Advanced Materials from Automated Synthesis of Sequence-Defined Polymers. The project aims to develop industrially scalable and environmentally friendly methods for synthesis of sequence-defined multiblock copolymers (polymer chains containing segments of different polymer types) using automated synthesis methods. The materials to be explored will be largely based on renewable biomass-derived monomeric building blocks. Such polymers are able to undergo microphase separation into spatially period ....Advanced Materials from Automated Synthesis of Sequence-Defined Polymers. The project aims to develop industrially scalable and environmentally friendly methods for synthesis of sequence-defined multiblock copolymers (polymer chains containing segments of different polymer types) using automated synthesis methods. The materials to be explored will be largely based on renewable biomass-derived monomeric building blocks. Such polymers are able to undergo microphase separation into spatially periodic compositional patterns, thereby providing access to a vast range of nano-engineered materials. This would enable design and synthesis of new advanced materials, making use of renewable resources and supporting the circular economy, with diverse potential applications ranging from nanomedicine to materials science.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL200100124
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,372,617.00
Summary
Very small nanoparticles made to measure. The administration of therapeutic drugs is often unsuccessful as the drug is quickly cleared from the body. Nanoparticles have been shown to enhance the efficiency of the drug administration, as evidenced by the increasing number of nanoformulations on the market, although commercially available products have currently a range of shortcomings, some of them related to their size. This research program aims to develop a toolset that allows the design of ve ....Very small nanoparticles made to measure. The administration of therapeutic drugs is often unsuccessful as the drug is quickly cleared from the body. Nanoparticles have been shown to enhance the efficiency of the drug administration, as evidenced by the increasing number of nanoformulations on the market, although commercially available products have currently a range of shortcomings, some of them related to their size. This research program aims to develop a toolset that allows the design of very small nanoparticles that display enhanced biological activity. The outcome will be an in-depth understanding of the relationship between polymer structure and properties, which is not only important for nanomedicine, but other areas such as catalysis and sensors. Read moreRead less
Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliv ....Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliver a high performance coating for the production of drag reduction surfaces, but allow these surfaces to be tailored to specific application profiles including UV resistance and anti-fouling properties. The project will place an Australian company at the forefront of drag reduction technologyRead moreRead less
Programming the Microstructure of 3D Printed Objects . This project aims to apply state-of-the-art living polymerisation techniques to 3D printing to efficiently produce customised polymer materials that are tailored at the molecular level. By combining computational modeling and experimental approach, fast and oxygen tolerant photoliving radical polymerisation will be developed and applied to 3D printing. These new systems will produce highly structured polymer materials with remarkable mechani ....Programming the Microstructure of 3D Printed Objects . This project aims to apply state-of-the-art living polymerisation techniques to 3D printing to efficiently produce customised polymer materials that are tailored at the molecular level. By combining computational modeling and experimental approach, fast and oxygen tolerant photoliving radical polymerisation will be developed and applied to 3D printing. These new systems will produce highly structured polymer materials with remarkable mechanical properties. The effect of nanostructure on the macroscopic material properties will be investigated. The intended outcome of this project will produce advanced materials with tailored mechanical properties via streamlined and accessible approaches.Read moreRead less
Chiral synthetic macromolecules - control of sequence and stereochemistry. This project aims to assemble a library of novel chiral polymers mimicking natural peptides with precisely controlled primary structures using emerging synthetic technologies. A systematic investigation of these synthetic materials will provide an in-depth understanding of how sequence and stereochemistry influence chemical and physical properties. Employing rational design principles, desired functionality could be optim ....Chiral synthetic macromolecules - control of sequence and stereochemistry. This project aims to assemble a library of novel chiral polymers mimicking natural peptides with precisely controlled primary structures using emerging synthetic technologies. A systematic investigation of these synthetic materials will provide an in-depth understanding of how sequence and stereochemistry influence chemical and physical properties. Employing rational design principles, desired functionality could be optimised through the selective modification of polymer structure. These materials should be able to emulate the unique properties and functionality of natural peptides/proteins, making them invaluable for biochemical applications, such as molecular recognition and asymmetric catalysis.Read moreRead less
Broadening Choice and Increasing Diversity in Public Schools. Currently, most families are limited to the public school in their catchment area, meaning the area in which they can afford to live. This leads to socio-economically and ethnically homogenous schools and entrenches disadvantage, as well as denying students the crucial life lessons that flow from being part of a diverse student body. This project aims to investigate a model for allocating public school places that integrates catchment ....Broadening Choice and Increasing Diversity in Public Schools. Currently, most families are limited to the public school in their catchment area, meaning the area in which they can afford to live. This leads to socio-economically and ethnically homogenous schools and entrenches disadvantage, as well as denying students the crucial life lessons that flow from being part of a diverse student body. This project aims to investigate a model for allocating public school places that integrates catchment areas. The expected outcome would be a system that gives families a wider choice, enabling them to enrol in out-of-area schools, while ensuring that allocations remain fair, equitable and balanced, and also delivering benefits such as achieving a desired level of diversity in student populations within schoolsRead moreRead less
Testing strategy-proofness in matching markets: an experimental study. This project seeks to test and improve matching algorithms by investigating the effect of advice on strategy-proofness. Matching algorithms are used to solve allocation problems in designed markets (eg school or house allocation problems). Many of the algorithms employed are strategy-proof: participants never gain from strategising, that is, from lying about their preferences. Strategy-proofness had been seemingly validated b ....Testing strategy-proofness in matching markets: an experimental study. This project seeks to test and improve matching algorithms by investigating the effect of advice on strategy-proofness. Matching algorithms are used to solve allocation problems in designed markets (eg school or house allocation problems). Many of the algorithms employed are strategy-proof: participants never gain from strategising, that is, from lying about their preferences. Strategy-proofness had been seemingly validated by experimental research, but new evidence suggests that participants could be prone to follow wrong advice and therefore lie. In order to improve the performance of designed markets, the project proposes to further test strategy-proofness by investigating how advice can affect truth-telling in strategy-proof algorithms and whether learning can counteract or complement the effect of advice.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100964
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,000.00
Summary
Understanding and designing persuasion mechanisms. The objective of this project is to understand and design persuasion mechanisms. Persuasion is about conveying information, influencing beliefs and manipulating actions. Educational campaigns and media censorship regulations are examples of persuasion mechanisms. Existing techniques from the economics of persuasion only permit analysis of specific and limited settings. This project aims to apply the classical mechanism design approach in a novel ....Understanding and designing persuasion mechanisms. The objective of this project is to understand and design persuasion mechanisms. Persuasion is about conveying information, influencing beliefs and manipulating actions. Educational campaigns and media censorship regulations are examples of persuasion mechanisms. Existing techniques from the economics of persuasion only permit analysis of specific and limited settings. This project aims to apply the classical mechanism design approach in a novel way to model persuasion in rich and realistic settings, thus providing insights into real-world situations. It is anticipated that this will allow us to answer questions such as ‘Should an educational campaign target different consumers with different information?’ and ‘When should a government censor extreme media outlets?'.Read moreRead less
Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory ch ....Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory change’s effects on market participation, volumes of trade and prices, and the behavioural effect of shifting risk from market participants to clearinghouses. It expects to suggest remedial policies clearinghouses could implement to control market participants’ risk appetite. These can help enhance future productivity and reduce unemployment in Australia.Read moreRead less
Charging transition metals with activating alkanes. The project aims to engineer positively charged metal complexes and use them to explore the chemistry of bound activated alkane ligands. The transformation of cheap, plentiful alkanes into more valuable products is a major quest in chemistry, and complexes of alkanes bound to metals are expected to play a key role in transformations of alkanes. The project intends to use the activated metal bound alkane to transform the normally inert alkane in ....Charging transition metals with activating alkanes. The project aims to engineer positively charged metal complexes and use them to explore the chemistry of bound activated alkane ligands. The transformation of cheap, plentiful alkanes into more valuable products is a major quest in chemistry, and complexes of alkanes bound to metals are expected to play a key role in transformations of alkanes. The project intends to use the activated metal bound alkane to transform the normally inert alkane into compounds with desirable functional groups. This should make the synthesis of alkane complexes stable at room temperature in solution a realistic possibility. These cheap, plentiful alkanes can be turned into more valuable products, bringing benefits to industry.Read moreRead less