Griffith University’s commitment to leading research has been recognised again with the Federal Government awarding more than $5.4 million in Australian research Council grants.

Minister for Education Dan Tehan announced on November 14, the Discovery and Linkage Projects grants which cover a broad range of areas, including low-cost sustainable battery storage, climate change and early humans, building teacher leadership capacity and wrongful conviction and exoneration.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Mario Pinto welcomed the announcement.

“While the final national statistics are yet to be announced, Griffith has achieved an exceptional outcome placing 11th nationally and 2nd in Queensland,” he said.

“My congratulations to the recipients and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this valuable research.

“This funding is an investment in the future andaffirmsthe University’s standing as a leading research institutionthat delivers research outcomes of significant consequence.”

ARC Discovery Projects 2021

Professor Cliff Goddard (Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, AEL) awarded $338,320 for the project titled ‘The building blocks of meaning: a linguistic approach’ (Dr Zhengdao Ye, The Australian National University; Dr Ulla Vanhatalo, University of Helsinki; Mr David Bullock, University of Washington.)

Professor Chengrong Chen (Australian Rivers Institute, Sciences) awarded $450,000 for the project titled ‘Unravelling soil carbon response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems’ (Prof Andrew Ball, RMIT University; Prof Thomas DeLuca, University of Montana; Dr Benjamin Turner, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Dr Steven Wakelin, Scion New Zealand Crown Research Institute; Prof Yakov Kuzyakov, Georg-August University of Gottingen; Dr Yingping Wang, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.)

Professor Geoff Pryde and A/Prof Eric Cavalcanti (Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Sciences) awarded $600,000 for the project titled ‘Harnessing genuine quantum nonlocality’ (Dr Lynden Shalm, University of Colorado.)

Professor Yaoqi Zhou (Institute for Glycomics) Prof Kuldip Paliwal (Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems) awarded $570,000 for the project titled ‘RNA structure prediction by deep learning and evolution-derived restraints’.

Professor Tanya Smith (Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, AEL) awarded $343,086 for the project titled ‘Constructing robust climate proxies to explore human and primate evolution’ (Prof Ian Williams, The Australian National University; Dr Daniel Green, Harvard University)

Professor Peter Grootenboer (Griffith Institute for Educational Research, AEL) awarded $372,433 for the project titled ‘Improving middle leading practices in schools to enhance student learning’ (A/Prof Christine Edwards-Groves, Charles Sturt University; A/Prof Catherine Attard, Western Sydney University; A/Prof Sharon Tindall-Ford, University of Wollongong)

Dr Gerardo Paz Silva (Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Sciences) awarded $360,000 for the project titled ‘When quantum is not desirable: quantum noise vs. quantum technologies’ (Dr Leigh Norris and Prof Lorenza Viola, Dartmouth College, USA)

Dr Rachel Dioso-Villa (Griffith Criminology Institute, AEL) awarded $257,440 for the project titled ‘Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration’ (A/Prof Mai Sato, The Australian National University)

Professor David Hamilton (Australian Rivers Institute, Sciences) awarded $390,000 for the project titled ‘Identifying critical thresholds to prioritise lake restoration’ (Dr Simon Linke, Australian Rivers Institute, Sciences; Dr Dale Robertson, U.S. Geological Survey; A/Prof Bernhard Lehner, McGill University, Canada)

Professor Kai He and Dr Huiyun Feng (Griffith Asia Institute, Business) awarded $136,490 for the project titled ‘Decoding Revisionist Challenges to the International Institutional Order’

Professor Adam Brumm and Dr Michelle Langley (Environmental Futures Research Institute, Sciences) awarded $597,284 for the project titled ‘Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture’ (A/Prof Mark Moore, The University of New England; Prof Philip Piper, The Australian National University; Mr Budianto Hakim, Archaeological Centre of South Sulawesi; Dr Francis Bulbeck, The Australian National University)

Professor Shanqing Zhang and Dr Yun Wang (Centre for Clean Environment and Energy, Sciences) awarded $562,309 for the project titled ‘Recyclable and Rechargeable All-Solid-State Sodium Ion Batteries’ (Prof Cheng Yan, Queensland University of Technology; A/Prof Qichun Zhang; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Professor Allison Waters and Dr Kathryn Modecki (School of Applied Psychology, Health) awarded $216,600 for the project titled ‘Mapping the learning mechanisms linking adversity with maladjustment’ (Prof Michelle Craske, University of California Los Angeles)

ARC Linkage Projects (Round 1)

Dr Muhammad Shiddiky, Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen, Dr Hoang Phuong Phan (Qld Micro- and Nano-Technology Centre, Sciences), Professor Rebecca Ford (Office of the PVC, Sciences) awarded $250,000 for the project titled ‘Developing an integrated Device for On-Farm Detection of Sugarcane Diseases’ (Dr Shamsul Bhuiyan and Dr Nicole Thompson, Sugar Research Australia)

National statistics for Linkage will not be known until round is fully announced next year.

Discovery Projects led by other institutes

Dr Jillian Huntley (Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research) is part of an Australian National University led team awarded $342,871 for the project titled ‘Waiet: Archaeology of a Torres Strait Islander ritual pathway’ (Dr Duncan Wright; Professor Geoffrey Clark)

Professor Sarojni Choy (Griffith Institute for Educational Research) is part of a University of Wollongong led team awarded $481,720 for the project titled ‘Investigating professional learning lives in the digital evolution of work’ (Associate Professor Shirley Agostinho; Professor Lori Lockyer; Dr Kellie Buckley-Walker; Professor Susan Bennett)

Dr Michelle Neumann (Griffith Institute for Educational Research) is part of a University of South Australia led team awarded $251,176 for the project titled ‘Parent involvement goes online: New ecologies of school-home relations’ (Associate Professor Sue Nichols; Professor Karen Dooley; Dr Hannah Soong)

Professor Hong Guan and Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert (School of Engineering and Built Environment, Sciences) are part of a University of Melbourne led team awarded $381,244 for the project titled ‘Innovative composite systems with enhanced resilience to extreme loads’ (Professor Tuan Ngo; Professor Alex Remennikov

Professor Stuart Bunn (Australian Rivers Institute, Sciences) is part of a Charles Darwin University led team awarded $391,000 for the project titled ‘The ecological impact of large carnivore restoration) (Dr Hamish Campbell, Dr Richard Kopf)

The full list ofthe 2021 Discovery and Linkage Project grantsand their project summaries are available on the ARC website.