Monash secures $1.2 million for ARC projects
Innovative world-leading research and strong engagement with industry has helped Monash University secure funding in the latest Australian Research Council (ARC) grants for Linkage Projects.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan today announced $5.7 million in funding for 14 ARC research partnerships.
Monash has now secured more than $1.2 million in total this year to support three ARC Linkage projects, ranging from better understanding how extreme cyclone-generated winds can affect building structure and design, developing better ways to teach maths to eight year olds through adapting challenging maths problems, and research that will impact the future of drug-development in the pharmaceutical industry.
President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, said the overall funding results demonstrate the University’s commitment to innovative research and collaboration with industry.
“ARC Linkage funding is increasingly competitive and our success already this year is a testament to the talent of our researchers and the important partnerships they have developed with universities and organisations worldwide,” Professor Gardner said.
“On behalf of Monash University, we thank the ARC for recognising the significance of these projects, along with our partners whose collaboration helps to achieve our shared ambitions.”
Provost and Senior Vice-President, Professor Marc Parlange, said the grants would enable researchers to enter into new partnerships that develop vital research.
“We are delighted that Monash researchers will now be able to develop long-term strategic alliances that aim to achieve innovative solutions for the very real problems facing society, now and in the future,” Professor Parlange said.
ARC funded Linkage Projects 2019:
- Professor Mark Thompson (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering) in collaboration with Woodside Energy and Chevron Australia will lead a project to address the challenge of predicting the impact of extreme winds generated by cyclones on building structures. A better understanding of structural vulnerability to cyclones could lead to improved structural design and cyclone mitigation strategies that benefits to industry and the community in cyclone-prone areas.
- Professor Peter Sullivan (Science, Mathematics and Technology Education) will lead a project to build new understandings in the ways maths is learned by 5-8 year-olds. It will provide mathematics leaders and teachers with the strategies and tools to improve student learning.
- Dr David Thal (Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences) and his team were awarded ARC funding in January to engineer new tools to aid structure determination of membrane proteins. This project aims to address the instability of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are cell-surface proteins that are a major drug targets. Project outcomes are intended to lead to significant advances in membrane protein structure determination and will have a substantial impact on future research in the pharmaceutical industry.