Closing the loop between salience and brain activity. This project aims to understand how animals exposed to an abundance of highly complex information decide what to attend to, that is, how they determine visual saliency. The project will approach this question by systematically tracking visual decision-making in the smallest animal brains, in closed-loop virtual reality environment. This approach will uncover basic working principles applicable to any system that needs to pay attention in a vi ....Closing the loop between salience and brain activity. This project aims to understand how animals exposed to an abundance of highly complex information decide what to attend to, that is, how they determine visual saliency. The project will approach this question by systematically tracking visual decision-making in the smallest animal brains, in closed-loop virtual reality environment. This approach will uncover basic working principles applicable to any system that needs to pay attention in a visually cluttered world, from insects to humans or autonomous vehicles.Read moreRead less
Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the ....Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the techniques of cognitive neuroscience, the project aims to provide a better understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms that govern attention in an applied setting. It expects to identify the factors that exacerbate lapses in attention and collisions. The effect of everyday impediments such as mobile phones, alcohol and fatigue will be investigated together with means of minimising these attentional lapses and improving safety.Read moreRead less
Learning human activities through low cost, unobtrusive RFID technology. A rapidly growing aged population presents many challenges to Australia's health and aged care services. The outcomes of this project will help aging Australians live in their own homes longer, with greater independence and safety by providing an automated, unobtrusive means for health professionals to monitor activity and intervene as required.
The relative impacts of sleep, wake and the internal body clock on human performance. The 24h society presents a number of challenges to the shiftworker. First, shiftworkers have to maintain a balance between the competing needs of work, family, leisure and social life. Second, shiftwork has been identified as a risk factor for obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Third, shiftworkers have an increased risk of injury and death at work. This project will use an innovative research protocol to prov ....The relative impacts of sleep, wake and the internal body clock on human performance. The 24h society presents a number of challenges to the shiftworker. First, shiftworkers have to maintain a balance between the competing needs of work, family, leisure and social life. Second, shiftwork has been identified as a risk factor for obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Third, shiftworkers have an increased risk of injury and death at work. This project will use an innovative research protocol to provide critical information about the independent and combined effects of sleep loss and body clock disruption on human performance. Work schedules designed on the basis of a better understanding of sleep loss and circadian disruption will result in healthier employees, safer workplaces, and reduced costs to the community.Read moreRead less
Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. ....Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. The vision is that the aggregator would provide customers with communications/control equipment that would automate the changes in the responsiveness so that customer-generated load shifting would act to limit peaks.Read moreRead less
Towards knowledge discovery from imperfect and evolving data. Information extraction from data is critical, both to analyse and protect consumer data. However, many learning techniques are developed using perfect, static datasets, quite different to messy, ever-changing real-world data. This project aims to develop data analytics techniques that can extract accurate information in complex structures from imperfect/incomplete data that changes over time. Expected outcomes are a prototype tool, te ....Towards knowledge discovery from imperfect and evolving data. Information extraction from data is critical, both to analyse and protect consumer data. However, many learning techniques are developed using perfect, static datasets, quite different to messy, ever-changing real-world data. This project aims to develop data analytics techniques that can extract accurate information in complex structures from imperfect/incomplete data that changes over time. Expected outcomes are a prototype tool, tested on real datasets, that combines new techniques in data modelling, algorithm development, and system design. Likely benefits are enhanced Australia's competence in data science through student training and new, robust data tools relevant to critical sectors such as cybersecurity, healthcare, and defence.Read moreRead less
Systematically model the large-scale complexity of turbulent floods and thin film flows. This project continues development of new models, and computer
simulation, of turbulent flood, river and estuarine flow. The models
will be based systematically upon established turbulence models to
resolve accurately the complex physical processes. The development of
new and robust computer models for thin layers of coating fluid will
aid many industrial processes. We also aim to provide correct ini ....Systematically model the large-scale complexity of turbulent floods and thin film flows. This project continues development of new models, and computer
simulation, of turbulent flood, river and estuarine flow. The models
will be based systematically upon established turbulence models to
resolve accurately the complex physical processes. The development of
new and robust computer models for thin layers of coating fluid will
aid many industrial processes. We also aim to provide correct initial
conditions and boundary conditions for simpler cases of the above
flows. The approach leads to a greater understanding of the range of
applicability of the models through better estimating the errors in the
modelling process. The project develops a fundamental enabling
methodology for engineering and the sciences.
Read moreRead less
Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing st ....Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing stressors, combining socio-legal and psychological approaches. Expected outcomes include evidence-based understandings to inform recruitment and retention strategies specific to this highly specialized workforce. This should provide significant benefits for judges’ work capacities and courts' delivery of justice.Read moreRead less
Effective and accurate model dynamics, deterministic and stochastic, across multiple space and time scales. A persistent feature of complex systems in engineering and science is the emergence of macroscopic, coarse grained, coherent behaviour from the interactions of microscopic agents (molecules, cells, grains) and with their environment. In current modeling, ranging from ecology to materials science, the underlying microscopic mechanisms are often known, but the closures to translate microscal ....Effective and accurate model dynamics, deterministic and stochastic, across multiple space and time scales. A persistent feature of complex systems in engineering and science is the emergence of macroscopic, coarse grained, coherent behaviour from the interactions of microscopic agents (molecules, cells, grains) and with their environment. In current modeling, ranging from ecology to materials science, the underlying microscopic mechanisms are often known, but the closures to translate microscale knowledge to a system level macroscopic description are rarely available in closed form. Our novel methodology will explore this stumbling block, and promises to radically change the modeling, exploration and understanding of multiscale complex system behaviour.Read moreRead less
Capacitating student aspirations in classrooms and communities in a high poverty region. This project studies the aspirations of students in a disadvantaged area, as cultural resources for completing school, accessing higher education and realising desirable futures. It will produce new concepts and research methods for increasing social equity by working closely with students and families, and making links between schools and communities.