Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354461
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Australian Panel Data Users Network. Recent years have seen increased concern about how economic, social and technological changes interact with experiences occurring within families, workplaces and communities. Understanding these forces, however, requires panel data that track agents over time. Australia has only recently begun investing heavily in such data, raising concerns about our capacity to capitalize on this investment.
The aims of this network therefore include:
· enhancing the ca ....Australian Panel Data Users Network. Recent years have seen increased concern about how economic, social and technological changes interact with experiences occurring within families, workplaces and communities. Understanding these forces, however, requires panel data that track agents over time. Australia has only recently begun investing heavily in such data, raising concerns about our capacity to capitalize on this investment.
The aims of this network therefore include:
· enhancing the capacity of researchers to undertake panel data research;
· promoting cross-disciplinary research using panel databases;
· facilitating opportunities for contact between panel data researchers; and
· promoting the use of appropriate methods for analysing panel data.
It is expected that large benefits will flow to the community, especially through improved and better informed public debate and government policy-making.Read moreRead less
Developing the capacity to model the impact of interventions that target high-risk drinking among young Australians. Alcohol use is a major contributing factor to social and health problems among young Australians. The project will inform the development of effective policy by providing multidisciplinary research evidence and the capacity to model how various interventions impact on the prevalence of alcohol-related problems.
Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing servi ....Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing services in Australia and builds on comparable work done in the United Kingdom and America. The knowledge generated will inform innovation in public housing services, housing policy debates and emerging programs designed to integrate housing with other human services.Read moreRead less
Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and envi ....Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and environmental economics, and proposes new methodologies to extract preferences that more closely reflect true behaviour in real markets.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC220100035
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,958,927.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Hyphenated Analytical Separation Technologies . The toughest analytical science challenges typically require advanced analytical technologies to acquire the desired solutions. In the field of separation science this inevitably involves hyphenated separation technologies, specifically the combination of chromatography and mass spectrometry. Advancing this technology to its full capability requires the collaborative strength of academic, industry and end-user partnerships, ....ARC Training Centre for Hyphenated Analytical Separation Technologies . The toughest analytical science challenges typically require advanced analytical technologies to acquire the desired solutions. In the field of separation science this inevitably involves hyphenated separation technologies, specifically the combination of chromatography and mass spectrometry. Advancing this technology to its full capability requires the collaborative strength of academic, industry and end-user partnerships, providing the materials and inspiration for young researchers to apply novel hyphenated methods to complex environmental and industrial systems. This Centre will deliver fundamental developments in hyphenated technologies, new analytical capability, and applied outcomes across multiple end-user groups and interests. Read moreRead less
Emotions and Employee Turnover: New Methods for Complex Dynamic Systems. This project aims to vastly improve the data-analytic capabilities of social and health researchers, while increasing knowledge about emotion dynamics and their link to employee turnover. By drawing on and advancing methods from ecology and applied physics, this project plans to investigate the role that individual emotions play in employee turnover with new quantitative methods for characterising and testing causality in c ....Emotions and Employee Turnover: New Methods for Complex Dynamic Systems. This project aims to vastly improve the data-analytic capabilities of social and health researchers, while increasing knowledge about emotion dynamics and their link to employee turnover. By drawing on and advancing methods from ecology and applied physics, this project plans to investigate the role that individual emotions play in employee turnover with new quantitative methods for characterising and testing causality in complex dynamic systems. The expected outcomes include an improved capacity for researchers, managers, and policy makers to understand complex organisational, economic, and health systems. This will provide immediate societal benefits by informing the development and deployment of targeted interventions in such systems.Read moreRead less
Environmental Influences In The Establishment Of The Epigenetic Landscape In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$695,097.00
Summary
The DNA in each of our cells does not exist alone, it is packaged into complex structures called chromosomes, through association with many different proteins. The distribution of these proteins varies along the length of a chromosome depending on the type of cell and this phenomenon is called 'epigenetics', literally meaning 'above the DNA'. Epigenetic analysis is the study of how proteins and other molecules can change the activity of a gene without changing the DNA sequence. All of our cells ....The DNA in each of our cells does not exist alone, it is packaged into complex structures called chromosomes, through association with many different proteins. The distribution of these proteins varies along the length of a chromosome depending on the type of cell and this phenomenon is called 'epigenetics', literally meaning 'above the DNA'. Epigenetic analysis is the study of how proteins and other molecules can change the activity of a gene without changing the DNA sequence. All of our cells use epigenetic changes to help control how they grow and develop. Evidence suggests a direct link between diet and environmental influences on our epigenetic profile. Recent research has traced the origins of many of the health problems of adult life back to the earliest periods of development _ to the time spent in the womb and the first few years of life. If we are born with a low birth weight, we are more likely to get sick later in life. Overwhelming evidence exists that the environment in the womb is critical for a healthy birth weight (and health in later life) and it is thought that epigenetics may be the missing link between this environment, low birth weight, and therefore health in later life. In addition, mounting evidence supports a general link between epigenetic de-regulation and predisposition to disease. However, the timing and the overall contribution of environmental- genetic influences to the establishment of faulty epigenetic markings remain largely unknown. Twins are the best model to study this link as they share similar (but not identical environments) and some share identical genetic makeup. Using twins, Dr Jeffrey Craig and his team will investigate the factors in the prenatal environment that modify specific cells, leading to low birth weight and increase disease risk later in life. They predict that this occurs via specific changes in gene activity caused by epigenetic disruption.Read moreRead less
Haemodynamic investigation of flow diverter stents for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. This project will explore the engineering of a flow diverter, an endovascular device for the treatment of brain aneurysms. The project will determine the optimal design of new types of flow diverters, which in turn could improve the effectiveness of treatments, thus reducing the associated costs of cerebral haemorrhage and stroke.
Applying search theory for eradicating invasive species. Invasive species have major economic and environmental impacts in Australia and are a major cause of extinctions worldwide. Monitoring is crucial for the timely control of invasive species in sensitive environments. Early detection increases the probability of eradication and increased accuracy in detection reduces the impact of control programs on non-target species. Efficient monitoring also is crucial in determining whether eradication ....Applying search theory for eradicating invasive species. Invasive species have major economic and environmental impacts in Australia and are a major cause of extinctions worldwide. Monitoring is crucial for the timely control of invasive species in sensitive environments. Early detection increases the probability of eradication and increased accuracy in detection reduces the impact of control programs on non-target species. Efficient monitoring also is crucial in determining whether eradication has succeeded. Search Theory has been applied for over 60 years in a wide range of non-biological monitoring problems, resulting in large increases in target detection rates. Gains of a similar magnitude in invasive species detection would greatly enhance Australia's capacity to manage these threats.Read moreRead less
Inference in partially non-stationary time series models. Economic theories typically specify the long-run relationship between economic variables. However, researchers usually examine the long-run features of the data by fitting a restrictive class of models using criteria that have only proven useful for short-term forecasting. In this project we consider alternative models and modelling strategies that are appropriate for the study of the long-run. We also develop computer intensive (bootstra ....Inference in partially non-stationary time series models. Economic theories typically specify the long-run relationship between economic variables. However, researchers usually examine the long-run features of the data by fitting a restrictive class of models using criteria that have only proven useful for short-term forecasting. In this project we consider alternative models and modelling strategies that are appropriate for the study of the long-run. We also develop computer intensive (bootstrap) methods, which will provide a much-needed improvement over the existing (asymptotic) methods for making inference about the long-run. Our research will lead to more reliable models for long-term planning in business, industry and government.Read moreRead less