Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes ....Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes include the development of theoretical and empirical models that reflect the unique features of the Australian economy. This should provide significant benefits, including guidance to Australian and international policymakers on macroeconomic policies for resource-rich countries.Read moreRead less
Monetary policy, redistribution and endogenous asset market incompleteness. This project aims to provide a new framework for modelling agent heterogeneity and for evaluating the effects of monetary policy on aggregate welfare and wealth distribution over the business cycle. This project will focus on monetary policy, using new quantitative theories with new efficient computational methods, to understand and quantify links between monetary policy the dynamics of aggregate outcomes (such as inflat ....Monetary policy, redistribution and endogenous asset market incompleteness. This project aims to provide a new framework for modelling agent heterogeneity and for evaluating the effects of monetary policy on aggregate welfare and wealth distribution over the business cycle. This project will focus on monetary policy, using new quantitative theories with new efficient computational methods, to understand and quantify links between monetary policy the dynamics of aggregate outcomes (such as inflation or employment), and the distribution of individual wealth (such as money, capital and housing).Read moreRead less
High activity catalysts for CO2 recycling to valuable chemical products. This proposal targets the development of novel porous solid catalysts, containing highly dispersed metal clusters that provide exceptional activity for the conversion (recycling) of carbon dioxide to fuels and other higher value chemical products. These novel materials will improve the productivity and/or reduce the energy required to facilitate the CO2 conversion, thereby reducing costs for industry, whilst also providing ....High activity catalysts for CO2 recycling to valuable chemical products. This proposal targets the development of novel porous solid catalysts, containing highly dispersed metal clusters that provide exceptional activity for the conversion (recycling) of carbon dioxide to fuels and other higher value chemical products. These novel materials will improve the productivity and/or reduce the energy required to facilitate the CO2 conversion, thereby reducing costs for industry, whilst also providing environmental benefit by carbon dioxide utilisation.Read moreRead less
The rise of algae and the emergence of animals. This project aims to uncover the environmental changes that transformed the oceans 650 million years ago when complex algal cells started to replace bacteria as the dominant forms of life. Using a groundbreaking combination of molecular fossils and isotopes from ancient sedimentary rocks, the project aims to reveal how the flow of energy changed through Earth’s ecosystems. The expected outcomes include new knowledge about our own origins and the ev ....The rise of algae and the emergence of animals. This project aims to uncover the environmental changes that transformed the oceans 650 million years ago when complex algal cells started to replace bacteria as the dominant forms of life. Using a groundbreaking combination of molecular fossils and isotopes from ancient sedimentary rocks, the project aims to reveal how the flow of energy changed through Earth’s ecosystems. The expected outcomes include new knowledge about our own origins and the events that led to the emergence of the first animals. Additionally, new insights about the mechanisms that generated the oldest hydrocarbon reserves may lead to a new biomarker tool to aid discovery of major new oil or gas reserves in Australia’s Red Centre.Read moreRead less
Multiscale modelling of multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. As conventional oil and gas become depleted in most of the producing basins, extraction of unconventional gas trapped in shale formations needs to become more viable. Since Australian shales have different characteristics from North American ones, the existing knowledge cannot be directly applied. We aim to develop a novel multiscale framework for deep understanding of the complex multiphase interactions in shale gas reserv ....Multiscale modelling of multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. As conventional oil and gas become depleted in most of the producing basins, extraction of unconventional gas trapped in shale formations needs to become more viable. Since Australian shales have different characteristics from North American ones, the existing knowledge cannot be directly applied. We aim to develop a novel multiscale framework for deep understanding of the complex multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. The outcomes will not only enable us to effectively assess the viability of gas extraction from Australian shale reservoirs with accurate long-term production forecasting, but help to develop strategies to effectively extract this relatively low carbon-emitting fossil fuel in the transition to a renewable economy.Read moreRead less
Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed ....Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed data for improving global climate models. Expected outcomes include more accurate seasonal and latitudinal representations of Southern Ocean aerosol populations, properties and sources. The main benefit includes improvements in weather forecasting and future climate projection for Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less
Connecting soil nitrogen and plant uptake for greener agriculture. This project will use synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, root and rhizosphere biology and rhizosphere modelling to establish detailed mechanistic knowledge of the nitrogen (N) transport and uptake processes at the soil-root interface to develop new, efficient urease and nitrification inhibitors for reliable provision of N to the plant/root system. The reduction of excessive N fertilisation has significant environmental be ....Connecting soil nitrogen and plant uptake for greener agriculture. This project will use synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, root and rhizosphere biology and rhizosphere modelling to establish detailed mechanistic knowledge of the nitrogen (N) transport and uptake processes at the soil-root interface to develop new, efficient urease and nitrification inhibitors for reliable provision of N to the plant/root system. The reduction of excessive N fertilisation has significant environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. This project will lead to a breakthrough for the triple challenge of food security, environmental degradation and climate change, while improving plant productivity and increasing the profitability of agriculture through lower fertiliser costs.Read moreRead less
Seeing the unseeable: A new generation of geophysical imaging. This project aims to develop novel mathematical frameworks for probabilistic geophysical imaging and inference, building on recent advances in statistics and machine learning. These will allow us to obtain a more detailed and robust understanding of structures and processes occurring within the Earth, including those relevant to the Australian minerals and/or energy industries. Outcomes of this research include mathematical and compu ....Seeing the unseeable: A new generation of geophysical imaging. This project aims to develop novel mathematical frameworks for probabilistic geophysical imaging and inference, building on recent advances in statistics and machine learning. These will allow us to obtain a more detailed and robust understanding of structures and processes occurring within the Earth, including those relevant to the Australian minerals and/or energy industries. Outcomes of this research include mathematical and computational tools for imaging the subsurface, and greater understanding of Australian and global geoscience. This work can permit more effective exploitation of earth resources, as well as improving our understanding of how the Earth system has developed over geological history. Read moreRead less