Causes that make a difference: A philosophical theory of token-causation. Discussions of causation in philosophy and other disciplines raise matters of practical concern: for example, about how to improve causal explanations in economics, how to devise better ways of testing causal hypotheses in medicine, and how to automate procedures for discovering causal relations in agriculture. By clarifying the structure of causal concepts, the project will help in the efforts to address these problems, a ....Causes that make a difference: A philosophical theory of token-causation. Discussions of causation in philosophy and other disciplines raise matters of practical concern: for example, about how to improve causal explanations in economics, how to devise better ways of testing causal hypotheses in medicine, and how to automate procedures for discovering causal relations in agriculture. By clarifying the structure of causal concepts, the project will help in the efforts to address these problems, and so contribute indirectly to the national benefits that will accrue from solving them. A central aim of the project is to train several PhD students, the next generation of researchers, in this important field of enquiry.Read moreRead less
Biohumanities: Philosophical, Historical, and Socio-Cultural Studies of Contemporary Bioscience. Improving understanding of the meaning and implications of contemporary bioscience, especially genetics and molecular biology, through bioliterate research in the humanities and social sciences, and conversely through better assimilation of bioscience and its significance by the humanities and social sciences. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the Australian scientific commun ....Biohumanities: Philosophical, Historical, and Socio-Cultural Studies of Contemporary Bioscience. Improving understanding of the meaning and implications of contemporary bioscience, especially genetics and molecular biology, through bioliterate research in the humanities and social sciences, and conversely through better assimilation of bioscience and its significance by the humanities and social sciences. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the Australian scientific community and will be disseminated back to the scientific community, to the humanities and to the Australian public. The project will bring to Australia the strengths of the applicant's existing collaborations with leading research centres in this field in the USA, UK and Canada.Read moreRead less
An analysis of research ethics and the ethical review process as culture and cultural process. This project explores research ethics and the ethical review process as culture and cultural process. It includes analyses of international ethics review-related documents, literature, and processes, case studies, key informant interviews, and observation of ethics committees in the process of deliberation. It focuses primarily on work associated with the paradigms and methods used or borrowed from t ....An analysis of research ethics and the ethical review process as culture and cultural process. This project explores research ethics and the ethical review process as culture and cultural process. It includes analyses of international ethics review-related documents, literature, and processes, case studies, key informant interviews, and observation of ethics committees in the process of deliberation. It focuses primarily on work associated with the paradigms and methods used or borrowed from the social sciences and topics and populations that seem to be the most problematic. This understanding might help us better address the issues involved and allow the development of policies and applications that are less problematic for all concerned.Read moreRead less
The Eureka! Myth: Discourses of Discovery and Invention in Modern Societies. The advances in understanding made through this project will assist in reinterpreting the value of different institutional forms of provision for scientific work, will illuminate the process of commercialisation of research, and will help in assessing many unspoken assumptions behind intellectual property and patent law.
Public and Proprietary Knowledge in Biotechnology: An Historical and Sociological Analysis of First Generation Recombinant DNA Pharmaceuticals Development. The 'biotechnology revolution' of the 1980s was a formative period that set the present pattern of links between university life science and commerce. A clearer analysis of the shifting boundary between public and proprietary scientific knowledge in this key recent episode will thus provide valuable insight into the social role of university- ....Public and Proprietary Knowledge in Biotechnology: An Historical and Sociological Analysis of First Generation Recombinant DNA Pharmaceuticals Development. The 'biotechnology revolution' of the 1980s was a formative period that set the present pattern of links between university life science and commerce. A clearer analysis of the shifting boundary between public and proprietary scientific knowledge in this key recent episode will thus provide valuable insight into the social role of university-based science today. In addition to matters of science policy and sociology, this more accurate account of the scientific initiatives, commercial strategies, and relationships with universities among the first biotechnology firms may also contribute to business scholarship aiming to foster success in the life science sector.Read moreRead less
Postgenomic perspectives on human nature. The rapid growth of biological knowledge and the need for societal reflection on this knowledge and its applications in Australia and overseas make it increasingly urgent that the humanities and social sciences draw on a biologically credible vision of human nature. We will study how non-scientists understand human nature and compare their ideas to those of scientists from a range of different disciplines. We will examine what current biology reveals abo ....Postgenomic perspectives on human nature. The rapid growth of biological knowledge and the need for societal reflection on this knowledge and its applications in Australia and overseas make it increasingly urgent that the humanities and social sciences draw on a biologically credible vision of human nature. We will study how non-scientists understand human nature and compare their ideas to those of scientists from a range of different disciplines. We will examine what current biology reveals about the biological basis of human characteristics and develop an account of human nature that is defensible in the light of that knowledge.Read moreRead less
Mental Causation in a Physical World. The issues concerning mental causation are not just philosophical issues. They are discussed in the fields of psychology, cognitive science, and psychiatry as questions about whether mental phenomena, eg mental illnesses, are best understood at the cognitive level or the neurophysiological level of causation. The project will result in a research monograph aimed at practitioners from these fields among others. By introducing these practitioners to recent ph ....Mental Causation in a Physical World. The issues concerning mental causation are not just philosophical issues. They are discussed in the fields of psychology, cognitive science, and psychiatry as questions about whether mental phenomena, eg mental illnesses, are best understood at the cognitive level or the neurophysiological level of causation. The project will result in a research monograph aimed at practitioners from these fields among others. By introducing these practitioners to recent philosophical thinking about causation and reduction, the present project may lead to more subtle ways of conceptualising and treating mental illnesses, and so contribute indirectly to the socio-economic benefits accruing from more reflective psychological and psychiatric practice.Read moreRead less
Socio-technical determinants of agile, network-centric organisations. Many companies provide value for customers by exploiting information and communication technology in support of networks of self-organising employee teams. Such network-centric approaches to organisational structure and function are becoming desired in diverse government organisations and societal settings. On one hand, the civil society is increasing reliant on virtual networks and online communities. On the other, the mil ....Socio-technical determinants of agile, network-centric organisations. Many companies provide value for customers by exploiting information and communication technology in support of networks of self-organising employee teams. Such network-centric approaches to organisational structure and function are becoming desired in diverse government organisations and societal settings. On one hand, the civil society is increasing reliant on virtual networks and online communities. On the other, the military's imperative to learn how to fight smarter in the information age heralds a fundamental shift from platform-centred warfare to a mode with diffuseness of command and control. The findings of this research will enable the potential benefits of network-centrism to be realised in these nationally critical areas.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal study of the housing stability of the homeless in Victoria. This is a longitudinal panel study of the homeless in urban and rural Victoria; it will interview residents of transitional housing over two years, analysing factors that contribute to success or failure in achieving housing stability. The research starts from the assumption that homelessness is not simply a condition of being without shelter at a specific point in time, but is a situation of chronic housing instability. ....A longitudinal study of the housing stability of the homeless in Victoria. This is a longitudinal panel study of the homeless in urban and rural Victoria; it will interview residents of transitional housing over two years, analysing factors that contribute to success or failure in achieving housing stability. The research starts from the assumption that homelessness is not simply a condition of being without shelter at a specific point in time, but is a situation of chronic housing instability. The project proposal has the support of a consortium of housing agencies in urban and rural Victoria who anticipate specific outcomes in service design evaluation and in detailed knowledge about the causes of homelessness.Read moreRead less
Interdisciplinarity in the Sciences of Memory: cognition, culture, and complexity. Memory is studied in many disciplines, at a bewildering variety of levels. Is there any sense in which memory theorists - from neurobiologists to narrative psychologists - are studying the same phenomena? This project constructs a positive framework for understanding diverse research on memory in both cognitive and social sciences. We clarify the conceptual foundations of dynamical systems theory in the sciences o ....Interdisciplinarity in the Sciences of Memory: cognition, culture, and complexity. Memory is studied in many disciplines, at a bewildering variety of levels. Is there any sense in which memory theorists - from neurobiologists to narrative psychologists - are studying the same phenomena? This project constructs a positive framework for understanding diverse research on memory in both cognitive and social sciences. We clarify the conceptual foundations of dynamical systems theory in the sciences of memory. We develop methods for understanding complex interactions and collaborations between brain and environment; and we test naturalistic accounts of autobiographical memory, social memory, and external memory through case studies in cognitive psychology, history, and media theory.Read moreRead less