Broadband to the bush: Polarization as a new resource in wireless cross-layer design. 'Broadband to the Bush' is a national priority - more than 1.6 million homes, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in rural, regional, and remote Australia are set to benefit from broadband access to phone networks and the internet. The immediate challenges lie in overcoming poor download speeds and area coverage, as well as expensive access. This research will deliver cost and power-efficient re ....Broadband to the bush: Polarization as a new resource in wireless cross-layer design. 'Broadband to the Bush' is a national priority - more than 1.6 million homes, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in rural, regional, and remote Australia are set to benefit from broadband access to phone networks and the internet. The immediate challenges lie in overcoming poor download speeds and area coverage, as well as expensive access. This research will deliver cost and power-efficient receiver architectures to provide end-user utility, and will train postgraduate researchers across traditional discipline boundaries in mathematics and engineering. The project represents an important contribution to frontier technologies in information and communications technology for building and transforming Australian industries.Read moreRead less
Engineering floating liquid marbles for three-dimensional cell cultures. This project aims to understand the physics of three-dimensional cell cultures in a liquid marble floating on a liquid free surface. New methodology developed can produce these cell cultures without using matrices or scaffolds and with run-times well beyond existing technologies. This methodology closely mimics a normal in-vivo environment and produces spheroids needed in cell transplantation therapies. This project will re ....Engineering floating liquid marbles for three-dimensional cell cultures. This project aims to understand the physics of three-dimensional cell cultures in a liquid marble floating on a liquid free surface. New methodology developed can produce these cell cultures without using matrices or scaffolds and with run-times well beyond existing technologies. This methodology closely mimics a normal in-vivo environment and produces spheroids needed in cell transplantation therapies. This project will resolve uncertainties in the underlying phenomena. The expected outcome should support future high quality cell cultures suitable for transplantation therapies.Read moreRead less
Compression of distributed data: bridging the gap between theory and practice. In bushfire and tsunami early warning systems, environmental monitoring and healthcare applications, distributed sensors collect and transmit correlated data. This project will design novel data compression algorithms that exploit this correlation to dramatically increase the performance of existing networks and enable new applications.
Reconfigurable polymer antennas. This research will utilise conductive polymers, or 'synthetic metals', as flexible and smart materials for radio-frequency antennas technology. The created antenna prototypes will find applications in biomedical devices (for example, for wearable devices and implants), for tagging (identification), and in reconfigurable antennas for wireless communication.
Adolescents becoming delinquent online. The project aims to provide a longitudinal criminological study of adolescent Internet use in the world. The Internet is a pervasive influence in young people's lives and is increasingly viewed as a significant factor in the incidence of criminal activities including cyber-bullying, computer hacking and radicalisation. Using survey and interview methods over four years, the project will study how adolescents use the Internet daily, and particularly how thi ....Adolescents becoming delinquent online. The project aims to provide a longitudinal criminological study of adolescent Internet use in the world. The Internet is a pervasive influence in young people's lives and is increasingly viewed as a significant factor in the incidence of criminal activities including cyber-bullying, computer hacking and radicalisation. Using survey and interview methods over four years, the project will study how adolescents use the Internet daily, and particularly how this may enable or encourage delinquency on and off-line. This project is expected to benefit national security, law enforcement and crime prevention and enhance public safety and social cohesion.Read moreRead less
Digital China: From cultural presence to innovative nation. This project aims to investigate how digital platforms and technologies help Chinese culture and ideas reach the world. While China's global cultural presence has increased, it is not seen as an innovative nation. The project examines how the Chinese government’s internet+ strategy changes power dynamics among political institutions, commercially motivated digital companies and online communities. The project will investigate internatio ....Digital China: From cultural presence to innovative nation. This project aims to investigate how digital platforms and technologies help Chinese culture and ideas reach the world. While China's global cultural presence has increased, it is not seen as an innovative nation. The project examines how the Chinese government’s internet+ strategy changes power dynamics among political institutions, commercially motivated digital companies and online communities. The project will investigate internationalisation strategies and consumption of Chinese culture on digital platforms in China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. It expects to understand the implications of China's digital ascendency and the lessons for Australia in the post-resources boom era.Read moreRead less
Optimal electromaterial structures for energy applications. This project aims to develop new mathematical and modelling approaches to determine optimal configurations and parameters for material structures created from three-dimensional printing of combined metals and electromaterials. Electromaterials are needed for sustainable energy, but solving coupled-systems of highly nonlinear governing equations is needed for optimal control of spatial arrangement and composition in nano and micro-struct ....Optimal electromaterial structures for energy applications. This project aims to develop new mathematical and modelling approaches to determine optimal configurations and parameters for material structures created from three-dimensional printing of combined metals and electromaterials. Electromaterials are needed for sustainable energy, but solving coupled-systems of highly nonlinear governing equations is needed for optimal control of spatial arrangement and composition in nano and micro-structural domains. Dealing with this mathematical complexity is critical to developing high efficiency energy generation and gas storage systems. This is expected to enhance transport mechanisms within electrochemical devices and create opportunities for industry to use electrofunctional materials.Read moreRead less
Parent involvement goes online: New ecologies of school-home relations. This project aims to: identify forms of digital exclusion and inclusion impacting on parents’ ability to support their children’s education; produce a new conceptual model of technologically mediated school-home relationships; and provide a comprehensive map of school-home connected digital tools and services. Combining a detailed survey of 500 school leaders with innovative networked case studies across three schools and 18 ....Parent involvement goes online: New ecologies of school-home relations. This project aims to: identify forms of digital exclusion and inclusion impacting on parents’ ability to support their children’s education; produce a new conceptual model of technologically mediated school-home relationships; and provide a comprehensive map of school-home connected digital tools and services. Combining a detailed survey of 500 school leaders with innovative networked case studies across three schools and 18 families, this will be the first national study to comprehensively describe and analyse home-school partnerships in the digital age. It will provide policy and educational leadership with a roadmap for addressing barriers to digital inclusion, as schools advance their integration of digital platforms. Read moreRead less
Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerabili ....Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerability, dependency and the like. This project aims to better understand and address the tensions between the protection of children and their participation in research, and to explore how ethics committees, parents, other gatekeepers and children themselves manage and navigate these tensions.Read moreRead less
Equipping Australian teachers today to face AI tomorrow. Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are set to transform society, including how people work and learn. Yet there is very little research about what Australian teachers need to know in order to prepare students to thrive in an AI-rich society and workforce. This study aims to construct a foundational understanding for teaching with and about AI. It will also show how to develop effective networks to empower teachers as active chang ....Equipping Australian teachers today to face AI tomorrow. Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are set to transform society, including how people work and learn. Yet there is very little research about what Australian teachers need to know in order to prepare students to thrive in an AI-rich society and workforce. This study aims to construct a foundational understanding for teaching with and about AI. It will also show how to develop effective networks to empower teachers as active change agents. The expected outcomes will equip teachers with the knowledge and resources to lead the development of Australia’s future AI capability, including through enhanced classroom practices and more creative teacher networks.Read moreRead less