Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to prom ....Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to promote a more informed national conversation about the costs and benefits of Australia's security relationship with the United States of America (USA) and contribute to debates over the future of the Australia-USA Alliance during a period of strategic uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Understanding of structure development in drying droplets through the stickiness paradigm. The aims of this research are to develop a new model for multicomponent droplet drying. This model will provide predictions of conditions where composition variation exists in the drying particles. Validation of the model will be made using a novel instrument to measure the in-situ development of surface stickiness during drying. Stickiness is an important issue encountered during drying and handling of so ....Understanding of structure development in drying droplets through the stickiness paradigm. The aims of this research are to develop a new model for multicomponent droplet drying. This model will provide predictions of conditions where composition variation exists in the drying particles. Validation of the model will be made using a novel instrument to measure the in-situ development of surface stickiness during drying. Stickiness is an important issue encountered during drying and handling of some key food and consumer materials. Currently, there is no technique to measure the evolution of stickiness during drying. Key outputs will include the model, the instrument, and the development of efficient methods to generate the multicomponent data.Read moreRead less
Surface Modification of Spray-Dried Powders By Surface-Active Proteins. Internal wall deposits in spray dryers lead to product degradation and pose fire hazards. This situation has limited the manufacturing of high value bio-food powders by the Australian bio-food and dairy industry, which exports 13% of the milk powder in the world. The specific economic benefits to Australia from this project arise from innovative surface modification of powder particles by proteins, development of scientific ....Surface Modification of Spray-Dried Powders By Surface-Active Proteins. Internal wall deposits in spray dryers lead to product degradation and pose fire hazards. This situation has limited the manufacturing of high value bio-food powders by the Australian bio-food and dairy industry, which exports 13% of the milk powder in the world. The specific economic benefits to Australia from this project arise from innovative surface modification of powder particles by proteins, development of scientific instruments and predictive tools based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). These outcomes will lead to production of free flowing powders from bio-food materials.Read moreRead less
Self-assembly of gelling biopolymer particles. Biopolymers provide a renewable source of structuring agents for a variety of potential uses in food, pharmaceutical and other applications that require bio-compatibility. Swollen biopolymer particles of sub-millimetre size are particularly useful as they combine macroscopic structure formation with an ability to flow and a desirable soft solid texture. Two limitations to the current utilisation of biopolymer particles are that they either cannot be ....Self-assembly of gelling biopolymer particles. Biopolymers provide a renewable source of structuring agents for a variety of potential uses in food, pharmaceutical and other applications that require bio-compatibility. Swollen biopolymer particles of sub-millimetre size are particularly useful as they combine macroscopic structure formation with an ability to flow and a desirable soft solid texture. Two limitations to the current utilisation of biopolymer particles are that they either cannot be predictably produced direct from a dried form, or if they are (e.g. cooked starch granules), there is a lack of scientific understanding that limits use of natural sources without subsequent chemical modification. This project will provide the science & technology to overcome these limitations.Read moreRead less
A Concurrent Multiscale Model for Improved Prediction of Drying Process. This project aims to develop an innovative multiscale model for food drying, which integrates spatial and temporal nonlinear behaviours at different scales. The proposed unifying theory will capture dynamic micro level features and upscale them to macro level features through a concurrent bridging scheme. As cellular elements critically govern the drying process, the fundamental understanding captured through this theory wi ....A Concurrent Multiscale Model for Improved Prediction of Drying Process. This project aims to develop an innovative multiscale model for food drying, which integrates spatial and temporal nonlinear behaviours at different scales. The proposed unifying theory will capture dynamic micro level features and upscale them to macro level features through a concurrent bridging scheme. As cellular elements critically govern the drying process, the fundamental understanding captured through this theory will lead to more accurate prediction of drying kinetics, deformation and quality changes, and hence the development of efficient drying systems. This project will overcome a longstanding research problem and position Australia at the forefront in world drying research to reap substantial economic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Extended Nuclear Deterrence and the Restraint of Non-Nuclear Allies: Material Cooperation and Strategic Dialogue. Extended nuclear deterrence is central to the security commitments offered by the US to its European and Asian allies, but little is known about why non-nuclear allies ask for the nuclear assurances they do and how they influence the assurances they ultimately receive. Using the lenses of intra-alliance bargaining, the role and composition of assurances, and domestic and internationa ....Extended Nuclear Deterrence and the Restraint of Non-Nuclear Allies: Material Cooperation and Strategic Dialogue. Extended nuclear deterrence is central to the security commitments offered by the US to its European and Asian allies, but little is known about why non-nuclear allies ask for the nuclear assurances they do and how they influence the assurances they ultimately receive. Using the lenses of intra-alliance bargaining, the role and composition of assurances, and domestic and international interactions, the project investigates why non-nuclear allies often seek modest extended nuclear deterrence guarantees when they could push for more ambitious commitments. The outcomes of the project will advance theoretical understanding of alliances, assurance and nuclear strategy, with direct relevance to foreign policy and nuclear disarmament.Read moreRead less
Civilian Protection and the Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping Operations. This project seeks to evaluate the use of force to protect civilians in United Nations peacekeeping. United Nations peacekeepers are on the frontline of efforts to protect civilians from violence. More than 100 were killed in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on peacekeepers for their safety. To date, however, there has been little systematic evaluation of the impact of the use of force for civilian protection ....Civilian Protection and the Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping Operations. This project seeks to evaluate the use of force to protect civilians in United Nations peacekeeping. United Nations peacekeepers are on the frontline of efforts to protect civilians from violence. More than 100 were killed in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on peacekeepers for their safety. To date, however, there has been little systematic evaluation of the impact of the use of force for civilian protection mandates on both immediate protection goals and the wider goals of peacekeeping. This project aims to assess the impact of the implementation of mandates to use force to protect civilians. Through a focused comparison of six missions, it plans to identify what works, what doesn't, and the factors which determine these outcomes in order to identify ways of improving performance in the future.Read moreRead less
Secure and Efficient Electronic Auctions. For the first time in history electronic commerce promises the possibility of auctions to decide the correct market price for a widespread variety of everyday goods and services. Security and efficiency are critical factors in making this a reality, but almost all the many protocols for secure auctions proposed to date suffer from extreme computational requirements. This project will develop efficient and secure auction protocols using innovative approac ....Secure and Efficient Electronic Auctions. For the first time in history electronic commerce promises the possibility of auctions to decide the correct market price for a widespread variety of everyday goods and services. Security and efficiency are critical factors in making this a reality, but almost all the many protocols for secure auctions proposed to date suffer from extreme computational requirements. This project will develop efficient and secure auction protocols using innovative approaches based on advanced cryptographic techniques. In particular we will pioneer the exploration of secure microauctions suitable for negotiating the price of small value goods and utilities in almost real time.Read moreRead less
Cryptographic Protocols: Proofs and Designs. Cryptographic protocols are the foundation for protection of the critical electronic communications infrastructure on which much of commerce and industry rely. They will increasingly be required in emerging technologies such as ad-hoc wireless networks and sensor networks. This project will provide the ability to design new and efficient protocols with a mathematical guarantee of security. The resulting practical protocols will benefit all users of el ....Cryptographic Protocols: Proofs and Designs. Cryptographic protocols are the foundation for protection of the critical electronic communications infrastructure on which much of commerce and industry rely. They will increasingly be required in emerging technologies such as ad-hoc wireless networks and sensor networks. This project will provide the ability to design new and efficient protocols with a mathematical guarantee of security. The resulting practical protocols will benefit all users of electronic communications who require security for their information. This includes the financial industries, government, commerce and domestic users.Read moreRead less
Cryptographic Protocols from Pairings: Proofs and Designs. Modern society has become critically dependent on information and communications infrastructures. At the same time, the development of e-commerce is being slowed by lack of confidence in its security. By providing increased assurance and enhanced cryptographic security protocols this research will improve the dependability of the nation's information and communications infrastructure, as well as encourage the growth of e-commerce. Throu ....Cryptographic Protocols from Pairings: Proofs and Designs. Modern society has become critically dependent on information and communications infrastructures. At the same time, the development of e-commerce is being slowed by lack of confidence in its security. By providing increased assurance and enhanced cryptographic security protocols this research will improve the dependability of the nation's information and communications infrastructure, as well as encourage the growth of e-commerce. Through the expertise and experience gained with this project, Australia's excellence in information security research will be reinforced. The training of PhD and Honours students will provide a much needed source of highly trained information security professionals.Read moreRead less