High-resolution multiscale modelling of pandemics: COVID-19 and beyond. The project aims to develop high-resolution computational models for pandemic mitigation and control, focussing on the novel coronavirus and its emerging variants, and leveraging demographic, genomic and epidemiological data. It expects to rigorously compare multi-scale effects of complex vaccination and social distancing strategies and quantify optimal responses under the COVID-19 induced uncertainty. The intended outcomes ....High-resolution multiscale modelling of pandemics: COVID-19 and beyond. The project aims to develop high-resolution computational models for pandemic mitigation and control, focussing on the novel coronavirus and its emerging variants, and leveraging demographic, genomic and epidemiological data. It expects to rigorously compare multi-scale effects of complex vaccination and social distancing strategies and quantify optimal responses under the COVID-19 induced uncertainty. The intended outcomes include computational models of how the most infectious viral variants emerge and spread in presence of interventions, how to predict the outbreaks, and which are the most vulnerable communities. This should make a significant economic and social impact, improving population health while maintaining a resilient economy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101375
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
The forest and the trees: How global brain rhythms facilitate local information processing. One of the greatest challenges in understanding the brain is the enormous range of scales it operates on, from single neurons a few microns across to entire hemispheres on the scale of tens of centimetres. This project will investigate how large-scale brain rhythms influence and facilitate information processing, particularly motor control, among small networks of individual neurons. The research question ....The forest and the trees: How global brain rhythms facilitate local information processing. One of the greatest challenges in understanding the brain is the enormous range of scales it operates on, from single neurons a few microns across to entire hemispheres on the scale of tens of centimetres. This project will investigate how large-scale brain rhythms influence and facilitate information processing, particularly motor control, among small networks of individual neurons. The research questions will be addressed by combining detailed computer simulations with data-driven analyses of empirical human and monkey brain dynamics. The outcomes of this project will provide a richer understanding of how our brains encode and process information, leading to practical benefits such as improved control of artificial limbs.Read moreRead less
Quantifying emergence and dynamics of foodborne epidemics in Australia. The project aims to greatly improve the accuracy and scope of computational epidemiological models predicting emergence and evolution of foodborne diseases in Australia. It expects to reveal key pathways for both biological evolution of microorganisms, and their spread though food supply chains and human interactions. The intended outcomes include discovering how the most dominant strains of foodborne infection emerge and se ....Quantifying emergence and dynamics of foodborne epidemics in Australia. The project aims to greatly improve the accuracy and scope of computational epidemiological models predicting emergence and evolution of foodborne diseases in Australia. It expects to reveal key pathways for both biological evolution of microorganisms, and their spread though food supply chains and human interactions. The intended outcomes include discovering how the most dominant strains of foodborne infection emerge and self-organise in complex networks, how to predict and contain the epidemics closer to their source, and which are the most vulnerable groups and communities. This should make a significant economic and social impact, improving health of the population, while also safeguarding national and international supply chains.Read moreRead less
Congestion control in complex networks with higher-order interactions. Traffic congestion significantly costs the Australian economy and environment. This project aims to develop ground-breaking network models of urban traffic systems to build a new congestion control framework. The purpose of network modelling is to capture the interdependence between different parts of traffic systems, which facilitates studying congestion cascade within the network. The project expects to generate next genera ....Congestion control in complex networks with higher-order interactions. Traffic congestion significantly costs the Australian economy and environment. This project aims to develop ground-breaking network models of urban traffic systems to build a new congestion control framework. The purpose of network modelling is to capture the interdependence between different parts of traffic systems, which facilitates studying congestion cascade within the network. The project expects to generate next generation of network models for more effective congestion control. Expected outcomes include novel congestion control technologies that adjust traffic signals in real-time to optimally utilise the available road space. This should provide significant economic and environmental benefits to Australians by easing traffic jams.Read moreRead less
Learning the meso-scale organization of complex networks. This project aims to model and learn the organization of online social networks. We will combine mathematical models, inference, and domain knowledge from computational social sciences to obtain interpretable descriptions of the role groups of users play in the network. The expected outcomes are new mathematical models and computational methods that learn from data how to best decompose a complex network into building blocks and their int ....Learning the meso-scale organization of complex networks. This project aims to model and learn the organization of online social networks. We will combine mathematical models, inference, and domain knowledge from computational social sciences to obtain interpretable descriptions of the role groups of users play in the network. The expected outcomes are new mathematical models and computational methods that learn from data how to best decompose a complex network into building blocks and their interactions, linking connectivity to function. This should provide benefits to industries and policy makers interested in how information spreads in social media, including the critical questions of understanding the mechanisms contributing to political polarization and fragmentation.Read moreRead less
Intelligent pattern recognition of water end uses enabling recommendations. This project aims to develop a hybrid machine learning method for autonomously disaggregating high- and low-resolution water flow data received from smart meters into discrete end-use events, and a customised recommender system for efficient resource demand management. Project novelty and significance relates to this coupling and autonomous disaggregation of datasets from advanced sensors, enabling more efficient utility ....Intelligent pattern recognition of water end uses enabling recommendations. This project aims to develop a hybrid machine learning method for autonomously disaggregating high- and low-resolution water flow data received from smart meters into discrete end-use events, and a customised recommender system for efficient resource demand management. Project novelty and significance relates to this coupling and autonomous disaggregation of datasets from advanced sensors, enabling more efficient utility services delivery and lower customer utility bills. Project benefits include enabling utilities to better manage and plan resources in the information age, while empowering customers with real-time water end-use data and behaviour changing consumption recommendations.Read moreRead less
Cosmic Renaissance: The Last Chance for Planet Formation Around Dying Stars. This project will generate a novel model where planets emerge from gas expelled during interactions between dying stars, rather than forming around young stars. It relies on unique multi-wavelength, high-angular resolution observations of planet-forming disks around dying stars and simulations of disk formation. This research will provide unprecedented insight into the uncertain process of planet formation around young ....Cosmic Renaissance: The Last Chance for Planet Formation Around Dying Stars. This project will generate a novel model where planets emerge from gas expelled during interactions between dying stars, rather than forming around young stars. It relies on unique multi-wavelength, high-angular resolution observations of planet-forming disks around dying stars and simulations of disk formation. This research will provide unprecedented insight into the uncertain process of planet formation around young stars and inform future space exploration missions. The project's benefits include generating new knowledge, enhancing Australia's reputation in stellar and planetary astrophysics, inspiring STEM interest, and training researchers in machine/deep learning and hydrodynamic modelling - valuable skills for academia and industry.Read moreRead less
The pathway to planets: formation of protoplanetary discs. This project aims to expand our knowledge of how planetary systems are born. Observations are bringing new insight into the structure of discs of dusty gas orbiting young stars, but not in sufficient detail to understand how planets form within them. This project aims to link the structure of discs to the well-characterised interstellar cloud cores that collapse to form star-disc systems. The project aspires to use innovative techniques ....The pathway to planets: formation of protoplanetary discs. This project aims to expand our knowledge of how planetary systems are born. Observations are bringing new insight into the structure of discs of dusty gas orbiting young stars, but not in sufficient detail to understand how planets form within them. This project aims to link the structure of discs to the well-characterised interstellar cloud cores that collapse to form star-disc systems. The project aspires to use innovative techniques to enable the rapid collapse calculations needed to map core properties to disc structure. Expected outcomes include knowledge of the disc structures critical to interpreting observations of forming planetary systems. The benefit will be guidance to the theory needed to explain the incredible variety of planetary systems we see today.Read moreRead less
Dusty models of stellar outbursts triggered by stellar interactions. Our aim is to explain increasingly observed numbers of astronomical outbursts and explosions emitting electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves. The underlying cause of these phenomena is the interaction and merging of stellar pairs, but a viable model does not yet exist. Our current calculations ignore the effects of dust that forms in the expanding and cooling gaseous layers. Without dust we cannot accurately model th ....Dusty models of stellar outbursts triggered by stellar interactions. Our aim is to explain increasingly observed numbers of astronomical outbursts and explosions emitting electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves. The underlying cause of these phenomena is the interaction and merging of stellar pairs, but a viable model does not yet exist. Our current calculations ignore the effects of dust that forms in the expanding and cooling gaseous layers. Without dust we cannot accurately model the outburst dynamics nor the light emitted by these events. We will capitalise on a decade of simulation code development paired with a team of world experts of dusty winds. The inclusion of dust in our modelling code will also benefit studies of dusty plasmas, from stellar winds to planet formation.Read moreRead less
Electro-triggered solidification of supercooled fusible alloys. Stiffness is typically considered a static property of a material. Traditionally, once the stiffness is specified, it is not expected to change during operation. This project aims to turn a problem (i.e., supercooling) into an opportunity for creating fusible alloy composites with electroprogrammable stiffness that can outperform state-of-the-art materials by offering all desirable properties. Expected outcomes are the rapid, contin ....Electro-triggered solidification of supercooled fusible alloys. Stiffness is typically considered a static property of a material. Traditionally, once the stiffness is specified, it is not expected to change during operation. This project aims to turn a problem (i.e., supercooling) into an opportunity for creating fusible alloy composites with electroprogrammable stiffness that can outperform state-of-the-art materials by offering all desirable properties. Expected outcomes are the rapid, continuous, large, and reversible change in stiffness of the composite through electrical control. This project will provide significant benefits by enabling an increasing number of emerging applications in areas such as robotics, manufacturing, and consumer wearables that require materials with tuneable stiffness.Read moreRead less