The development of novel and tunable metamaterials. Metamaterials are designed materials with properties that cannot be found in nature. This project uses a new disruptive design that allows broadband metamaterials to be made using mass production techniques. The design opens up a range of new applications in environmental and medical sensing, improved security screening and active devices.
Impact of evaluation-based funding on the content of scientific research. Evidence suggests that evaluation-based funding mechanisms trigger adaptive behaviour in scientists, leading to unintended changes in knowledge production. However, there is no conclusive evidence about when (under what circumstances), how (by what processes) and with what effects researchers adapt to these mechanisms. This study aims to answer these crucial questions. To overcome the methodological weaknesses of earlier s ....Impact of evaluation-based funding on the content of scientific research. Evidence suggests that evaluation-based funding mechanisms trigger adaptive behaviour in scientists, leading to unintended changes in knowledge production. However, there is no conclusive evidence about when (under what circumstances), how (by what processes) and with what effects researchers adapt to these mechanisms. This study aims to answer these crucial questions. To overcome the methodological weaknesses of earlier studies, a comparative investigation of several research fields and universities will be conducted, combining for the first time: qualitative interviews, ethnographic observations and bibliometric studies. It will enhance Australian research policy with a critical assessment of existing research funding models.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$621,834.00
Summary
Australian dark matter detector for high mass axions. This project aims to provide the necessary equipment to allow an Australian Dark Matter Axion Haloscope, with significantly increased sensitivity by providing a milliKelvin environment and a 14 T magnet to drive axion-to-photon conversions. Dark matter is a fundamental component of the universe yet the nature of its composition is still unknown. There is growing evidence that it is comprised of axions, a low energy, weakly interacting particl ....Australian dark matter detector for high mass axions. This project aims to provide the necessary equipment to allow an Australian Dark Matter Axion Haloscope, with significantly increased sensitivity by providing a milliKelvin environment and a 14 T magnet to drive axion-to-photon conversions. Dark matter is a fundamental component of the universe yet the nature of its composition is still unknown. There is growing evidence that it is comprised of axions, a low energy, weakly interacting particle. The precision measurement tools developed by this project will have the potential to contribute both to the economy, via commercialisation, and to national security, via future applications to radar, communication and the development of engineered quantum systems.Read moreRead less
Learning clique potentials for high-order graphical models. This project aims to develop algorithms for computers to automatically learn about visual scenes and objects from images. Using our algorithms, computers will be able to find objects and describe scenes in single images or large image collections such as online photo albums.
Health And Fertility Of Young Men Conceived Using Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$362,570.00
Summary
The injection of a single sperm into the egg (ICSI) has been the main IVF treatment for men with poor sperm quality since 1993 but is now often used for other types of infertility. Concern has been raised about the health of the children. We will approach >800 parents and their adult sons conceived using ICSI and will assess his general health and development, and fertility. This work will improve patient counselling and practice guidelines, and direct research into the safety of ICSI.
Controlling the rate of transcription and translation of Rubisco transgenes effectively in higher-plant plastids. Genetic transformation of the circular genome of the plastids provides a containable means for modifying plant growth by manipulating photosynthesis. Although the transformation mechanism is precise, predicting the level of foreign gene expression is difficult because the amounts of messenger RNA and protein produced by foreign genes in plastids varies widely, even when the protein a ....Controlling the rate of transcription and translation of Rubisco transgenes effectively in higher-plant plastids. Genetic transformation of the circular genome of the plastids provides a containable means for modifying plant growth by manipulating photosynthesis. Although the transformation mechanism is precise, predicting the level of foreign gene expression is difficult because the amounts of messenger RNA and protein produced by foreign genes in plastids varies widely, even when the protein assembles without difficulty. This project will devise strategies for controlling this variability that will facilitate attempts to exploit plastid transformation for transplanting better versions of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants to improve their growth efficiency in terms of water, fertiliser and light use.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100464
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,724.00
Summary
Conservatism as a dynamic response to the diffusion of innovations. This project aims to investigate how resistance to new and foreign practices and technologies can be a dynamic response to rapid cultural change, rather than a failure to innovate. The project will examine the underlying factors that influence innovation adoption and rejection. It will examine settlement structure and ritual activities in later prehistoric Cornwall, which was simultaneously a key node in the prehistoric economy ....Conservatism as a dynamic response to the diffusion of innovations. This project aims to investigate how resistance to new and foreign practices and technologies can be a dynamic response to rapid cultural change, rather than a failure to innovate. The project will examine the underlying factors that influence innovation adoption and rejection. It will examine settlement structure and ritual activities in later prehistoric Cornwall, which was simultaneously a key node in the prehistoric economy and a periphery, with a distinctly local material culture and way of life. The intended outcome is a model of innovation and conservatism, linking the uptake of new ideas and technologies to participation in local and more widespread networks of contact and exchange. This project will increase the profile of Australian research in archaeology and technology on the world stage.Read moreRead less
Strategic assessment of research performance indicators. The use of quantitative measures of research performance in higher education sends powerful messages to those being evaluated, because the choice of measures signals what is considered most important. However, little critical assessment has been undertaken on the use of performance indicators or their impact on research practice. This project will create a knowledge base on performance measures - their validity, fairness, transparency and ....Strategic assessment of research performance indicators. The use of quantitative measures of research performance in higher education sends powerful messages to those being evaluated, because the choice of measures signals what is considered most important. However, little critical assessment has been undertaken on the use of performance indicators or their impact on research practice. This project will create a knowledge base on performance measures - their validity, fairness, transparency and impact on research, and the cost of implementation. By assessing an extensive range of measures, it will provide Australian science management and science policy makers with rigorous information on which to base informed judgements on their utilisation.Read moreRead less
Practical strategies for engineering the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, whose subunits are encoded in different subcellular compartments. My recent replacement of the plant CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a less efficient bacterial version, with a single type of subunit encoded by a single gene, demonstrated the feasibility of replacing Rubisco. This encourages ongoing attempts to replace plant Rubisco with more efficient versions that would allow the plants to grow with less water, fertiliser or ....Practical strategies for engineering the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, whose subunits are encoded in different subcellular compartments. My recent replacement of the plant CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a less efficient bacterial version, with a single type of subunit encoded by a single gene, demonstrated the feasibility of replacing Rubisco. This encourages ongoing attempts to replace plant Rubisco with more efficient versions that would allow the plants to grow with less water, fertiliser or light. The most efficient Rubiscos are more complex, with two different types of subunits which, in plants, are encoded in different subcellular compartments (nucleus and plastid). This proposal addresses the challenges associated with complementary engineering both genomes to substitute foreign Rubiscos into higher-plant chloroplasts.Read moreRead less