Seed Grant program

Increasingly big social and scientific questions require solutions that draw on a range of research disciplines and infrastructure. Reflecting this, fostering research that leverages the breadth of Monash University’s expertise by bringing together disciplines to tackle major research global challenges is a priority of the University’s new strategic plan Impact 2030. The Monash Data Futures Institute (MDFI) is a University wide institute bringing together researchers across faculties to advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science for social good, focusing on the challenges of climate change, and promoting geopolitical security and thriving communities.

The MDFI Seed grant program aims to support research in AI and Data Science with a focus on fostering collaborations across Monash international campuses as well as with international university partners and networks.

Successful seed grants 2022

Socio-political Readiness for AI and Big Data in Developing Countries Dr Md Khalid Hossain (Faculty of Information Technology), Associate Professor Gillian Christina Oliver (Faculty of Information Technology), Dr Aashish Srivastava (Faculty of Business and Economics), Dr Tanjila Kanij (Faculty of Information Technology) and Dr Ridoan Karim (Monash Malaysia)

Interdisciplinary Data Perspectives: Co-developing Sustainable Future Visions for the Citarum River, Indonesia Dr Michaela Prescott (Monash Arts, Design and Architecture), Associate Professor Shanti Sumartojo (Monash Arts, Design and Architecture), Dr Paris Hadfield (Monash Sustainable Development Institute), Associate Professor Alex Lechner (Monash Arts, Design and Architecture), Dr Alyas Widitya (Monash Indonesia), Dr Dwinanti Marthanty (Universitas Indonesia) and Dr Reni Suwarso (Universitas Indonesia)

Artificial Intelligence-enabled Cancer diagnosis, Type Classification and Mutation Prediction Associate Professor Jiangning Song (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences) Professor Alex Boussioutas (The University of Melbourne), Professor Pietro Liò (University of Cambridge, UK), Professor Seiya Imoto (The University of Tokyo, Japan) and Assistant Professor Daokun Zhang (Faculty of Information Technology and Monash University Suzhou Campus, China)

AI for Assessment of Global Mortality Risk Associated with Tropical Cyclones Associate Professor Shanshan Li (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences), Professor Yuming Guo (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences), Associate Professor Zongyuan Ge (Faculty of Engineering and Monash e-Research Centre), Professor Qi Zhao (Shandong University, China) and Dr Thomas Vogt (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany)

Towards Automated Identification of Political Misinformation Dr Yuan-Fang Li (Faculty of Information Technology), Professor Robert Thomson (Faculty of Arts), Professor Mark Andrejevic (Faculty of Arts) and Professor Christina Schneider (University of California, San Diego, USA)

Machine Learning Assisted Voltammetric Screening of Electrocatalysts for Green Energy Production Associate Professor Jie Zhang (Faculty of Science), Professor Alan M Bond (Faculty of Science), Dr Cameron L Bentley (Faculty of Science), Associate Professor Jonathan Keith (Faculty of Science), Dr Shirui Pan (Faculty of Information Technology), Dr Mahsa Salehi (Faculty of Information Technology) and Professor Patrick R Unwin (University of Warwick, UK)

Previous funding rounds

Interdisciplinary research (IDR) grants 2019

The current MDFI Seed Grant program was preceded by the 2019 interdisciplinary research grant (IDR) round, implemented to help tackle significant social and scientific challenges across the Monash research focus areas. It was led by Senior Vice-Provost (Research) Professor Rebekah Brown, and supported by the Monash Data Futures Institute and the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. A total of 14 grants – six major and eight seed funding –  were awarded.