Monash University secures two Centres of Excellence in major research coup

Monash University has been awarded $69.9 million to lead two Australian Research Council (ARC) Centres of Excellence to advance the elimination of violence against women, and research weather in the 21st Century.

Under the latest funding round, the University received $34.9 million for the ARC Centre of Excellence on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and $35 million for the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century.

The centres will be based at Monash University and will support seven years of transformative interdisciplinary research.

Monash is also a partner organisation to six other Centres of Excellence funded in this round, meaning Monash is involved in eight of the 11 new Centres of Excellence. These include centres for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Gravitational Wave Discovery, and Carbon Science and Innovation.

Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said the funding recognised the dedicated work of Monash researchers, and strengthened the University’s reputation in research excellence and innovation.

“Receiving almost $70 million in one ARC round for two centres is a significant achievement for Monash, and wonderful recognition for our researchers and wider University community,” Professor Gardner said.

“We are also proud to be partnering with numerous institutions across six other new ARC centres, and look forward to collaborating with our research colleagues from other Australian universities.”

The ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), led by Professor Jacqui True, will pioneer new, evidence-based approaches to radically improve policy and practice across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.

“Systems and structures are failing women. But we don’t have the knowledge base to inform policymakers and advocates who can drive the systems-change to eliminate violence against women,” Professor True said.

“CEVAW will generate that fundamental, interdisciplinary knowledge on the causes of violence, the contexts in which it occurs, and the most effective and efficient responses.”

This Centre will bring together a wealth of expertise from across the globe: 14 Chief Investigators from eight Australian universities; 17 international partner investigators; and 32 Australian and international partner organisations.

Professor Christian Jakob will lead the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century (W21C) which will determine how Australia’s weather patterns are being shaped by climate change, through innovative analysis of observations and advances in science.

"The warming of the Earth with climate change will change our day-to-day weather, an important resource on which our lives depend,” Professor Jakob said.

“W21C will generate the fundamental knowledge on the future of our weather resources and hazards that we need to implement our net-zero economy over the next few decades”.

The Centre will work with more than 20 partner organisations to address climate science’s challenges in anticipating the likely weather patterns of a warmer world.

The six ARC Centres of Excellent Monash will partner in are:

  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, $9.6 million. (James Cook University)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science, $9.6 million. (RMIT University)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, $11.4 million. (Swinburne University of Technology)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems, $23.69 million. (The University of Melbourne)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation, $7.5 million. (The University of New South Wales)
  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide, $4 million. (The University of Queensland)

The ARC Centres of Excellence scheme is one of the ARC’s largest and most distinguished schemes.

To find out more about the Centres of Excellence, click here.