Suspect sciences: Enhancing emerging identification technologies and forensic expertise. This project will enhance national security and the safety of Australians. It represents an innovative response to uncertainties associated with the use of identification technologies in national security operations, policing and criminal prosecutions. The project will provide those developing and using identification technologies and evidence with a much clearer indication of their capabilities and limitati ....Suspect sciences: Enhancing emerging identification technologies and forensic expertise. This project will enhance national security and the safety of Australians. It represents an innovative response to uncertainties associated with the use of identification technologies in national security operations, policing and criminal prosecutions. The project will provide those developing and using identification technologies and evidence with a much clearer indication of their capabilities and limitations. It will help to prevent exaggerated interpretations and will reduce the incidence of mistaken identifications. It will encourage more efficient use of surveillance infrastructures and prevent citizens from being 'identified', accused and wrongfully convicted on the basis of unreliable or error prone techniques and opinions.Read moreRead less
The nature and status of principles in early modern philosophy. One of the most contested issues in early modern thought was the nature of principles: what are the principles of reason, of nature, of morality, and why do we need them? This project will provide a comprehensive study of the nature and status of such principles in the 17th and 18th centuries charting the story of how their fortunes waxed and waned.
Changing your mind by changing your brain: An interventionist perspective on cognitive neuroscience. Functional neuroimaging provides a tremendous amount of information about the brain, but what it shows about the mind is less clear. Addressing this fundamental philosophical question requires developing a detailed account of theory-testing in cognitive neuroscience. This project aims to connect neuroimaging to theories of explanation that focus on the way one variable can make a difference to an ....Changing your mind by changing your brain: An interventionist perspective on cognitive neuroscience. Functional neuroimaging provides a tremendous amount of information about the brain, but what it shows about the mind is less clear. Addressing this fundamental philosophical question requires developing a detailed account of theory-testing in cognitive neuroscience. This project aims to connect neuroimaging to theories of explanation that focus on the way one variable can make a difference to another. By linking neuroimaging to facts about manipulable relationships between the brain and the mind, it will also provide a bridge between neuroimaging and complementary technologies for directly intervening on the brain. This, in turn, will provide a platform from which to explore the theoretical and ethical consequences of direct brain manipulation.Read moreRead less
Climate change and the history of environmental determinism. In previous centuries, most scientists presumed that environment and climate determined human health, capacities and difference. By tracing this longstanding idea through the twentieth century, this project will identify implications for current climate science.
The quest for the 'I': reaching a better understanding of the self through Hegel and Heidegger. The conception of the 'I' is central to our lives. The more multicultural a country is, the more pressing becomes the question of the conception of the self. Focusing on the thought of Hegel and Heidegger, this project aims to offer a richer account that avoids individualism and allows thinking of the formation of the self as a collective enterprise.
Cultural values, birth and parenting: Reproductive health and Lao socialism. This project aims to provide an anthropology of procreation and parenting through ethnography of the Government of Laos’ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health rollout as well as everyday reproduction in rural and remote Laos. It expects to generate new knowledge of core values in Laos, including those underpinning official treatment of children as human capital, difference as deprivation, and mother-and-chil ....Cultural values, birth and parenting: Reproductive health and Lao socialism. This project aims to provide an anthropology of procreation and parenting through ethnography of the Government of Laos’ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health rollout as well as everyday reproduction in rural and remote Laos. It expects to generate new knowledge of core values in Laos, including those underpinning official treatment of children as human capital, difference as deprivation, and mother-and-child biomedical care as universal, as well as the (counter-)values lived in rural and remote practices, knowledge and sentiments. Anticipated benefits include advanced understandings of Lao culture and society, socialism as it articulates with international health and economic agendas, and the anthropology of human flourishing.Read moreRead less
Transitions and translations in scientific practice. This project focuses on how life sciences are developing new research practices and new ways of transferring knowledge across disciplines and into society. These transformations will be investigated through collaborations between biologists and philosophers of science, with the aim of better insight into science and its social implications.
Culture-bound syndromes, koro, and the emergence of 'cosmopolitan' psychiatry. This historical study examines the concepts of ethnicity used by psychiatrists by focusing on the ways in which one culture-bound syndrome, koro, moved from being exclusively South-East Asian to being found in a number of cultures. It will develop significant understandings of psychiatric conceptions of cultural difference.
Harnessing microbial respiration for pollutant degradation and natural gas production. This project seeks to exploit compounds produced naturally by microorganisms to develop a marketable green technology for environmental restoration and clean energy generation in Australia and abroad. Metropolitan and regional communities will benefit from improved environmental and human health and the economy will benefit from global application.
Virtue with Aristotle: Recovering an Ancient Ethical Theory for Our Time. This project aims to show how Aristotle’s theory of virtue can guide our individual and collective attempts to live good human lives in challenging times. This project expects to produce the first comprehensive study of Aristotle’s concept of virtue in all three areas of human activity in which he applies it (moral action, theoretical cognition, and craft and artistic production) and to show its relevance for contemporary ....Virtue with Aristotle: Recovering an Ancient Ethical Theory for Our Time. This project aims to show how Aristotle’s theory of virtue can guide our individual and collective attempts to live good human lives in challenging times. This project expects to produce the first comprehensive study of Aristotle’s concept of virtue in all three areas of human activity in which he applies it (moral action, theoretical cognition, and craft and artistic production) and to show its relevance for contemporary ethical theory and practice. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the concepts of virtue and flourishing and their historical roots in Aristotle’s ethical writings. This should provide significant benefits, such as building our collective resilience.Read moreRead less