Situated Anomaly Detection in an Open Environment. This project aims to investigate situated anomaly detection in an open environment. Existing anomaly detection techniques follow the setting of conventional machine learning and discover anomalies from a set of collected data. In contrast, this project proposes to develop the next-generation of anomaly detection algorithms by learning from interactions with an open environment, which enables the discovery of new anomalies and the early detection ....Situated Anomaly Detection in an Open Environment. This project aims to investigate situated anomaly detection in an open environment. Existing anomaly detection techniques follow the setting of conventional machine learning and discover anomalies from a set of collected data. In contrast, this project proposes to develop the next-generation of anomaly detection algorithms by learning from interactions with an open environment, which enables the discovery of new anomalies and the early detection of anomalies. The established theories and developed algorithms will advance frontier technologies in machine intelligence. The success of the project will contribute to a wide range of real applications in cybersecurity, defence and finance, bringing massive social and economic benefits. Read moreRead less
Reproducibility and open science in environmental research. The goal of this project is to improve the reproducibility and transparency of environmental science. Disturbingly low levels of reproducibility have recently been uncovered in other disciplines, and there are good reasons to suspect the same conditions in environmental science. However, it has thus far been excused from evaluation because of the large spatial scales, long time horizons and dependencies among processes that prohibit dir ....Reproducibility and open science in environmental research. The goal of this project is to improve the reproducibility and transparency of environmental science. Disturbingly low levels of reproducibility have recently been uncovered in other disciplines, and there are good reasons to suspect the same conditions in environmental science. However, it has thus far been excused from evaluation because of the large spatial scales, long time horizons and dependencies among processes that prohibit direct replication of empirical field research. The project plans to assess the reproducibility of environmental research and develop systematic review methods that account for bias in published research. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the standards for statistical inference and reporting in the discipline, and facilitate a cultural shift to ‘Open Science’ to ensure a more reliable evidence base for environmental decisions. Read moreRead less
The evolution and economics of sacred value. This project aims to use a multi-disciplinary approach to investigate sacred value, a type of extreme moral commitment held by an individual or group. Conflict and violence often revolve around perceived threats to sacred value, and there is a struggle to predict the interaction between material incentives and sacred commitments using orthodox methods of economic analysis. Using techniques from evolutionary anthropology and economics, this project exp ....The evolution and economics of sacred value. This project aims to use a multi-disciplinary approach to investigate sacred value, a type of extreme moral commitment held by an individual or group. Conflict and violence often revolve around perceived threats to sacred value, and there is a struggle to predict the interaction between material incentives and sacred commitments using orthodox methods of economic analysis. Using techniques from evolutionary anthropology and economics, this project expects to identify the mechanisms that underlie sacred value, and generate novel ways of representing sacred values. By providing a more nuanced set of tools for representing sacred values in areas of conflict, this research will strengthen democratic culture and advance understanding of international conflict.Read moreRead less
Improving social, economic and health outcomes through drug policy reforms. Globally, recognition is growing that common prohibitionist drug policies contribute to drug-related harms and have not succeeded. Identified harms include the current drug overdose crisis in North America and a surge in overdose deaths in Australia, adding new force to calls for urgent reform. This project aims to respond to these calls by exploring how human rights considerations can inform improvements to drug policy. ....Improving social, economic and health outcomes through drug policy reforms. Globally, recognition is growing that common prohibitionist drug policies contribute to drug-related harms and have not succeeded. Identified harms include the current drug overdose crisis in North America and a surge in overdose deaths in Australia, adding new force to calls for urgent reform. This project aims to respond to these calls by exploring how human rights considerations can inform improvements to drug policy. The project seeks to generate new knowledge on how human rights can guide reform so as to improve social, economic and health outcomes. The project should provide significant benefits to the nation, informing Australian legal, policy and practice reforms as well as international efforts to reduce drug-related harms.Read moreRead less
The new voice of Multicultural Australian English. This project aims to generate an integrated and inclusive model of Australian-English, through phonetic analysis of the spoken language used by adolescents from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world yet the complex relationship between speech production and cultural diversity is largely unknown in 21st century multicultural Australia. This project aims to establish how adolescents f ....The new voice of Multicultural Australian English. This project aims to generate an integrated and inclusive model of Australian-English, through phonetic analysis of the spoken language used by adolescents from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world yet the complex relationship between speech production and cultural diversity is largely unknown in 21st century multicultural Australia. This project aims to establish how adolescents from different ethnicities use speech patterns to symbolically express their diverse sociocultural identities. The project expects to inform sociophonetic theories of variation, ethnicity, and identity, providing a framework for supporting sociocultural cohesion in Australia. Read moreRead less
Paths to primacy: How rising powers win domination in Asia, 1500-present. This Fellowship aims to investigate how, when and why rising powers have historically won regional domination in Asia from 1500CE-present. China today threatens to displace America as Asia’s pre-eminent power. This study will comprehensively examine Asia’s historical geopolitics since 1500, and expects to to produce a new conceptual framework that explains how, when and why rising powers either succeed or fail to seize reg ....Paths to primacy: How rising powers win domination in Asia, 1500-present. This Fellowship aims to investigate how, when and why rising powers have historically won regional domination in Asia from 1500CE-present. China today threatens to displace America as Asia’s pre-eminent power. This study will comprehensively examine Asia’s historical geopolitics since 1500, and expects to to produce a new conceptual framework that explains how, when and why rising powers either succeed or fail to seize regional primacy from their Great Power rivals. The project expects to significantly improve Australia’s historical understanding of the power contests that have made modern Asia, and enhance policymakers’ ability to learn from this history in understanding and responding to modern struggles for regional supremacy.Read moreRead less
Automatic Authorities: Charting a Course for Legitimate AI. Public and private actors are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to exercise power over citizens, who are increasingly unsure whether to accept that power. AI faces a crisis of legitimacy. This project aims to use technically- and empirically-grounded philosophy to make Australia a global leader in the study and design of legitimate AI. The project expects to launch and make fundamental progress in a new field: the Politica ....Automatic Authorities: Charting a Course for Legitimate AI. Public and private actors are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to exercise power over citizens, who are increasingly unsure whether to accept that power. AI faces a crisis of legitimacy. This project aims to use technically- and empirically-grounded philosophy to make Australia a global leader in the study and design of legitimate AI. The project expects to launch and make fundamental progress in a new field: the Political Philosophy of AI. Expected outcomes include new strategies shared with industry and government partners for designing and deploying legitimate AI systems. Expected benefits include the opportunity to enjoy the public and private efficiencies enabled by AI, without compromising our freedom and equality.Read moreRead less
The Politics of Development Financing Competition in Asia and the Pacific. This Fellowship aims to investigate why, when and how recipient states decide to accept international development financing from certain states and not others. Intensifying competition between provider states is hindering providers’ capacity to achieve intended policy goals, despite spending vast sums. This is the only study to explain which groups in recipient countries prefer particular providers, why, and which group’s ....The Politics of Development Financing Competition in Asia and the Pacific. This Fellowship aims to investigate why, when and how recipient states decide to accept international development financing from certain states and not others. Intensifying competition between provider states is hindering providers’ capacity to achieve intended policy goals, despite spending vast sums. This is the only study to explain which groups in recipient countries prefer particular providers, why, and which group’s interests are likely to prevail. It expects to develop enhanced research and policy capacity to analyse and engage effectively in competitive environments. This should significantly improve Australian international development financing's outcomes and help recipient states obtain financing that meets their needs.Read moreRead less
Rethinking Topological Persistence. This project aims to address the lack of transferability and uncertainty-awareness in AI models. Despite their success, AI models are met with bias and uncertainty when deployed in the real world. As a result, they are rarely used in high-risk industries like cybersecurity or transport. This project expects to build uncertainty-awareness into models by teaching them to return UNKNOWN when they encounter a previously unseen thing, instead of misclassifying it. ....Rethinking Topological Persistence. This project aims to address the lack of transferability and uncertainty-awareness in AI models. Despite their success, AI models are met with bias and uncertainty when deployed in the real world. As a result, they are rarely used in high-risk industries like cybersecurity or transport. This project expects to build uncertainty-awareness into models by teaching them to return UNKNOWN when they encounter a previously unseen thing, instead of misclassifying it. Further, the evaluation methods to be developed will not rely on access to test data, allowing cost-effective, private, and safe AI for high-stakes decision support. The outcomes will benefit Australia by accelerating economic investment and fostering greater social acceptance of AI.Read moreRead less
The origin of cumulative culture in human evolution. Humans accumulate knowledge and use cumulative culture to transfer it across generations, and identifying the origin of this unique ability is a significant research priority for the study of archaeology and human evolution. This project aims to discover the emergence of cumulative culture by using experiments to evaluate stone tool-making, a technology passed between humans for 3.3 million years. Expected outcomes include international collab ....The origin of cumulative culture in human evolution. Humans accumulate knowledge and use cumulative culture to transfer it across generations, and identifying the origin of this unique ability is a significant research priority for the study of archaeology and human evolution. This project aims to discover the emergence of cumulative culture by using experiments to evaluate stone tool-making, a technology passed between humans for 3.3 million years. Expected outcomes include international collaborations that improve our evolutionary understanding of teaching and learning, and produce new data on early stone artefacts in Indonesia and Australia. This should provide significant benefits for collaborative research and scholarly insight into human evolution and Indigenous knowledge in our region.Read moreRead less