Regulation of Indigenous Safety Strategies: Night Patrols & Policy. This project aims to identify the qualities that make Indigenous night patrols (NPs) unique, to inform and improve the capacities of agencies and regulatory authorities and indigenous communities to work together, leading to greater security, peace and safety. Crime and safety in Aboriginal communities remains a major concern. NPs, an Australian innovation developed by Aboriginal communities, have become key players in local cri ....Regulation of Indigenous Safety Strategies: Night Patrols & Policy. This project aims to identify the qualities that make Indigenous night patrols (NPs) unique, to inform and improve the capacities of agencies and regulatory authorities and indigenous communities to work together, leading to greater security, peace and safety. Crime and safety in Aboriginal communities remains a major concern. NPs, an Australian innovation developed by Aboriginal communities, have become key players in local crime reduction strategies, and carry the endorsement of both government and Aboriginal communities. However, they are operating in an environment of increased ‘top-down’ control and regulation. Does greater accountability to government weaken NP’s ‘cultural’ accountability to communities? This project explores the qualities that make NPs unique. This includes the prominent, and neglected, role of Indigenous women as patrollers and clients, who may lose out should NPs become like mainstream community safety mechanisms.Read moreRead less
Online violent extremist audiences in Australia and the United Kingdom. This project aims to develop an understanding of the role and influence of the internet on violent extremism. It plans to use mixed methods to investigate the ways in which online messages are received and interpreted and the contexts within which this occurs. It plans to apply an innovative research framework using media theories and concepts to the study of online violent extremism. The project aims to contribute to the de ....Online violent extremist audiences in Australia and the United Kingdom. This project aims to develop an understanding of the role and influence of the internet on violent extremism. It plans to use mixed methods to investigate the ways in which online messages are received and interpreted and the contexts within which this occurs. It plans to apply an innovative research framework using media theories and concepts to the study of online violent extremism. The project aims to contribute to the development of measures to counter violent extremism by addressing assumptions about the relationship between online violent extremist content and violent extremist behaviour; and developing understanding of how violent extremist messaging is received and interpreted.Read moreRead less
Examining scientific, philosophical, and folk perspectives on time=. This project aims to consider three very different physical theories, each of which reconciles quantum mechanics and general and special relativity in a different way. While science is more accessible than ever, we are increasingly faced with a scientific world-view that is antithetical to the way we see the world and experience ourselves in it. This project will consider the tension between the scientific picture of the world ....Examining scientific, philosophical, and folk perspectives on time=. This project aims to consider three very different physical theories, each of which reconciles quantum mechanics and general and special relativity in a different way. While science is more accessible than ever, we are increasingly faced with a scientific world-view that is antithetical to the way we see the world and experience ourselves in it. This project will consider the tension between the scientific picture of the world and our experience of the world, and aims to reconcile the two by bridging the gap between lived experience and scientific findings. The project will provide a range of ways of bridging the tension between these physical theories with our lived experience.Read moreRead less
Modern human origins and early behavioural complexity in Australia and Southeast Asia. This project tackles a fundamental issue in world prehistory: how and when did humans first cross from Southeast Asia into Australia. Three new archaeological excavations using novel methods of analysis will assess the nature of behavioural complexity and human evolution at the time when Australia was first colonised over 45,000 years ago.
The expanding disciplinary scope of research ethics committees: an inquiry into need and resistance. Do ethics committees have a bias toward quantitative and clinical research methods? Using a mixed methods approach, this project will systematically study whether ethics committees fail to understand and evaluate qualitative research methods; and whether some disciplines are more resistant to ethics review than others.
A Cultural and Intellectual History of Automated Labour . This project will trace how debates about labour automation have been shaped by cultural depictions of work, from the eighteenth century to today. It will produce new knowledge about how people have viewed industrial transformation, from the steam engine to modern forms of labour saving - electronic, digital, biological, and artificial intelligence. The project will combine historical study with an examination of the way artists and write ....A Cultural and Intellectual History of Automated Labour . This project will trace how debates about labour automation have been shaped by cultural depictions of work, from the eighteenth century to today. It will produce new knowledge about how people have viewed industrial transformation, from the steam engine to modern forms of labour saving - electronic, digital, biological, and artificial intelligence. The project will combine historical study with an examination of the way artists and writers have responded to labour automation. Expected benefits include informing public debate about the future of work, and shaping policy in arts-science museums and laboratories. Outcomes will include publications, public forums, conferences, training of research students and international collaboration. Read moreRead less
New carbon phases synthesized under extreme conditions. This project aims to address one of the major fundamental puzzles in carbon science; how to experimentally synthesize new phases of carbon predicted by theory. This could be approached via a combination of high pressure and high-energy ion irradiation to transform novel nano-carbon precursors. The expected outcomes include new phases of carbon with unexplored properties, an understanding of the pathways for synthesis of carbon materials, an ....New carbon phases synthesized under extreme conditions. This project aims to address one of the major fundamental puzzles in carbon science; how to experimentally synthesize new phases of carbon predicted by theory. This could be approached via a combination of high pressure and high-energy ion irradiation to transform novel nano-carbon precursors. The expected outcomes include new phases of carbon with unexplored properties, an understanding of the pathways for synthesis of carbon materials, and new computational tools to understand nano-carbon materials under extreme conditions. This should provide benefits for industries seeking advanced materials for modern manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Drug enhancement and experimentation. This project aims to research the chemical practices of sexual and gender minorities in Australia and investigate how health agencies have sought to deal with them. Drugs are increasingly and widely used in pharmaceutical markets and lifestyle practices. As pharmaceutical markets expand, the distinction between therapeutic and illicit drugs becomes unclear. Drug consumption can give rise to serious dangers in certain circumstances. This project is expected t ....Drug enhancement and experimentation. This project aims to research the chemical practices of sexual and gender minorities in Australia and investigate how health agencies have sought to deal with them. Drugs are increasingly and widely used in pharmaceutical markets and lifestyle practices. As pharmaceutical markets expand, the distinction between therapeutic and illicit drugs becomes unclear. Drug consumption can give rise to serious dangers in certain circumstances. This project is expected to better understand drugs and medication use and improve public health services.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing changes in atmospheric circulation over the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the past 3000 years. The climate of the mid-latitudes of the southern hemisphere is of global significance and yet past changes have proved difficult to reconstruct due to the dearth of records. Working across the Southern Ocean region using tree rings, lake sediments and ice cores, the project will produce the first comprehensive reconstruction spanning the last 3000 years.
The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.Read moreRead less