Extreme Value Theory Approaches to Insurance in a Catastrophic Environment. Recent decades are marked by numerous significant natural (climate change) or man-made (financial crises) catastrophes, which have significantly altered the landscape of the insurance industry. These have potentially significant negative impacts on the availability and affordability of insurance, and hence on the capability and capacity of households and businesses to take risks and be competitive. This project endeavour ....Extreme Value Theory Approaches to Insurance in a Catastrophic Environment. Recent decades are marked by numerous significant natural (climate change) or man-made (financial crises) catastrophes, which have significantly altered the landscape of the insurance industry. These have potentially significant negative impacts on the availability and affordability of insurance, and hence on the capability and capacity of households and businesses to take risks and be competitive. This project endeavours to establish progressive approaches (using extreme value theory) to the challenges faced by insurance in such a catastrophic environment. They will enhance the financial stability and competitivity of the Australian economy, and further establish its global leadership in dealing with climate changes and catastrophes.Read moreRead less
Quantitative Analysis of Systemic Risk in Insurance. This project aims to achieve a contemporary and comprehensive quantitative analysis of systemic risk in insurance. The significance lies in narrowing the gap between the studies of systemic risk in banking and insurance. Expected outcomes include the construction of insurance/reinsurance networks to formalise systemic risk, the analysis of the role of network integration, and the development of pricing frameworks to entail a systemic risk prem ....Quantitative Analysis of Systemic Risk in Insurance. This project aims to achieve a contemporary and comprehensive quantitative analysis of systemic risk in insurance. The significance lies in narrowing the gap between the studies of systemic risk in banking and insurance. Expected outcomes include the construction of insurance/reinsurance networks to formalise systemic risk, the analysis of the role of network integration, and the development of pricing frameworks to entail a systemic risk premium. The project will benefit insurers and regulators by providing a forward-looking approach to monitoring and assessing insurance risk during a systemic crisis. These important original contributions to insurance risk management will help establish Australia’s global leadership in systemic risk.Read moreRead less
Liquidity in financial markets. This project aims to develop a theory which models the effect of liquidity on option prices under different market conditions. Economic or financial crises are inevitable and affect economics. During or after a major financial crisis, market liquidity usually becomes risky and needs to be studied. Through both empirical and theoretical explorations, this project will quantify and measure liquidity risk and its effect on the options markets. It will develop a frame ....Liquidity in financial markets. This project aims to develop a theory which models the effect of liquidity on option prices under different market conditions. Economic or financial crises are inevitable and affect economics. During or after a major financial crisis, market liquidity usually becomes risky and needs to be studied. Through both empirical and theoretical explorations, this project will quantify and measure liquidity risk and its effect on the options markets. It will develop a framework to help market regulators manage illiquidity, enhance the efficiency of option trading in illiquid markets and help in the detection of market manipulation.Read moreRead less
Boundary Crossing Analysis for Random Processes with Applications to Risk Management. Effective management of environmental, financial and superannuation investment risks is vitally important for Australia. Results of the project will add to the theoretical foundations of risk management and provide new computational tools for specialists working in the areas of financial engineering, insurance, superannuation funds. These tools will assist in improving risk profile evaluation and developing new ....Boundary Crossing Analysis for Random Processes with Applications to Risk Management. Effective management of environmental, financial and superannuation investment risks is vitally important for Australia. Results of the project will add to the theoretical foundations of risk management and provide new computational tools for specialists working in the areas of financial engineering, insurance, superannuation funds. These tools will assist in improving risk profile evaluation and developing new statistical control charts for security monitoring of epidemics, networks intrusions and other potentially dangerous changes. The research will also give Australia a competitive advantage in the area of education related to stochastic processes, mathematical finance, control theory and their applications.Read moreRead less
Modern statistical methods for clustering community ecology data. This project will develop statistical methods and software for clustering community ecology data, and use them to analyse systematic survey and citizen science program data collected along the Great Barrier Reef. By doing so, the project will address the dearth of statistical classification techniques for high-dimensional, multi-response data with complex relationships. When the resultant clustering methods are used to construct b ....Modern statistical methods for clustering community ecology data. This project will develop statistical methods and software for clustering community ecology data, and use them to analyse systematic survey and citizen science program data collected along the Great Barrier Reef. By doing so, the project will address the dearth of statistical classification techniques for high-dimensional, multi-response data with complex relationships. When the resultant clustering methods are used to construct bioregions and characterise species’ environmental responses, they should significantly enhance evaluations of the impact of human activity and environmental change on coral diversity. Ultimately, these evaluations can underpin future decisions in the conservation and management of the Great Barrier Reef.Read moreRead less
Forecasting and Financing Healthy Ageing and Aged Care in Australia. This project aims to quantify future risks of chronic illness and functional disability in retirement, proposing financing strategies aimed at enhancing healthy ageing, lifestyle quality and aged care provisions. The project devotes to devising a framework integrating government and private sector participation in funding health costs which increase significantly in older ages. The expected outcome includes sustainable retireme ....Forecasting and Financing Healthy Ageing and Aged Care in Australia. This project aims to quantify future risks of chronic illness and functional disability in retirement, proposing financing strategies aimed at enhancing healthy ageing, lifestyle quality and aged care provisions. The project devotes to devising a framework integrating government and private sector participation in funding health costs which increase significantly in older ages. The expected outcome includes sustainable retirement income scenarios for easing fiscal pressure from social initiatives such as age pension and aged care financing at the same time improving living standards for seniors. The project expects to place Australia at the forefront of research on sustainable solutions to financial challenges facing retirees.Read moreRead less
Improving the Environmental Performance of Australian Construction Projects. This project aims to investigate the environmental impacts of construction in Australia through the development of a sophisticated hybrid environmental assessment model. The project aims to assist in identifying the most significant environmental impacts, critical areas for mitigation efforts and informing environmental policy and programs within the Australian construction industry. The development of one of the most s ....Improving the Environmental Performance of Australian Construction Projects. This project aims to investigate the environmental impacts of construction in Australia through the development of a sophisticated hybrid environmental assessment model. The project aims to assist in identifying the most significant environmental impacts, critical areas for mitigation efforts and informing environmental policy and programs within the Australian construction industry. The development of one of the most sophisticated and comprehensive models for assessing environmental impacts ever produced is expected to enable cost- and time-efficient evaluation of multiple environmental impacts at a high level of detail and completeness. This should lead to considerable improvements to the environmental performance of Australian construction projects.Read moreRead less
Microplastic infiltration of food webs: cells to ecosystem consequences. Using trophic ecological theory as a framework, this project aims to provide the first comprehensive assessment of the fate and effects of microplastics. Plastic pollution is a persistent and increasing problem. Plastics are degraded into small particles, called microplastics, which are ingested by animals. The project aims to develop much-needed techniques to measure microplastics in biological tissue and apply these techn ....Microplastic infiltration of food webs: cells to ecosystem consequences. Using trophic ecological theory as a framework, this project aims to provide the first comprehensive assessment of the fate and effects of microplastics. Plastic pollution is a persistent and increasing problem. Plastics are degraded into small particles, called microplastics, which are ingested by animals. The project aims to develop much-needed techniques to measure microplastics in biological tissue and apply these techniques in food web studies to determine the capacity of microplastics to transfer from the environment into animals, and how microplastics move through a food web to affect biological diversity and animal health. This information will be used to complete the first risk assessment for microplastics in a major coastal habitat.Read moreRead less
Integrating between-person and within-person approaches to personality in the workplace. Personality tests are used to predict well being and productivity at work and are often used for personnel decisions within organisations in developed countries, including Australia. The treatment of personality as a fixed set of traits that produce similar responses across situations ignores human variability across situations which is needed for design of interventions to make humans happier and more effec ....Integrating between-person and within-person approaches to personality in the workplace. Personality tests are used to predict well being and productivity at work and are often used for personnel decisions within organisations in developed countries, including Australia. The treatment of personality as a fixed set of traits that produce similar responses across situations ignores human variability across situations which is needed for design of interventions to make humans happier and more effective at work. The results of tests of the integrated model of personality will be used to design interventions for the development of responses that lead to greater well being and effectiveness of managers in work settings.Read moreRead less
Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniq ....Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniques will be used to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of gravity current entrainment and propagation. This knowledge will set a strong foundation to improve operational forecasts of smoke transport that will allow government agencies to better respond to the negative impact of these complicated flows.Read moreRead less