Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. ....Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. The vision is that the aggregator would provide customers with communications/control equipment that would automate the changes in the responsiveness so that customer-generated load shifting would act to limit peaks.Read moreRead less
Degradation conscious grid-scale battery energy management scheme. The project aims to develop an improved battery management system to smooth the intermittent contribution of renewable energy sources to the grid. As the level of penetration of renewable energy sources into electrical grids increases, energy storage will play an increasingly important role in solving some of the technical challenges caused by the intermittent nature of the renewable sources. The existing design methods for gri ....Degradation conscious grid-scale battery energy management scheme. The project aims to develop an improved battery management system to smooth the intermittent contribution of renewable energy sources to the grid. As the level of penetration of renewable energy sources into electrical grids increases, energy storage will play an increasingly important role in solving some of the technical challenges caused by the intermittent nature of the renewable sources. The existing design methods for grid-scale battery management systems do not take into consideration the degradation of the battery banks. Thus, this project aims to fill this gap by developing an electrochemical-based, degradation-conscious, battery management system. The proposed system aims to increase the life span and capacity use of the batteries.Read moreRead less
Innovations in stability, reliability and protection of electric power distribution systems to enable increased use of green energy. This project will develop the innovative concepts necessary to increase the number of renewable energy sources in electric power distribution systems. The aim is to enable systems with a distributed mix of conventional rotary generators and renewable converter interfaced generators to operate safely and to required standards of reliability.
The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being dev ....The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being developed in several States following pay equity inquiries. Expected outcomes include enhanced comprehension of the reproduction of pay inequality and evidence to assist the advancement of pay equity through identified mechanisms and strategies.Read moreRead less
Future Distribution Grids based on Reconfigurable Smart Microgrid Clusters. This aims of the project are to develop innovative paradigm shifting concepts in which power distributions grids will be self sufficient to look after themselves in the absence of power transmission infrastructure. It is expected that in future several renewable energy based distributed generators (DGs) will be dotted in power distribution systems. It is estimated that within another couple of decades sufficient number o ....Future Distribution Grids based on Reconfigurable Smart Microgrid Clusters. This aims of the project are to develop innovative paradigm shifting concepts in which power distributions grids will be self sufficient to look after themselves in the absence of power transmission infrastructure. It is expected that in future several renewable energy based distributed generators (DGs) will be dotted in power distribution systems. It is estimated that within another couple of decades sufficient number of DGs will be placed in networks so much so that they will be able to meet the load demand of domestic and commercial customers. Therefore the focus of this project is to find innovative approaches in which several microgrids, equipped with single-phase and three-phase DGs can work cohesively while supporting each other.Read moreRead less
Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to prom ....Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to promote a more informed national conversation about the costs and benefits of Australia's security relationship with the United States of America (USA) and contribute to debates over the future of the Australia-USA Alliance during a period of strategic uncertainty.Read moreRead less
The politics of public administration reform: capacity development and ideological contestation in international state-building. Why do expensive international aid programs often fail to achieve public administration reform in fragile states? This study investigates how the beliefs of public servants about the nature of their role reflect societal conflicts and alliances. Understanding this offers aid practitioners a means of designing tactical responses to reform agendas.
Early evolutionary origins of mechanosensory transduction: structure, function and phylogenetic studies of the family of mechanosensitive channels in cell-walled organisms. The proposed project is based on the recent progress the applicants have made by (i) identifying a novel family of mechanosensitive (MS) channels in cell-walled organisms, which include Archaea and Bacteria (prokaryotes), as well as fungi and plants (eukaryotes), and (ii) determining basic aspects of the structural dynamics ....Early evolutionary origins of mechanosensory transduction: structure, function and phylogenetic studies of the family of mechanosensitive channels in cell-walled organisms. The proposed project is based on the recent progress the applicants have made by (i) identifying a novel family of mechanosensitive (MS) channels in cell-walled organisms, which include Archaea and Bacteria (prokaryotes), as well as fungi and plants (eukaryotes), and (ii) determining basic aspects of the structural dynamics of MscL, the prototype MS channel, using electronparamagnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations in combination with the patch clamp technique. The aim of the project is to elucidate the molecular principles underlying the function of MS channels, which is of fundamental importance for understanding of the biophysics and physiology of mechanosensory transduction throughout the biological world.Read moreRead less
Being a Transnational Muslim in Australia in an Era of Hyper-Security. Muslims have been the focus of significant policy articulations around security and integration in a hypersecuritised environment. This project aims to investigate how Australian Muslims are negotiating increased surveillance and public hostility and how this impacts on their sense of belonging. Working with members of four disparate Muslim communities in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, the project will examine the va ....Being a Transnational Muslim in Australia in an Era of Hyper-Security. Muslims have been the focus of significant policy articulations around security and integration in a hypersecuritised environment. This project aims to investigate how Australian Muslims are negotiating increased surveillance and public hostility and how this impacts on their sense of belonging. Working with members of four disparate Muslim communities in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, the project will examine the varied manifestations of national and transnational belonging for conceptions of identity and social inclusion. In addition to generating new knowledge in the sociology of religion and migration studies, this project will also yield novel data for better policy and practice both locally and internationally.Read moreRead less
Force from lipids: the role of the lipid bilayer in mechanosensory transduction. The proposed research will significantly contribute to a better understanding of the wide range of physiological processes underlying mechanosensory transduction in living cells. The direct benefit for Australian science consists of: (i) strengthening international links with leading overseas laboratories, and (ii) accessing the state-of-the-art expertise not available in Australia. The acquired knowledge will aid i ....Force from lipids: the role of the lipid bilayer in mechanosensory transduction. The proposed research will significantly contribute to a better understanding of the wide range of physiological processes underlying mechanosensory transduction in living cells. The direct benefit for Australian science consists of: (i) strengthening international links with leading overseas laboratories, and (ii) accessing the state-of-the-art expertise not available in Australia. The acquired knowledge will aid in developing and designing artificial tactile sensors inspired by their biological models studied in this project. Long-term, the project is expected to make an original contribution towards developing new technologies and novel medical applications, both of which promise to be of great national benefit.Read moreRead less