Grants pave the way for further discovery

Twenty-two grants totalling $10,189,703 have been awarded to University of Adelaide researchers from the Federal Government to further their work in diverse areas that will impact people’s lives in Australia and globally.

The University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Anton Middelberg said: “This latest funding will enable University of Adelaide experts to continue to push the boundaries of research excellence in diverse fields.”

“Investigator-led research aims to deliver long term benefits to the economy and to society. This funding will help the University of Adelaide to shape the future of our nation and its knowledge base.”

The 2022 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects awarded to the University of Adelaide are:

Professor Vincent Bulone, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, will investigate the structure and metabolism of bioactive carbohydrates from brown algae, which will be of interest to the biopharmaceutical industry. $621,200 awarded.

Dr Judith Bunder from the School of Mathematical Sciences will lead a team to develop multiscale mathematical modelling of systems with complex microscale detail for application in industrial research and development. $375,000.

Emeritus Professor Stephen Tyerman and Dr Megan Shelden from the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine will investigate the missing links in salt and water transport in plants. $489,236.

Professor Scott Smith in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering will lead a team to develop a prefabricated structural panel for current and future infrastructure applications. $308,000.

Professor Sarah Robertson from the School of Biomedicine will lead a team to undertake a project to improve fertility in livestock animals, and in rare and threatened species. $629,916.

Professor Bronwyn Gillanders, School of Biological Sciences, will investigate how to enhance population stability of fish despite volatile environmental conditions. $509,000.

Professor David Ottaway and Dr Ori Henderson-Sapir from the School of Physical Sciences will investigate a new high-power, simple and robust mid-IR fibre laser, which will open the door for high-resolution laser assisted glass 3D-printing. $355,000.

Professor Glenn Solomon, School of Physical Sciences and Professor Nelson Tansu, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering will investigate the integration of quantum nanostructures in optical devices to improve the efficiencies of existing optical devices, and create new classes of quantum photonics. $460,000.

Professor Veronica Soebarto from the School of Architecture and Built Environment will lead a team to advance knowledge about housing design and indoor environment to improve the wellbeing of older people with low socioeconomic status in South Australia. $375,000.

Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem from the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) will lead a team to create new hybrid optical fibres that may open up new ways to detect magnetic fields at ambient temperatures in noisy environments. $670,000.

Professor Simon Lucey, Director of the University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) will build a geometric reasoning system that can exhibit human-like performance and provide new insights into how AI should understand the 3D world. $435,000.

Professor Martin Hand from the School of Physical Sciences will lead a team to develop and apply a novel way to rapidly date the mineral garnet within rocks. $284,494.

Associate Professor Diego García-Bellido from the School of Biological Sciences will lead a team to investigate the world’s oldest faunal succession in the fossil record by determining the presence and extent of a sedimentary gap, and confirming the role of time in the control of fossil distribution. $488,000.

Associate Professor Ross Young and Associate Professor James Zanotti from the School of Physical Sciences will perform supercomputer simulations to resolve the distribution of forces acting on quarks inside protons. $395,000.

Dr Abel Santos from the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials will lead a team to develop advanced materials for the next generation of integrated circuits, bio-interfacial sensors, and energy generators. $420,000.

Professor Shizhang Qiao from the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials will lead a team to develop safe and reliable solid-state zinc batteries. $700,000.

Professor Kishan Dholakia from the School of Biological Sciences will develop techniques for trapping, rotating and cooling microscopic particles in a vacuum for accurate studies of sensors and of fundamental physics. $470,000.

Professor Christian Doonan from the School of Physical Sciences will lead a team to develop new industrial catalysts. $476,000.

Associate Professor Alec Zuo and Professor Sarah Wheeler from the School of Economics and Public Policy will investigate the impacts of changing water ownership and reforms on Australian water markets. $234,878.

Associate Professor Withawat Withayachumnankul from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering will lead a team to develop high efficiency antennas for high-frequency terahertz sources. $495,000.

Dr Michelle Phillipov, School of Humanities, will lead a team to investigate the factors underpinning demand for locally made artisanal goods. $390,979.

Professor Paul Jackson from the School of Physical Sciences will lead a team to develop a suite of advanced machine learning and anomaly detection techniques to examine data collected from the A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS) general purpose particle detector experiment. $608,000.

The objectives of the Discovery Projects scheme are to support excellent basic and applied research and research training by individuals and teams; support national and international research collaboration; and enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

More details about the 2022 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects is available including a full list of all the researchers involved in each project.