A process model of visual working memory. This project aims to develop a process model of encoding of items into memory. Working memory is central to almost all cognitive functions, but little is known about short-term memory for visual information. Progress in this area is slow because of a focus on models that do not specify the processes underlying memory, and no model explains the processes that would limit the number of items the memory can hold to four. A process model is expected to addre ....A process model of visual working memory. This project aims to develop a process model of encoding of items into memory. Working memory is central to almost all cognitive functions, but little is known about short-term memory for visual information. Progress in this area is slow because of a focus on models that do not specify the processes underlying memory, and no model explains the processes that would limit the number of items the memory can hold to four. A process model is expected to address fundamental issues in visual working memory.Read moreRead less
Approximate proximity for applications in data mining and visualization. Data Mining, pattern recognition and visualization of relational information are all important data analysis techniques in which it is essential to determine which data points are in the vicinity of others. The huge size of the data sets involved and the need for real-time interaction preclude the use of conventional methods for the precise computation of the proximity information required. This project will develop efficie ....Approximate proximity for applications in data mining and visualization. Data Mining, pattern recognition and visualization of relational information are all important data analysis techniques in which it is essential to determine which data points are in the vicinity of others. The huge size of the data sets involved and the need for real-time interaction preclude the use of conventional methods for the precise computation of the proximity information required. This project will develop efficient algorithms and data structures for gathering high-quality approximations of the full proximity information, and will use these innovations as the basis for new, practical tools for visualization, and clustering in data mining.Read moreRead less
Tractable topological computing: Escaping the hardness trap. Computational topology is a young and energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems driven by pure mathematics, and with diverse applications in biology, signal processing and data mining. A major barrier is that many of these problems are thought to be fundamentally and intractably hard. This project aims to defy such barriers for typical real-world inputs by fusing geometric techniques with technologies from ....Tractable topological computing: Escaping the hardness trap. Computational topology is a young and energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems driven by pure mathematics, and with diverse applications in biology, signal processing and data mining. A major barrier is that many of these problems are thought to be fundamentally and intractably hard. This project aims to defy such barriers for typical real-world inputs by fusing geometric techniques with technologies from the field of parameterised complexity, creating powerful, practical solutions for these problems. It is expected to shed much-needed light on the vast and puzzling gap between theory and practice, and give researchers fast new software tools for large-scale experimentation and cutting-edge computer proofs.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
Sociophysical Interactions: understanding the role of social and tangible technologies in maintaining good habits into old age. How can technology help us 'age well'? The project will study, design and evaluate novel information systems that integrate and support social engagement and physical activity in order to build foundational knowledge about these technologies and maintain the opportunities for social engagement and physical activity in our ageing population.
Algorithmic engineering and complexity analysis of protocols for consensus. Opinions, rankings, observations, votes, gene sequences, sensor-networks in security systems or climate models. Massive datasets and the ability to share information at unprecedented speeds, makes finding the most central representative, the Consensus Problem, extremely complex. This research delivers new insights and new, efficient algorithms.
'Fixed points': extending and deepening our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. This work will extend and deepen our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. It will produce computer code embodying new methods of solving systems of nonlinear equations, which is useful in many areas of applied research in economics, in other disciplines such as chemistry, and potentially in the analysis of business operations. The project will a ....'Fixed points': extending and deepening our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. This work will extend and deepen our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. It will produce computer code embodying new methods of solving systems of nonlinear equations, which is useful in many areas of applied research in economics, in other disciplines such as chemistry, and potentially in the analysis of business operations. The project will also deepen our understanding of the underlying mathematics of such systems, and of other mathematical foundations of economic research. One application will be a new measure of the relative power resulting from voting rules. Such measures assist the design of democratic institutions by allowing the designer to assess the fairness of the outcomes they produce.Read moreRead less
Regional resilience to economic shocks: Australia’s COVID Economic slowdown. This project is designed to analyse how employment outcomes in Australian regions respond to economic shocks such as that caused by COVID-19. Set within the emerging literature dealing with employment resilience, the project uses unique data (Payroll Jobs index) to measure employment resilience and understand the factors that impact diverse regional outcomes. Understanding these patterns is significant as a region's ec ....Regional resilience to economic shocks: Australia’s COVID Economic slowdown. This project is designed to analyse how employment outcomes in Australian regions respond to economic shocks such as that caused by COVID-19. Set within the emerging literature dealing with employment resilience, the project uses unique data (Payroll Jobs index) to measure employment resilience and understand the factors that impact diverse regional outcomes. Understanding these patterns is significant as a region's economic performance has the potential to impact the well being of individuals and their families, as well as the sustainability of local economies and communities. The project will result in a nuanced understanding of regional employment performance that will inform policy in both government and non-government sectors. Read moreRead less
Change Detection in Causal Relationships and Measurement of Systemic Risk. Empirical measures of interconnectedness between financial institutions based on tests of Granger causality are currently used in detecting systemic risk. However, researchers need to define periods of calm and stress exogenously in order to implement these tests appropriately. This project aims to develop a new procedure to identify changes in causal relationships and the timing of these changes. The new approach has the ....Change Detection in Causal Relationships and Measurement of Systemic Risk. Empirical measures of interconnectedness between financial institutions based on tests of Granger causality are currently used in detecting systemic risk. However, researchers need to define periods of calm and stress exogenously in order to implement these tests appropriately. This project aims to develop a new procedure to identify changes in causal relationships and the timing of these changes. The new approach has the potential to be a significant improvement in the real-time identification of emerging turmoil in financial markets and provide an improved method for the detection of systemic risk. The new test procedure will be implemented using data for financial and non-financial institutions across Europe, the US and Australia.Read moreRead less
An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Austra ....An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Australia to 'age well, age productively' in a national sense. Also, achieving a desired level of national saving is a medium term goal of government economic policy. Hence it is important to understand the interaction of saving, fertility and labour force participation in order to develop compatible and effective economic policies.Read moreRead less