Social scientists, chemical engineers and mathematicians are among 17 new Australian Laureate Fellowships sharing in $53.9 million of research funding announced on Monday.
Awarded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Fellowships will see a diverse range of projects explore areas from human attitudes and cities’ roles in getting to net zero, COVID-19 conspiracies and secure cloud computing.
The 2023 round had a 14 per cent success rate, approving $54 million of the $421 million sought by applicants for projects over the next five years.
Queensland and New South Wales universities dominated the round with the states accounting for six Fellowships each.
Griffith University’s Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen was granted a Fellowship with $3.4 million in funding to explore microscale micro elastofluidics. The new field relates to microscale liquid handling and bio interfacing, with Professor Nguyen’s work exploring how wearable devices can connect with the body chemically.
His project expects to develop new technologies for sample storage, handling and unique device-human interfaces with broad applications in health and defence.
The University of Wollongong’s Professor Willy Susilo received a Fellowship and $3 million grant to explore pragmatic cryptography for cloud computing. The project aims to narrow the gap between theory and practice by delivering “concrete cryptography constructions” for secure cloud computing.
Professor Terry Flew was awarded a Fellowship and $3.1 million funding to explore the role of digital media in enabling trust or promoting mistrust across various levels. The project will examine several case studies from news media, digital platforms, corporations and the WHO. It aims to deliver integrative approaches for policy makers and regulators grappling with misinformation.
Two fellowships are allocated to female researchers who undertake an ambassadorial role to promote women in research and to encourage younger researchers to pursue a career in academia.
The humanities, arts and social science focused Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship went to the University of Queensland’s Professor Janeen Baxter.
Her research will explore Australia’s relative fall in gender equality measures through a new theory of gender inequality that foregrounds the explanatory importance of caregiving and domestic work.
The science and technology focused Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship went to Professor Catherine Stampfl at the University of Sydney. With a $2.9 million grant, Professor Stampfl will aim to deliver a new computational materials research platform that can design new, more sustainable materials.
The full list of new Australian Laureate Fellowships:
- Professor Geordie Williamson – University of Sydney
- Professor Joshua Cinner – James Cook University
- Professor Shaobin Wang – University of Adelaide
- Professor Catherine Stampfl – University of Sydney
- Professor Gene Tyson – Queensland University of Technology
- Professor Sarah Pink – Monash University
- Professor Janeen Baxter – University of Queensland
- Professor Alpha Yap – University of Queensland
- Professor Yusuke Yamauchi – University of Queensland
- Professor Gary Froyland – University of New South Wales
- Professor Terry Flew – University of Sydney
- Professor Willy Susilo – University of Wollongong
- Professor Jacqueline Batley – University of Western Australia
- Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen – Griffith University
- Professor Mathew Hornsey – University of Queensland
- Professor Xuemei Bai – Australian National University
- Professor Jane McAdam – University od New South Wales
