Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560895
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$854,354.00
Summary
A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SS ....A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) with an innovative gas-fed ion source and automated gas-handling system, with simpler processing and smaller samples than present AMS facilities. Future developments include automated multi-sample handling and coupling to microprobe and chromatographic analysers for microscale radiocarbon analysis of complex substances.Read moreRead less
Economic Analysis of an Environmental Challenge: Salinity, Uncertainty and Property. The applicability of standard property-rights solutions to complex environmental issues such as salinity is examined. Water and carbon trading, as well as issues relating to agricultural land management are addressed. In particular, the use of price instruments as a potentially more attractive mechanism than standard quantity instruments for achieving desirable outcomes is examined. The project will exploit and ....Economic Analysis of an Environmental Challenge: Salinity, Uncertainty and Property. The applicability of standard property-rights solutions to complex environmental issues such as salinity is examined. Water and carbon trading, as well as issues relating to agricultural land management are addressed. In particular, the use of price instruments as a potentially more attractive mechanism than standard quantity instruments for achieving desirable outcomes is examined. The project will exploit and extend recent theoretical developments in modelling under conditions of uncertainty, and the use of price and quantity instruments in regulatory contexts.Read moreRead less
Discovery of new genes for plant cellulose biosynthesis and improved fibre production. Cellulose, the world's most abundant biopolymer, is important to the cotton and forest industries and for human and animal nutrition. Before biotechnology can manipulate cellulose, we must identify the enzymes of the synthesis pathway and understand how their properties determine the properties of the cellulose they produce. Not all enzymes are known and any relationships to cellulose properties remain unexplo ....Discovery of new genes for plant cellulose biosynthesis and improved fibre production. Cellulose, the world's most abundant biopolymer, is important to the cotton and forest industries and for human and animal nutrition. Before biotechnology can manipulate cellulose, we must identify the enzymes of the synthesis pathway and understand how their properties determine the properties of the cellulose they produce. Not all enzymes are known and any relationships to cellulose properties remain unexplored. This study extends our successful mutational analysis of cellulose synthesis in Arabidopsis and initiates the molecular analysis of organisms making cellulose with distinctive properties. It will significantly advance knowledge of cellulose biosynthesis and identify novel genes for fibre improvement.Read moreRead less
Nutrient generation from rural land and delivery to streams in the Sydney Drinking Water Catchments. The Sydney Catchment Authority must manage pollution arising from land within its catchments. There have been few local studies of nutrient losses from rural land, the major land use, and the understanding of some important processes involved in nutrient generation and delivery is weak. Therefore model predictions are uncertain. This project will quantify nutrient losses from key land uses, ev ....Nutrient generation from rural land and delivery to streams in the Sydney Drinking Water Catchments. The Sydney Catchment Authority must manage pollution arising from land within its catchments. There have been few local studies of nutrient losses from rural land, the major land use, and the understanding of some important processes involved in nutrient generation and delivery is weak. Therefore model predictions are uncertain. This project will quantify nutrient losses from key land uses, evaluate alternative loss pathways, and provide insight into the effects of scale, providing a foundation for improved modelling of nutrient sources and transport. The outcome will be the capacity to prioritise land uses and parts catchments for remedial action, whilst providing a modelling approach relevant to the SCA and other catchment managers.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453295
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,697.00
Summary
NMR cryosystem for structural and functional biology. State-of-the-art hardware is requested for the 600-MHz NMR spectrometers situated at University of Sydney and UNSW. A cryosystem installed at USyd. will provide a massive boost in productivity and will allow projects previously inaccessible due to excessive turn-around times, or sensitivity or solubility problems to become tractable. This system will provide new opportunities to researchers from USyd., UNSW and ANU, but will restrict the ver ....NMR cryosystem for structural and functional biology. State-of-the-art hardware is requested for the 600-MHz NMR spectrometers situated at University of Sydney and UNSW. A cryosystem installed at USyd. will provide a massive boost in productivity and will allow projects previously inaccessible due to excessive turn-around times, or sensitivity or solubility problems to become tractable. This system will provide new opportunities to researchers from USyd., UNSW and ANU, but will restrict the versatility of the USyd. instrument. The installation of a TBI probe at UNSW will counter this, and provide a REAL network of NMR instruments across NSW and the ACT.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100058
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$659,060.00
Summary
Unmanned aerial vehicle sensing and data discovery for a changing planet. This project aims to establish an earth systems monitoring facility, using unmanned aerial vehicles and world-leading sensor technology. It will have the capability to measure the natural and built environment at millimetre to centimetre scales and to monitor rapid changes. The ensuing data and interpretations will be useful for decision-making and policy development amongst government agencies and the agricultural, enviro ....Unmanned aerial vehicle sensing and data discovery for a changing planet. This project aims to establish an earth systems monitoring facility, using unmanned aerial vehicles and world-leading sensor technology. It will have the capability to measure the natural and built environment at millimetre to centimetre scales and to monitor rapid changes. The ensuing data and interpretations will be useful for decision-making and policy development amongst government agencies and the agricultural, environmental, civil infrastructure and mining industries.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0454052
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$733,595.00
Summary
Tandem Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer and Robots for High Throughput Proteomics Analysis. This proposal seeks to establish the capacity to perform high-energy tandem mass spectrometry on a high throughput basis, through purchase and coordinated operation of a Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation - Time of Flight / Time of Flight - Mass Spectrometer and ancillary equipment, to enhance the proteomics expertise, infrastructure and research plans ....Tandem Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer and Robots for High Throughput Proteomics Analysis. This proposal seeks to establish the capacity to perform high-energy tandem mass spectrometry on a high throughput basis, through purchase and coordinated operation of a Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation - Time of Flight / Time of Flight - Mass Spectrometer and ancillary equipment, to enhance the proteomics expertise, infrastructure and research plans of a network of institutions from Queensland and New South Wales and their collaborators. Access to such instrumentation is critical to high level achievement in proteomics, a key platform technology for National Research Priorities relating to Frontier Technologies. No comparable instrument currently exists in Australia.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0214135
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$492,000.00
Summary
High performance protein crystallography. This proposal will provide state of the art high performance facilities for protein crystallography, bringing together the major structural biology groups in NSW and the ACT. A renewed focus on protein crystal structures will stimulate new interpretation and utilization of the vast amount of data that has come from genomics, especially the sequencing of the human genome. The proposed facility will generate new research collaborations between the partn ....High performance protein crystallography. This proposal will provide state of the art high performance facilities for protein crystallography, bringing together the major structural biology groups in NSW and the ACT. A renewed focus on protein crystal structures will stimulate new interpretation and utilization of the vast amount of data that has come from genomics, especially the sequencing of the human genome. The proposed facility will generate new research collaborations between the partner institutions which will result in advances in basic life sciences, biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals. The facility will complement regional initiatives in functional genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics and high-field NMR spectroscopy.Read moreRead less
The molecular basis for oocyst and cyst wall formation in apicomplexan parasites. Apicomplexan parasites such as Eimeria, Neospora, Toxoplasma and Plasmodium are single celled organisms - protozoa - that cause some of the most serious infectious diseases of livestock and humans ever known. Transmission of these parasites is dependent on their ability to encase themselves in protective structures known as oocyst or cyst walls. These walls are resistant to harsh environmental conditions, chemicals ....The molecular basis for oocyst and cyst wall formation in apicomplexan parasites. Apicomplexan parasites such as Eimeria, Neospora, Toxoplasma and Plasmodium are single celled organisms - protozoa - that cause some of the most serious infectious diseases of livestock and humans ever known. Transmission of these parasites is dependent on their ability to encase themselves in protective structures known as oocyst or cyst walls. These walls are resistant to harsh environmental conditions, chemicals and attack by the immune system. We will discover and characterise the molecular basis for cyst wall formation. This fundamental knowledge will be the building block for new, highly specific drugs and vaccines to control these extremely important pathogens.Read moreRead less