes. Building on extensive preliminary data that identifies novel TOR (Target of Rapamycin) Complex 2 (TORC2) control points it expects to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of stress control of macroautophagy that ensures cell survival. It uses interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to validate and characterize nutrient-stress dependent signaling. Expected outcomes include novel insights into environmental control of cell proliferation and forging cross institutional collaborations. This knowledge benefits basic and applied biology and is relevant to industries/projects utilizing living cells as nutrient supports cell survival and proliferation.Read moreRead less
Novel mechano-signalling pathways at sites of cellular adhesion. Piezo channels are membrane proteins that detect mechanical cues and underlie our sense of touch. We aim to characterize the first protein regulator of Piezo channels by developing and utilizing novel technologies including acoustic forces to monitor Piezo channel function. The significance of this study is underscored by the wide spread expression of Piezo channels and their involvement in many cellular processes. Expected outcome ....Novel mechano-signalling pathways at sites of cellular adhesion. Piezo channels are membrane proteins that detect mechanical cues and underlie our sense of touch. We aim to characterize the first protein regulator of Piezo channels by developing and utilizing novel technologies including acoustic forces to monitor Piezo channel function. The significance of this study is underscored by the wide spread expression of Piezo channels and their involvement in many cellular processes. Expected outcomes are novel technologies to study mechanobiology, patentable peptide-based Piezo modulators and a new conceptual paradigm for understanding cellular mechanosensing. This knowledge will benefit a broad scientific community through technological advancements and pharmacological agents to manipulate Piezo channels.Read moreRead less
Unravelling a canonical mitochondrial stress response pathway. Stress has a major impact on all life forms and is considered one of the key determinants of healthy ageing. This project aims to unravel a highly novel pathway through which many different forms of stress converge to induce a conserved stress response in mammalian cells. Major outcomes include rewriting the textbook on how stress is sensed by cells and how cells respond to this stress and will provide novel approaches and technologi ....Unravelling a canonical mitochondrial stress response pathway. Stress has a major impact on all life forms and is considered one of the key determinants of healthy ageing. This project aims to unravel a highly novel pathway through which many different forms of stress converge to induce a conserved stress response in mammalian cells. Major outcomes include rewriting the textbook on how stress is sensed by cells and how cells respond to this stress and will provide novel approaches and technologies for studying stress in a broad range of organisms and systems. This project will benefit all efforts to understand stress and aid efforts by others to ameliorate stress-mediated health defects across the animal kingdomRead 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
Estimation and Control of Noisy Riemannian Systems. Many application areas such as satellite control, computer vision, coordination of rigid bodies, require the estimation and control of systems subject to geometric constraints. Most current algorithms for doing this are deterministic and can fail catastrophically in the presence of noise. This project aims to provide:
(i) Methods for analysing and then redesigning deterministic algorithms to ensure stability in the presence of noise;
(ii) New ....Estimation and Control of Noisy Riemannian Systems. Many application areas such as satellite control, computer vision, coordination of rigid bodies, require the estimation and control of systems subject to geometric constraints. Most current algorithms for doing this are deterministic and can fail catastrophically in the presence of noise. This project aims to provide:
(i) Methods for analysing and then redesigning deterministic algorithms to ensure stability in the presence of noise;
(ii) New design methods that deal with noise in an optimal way;
(iii) Noise resistant methods for distributed consensus seeking systems and cooperative control systems.
The outcomes will advance and benefit spatio-temporal data analysis and coordination in areas such as transport, health and video-security.Read moreRead less
Creating a Perceptive Mobile Network Using Joint Communication and Sensing. This project aims to develop foundational technologies for an innovative perceptive mobile (cellular) communication network that is also capable of ubiquitous radio sensing. It is expected to generate groundbreaking theorems and algorithms that will significantly advance the knowledge of joint communication and sensing. The intended outcomes are an innovative large-scale sensing solution capable of real-time 3D-plus radi ....Creating a Perceptive Mobile Network Using Joint Communication and Sensing. This project aims to develop foundational technologies for an innovative perceptive mobile (cellular) communication network that is also capable of ubiquitous radio sensing. It is expected to generate groundbreaking theorems and algorithms that will significantly advance the knowledge of joint communication and sensing. The intended outcomes are an innovative large-scale sensing solution capable of real-time 3D-plus radio imaging of the world, and enhanced communications with improved quality and reliability. The technology will revolutionize traditional communication-only mobile networks. It will enable and boost expansive radio sensing applications in e.g. transportation, energy, agriculture, and security.Read moreRead less
Vector network system identification. This machine learning project aims to provide more reliable ways to identify the structure and function of dynamic networks from both continuous and discrete network data. The project will use all the data and create principled new metrics. This could enable early diagnosis of network faults across a range of applications for example in power systems or diseased human brains. It could also enable discovery of critical functional subnetworks affecting reliabl ....Vector network system identification. This machine learning project aims to provide more reliable ways to identify the structure and function of dynamic networks from both continuous and discrete network data. The project will use all the data and create principled new metrics. This could enable early diagnosis of network faults across a range of applications for example in power systems or diseased human brains. It could also enable discovery of critical functional subnetworks affecting reliable operation in large complex human systems (such as financial systems) or natural systems (such as gene regulatory networks).Read moreRead less