Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101043
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$404,956.00
Summary
Tackling facial prejudice. This project aims to investigate individual differences in facial prejudice, a powerful psychological bias whereby people rely on inaccurate first impressions to guide key decisions, such as whom to trust. Utilising recent advances in electrophysiology, the project will develop a new neural marker of individual differences in facial impressions that lead to prejudice. The project expects to lead to insights into the link between visual perception and social behaviour, ....Tackling facial prejudice. This project aims to investigate individual differences in facial prejudice, a powerful psychological bias whereby people rely on inaccurate first impressions to guide key decisions, such as whom to trust. Utilising recent advances in electrophysiology, the project will develop a new neural marker of individual differences in facial impressions that lead to prejudice. The project expects to lead to insights into the link between visual perception and social behaviour, and to develop strategies to reduce facial prejudice given the pervasive influence it has on everyday life.Read moreRead less
Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to l ....Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to lead to insights into this aspect of social perception, and to identify the sources of atypical or inaccurate facial judgements. This has applications in health contexts (to identify social impairment) and in security contexts (for personnel selection).Read moreRead less
Touching scenes: intelligent haptic guidance for supporting learning with complex graphic displays. Complex visual information is a defining feature of 21st Century life because advances in graphics display technology permeate all aspects of our society. For Australian citizens to prosper in a world reliant on rich informational graphics, they must be able to use these depictions effectively and efficiently. Touch-based approaches, using a haptic tablet, could facilitate processing of key visual ....Touching scenes: intelligent haptic guidance for supporting learning with complex graphic displays. Complex visual information is a defining feature of 21st Century life because advances in graphics display technology permeate all aspects of our society. For Australian citizens to prosper in a world reliant on rich informational graphics, they must be able to use these depictions effectively and efficiently. Touch-based approaches, using a haptic tablet, could facilitate processing of key visual information in challenging circumstances where displays are complex or vision is limited. Improving visually-based performance and learning will benefit education and training, increase productivity and safety across the industrial, professional and service sectors, enhance security monitoring, and broaden community information access.Read moreRead less
Regulation Of Neural Progenitor Cell Self-renewal By The RNA-binding Protein ZFP36L1 During Development And Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,401.00
Summary
The timely differentiation of neural stem cells is critical during development, and the unrestrained proliferation of neural stem cells in the adult can lead to deadly brain cancers such as glioma. At present our understanding of the key molecules that regulate neural stem cell behaviour during these processes remains limited. In this proposal we will investigate the molecular determinants underpinning neural stem cell biology, both within the developing brain, and within glioma.
Reduction of risk in exploration for petroleum liquids. Australia has an urgent need to establish additional reserves of crude oil. A feature of petroleum exploration in recent decades has been discovery of vast reserves of natural gas but an inability to replace our diminishing reserves of crude oil. Clearly new technology is required to enhance our capability to recognise crude oil-prone rather than gas-prone source rocks. The proposed project will establish the fundamental geochemical pro ....Reduction of risk in exploration for petroleum liquids. Australia has an urgent need to establish additional reserves of crude oil. A feature of petroleum exploration in recent decades has been discovery of vast reserves of natural gas but an inability to replace our diminishing reserves of crude oil. Clearly new technology is required to enhance our capability to recognise crude oil-prone rather than gas-prone source rocks. The proposed project will establish the fundamental geochemical processes that will support the potential exploration techniques, developed with Woodside Energy Limited support.Read moreRead less
Representations of the Backs of Paintings: Analysis and History. Australia's regional status within the Western tradition of painting makes it a highly significant test case within the geographical criteria of the study. The paradoxical effects of closeness and distance in representations of the backs of paintings made its use here surprisingly frequent and strikingly ambivalent. Some painters obsessively repeat the motif as if to overcome remoteness from the tradition of Velásquez. Others emplo ....Representations of the Backs of Paintings: Analysis and History. Australia's regional status within the Western tradition of painting makes it a highly significant test case within the geographical criteria of the study. The paradoxical effects of closeness and distance in representations of the backs of paintings made its use here surprisingly frequent and strikingly ambivalent. Some painters obsessively repeat the motif as if to overcome remoteness from the tradition of Velásquez. Others employ it in fundamental questioning the institution of Western painting. Study of this dichotomy will improve understanding of Australian concepts of remoteness in space and time relative to other cultures. Interpretations will also enhance visual and verbal communication between art communities here and overseas. Read moreRead less
Development of Dry Coated Pigment Particles: Durability and Dispersion. Tiwest is the only business in the world that mines, separates, refines and manufactures titanium dioxide products in one region. Tiwest has a major impact on the Western Australian economy with more than 700 full time and contract jobs, export earnings of $400M (in 2004) and regular incomes for an estimated 500 businesses. The current wet pigment particle coating process, to ensure ease of handling and longevity, is a major ....Development of Dry Coated Pigment Particles: Durability and Dispersion. Tiwest is the only business in the world that mines, separates, refines and manufactures titanium dioxide products in one region. Tiwest has a major impact on the Western Australian economy with more than 700 full time and contract jobs, export earnings of $400M (in 2004) and regular incomes for an estimated 500 businesses. The current wet pigment particle coating process, to ensure ease of handling and longevity, is a major cost. An optimised pigment dry-coating process would ensure Tiwest's competitiveness through reduced processing costs and improved performance. This development has the potential to increase Tiwest's profitability by 10%.Read moreRead less
Guarding and evolving the genome: interactions between DNA-repair enzymes and damaged DNA. The application of structural biology techniques to the area of DNA repair allows us to understand the full implications linking genes and proteins to the molecular mechanisms of diseases such as cancer and hereditory conditions. Studies in this highly internationally competitive area are already established in the Bond laboratory, which has recently relocated to Australia. The use of forward-thinking stru ....Guarding and evolving the genome: interactions between DNA-repair enzymes and damaged DNA. The application of structural biology techniques to the area of DNA repair allows us to understand the full implications linking genes and proteins to the molecular mechanisms of diseases such as cancer and hereditory conditions. Studies in this highly internationally competitive area are already established in the Bond laboratory, which has recently relocated to Australia. The use of forward-thinking structural biology approaches to solve difficult technical problems will foster collaborations within Australia and with leading laboratories abroad, providing excellent up-to-date research training for students and postdoctoral researchers.
Read moreRead less
Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education ....Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education sectors, it will provide a forward-looking and accessible public history, and utilise the potential of images to broaden contemporary debates about citizenship. Expected outcomes include a better public understanding of the pathways to citizenship, and enhanced engagement with Australian values and identity.Read moreRead less