Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100975
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,775.00
Summary
Architectured ceramics to combine strength, toughness, and complex shapes. This project aims to develop ceramics that are simultaneously strong and tough, and to form them into complex shapes without compromising their mechanical properties – major challenges in science and engineering. Inspired by the internal architectures that confer these advantages on natural hard materials, it will produce novel ceramics with rationally-designed, highly-controlled dense architectures by developing a fast, ....Architectured ceramics to combine strength, toughness, and complex shapes. This project aims to develop ceramics that are simultaneously strong and tough, and to form them into complex shapes without compromising their mechanical properties – major challenges in science and engineering. Inspired by the internal architectures that confer these advantages on natural hard materials, it will produce novel ceramics with rationally-designed, highly-controlled dense architectures by developing a fast, scalable and versatile light-based 3D–4D printing technique combined with discrete element modelling. Outcomes will be toughened ceramics and new knowledge on processing-architecture-performance relationships, with significant benefits for biomaterials, defence, transport, high-temperature and aerospace applications.Read moreRead less
Biomimetic hydrogels. Hydrogels are promising materials to repair and regenerate damaged tissues, but their weak mechanical properties limit their applications. This project aims to develop hydrogels with better mechanical properties by mimicking the way natural tissues, such as cartilage, work. Specifically, we aim to develop a new class of hydrogels by adding molecular polymer brushes to traditional materials. We will design the hydrogels with long-term stability and render them suitable as vi ....Biomimetic hydrogels. Hydrogels are promising materials to repair and regenerate damaged tissues, but their weak mechanical properties limit their applications. This project aims to develop hydrogels with better mechanical properties by mimicking the way natural tissues, such as cartilage, work. Specifically, we aim to develop a new class of hydrogels by adding molecular polymer brushes to traditional materials. We will design the hydrogels with long-term stability and render them suitable as viable hosts for chondrocytes. Through this project, we will grow fundamental knowledge in polymer chemistry and tissue engineering, and pave the way for new technologies to repair damaged joints and tissues.Read moreRead less
How brains become lateralised. This project aims to understand how the left and right sides of the brain become specialised for different cognitive functions, a phenomenon called lateralisation. Lateralisation is one of the least understood organisational principles of the brain, yet is crucial to the way we think and behave. Manifested most clearly as handedness, the brain is lateralised for many cognitive tasks such as language, reasoning, memory and emotion. However, the developmental origin ....How brains become lateralised. This project aims to understand how the left and right sides of the brain become specialised for different cognitive functions, a phenomenon called lateralisation. Lateralisation is one of the least understood organisational principles of the brain, yet is crucial to the way we think and behave. Manifested most clearly as handedness, the brain is lateralised for many cognitive tasks such as language, reasoning, memory and emotion. However, the developmental origin and anatomical substrate of most cognitive asymmetries are unknown. This project will use a chick model of brain lateralisation to quantify and localise to specific brain circuits the patterns of differential gene expression that give rise to anatomical and functional asymmetries.Read moreRead less
Targeting TGF-beta proteins to control animal reproduction. This project aims to develop a suite of novel biologics to control fertility in female mammals. This project expects to demonstrate that targeting a single class of ovarian proteins will enhance or inhibit egg production. The expected outcomes of this project are to (1) transform the breeding of livestock animals, which should provide significant benefits to the agricultural industry, through increased herd/flock sizes, and (2) provide ....Targeting TGF-beta proteins to control animal reproduction. This project aims to develop a suite of novel biologics to control fertility in female mammals. This project expects to demonstrate that targeting a single class of ovarian proteins will enhance or inhibit egg production. The expected outcomes of this project are to (1) transform the breeding of livestock animals, which should provide significant benefits to the agricultural industry, through increased herd/flock sizes, and (2) provide a non-surgical method of contraception in companion/feral species, which should address the large unmet need for fertility control in these animals.
Read moreRead less
Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understan ....Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how decision-making evolves in healthy ageing, and a tool based on genetic scores and computational modelling to predict an individual's trajectory of cognitive function. This could help identify individuals who are at risk for cognitive decline, which could then inform better interventions.Read moreRead less
Tuning parallel applications on software-defined supercomputers. Supercomputers are used by many Australian industries and laboratories to make better products and perform critical predictions, and it is essential that codes operate efficiently. This project aims to assist programmers in identifying performance bottlenecks in their code quickly and easily. The project expects to supersede the current methods, which are often complex and time-consuming, by developing innovative software tools and ....Tuning parallel applications on software-defined supercomputers. Supercomputers are used by many Australian industries and laboratories to make better products and perform critical predictions, and it is essential that codes operate efficiently. This project aims to assist programmers in identifying performance bottlenecks in their code quickly and easily. The project expects to supersede the current methods, which are often complex and time-consuming, by developing innovative software tools and techniques. The expected outcomes include novel software, verified by industry partners in real world case studies, ranging from life sciences to hypersonic transport. This should provide significant benefits, including the capacity for Australian industries to access world-class supercomputing technology.Read moreRead less
Relationship of retinal directionality to human retinal anatomy variations. This project aims to improve measurement of retinal directionality, which is the reduction in brightness when a light beam’s entry into the human eye is shifted from the centre to the edge of the pupil. This influences retinal image quality and can be used to measure changes in shape of the peripheral eye. This project will apply advanced technologies in holography, and heads-up displays to explore how retinal directiona ....Relationship of retinal directionality to human retinal anatomy variations. This project aims to improve measurement of retinal directionality, which is the reduction in brightness when a light beam’s entry into the human eye is shifted from the centre to the edge of the pupil. This influences retinal image quality and can be used to measure changes in shape of the peripheral eye. This project will apply advanced technologies in holography, and heads-up displays to explore how retinal directionality changes during accommodation (focusing). The expected outcome is improved understanding of retinal stretching changes during focusing. The benefit is that the project will lead to advancements in retinal imaging.Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while pres ....Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while preserving the data privacy. These tools should provide significant benefits to the privacy of cloud users, as well as financial and reputation benefits to the IT industry, by significantly reducing the likelihood of massive user data privacy breaches in the event of a cyber-hacking attack on the cloud server.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH200100009
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Transforming Energy Infrastructure Through Digital Engineering. This Research Hub will harness the strengths of data-based and physics-based sciences to transform the operation of Australia’s offshore energy infrastructure. This essential research will create, use and embed observations of past and ongoing activity to engineer tools and approaches necessary to enhance our understanding of the offshore environment, optimise critical operations for existing facilities (includi ....ARC Research Hub for Transforming Energy Infrastructure Through Digital Engineering. This Research Hub will harness the strengths of data-based and physics-based sciences to transform the operation of Australia’s offshore energy infrastructure. This essential research will create, use and embed observations of past and ongoing activity to engineer tools and approaches necessary to enhance our understanding of the offshore environment, optimise critical operations for existing facilities (including installation and maintenance), and efficiently design future infrastructure. The integrated multidisciplinary approach will not only help Operators achieve high productivity through low downtime and optimised maintenance, but also demonstrate, in research and industry, the transformative potential of digital engineering.Read moreRead less