The republic of the demiurge: textual community and the commentary tradition in late antique Platonism. This project will add to our understanding of the content and purpose of philosophy within 'higher education' in the eastern Roman Empire in the period 300-500 CE. Since there are many ways in which the late Empire resembles our own time, this understanding illuminates the place of philosophy in what we call higher education.
Plato's myth voice: the identification and interpretation of 'inspired speech' in plato. This project uses recent discoveries about the language of ancient myths, oracles and allegories to understand similar discourse in Plato and the Platonic tradition. It attempts to render such discourse intelligible to those who may not hear myths in the same context or share the same cultural background as Plato's listeners.
Active Ice-Shelf Rift Systems on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Our work will inform the public on how the Antarctic might contribute to global sea level rise, e.g., are current iceberg production rates accelerating and causing inland ice to flow into the sea more rapidly? Furthermore, a greater understanding of the important Earth systems, including the ocean-ice-atmosphere system, is important to a society contemplating the responsibilities of stewardship of the planet as we move into t ....Active Ice-Shelf Rift Systems on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Our work will inform the public on how the Antarctic might contribute to global sea level rise, e.g., are current iceberg production rates accelerating and causing inland ice to flow into the sea more rapidly? Furthermore, a greater understanding of the important Earth systems, including the ocean-ice-atmosphere system, is important to a society contemplating the responsibilities of stewardship of the planet as we move into the era of potentially profound effects from global climate change.Read moreRead less
Masers: high resolution probes of star formation. The largest stars in the Galaxy play a vital role in the formation of
the atoms which make life on Earth possible. The birth of these stars
is shrouded in gas and dust through which only radiowaves penetrate.
In this project we will make observations of interstellar masers from
the hydroxyl and methanol molecules and through mathematical modelling
of molecular excitation and radiative transfer probe the physical,
chemical and evolution ....Masers: high resolution probes of star formation. The largest stars in the Galaxy play a vital role in the formation of
the atoms which make life on Earth possible. The birth of these stars
is shrouded in gas and dust through which only radiowaves penetrate.
In this project we will make observations of interstellar masers from
the hydroxyl and methanol molecules and through mathematical modelling
of molecular excitation and radiative transfer probe the physical,
chemical and evolutionary status of the high-mass stars associated
with the masers.Read moreRead less
A Midas touch for electrophiles in new reaction development. This project aims to address the lack of knowledge about how high-value organic molecules are formed in gold-catalysed reactions by advancing a novel mode of catalysis. This project expects to generate new knowledge about these gold-catalysed reactions using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach incorporating computational and synthetic techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include the optimisation and development of import ....A Midas touch for electrophiles in new reaction development. This project aims to address the lack of knowledge about how high-value organic molecules are formed in gold-catalysed reactions by advancing a novel mode of catalysis. This project expects to generate new knowledge about these gold-catalysed reactions using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach incorporating computational and synthetic techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include the optimisation and development of important organic reactions and enhancing collaboration nationally and internationally between computational and synthetic chemists. This should provide significant benefits in the form of improved chemical reactions for chemists to prepare new pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials.Read moreRead less
Radio Interferometer Studies of Compact Astronomical Sources. The giant black holes in the centres of distant galaxies that are the topic of this study are used to set the reference frame for geodesy on the earth. Remote and exotic as they are, they have real-world applications such as improving the positions available from GPS receivers and measuring continental drift. The signal processing equipment being developed for this new telescope is based on FPGA (field programmable gate array) chips ....Radio Interferometer Studies of Compact Astronomical Sources. The giant black holes in the centres of distant galaxies that are the topic of this study are used to set the reference frame for geodesy on the earth. Remote and exotic as they are, they have real-world applications such as improving the positions available from GPS receivers and measuring continental drift. The signal processing equipment being developed for this new telescope is based on FPGA (field programmable gate array) chips, that promise to revolutionize the data processing industry, from radar to cellular telephones to computer networks. The young scientists who are working on this project will go on to lead the commercial and industrial applications of this new technology.Read moreRead less
Transient Astronomical Sources at Radio Frequencies. Australian radio telescopes are among the finest and most modern anywhere in the world, and they are the only such instruments that can study the Southern Hemisphere sky. The University of Tasmania operates two radio observatories, at Hobart, Tas, and Ceduna, SA, that are used together to detect astronomical pulses arriving simultaneously at the two sites. The techniques of interference suppression, dispersion searching, fast sampling over b ....Transient Astronomical Sources at Radio Frequencies. Australian radio telescopes are among the finest and most modern anywhere in the world, and they are the only such instruments that can study the Southern Hemisphere sky. The University of Tasmania operates two radio observatories, at Hobart, Tas, and Ceduna, SA, that are used together to detect astronomical pulses arriving simultaneously at the two sites. The techniques of interference suppression, dispersion searching, fast sampling over broad bandwidths, and high speed data transmission between Ceduna and Hobart that will be implemented in this project have direct applications in science and the communications industry. The students who will develop this equipment will carry over their expertise to the private sector.Read moreRead less
Structure and Evolution of High Brightness Temperature Cores of Quasars and Galaxies. Interstellar scintillation, ISS, is a revolutionary new and powerful technique which we will use to study the highest brightness temperature cores of radio quasars with unprecedented angular resolution, and probe the interstellar medium of our Galaxy in a way not previously possible. The combination of scintillation and conventional VLBI allows imaging with light-month to light-year resolution across the known ....Structure and Evolution of High Brightness Temperature Cores of Quasars and Galaxies. Interstellar scintillation, ISS, is a revolutionary new and powerful technique which we will use to study the highest brightness temperature cores of radio quasars with unprecedented angular resolution, and probe the interstellar medium of our Galaxy in a way not previously possible. The combination of scintillation and conventional VLBI allows imaging with light-month to light-year resolution across the known Universe. Scintillation observations are challenging basic synchrotron physics by uncovering quasar cores with temperatures possibly as high as 10^15 K, and lifetimes many times longer than theory. The Ceduna and Hobart telescopes are cornerstones of our scintillation and VLBI proposals.
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The scale and structure of the Milky Way. This project aims to use new Australian infrastructure to make the most accurate distance measurements to date in the southern Milky Way, completing the three-dimensional picture of our Galaxy. Australia's international standing in astronomy has led to it being one of the host countries for the square kilometre array project, which will bring significant economic and technological benefits to the country. This project builds upon Australia's astronomical ....The scale and structure of the Milky Way. This project aims to use new Australian infrastructure to make the most accurate distance measurements to date in the southern Milky Way, completing the three-dimensional picture of our Galaxy. Australia's international standing in astronomy has led to it being one of the host countries for the square kilometre array project, which will bring significant economic and technological benefits to the country. This project builds upon Australia's astronomical expertise and will provide the most accurate picture to date of the Milky Way. Astronomy provides unique opportunities for engaging the community in discussions of science and society and inspires students to study STEM subjects.Read moreRead less
Antarctica's leaky defence to poleward heat transport. Southern Ocean currents are barriers to the oceanic transport of heat toward Antarctica. This barrier breaks down at key locations along their path and the poleward heat transport is enhanced. Changing winds are expected to accelerate heat transport, threatening ice shelves that protect Antarctic glaciers from ocean-driven melt. This project aims to advance understanding of the small-scale processes that control heat transport across the Sou ....Antarctica's leaky defence to poleward heat transport. Southern Ocean currents are barriers to the oceanic transport of heat toward Antarctica. This barrier breaks down at key locations along their path and the poleward heat transport is enhanced. Changing winds are expected to accelerate heat transport, threatening ice shelves that protect Antarctic glaciers from ocean-driven melt. This project aims to advance understanding of the small-scale processes that control heat transport across the Southern Ocean. By combining funded international field campaigns that harness new advances in observing systems with next-generation numerical modelling, this research will create a step-change in our ability to predict Southern Ocean environmental change.Read moreRead less