Fusion Energy and the Physics of Burning Plasmas. The world faces a global energy crisis. Our standard of living, which is largely powered by base-load electricity supply, is unsustainable. Fusion power is a near zero greenhouse gas technology, which promises millions of years of base-load electricity, free from weapon proliferation. This promise has galvanised the international community to accelerate fusion development by committing to the next-step technology-enabling $16 billion experiment, ....Fusion Energy and the Physics of Burning Plasmas. The world faces a global energy crisis. Our standard of living, which is largely powered by base-load electricity supply, is unsustainable. Fusion power is a near zero greenhouse gas technology, which promises millions of years of base-load electricity, free from weapon proliferation. This promise has galvanised the international community to accelerate fusion development by committing to the next-step technology-enabling $16 billion experiment, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). In anticipation of ITER, this fellowship will foster growth of Australian fusion research, and address a grand science challenge facing ITER: how do we maintain burn in the face of potentially damaging plasma instabilities? The answer will affect both ITER and the viability of fusion power.Read moreRead less
Burning Plasmas: resolving energetic particle physics for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Fusion power is a zero greenhouse gas emitting technology, which if realised, offers millions of years of base-load electricity. This promise has prompted the international community to accelerate fusion energy development, principally via support of the next-step technology-enabling experiment, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Our project addresses a gr ....Burning Plasmas: resolving energetic particle physics for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Fusion power is a zero greenhouse gas emitting technology, which if realised, offers millions of years of base-load electricity. This promise has prompted the international community to accelerate fusion energy development, principally via support of the next-step technology-enabling experiment, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Our project addresses a grand science challenge facing ITER and fusion power: can the products of reaction be kept confined and therefore self-heat the plasma? The answer will affect both the ITER program, and the viability of fusion power. This project provides a low-cost high-impact contribution to the science base for the $16 billion ITER project, whilst growing Australian capability in this strategically important technology.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0228799
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,602,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to construct and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile, and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in way ....Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to construct and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile, and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not previously possible. Through membership of Gemini, Australian astronomers have access to the world-class facilities necessary to maintain their high international profile and great public visibility in Galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and also to enhance the national capacity to construct advanced scientific instrumentation. Australia has already won a contract to build one of the instruments.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453817
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,849,438.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to build and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not ....Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to build and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not previously possible. Through membership of Gemini, Australian astronomers have access to the world-class facilities necessary to maintain their high international profile and the great public visibility in Galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and also to enhance the national capacity to
construct advanced scientific instrumentation. Australia is currently building one of the instruments.
Note: in A7.1 GAMS incorrectly forces integer days/month. In full operation Australian astronomers will receive approximately 25 nights per year.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560761
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,458,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium that operates two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, in Chile and Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in 1998, with 4.76% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not previously possible. Through membership of Gemi ....Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium that operates two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, in Chile and Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in 1998, with 4.76% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not previously possible. Through membership of Gemini, Australian astronomers have access to the world-class facilities necessary to maintain their high international profile, and also to enhance the national capacity to construct advanced scientific instrumentation. Australian institutions are currently building two new instruments.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0347237
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,855,121.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to construct and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways ....Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. The International Gemini Partnership is an intergovernmental consortium formed to construct and operate two 8-metre optical/infrared telescopes, one in Chile and the other in Hawaii. Australia joined the IGP in May 1998, taking approximately 5% of the partnership. The Gemini telescopes have been carefully engineered to exploit the superb atmospheric conditions at both sites, allowing users to address key astronomical problems in ways not previously possible. Through membership of Gemini, Australian astronomers have access to the world-class facilities necessary to maintain their high international profile and the great public visibility in Galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and also to enhance the national capacity to construct advanced scientific instrumentation. Australia is currently building one of the instruments.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668351
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,983,525.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. No science better captures public attention than astronomy. Through its membership of the international Gemini consortium that operates the Gemini telescopes, Australia has assured its astronomers of access to two of the finest large ground-based telescopes. Located in Hawaii and Chile, the telescopes enable Australian astronomers to pursue major questions such as how the universe evolved, the nature of dark matter and dark energy, h ....Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership. No science better captures public attention than astronomy. Through its membership of the international Gemini consortium that operates the Gemini telescopes, Australia has assured its astronomers of access to two of the finest large ground-based telescopes. Located in Hawaii and Chile, the telescopes enable Australian astronomers to pursue major questions such as how the universe evolved, the nature of dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies formed, and how stars and their planets formed. Australia has long been known for 'punching above its weight' in astronomy, and membership of Gemini is a vital step in assuring that this prominence in the field is maintained.Read moreRead less
Nucleosynthesis of low and intermediate mass stars: A study into the origin of the elements. Everything in our Solar System, including the Sun and all life on Earth, were created out of material forged long ago in fiery stellar furnaces. In the hot dense cores of long dead stars the material most vital to life was created. However, the stellar origin of many elements is unknown although we can make guesses, from observations of stars and by bringing together ideas from different scientific fiel ....Nucleosynthesis of low and intermediate mass stars: A study into the origin of the elements. Everything in our Solar System, including the Sun and all life on Earth, were created out of material forged long ago in fiery stellar furnaces. In the hot dense cores of long dead stars the material most vital to life was created. However, the stellar origin of many elements is unknown although we can make guesses, from observations of stars and by bringing together ideas from different scientific fields including astrophysics, nuclear physics and geochemistry. Using the latest theoretical techniques together with the most recent experimental data, it is possible to piece together the clues
to unravel the mystery of the origin of the elements.
Read moreRead less
Calibrating Cosmology: The Near-Field Approach to Galaxy Formation. Understanding the formation and evolution of structure in the early Universe continues to elude astronomers. Studying these earliest epochs is the driver for billion-dollar investments like the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array (with Australia as a primary partner). Our complementary 'near-field cosmology' project is unique, blending strengths in computational cosmology, stellar nucleosynthesis, and ....Calibrating Cosmology: The Near-Field Approach to Galaxy Formation. Understanding the formation and evolution of structure in the early Universe continues to elude astronomers. Studying these earliest epochs is the driver for billion-dollar investments like the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array (with Australia as a primary partner). Our complementary 'near-field cosmology' project is unique, blending strengths in computational cosmology, stellar nucleosynthesis, and optical astronomy, to 'deconstruct' the formation history of the one galaxy with detailed chemical and kinematical information - our own Milky Way. Combining theory and observation, cosmology and nucleosynthesis, we will produce the template for galaxy formation, providing the anchor for 'far-field' cosmology.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775546
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,000.00
Summary
Construction of the blue-arm of the ANU 2.3m telescope Wide-Field Spectrograph. The new blue and red arms of the WiFeS spectrograph on the SSO 2.3m telescope utilizes new optical techniques and advances in detector technology to provide unique capabilities for front-line research and student training. The novel integral field units on WiFeS extract spectra across the face of faint, distant galaxies enabling the dynamics of the stellar and gas content to be analysed in unprecedented detail. Anoth ....Construction of the blue-arm of the ANU 2.3m telescope Wide-Field Spectrograph. The new blue and red arms of the WiFeS spectrograph on the SSO 2.3m telescope utilizes new optical techniques and advances in detector technology to provide unique capabilities for front-line research and student training. The novel integral field units on WiFeS extract spectra across the face of faint, distant galaxies enabling the dynamics of the stellar and gas content to be analysed in unprecedented detail. Another important project will be to follow-up interesting objects discovered by the new SkyMapper telescope and establish those that need to be observed on 8 m telescopes such as Gemini, Magellan or VLT. Read moreRead less