Towards Resolution of Franchising Conflict. Franchising is a major sector in the Australian economy with annual turnover greater than $128 billion. Some 35% of franchisors report being involved in substantial disputes with franchisees. This project will investigate the causes of conflict in franchising relationships. Benefits will include a predictive model to identify where conflict is likely to occur in franchising conditions, thereby allowing participants the opportunity to address conflic ....Towards Resolution of Franchising Conflict. Franchising is a major sector in the Australian economy with annual turnover greater than $128 billion. Some 35% of franchisors report being involved in substantial disputes with franchisees. This project will investigate the causes of conflict in franchising relationships. Benefits will include a predictive model to identify where conflict is likely to occur in franchising conditions, thereby allowing participants the opportunity to address conflict before it escalates into dispute. Case studies and recommendations will inform participants and regulatory authorities so as to prevent conflict escalating. This will create a more 'level playing field' for participants and improve financial security for all stakeholders.Read moreRead less
Growth and intermixing of quantum dots for multi-wavelength infrared photodetectors. Quantum dots are nano-scale structures grown by self-assembled epitaxial methods. In this project, intermixing of quantum dots, which is a novel technology to modify the opto-electronic properties of the dots will be studied using ion implantation and subsequent annealing. Optimised growth, implantation and annealing conditions will be used to grow and tune the detection wavelength of the infrared photodetectors ....Growth and intermixing of quantum dots for multi-wavelength infrared photodetectors. Quantum dots are nano-scale structures grown by self-assembled epitaxial methods. In this project, intermixing of quantum dots, which is a novel technology to modify the opto-electronic properties of the dots will be studied using ion implantation and subsequent annealing. Optimised growth, implantation and annealing conditions will be used to grow and tune the detection wavelength of the infrared photodetectors using intersubband transition. This will allow us to fabricate multi-wavelength infrared photodetectors for high performance infrared imaging system. This project involves an exciting combination of fundamental physics and device technology.Read moreRead less
Adaptive data stream processing in heterogeneous distributed computing environments using real-time context. This project falls within the ARC research priority goal, Smart Information Use. The innovative contributions of this project through the development of adaptive data stream mining algorithms for heterogeneous devices will have an impact on a range of emerging application areas such as:
1. Meeting time-critical, intelligent information needs of the mobile workforce (e.g. mobile healthca ....Adaptive data stream processing in heterogeneous distributed computing environments using real-time context. This project falls within the ARC research priority goal, Smart Information Use. The innovative contributions of this project through the development of adaptive data stream mining algorithms for heterogeneous devices will have an impact on a range of emerging application areas such as:
1. Meeting time-critical, intelligent information needs of the mobile workforce (e.g. mobile healthcare professionals, stockbrokers). 2. Improving Intelligent Transportation Systems via in-vehicle analysis and crash prevention. 3. Facilitating 'on-board' analysis in sensors that monitor the environment and patients. The project will enhance Australia's leading international role in the area of data stream processing in distributed computing environments.Read moreRead less
Engineering Artificial Intelligence: A Spatial Representation and Reasoning Perspective. Spatial information is important in areas of national interest such as mining and exploration, environmental monitoring and planning, emergency response, and defence. Mission control centres, for instance, receive different forms of spatial data from satellites, radar, or people on the ground. They have to process the input data and make intelligent decisions in a very limited time. Intelligent systems that ....Engineering Artificial Intelligence: A Spatial Representation and Reasoning Perspective. Spatial information is important in areas of national interest such as mining and exploration, environmental monitoring and planning, emergency response, and defence. Mission control centres, for instance, receive different forms of spatial data from satellites, radar, or people on the ground. They have to process the input data and make intelligent decisions in a very limited time. Intelligent systems that are able to assist with processing different forms of spatial data efficiently and that offer reliable decision support are essential for improving the quality and reliability of such applications. This research enables future intelligent systems with these capabilities. This will directly benefit applications in areas of national interest.Read moreRead less
A cross-disciplinary investigation of creative arts as intervention activity for young people at risk in urban and rural Victoria. The research project will investigate whether the involvement of "at risk" teenagers in creative arts activities can act as effective diversions from harmful risk taking behaviour. The project will set up, document and analyse creative arts projects in three urban and rural Victorian localities where there is a high proportion of marginalised youth. This research wil ....A cross-disciplinary investigation of creative arts as intervention activity for young people at risk in urban and rural Victoria. The research project will investigate whether the involvement of "at risk" teenagers in creative arts activities can act as effective diversions from harmful risk taking behaviour. The project will set up, document and analyse creative arts projects in three urban and rural Victorian localities where there is a high proportion of marginalised youth. This research will explore how involvement in creative expression results in increased self-esteem, an improved sense of goal setting and achievement together with community commitment. It will provide justice and social agencies with a model for effective youth program planning which will facilitate re-education and work opportunitiesRead moreRead less
Effective clinical handover communication: improving patient safety, experience and outcomes. Improving written and spoken communication in clinical handover will significantly reduce critical incidents in hospitals. The link between communication and critical incidents in hospitals is well documented. One third of the $2 billion p.a. direct financial costs to Australia of critical incidents, is attributed to poor communication between clinicians. National and international governments and heal ....Effective clinical handover communication: improving patient safety, experience and outcomes. Improving written and spoken communication in clinical handover will significantly reduce critical incidents in hospitals. The link between communication and critical incidents in hospitals is well documented. One third of the $2 billion p.a. direct financial costs to Australia of critical incidents, is attributed to poor communication between clinicians. National and international governments and health agencies have targeted clinical handover as critical in safe, effective health care. This project will generate new knowledge of handover to significantly improve patient safety and enable health professionals to enhance their communicative practices, thereby improving the quality of the patient journey through the hospital system.Read moreRead less
From Universal Induction to Intelligent Systems. The dream of creating artificial devices that (out)reach human intelligence is an old one. What makes this challenge so interesting? A solution would have enormous implications for our society, and there are arguments that the AI problem might be solved within a couple of decades. Specialized intelligent systems are actually already pervasive (finger print, handwriting, speech, and face recognition; spam filtering; search engines; computer chess; ....From Universal Induction to Intelligent Systems. The dream of creating artificial devices that (out)reach human intelligence is an old one. What makes this challenge so interesting? A solution would have enormous implications for our society, and there are arguments that the AI problem might be solved within a couple of decades. Specialized intelligent systems are actually already pervasive (finger print, handwriting, speech, and face recognition; spam filtering; search engines; computer chess; robots). This decade the first presumably complete mathematical theory of AI has been proposed. By working out this theory, this project will significantly contribute to the foundations of inductive inference and AI, and ultimately lead to smarter software and intelligent systems.Read moreRead less
Parallel and Distributed Machine Learning - Smart Data Analysis in the Multicore Era. In large data centres our research will lead to reduced energy consumption by using graphics cards which have a much better computation to power ratio than traditional processors. On desktop computers, it will make machine learning practical by enabling efficient algorithms for spam filtering and content analysis. On networked systems it will lead to distributed inference, caching and collaborative filtering ap ....Parallel and Distributed Machine Learning - Smart Data Analysis in the Multicore Era. In large data centres our research will lead to reduced energy consumption by using graphics cards which have a much better computation to power ratio than traditional processors. On desktop computers, it will make machine learning practical by enabling efficient algorithms for spam filtering and content analysis. On networked systems it will lead to distributed inference, caching and collaborative filtering applications which will both reduced the bandwidth required and make the internet safer for users. Finally, it will enable rapid deployment of sensor networks for monitoring and detection, such as for environmental monitoring and safeguarding Australia's borders.Read moreRead less
Grey literature, policy innovation and access to knowledge: realising the value of informal publishing. This project examines the growth of informal research publishing, 'grey literature' in Australia, and the policies and practices that shape it. The project will make recommendations for producers, collecting institutions and policy-makers on how to maximise the considerable social and cultural benefit of 'grey literature'.
Unifying Modern Approaches in Machine Learning. The proposed research will lead to better algorithms for some important machine learning problems that could lead to better tools for extracting useful knowledge from data such as in bioinformatics and sensor networks; it will strengthen an international collaboration with one of the world's top centres of machine learning research; it will contribute to an open source toolkit of machine learning algorithms which will put Australia on the map as a ....Unifying Modern Approaches in Machine Learning. The proposed research will lead to better algorithms for some important machine learning problems that could lead to better tools for extracting useful knowledge from data such as in bioinformatics and sensor networks; it will strengthen an international collaboration with one of the world's top centres of machine learning research; it will contribute to an open source toolkit of machine learning algorithms which will put Australia on the map as a provider of sophisticated machine learning software; it will provide training opportunities for several PhD students and a postdoc to work with some of the best machine learning researchers in the world.Read moreRead less