Deep Downunder: designing a deep-sea exploration and discovery capability for Australia. Exploration of the deep-sea with the modern technologies to be developed by Deep-Downunder is a first for Australia. We aim to explore and discover life at depths from 50-3000m off The Great Barrier Reef, around the seamounts of Lord Howe Island and Tasmania and in the deep canyons of WA and SA. We expect to discover new species, hope for a glimpse of giant squid at home and will answer specific questions on ....Deep Downunder: designing a deep-sea exploration and discovery capability for Australia. Exploration of the deep-sea with the modern technologies to be developed by Deep-Downunder is a first for Australia. We aim to explore and discover life at depths from 50-3000m off The Great Barrier Reef, around the seamounts of Lord Howe Island and Tasmania and in the deep canyons of WA and SA. We expect to discover new species, hope for a glimpse of giant squid at home and will answer specific questions on Australia's ocean biology, fisheries and biotechnology never before approachable. To be effective guardians of Australian waters we must learn what lies in the depths we can't see from a boat.Read moreRead less
Tracing the origins of stress in the symbionts of reef-building corals. Symbiotic dinoflagellates of corals are critical to the world's major tropical reef ecosystems. Recent work in our laboratories and others has revealed that these algae are sensitive to a wide array of stresses (including climate change) and hence may be the ?Achilles Heel? of reef ecosystems. This project will identify the key genes and processes in these algae using expressed sequence tags and microarray technology. On th ....Tracing the origins of stress in the symbionts of reef-building corals. Symbiotic dinoflagellates of corals are critical to the world's major tropical reef ecosystems. Recent work in our laboratories and others has revealed that these algae are sensitive to a wide array of stresses (including climate change) and hence may be the ?Achilles Heel? of reef ecosystems. This project will identify the key genes and processes in these algae using expressed sequence tags and microarray technology. On this basis, the underlying molecular mechanisms of these stress responses and their genetic diversity will be studied in order to better understand the differential susceptibility of reef-building corals to bleaching.Read moreRead less
Conserving native wildlife during urbanisation: the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices. Urbanisation has many negative effects upon native wildlife and their habitats, but biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices may greatly reduce these impacts. This study will examine the effectiveness of such measures at sustaining wildlife at sites of urban development, and will therefore produce significant benefits for local residents and the ....Conserving native wildlife during urbanisation: the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices. Urbanisation has many negative effects upon native wildlife and their habitats, but biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices may greatly reduce these impacts. This study will examine the effectiveness of such measures at sustaining wildlife at sites of urban development, and will therefore produce significant benefits for local residents and the broader Australian community. Healthy natural ecosystems in urban areas provide many services to the public, reduce the need for costly management, and improve the livelihood of residents living in greener environments. This study will enhance all these community benefits through a detailed examination of the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban development measures.Read moreRead less
Open Cities: urban citizenship in Sydney and Berlin. This collaboration will contribute directly to National Research Priority "Safeguarding Australia: Understanding our region and the world". By analysing the differential dynamics of cultural citizenship in global cities such as Sydney, researchers, community service providers and policymakers will be given contemporary knowledge to invigorate their efforts to create and maintain a shared sense of security and belonging in a highly diverse cont ....Open Cities: urban citizenship in Sydney and Berlin. This collaboration will contribute directly to National Research Priority "Safeguarding Australia: Understanding our region and the world". By analysing the differential dynamics of cultural citizenship in global cities such as Sydney, researchers, community service providers and policymakers will be given contemporary knowledge to invigorate their efforts to create and maintain a shared sense of security and belonging in a highly diverse context. Drawing upon the latest research from European contexts will add rigour and validity to the research program and open opportunities for connecting with emerging EU research priorities concerned with managing identity formation across national boundaries.Read moreRead less
Connections/Disconnections: Australia - India comparative studies. A program of staff and postgraduate exchanges to build systematic research links between the Universities of Wollongong and Madras in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Current Wollongong projects will benefit from access to the Centre for Indian Studies and Madras will be able to develop further its Centre for Australian Studies.
The project will explore several historical, social and cultural connections between both countrie ....Connections/Disconnections: Australia - India comparative studies. A program of staff and postgraduate exchanges to build systematic research links between the Universities of Wollongong and Madras in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Current Wollongong projects will benefit from access to the Centre for Indian Studies and Madras will be able to develop further its Centre for Australian Studies.
The project will explore several historical, social and cultural connections between both countries, viz.:
- relations between Indian and Australian troops in the First world war
- comparisons of negotiations between the state and indigenous minorities
-textiles, trade and postcolonial texts
-comparative labour studies
-the writing of David Malouf
Outcomes will include:
- research papers,
- an international conference and proceedings,
- M.Phil and Doctoral theses,
- a reader on Australian Studies for Indian students.Read moreRead less
The Cultural Impact of Irregular Marriage in the Age of British Colonialism, 1660-c.1860. Marriage has always been central to our understanding of relations between literature, society and culture. This project significantly revises that understanding by focussing on the irregular marriage practices which thrived in Britain and its colonies from 1660 to c.1860. It demonstrates, for instance, how the novel genre became respectable partly by marginalising irregular marriages; how Gretna Green we ....The Cultural Impact of Irregular Marriage in the Age of British Colonialism, 1660-c.1860. Marriage has always been central to our understanding of relations between literature, society and culture. This project significantly revises that understanding by focussing on the irregular marriage practices which thrived in Britain and its colonies from 1660 to c.1860. It demonstrates, for instance, how the novel genre became respectable partly by marginalising irregular marriages; how Gretna Green weddings came to typify modern romance in drama and fiction; and how marriage regulations underpinned literary portrayals of civil society in the Australian penal colony. It will deliver a groundbreaking monograph which accounts for marriage's role in modern literary culture in new terms.Read moreRead less
The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly ....The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly profile in the emerging field of animal studies. It will also contribute to the international renown of Australian scholarship in traditional literary studies by producing the first theoretically informed reassessment of the literary genre of the fable.Read moreRead less
Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both publ ....Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both published works and archival material, and focussing particularly on the cultural significance of Antarctica's construction as a ?continent for science?. Research outcomes will include innovative interdisciplinary contributions to Antarctic studies and English studies.Read moreRead less
Soft Infrastructure, New Media and Creative Clusters: Developing Capacity in China and Australia. The project will position Australia at the forefront of the creative industries internationally and enhance national capacities in the rejuvenation and design of creative urban precincts. A greater appreciation of, and strong links with China, particularly its design and urban sectors, will result. Australian firms will benefit through greater trade opportunities as a result.
Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys ....Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys of their collections have shown that a significant proportion of their most important collections is in need of conservation. This project aims at determining ways of conserving these valuable artefacts, and developing strategies for their display and storage.Read moreRead less