Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101501
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
Printed back electrodes enabling low-cost perovskite solar cells. This project aims to address back electrode material, a bottleneck functional material in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells (PSCs). By engineering printable and conductive materials based on carbon and gold nanowires, the project expects to enable highly-efficient and scalable PSCs while reducing cost of materials and production. These expected outcomes are to be implemented in PSCs and their impact rigorously tested in rese ....Printed back electrodes enabling low-cost perovskite solar cells. This project aims to address back electrode material, a bottleneck functional material in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells (PSCs). By engineering printable and conductive materials based on carbon and gold nanowires, the project expects to enable highly-efficient and scalable PSCs while reducing cost of materials and production. These expected outcomes are to be implemented in PSCs and their impact rigorously tested in research cells to large-area PSCs modules produced through industry-relevant, scalable, and low-cost printing and coating methods. This will provide significant benefits to Australian industry, from small to medium enterprises to larger utility power companies, while creating economic opportunities and enabling sustainable societies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101100
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,613.00
Summary
Towards Robotic Empathy: A human centred approach to future AI machines. The project aims to equip future robots with empathy by developing computational models which can leverage from verbal and non-verbal cues. With recent advances in artificial intelligence research, robots now have better cognitive and function skills, but they lack socio-emotional skills. Since these robots are expected to provide assistance to humans across different domains including rehabilitation, education and health c ....Towards Robotic Empathy: A human centred approach to future AI machines. The project aims to equip future robots with empathy by developing computational models which can leverage from verbal and non-verbal cues. With recent advances in artificial intelligence research, robots now have better cognitive and function skills, but they lack socio-emotional skills. Since these robots are expected to provide assistance to humans across different domains including rehabilitation, education and health care, empowering them with empathetic abilities is important for their success. The project will advance fundamental research in machine learning, affective computing and artificial intelligence to model human behavior, personality traits and emotions for an empathetic human-robot interaction.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100864
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,334.00
Summary
Discovering The Effect of alpha-actinin-3 Deficiency on Muscle Adaptations to Exercise Training in Humans. The protein alpha-actinin-3 is expressed in fast muscle fibres. A common gene variant results in complete deficiency in alpha-actinin-3 that has been shown to influence athletic performance. A mouse model has been previously generated to demonstrate that alpha-actinin-3 deficiency results in a significant shift in fast muscle fibres, towards the slow, more efficient muscle fibres. This proj ....Discovering The Effect of alpha-actinin-3 Deficiency on Muscle Adaptations to Exercise Training in Humans. The protein alpha-actinin-3 is expressed in fast muscle fibres. A common gene variant results in complete deficiency in alpha-actinin-3 that has been shown to influence athletic performance. A mouse model has been previously generated to demonstrate that alpha-actinin-3 deficiency results in a significant shift in fast muscle fibres, towards the slow, more efficient muscle fibres. This project will demonstrate the effects of alpha-actinin-3 deficiency on the characteristics of human muscle pre and post exercise training. Outcomes will include major applications for personalising health recommendations and in designing preventative programs for ageing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101048
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,867.00
Summary
First Nations community-led approaches to Australian healthcare genomics. This project aims to develop community-led approaches that address key barriers to First Nations inclusion in Australian healthcare genomics. It will focus on working with communities to evaluate, co-design, and implement culturally appropriate engagement strategies and ethical research practices, including relationship-based consent; cultural integration of genomics; and ethical strategies for long-term management and use ....First Nations community-led approaches to Australian healthcare genomics. This project aims to develop community-led approaches that address key barriers to First Nations inclusion in Australian healthcare genomics. It will focus on working with communities to evaluate, co-design, and implement culturally appropriate engagement strategies and ethical research practices, including relationship-based consent; cultural integration of genomics; and ethical strategies for long-term management and use of biological samples and data for clinical and research purposes. Expected outcomes of this project are policy recommendations, contributions to national ethics and protocols guidelines, and the evaluation of educational materials and digital learning tools aimed at improving genomics literacy and research practices.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100775
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,446.00
Summary
Using nanostructured scaffolds to understand and engineer neuronal circuits. This project aims to understand the formation of neuronal circuits in the brain. While the role of biochemical features in the brain is well understood, it is not clear how the biophysical properties of the brain affect circuit formation. The outcomes of this project will improve our understanding of neuronal circuit formation as well as provide design rules for creating scaffolds to repair neuronal circuits after brain ....Using nanostructured scaffolds to understand and engineer neuronal circuits. This project aims to understand the formation of neuronal circuits in the brain. While the role of biochemical features in the brain is well understood, it is not clear how the biophysical properties of the brain affect circuit formation. The outcomes of this project will improve our understanding of neuronal circuit formation as well as provide design rules for creating scaffolds to repair neuronal circuits after brain damage. This project will integrate Australia’s strengths in nanotechnology and neurosciences, bringing Australian research at the forefront of neural engineering.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100128
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,000.00
Summary
Information processing in the brain. This project aims to understand the brain's functional organisation by developing non-invasive methods to characterise connectivity between interacting brain regions. No model-based methods to compute directional coupling between brain regions can be applied to large scale networks for resting state functional MRI data. This capability would be a major breakthrough in neuroimaging, given uninformative (non-directional) network connectivity analysis restricts ....Information processing in the brain. This project aims to understand the brain's functional organisation by developing non-invasive methods to characterise connectivity between interacting brain regions. No model-based methods to compute directional coupling between brain regions can be applied to large scale networks for resting state functional MRI data. This capability would be a major breakthrough in neuroimaging, given uninformative (non-directional) network connectivity analysis restricts research. This project is expected to advance our understanding of information processing in the brain by providing a mechanistic approach to functional integration.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101259
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,000.00
Summary
The impact of urbanisation on viral diversity and disease emergence. Urbanisation increases the risk of infectious disease emergence by rapidly altering contact rates between humans and other species. Fortunately, many consequences of urbanisation appear to be universal, suggesting that it is possible to identify factors likely to increase the risk of viral disease emergence and predict their impacts. This project aims to examine the viral response to changes in host and vector population struct ....The impact of urbanisation on viral diversity and disease emergence. Urbanisation increases the risk of infectious disease emergence by rapidly altering contact rates between humans and other species. Fortunately, many consequences of urbanisation appear to be universal, suggesting that it is possible to identify factors likely to increase the risk of viral disease emergence and predict their impacts. This project aims to examine the viral response to changes in host and vector population structure and dynamics that occur as a result of urbanisation, and identify viral characteristics that are associated with survival in an urban environment. This novel fusion of urban and viral ecology will have unprecedented impact on the development of predictive models of viral emergence for risk assessment and management.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101246
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,214.00
Summary
Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and ....Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and literary studies to improve our understanding of surveillance. The project also aims to generate teaching and public engagement resources for research, industry, and government. This will substantially improve our understanding of the impact of digital surveillance at the individual, community, and national levels.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100455
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,124.00
Summary
Understanding new art and museum participation in Asia. This project aims to understand new forms of public participation in Asia's arts and culture sectors. These sectors are changing in 21st century Asia, with new interest in public participation in art and museum initiatives. However, there is little research on this cultural development. Through researching art-focused public participation in East and Southeast Asia, this project will seek insights into the renewed role of art in shaping pub ....Understanding new art and museum participation in Asia. This project aims to understand new forms of public participation in Asia's arts and culture sectors. These sectors are changing in 21st century Asia, with new interest in public participation in art and museum initiatives. However, there is little research on this cultural development. Through researching art-focused public participation in East and Southeast Asia, this project will seek insights into the renewed role of art in shaping public participation, cultural belonging and creativity in Asia. In so doing, it intends to inform arts and cultural policy, and help Australian cultural and creative-industry partnerships with Asia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101611
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,040.00
Summary
Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses t ....Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses to climate change allows, shrub expansion will have significant negative impacts on alpine biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project will tease apart the interacting effects of snow, recruitment and adaptation to provide models of shrub increase and determine how shrubs modify alpine ecosystem processes and upper catchment hydrology.Read moreRead less