Policy Modelling for Ageing in Emerging Economies: The Case of Indonesia. This project, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Indonesian Planning Authority, will support major social and economic policy development in a rapidly ageing region. It will break new ground by developing a cutting-edge economic policy model reflecting salient features of ageing in emerging economies, taking into account the wider implications for education, employment, formalisation, growth, and retirement. It w ....Policy Modelling for Ageing in Emerging Economies: The Case of Indonesia. This project, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Indonesian Planning Authority, will support major social and economic policy development in a rapidly ageing region. It will break new ground by developing a cutting-edge economic policy model reflecting salient features of ageing in emerging economies, taking into account the wider implications for education, employment, formalisation, growth, and retirement. It will bring the armoury of policy analysis instruments available to these countries up to the standard now enjoyed by the developed world. Indonesia, on the brink of major pension reform, will be used as a test bed. Data sets will be developed to allow the model structure to be applied to other emerging economies in Asia. Read moreRead less
A microfluidic approach to study the mechanobiology of ageing blood vessels. This project aims to study the effect of the stiffening of ageing arteries in endothelial cells. It explores the changes that occur in endothelial cells using a unique microfluidic technology with tuneable wall stiffness to mimic the biophysical and biochemical properties of ageing arteries. The expected outcome is the identification of the cellular mechanisms that control endothelial responses to arterial stiffening. T ....A microfluidic approach to study the mechanobiology of ageing blood vessels. This project aims to study the effect of the stiffening of ageing arteries in endothelial cells. It explores the changes that occur in endothelial cells using a unique microfluidic technology with tuneable wall stiffness to mimic the biophysical and biochemical properties of ageing arteries. The expected outcome is the identification of the cellular mechanisms that control endothelial responses to arterial stiffening. This should provide the fundamental knowledge required to assist in the development of new therapies to tackle age-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease and dementia.Read moreRead less
Soft Plasmene Nanosheets for Stretchable Plasmonic Skins. Conventional plasmonic sensors and devices are rigid, planar, and not stretchable. This project aims to apply plasmene materials developed at Monash's Nanobionics lab to design highly stretchable plasmonic devices (artificial plasmonic skins). Systematic experimental and theoretical studies will be undertaken to understand how the plasmonic skins respond to strains and how they can be used for fabricating novel stretchable devices. Such s ....Soft Plasmene Nanosheets for Stretchable Plasmonic Skins. Conventional plasmonic sensors and devices are rigid, planar, and not stretchable. This project aims to apply plasmene materials developed at Monash's Nanobionics lab to design highly stretchable plasmonic devices (artificial plasmonic skins). Systematic experimental and theoretical studies will be undertaken to understand how the plasmonic skins respond to strains and how they can be used for fabricating novel stretchable devices. Such studies will generate important new knowledge of fabrication, characterisation, and modelling of stretchable plasmene, hence, contributing to further Australian standing in the field of nanotechnology and plasmonics. It may also incubate patentable technologies, bringing potential economic gains.Read moreRead less
Ultrastretchable, Highly Transparent, Wearable Gold Nanowire Generators. Next-generation wearable electronics should be thin, soft and even transparent, enabling applications impossible to achieve with traditional rigid electronics. Such future electronics will require disruptive soft skin-conformal energy devices to power. This project aims to develop a bi-modal gold nanowire percolation strategy to design ultrathin conductors that are electrically conductive, optically transparent and mechanic ....Ultrastretchable, Highly Transparent, Wearable Gold Nanowire Generators. Next-generation wearable electronics should be thin, soft and even transparent, enabling applications impossible to achieve with traditional rigid electronics. Such future electronics will require disruptive soft skin-conformal energy devices to power. This project aims to develop a bi-modal gold nanowire percolation strategy to design ultrathin conductors that are electrically conductive, optically transparent and mechanically stretchable. It expects to generate new knowledge in nanomaterials design and new technologies to fabricate skin-like invisible wearable generators. This should provide significant benefits in advancing Australian standing in the fields of nanotechnology and energy science, and bringing potential economic gains.Read moreRead less
Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes ....Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes include the development of theoretical and empirical models that reflect the unique features of the Australian economy. This should provide significant benefits, including guidance to Australian and international policymakers on macroeconomic policies for resource-rich countries.Read moreRead less
The molecular basis for efficacy at G protein coupled receptors. This project aims to investigate the molecular steps underlying the relationship between sensing by signal-transmitting proteins on the cell surface called G protein-coupled receptors and cellular response. The project aims to build on studies that have sought to understand the primary, molecular basis for this cellular volume control. This project seeks to use these novel approaches to fill this knowledge gap, providing a deeper u ....The molecular basis for efficacy at G protein coupled receptors. This project aims to investigate the molecular steps underlying the relationship between sensing by signal-transmitting proteins on the cell surface called G protein-coupled receptors and cellular response. The project aims to build on studies that have sought to understand the primary, molecular basis for this cellular volume control. This project seeks to use these novel approaches to fill this knowledge gap, providing a deeper understanding of how physiology and medicines work. The project expects to expand fundamental understanding of signal transmission at this receptor class. This project will deliver benefits including expanded basic knowledge and a contribution to future improvements in drug development.Read moreRead less
Function and evolution of insect odorant receptors. This project aims to shed light on how insect odorant receptors function by using comparative genomic studies between the genetic model insect Drosophila melanogaster and a pest species, the Australian sheep blowfly. This project expects to generate knowledge of how specific chemicals activate specific receptors in order to excite sensory neurons and drive behaviour, which is not well understood. Expected outcomes include increased understandin ....Function and evolution of insect odorant receptors. This project aims to shed light on how insect odorant receptors function by using comparative genomic studies between the genetic model insect Drosophila melanogaster and a pest species, the Australian sheep blowfly. This project expects to generate knowledge of how specific chemicals activate specific receptors in order to excite sensory neurons and drive behaviour, which is not well understood. Expected outcomes include increased understanding of olfaction in insects, increased national and international collaboration, and outstanding graduate student training. This research will be of significant future benefit in deriving methods to modify the behaviour of insects of agricultural or medical importance, for example the sheep blowfly. Read moreRead less
Discovering novel allosteric probes of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. This project aims at fostering novel approaches to selectively target vital receptors in the human body, the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). By harnessing the design of receptor mutations, compounds synthesis and fluorescent imaging, the project expects to develop new pharmacological tools for a family of receptors essential for the life of all vertebrates. By enriching our understanding of this family of rec ....Discovering novel allosteric probes of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. This project aims at fostering novel approaches to selectively target vital receptors in the human body, the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). By harnessing the design of receptor mutations, compounds synthesis and fluorescent imaging, the project expects to develop new pharmacological tools for a family of receptors essential for the life of all vertebrates. By enriching our understanding of this family of receptor, the project expects to provide significant benefits to the research field by impacting on future drug discovery efforts, not only at mAChRs, but at other structurally related receptors.Read moreRead less
A novel axis of cooperation between innate and adaptive immunity. The project aims to understand how two molecular components of the immune system, Complement and MHC, cooperate to protect the host. Further, these two molecules mediate trogocytosis, a little-studied form of intercellular communication, between two major immune cell types: dendritic cells and B cells. The project will be multidisciplinary, applying high-end microscopy, biochemistry, cell biology and immunology techniques. Person ....A novel axis of cooperation between innate and adaptive immunity. The project aims to understand how two molecular components of the immune system, Complement and MHC, cooperate to protect the host. Further, these two molecules mediate trogocytosis, a little-studied form of intercellular communication, between two major immune cell types: dendritic cells and B cells. The project will be multidisciplinary, applying high-end microscopy, biochemistry, cell biology and immunology techniques. Personnel will be trained in cutting-edge techniques. The project will expand knowledge on basic immunology and cell-cell cooperation. It will generate intellectual property for the biotechnology sector to develop new commercial products that might improve the health of humans and also animals of economic importance.Read moreRead less
Thermally conductive materials from boron nitride nanosheets. This project aims to produce novel two-dimensional nanomaterials, in the form of functionalised boron nitride nanosheets and investigate their chemical, thermal and mechanical properties. The project expects to design and develop unique boron nitride nanosheets with targeted thermally conductive and electrically insulating properties, to address the critical technological problem of heat management in electronic devices. The resulting ....Thermally conductive materials from boron nitride nanosheets. This project aims to produce novel two-dimensional nanomaterials, in the form of functionalised boron nitride nanosheets and investigate their chemical, thermal and mechanical properties. The project expects to design and develop unique boron nitride nanosheets with targeted thermally conductive and electrically insulating properties, to address the critical technological problem of heat management in electronic devices. The resulting new nanoscience and ground breaking design and processing techniques will have the capacity to address the current technical obstacles which are preventing further development of fast and smaller electronic devices.Read moreRead less