Scalable biocomputing on networks: design and mathematical foundations. This project aims to develop technology with the potential to disrupt computation by providing a way to solve combinatorial mathematical problems in an efficient manner. Electronic computers have revolutionised our lives over the last half-century, but there are tasks they can not do, usually those requiring multi-tasking, much as our brains do. This project aims to overcome some of these problems by physically using molecul ....Scalable biocomputing on networks: design and mathematical foundations. This project aims to develop technology with the potential to disrupt computation by providing a way to solve combinatorial mathematical problems in an efficient manner. Electronic computers have revolutionised our lives over the last half-century, but there are tasks they can not do, usually those requiring multi-tasking, much as our brains do. This project aims to overcome some of these problems by physically using molecular parts of living things moving within specially mathematically designed networks to solve, in parallel, "combinatorial" mathematical problems that vex traditional computers, while using far less energy than electronic devices. This project expects to develop this nascent field into a practically useful, disruptive technology based in Australia.Read moreRead less
Rethinking Topological Persistence. This project aims to address the lack of transferability and uncertainty-awareness in AI models. Despite their success, AI models are met with bias and uncertainty when deployed in the real world. As a result, they are rarely used in high-risk industries like cybersecurity or transport. This project expects to build uncertainty-awareness into models by teaching them to return UNKNOWN when they encounter a previously unseen thing, instead of misclassifying it. ....Rethinking Topological Persistence. This project aims to address the lack of transferability and uncertainty-awareness in AI models. Despite their success, AI models are met with bias and uncertainty when deployed in the real world. As a result, they are rarely used in high-risk industries like cybersecurity or transport. This project expects to build uncertainty-awareness into models by teaching them to return UNKNOWN when they encounter a previously unseen thing, instead of misclassifying it. Further, the evaluation methods to be developed will not rely on access to test data, allowing cost-effective, private, and safe AI for high-stakes decision support. The outcomes will benefit Australia by accelerating economic investment and fostering greater social acceptance of AI.Read moreRead less
Representation theory in exactly solvable systems. This project aims to develop the representation theory of Lie and generalised Lie algebras related to exactly solvable models. The project will exploit several innovative ideas on the structure of quadratic algebras, Casimir invariants, differential operator realisations, roots systems, characters and indecomposable representations. This will give fundamental mathematical insight and allow the construction of new, exactly solvable models. This w ....Representation theory in exactly solvable systems. This project aims to develop the representation theory of Lie and generalised Lie algebras related to exactly solvable models. The project will exploit several innovative ideas on the structure of quadratic algebras, Casimir invariants, differential operator realisations, roots systems, characters and indecomposable representations. This will give fundamental mathematical insight and allow the construction of new, exactly solvable models. This will have an impact on theoretical physics as exactly solvable models play a central role in our understanding of a plethora of physical phenomena.Read moreRead less
Real-time Event Detection, Prediction, and Visualization for Emergency Response. This project proposes novel end-to-end methods for real-time recognition and prediction of real-world events, leading to timely response to emergencies such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters, as well as prevention of crime, security breaches and the like. It will develop new techniques to quickly detect and predict events by incorporating adaptive learning and probabilistic models, and address fusion and sc ....Real-time Event Detection, Prediction, and Visualization for Emergency Response. This project proposes novel end-to-end methods for real-time recognition and prediction of real-world events, leading to timely response to emergencies such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters, as well as prevention of crime, security breaches and the like. It will develop new techniques to quickly detect and predict events by incorporating adaptive learning and probabilistic models, and address fusion and scalability factors to handle vast collections of heterogeneous data. An event surveillance system prototype will be developed to incorporate the findings of the research with tools to visualise and describe events.Read moreRead less
Realising the value of mobile videos with context awareness. Innovative approaches to analysing online video content and context will lead to new ways of interacting with video in the mobile world. This project will aim to develop real-time mobile systems for enabling rich and highly dynamic digital video experiences through context-aware indexing, retrieval and consumption of mobile videos.
Ultimately Trusted Security through Human-Powered Cryptography. Cryptography offers wonderful tools for unbreakable data security, but only between computer nodes, leaving their human owners helpless. Encrypted tunnels terminate not at humans but at mobile phones and personal computers, exposing users' secrets to spyware from search-engine keyloggers to full-bore malware planted by crooks, hackers, and foreign spy agencies. This project aims to create a simple and strong cryptography, so that hu ....Ultimately Trusted Security through Human-Powered Cryptography. Cryptography offers wonderful tools for unbreakable data security, but only between computer nodes, leaving their human owners helpless. Encrypted tunnels terminate not at humans but at mobile phones and personal computers, exposing users' secrets to spyware from search-engine keyloggers to full-bore malware planted by crooks, hackers, and foreign spy agencies. This project aims to create a simple and strong cryptography, so that humans can, for the first time, take front seat in real security protocols. The technical challenge is to build public-key ciphers, operable manually from a mental key in seconds, and from there remake human-powered versions of many useful information security protocols.Read moreRead less
Enabling Automatic Graph Learning Pipelines with Limited Human Knowledge. This project aims to develop an automatic graph learning system for complex graph data analysis. Machine learning for graph data commonly requires significant human knowledge from both domain professionals as well as algorithm experts, rendering existing systems ineffective and unexplainable. This project expects to design novel graph learning techniques which automatically infer graph relations, learn graph models, adapts ....Enabling Automatic Graph Learning Pipelines with Limited Human Knowledge. This project aims to develop an automatic graph learning system for complex graph data analysis. Machine learning for graph data commonly requires significant human knowledge from both domain professionals as well as algorithm experts, rendering existing systems ineffective and unexplainable. This project expects to design novel graph learning techniques which automatically infer graph relations, learn graph models, adapts existing knowledge to new domains, and provide explanations to the graph learning system. The research results should provide benefit to governments and businesses in many critical applications, such as bioassay activity prediction, credit assessment, and drug discovery and vaccine development in response to the pandemic.Read moreRead less
A fast comparative method for historical linguistics. Linguists are able to infer ancient histories of languages by a procedure known as the Comparative Method. Its results are used in related studies of human genetic and cultural change. However, the Comparative Method is a manual-only process and thus currently is a bottleneck for the science of unravelling the human past. This project aims to overcome this limitation and significantly accelerate linguistic discovery, by combining recent advan ....A fast comparative method for historical linguistics. Linguists are able to infer ancient histories of languages by a procedure known as the Comparative Method. Its results are used in related studies of human genetic and cultural change. However, the Comparative Method is a manual-only process and thus currently is a bottleneck for the science of unravelling the human past. This project aims to overcome this limitation and significantly accelerate linguistic discovery, by combining recent advances in computational language processing, statistics and cultural-evolutionary modelling. By producing innovative mathematical means for rapidly discovering ancient language relationships, it will enable a breakthrough in our capacity to uncover human linguistic, genetic and cultural heritage worldwide.Read moreRead less
Representation theory of diagram algebras and logarithmic conformal field theory. Generalized models of polymers and percolation are notoriously difficult to handle mathematically, but can be described and solved using diagram algebras and logarithmic conformal field theory. Potential applications include polymer-like materials, filtering of drinking water, spatial spread of epidemics and bushfires, and tertiary recovery of oil.
Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonisation. This project aims to undertake an extensive survey of colonial language change in Australia. English has changed the linguistic landscape of Indigenous Australia profoundly. Of the 300 languages spoken at first contact, only 18 remain strong. In their place is a complex array of restructured varieties, Kriol dialects and fusions of traditional languages with English. The project aims to develop new methodologies for investiga ....Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonisation. This project aims to undertake an extensive survey of colonial language change in Australia. English has changed the linguistic landscape of Indigenous Australia profoundly. Of the 300 languages spoken at first contact, only 18 remain strong. In their place is a complex array of restructured varieties, Kriol dialects and fusions of traditional languages with English. The project aims to develop new methodologies for investigating and predicting the mechanisms of change across languages and generations of speakers. The expected outcomes of the project include recognising new ways of speaking and providing Indigenous communities with guiding principles for language revitalisation. This will place Australia at the forefront of studies of language change.Read moreRead less