Monash Science researchers awarded over $12 million in ARC Discovery Projects funding
Monash University Science researchers have been awarded an impressive $12,024,280 in Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects (DPs) funding for 2025.
This remarkable achievement nearly doubles the amount secured in 2024, and in 2023, highlighting the Science Faculty’s leadership in pioneering research.
The ARC announced over $342 million for 536 new projects under the 2025 Discovery Projects scheme, which aims to promote research collaboration nationally and internationally while advancing Australian Government priority areas.
Monash University achieved outstanding results in this round, with 72 successful applications securing $49,370,062 in funding. Of these, 19 projects were led by Monash Science researchers, achieving a success rate of 57.6 percent of applications awarded, surpassing the Monash University success rate of 48 percent and the national success rate of 47.3 percent.
Faculty of Science Dean Professor Jordan Nash praised the Faculty’s exceptional performance.
“This outstanding result reflects the innovation and ambition of our researchers in seeking to understand some of the most challenging problems in science,” Professor Nash said.
“From exploring how neuroactive drug pollution affects wildlife cognition to unlocking energy-efficient ammonia production, our research is driving innovation across diverse fields.”
“The diversity and impact of these projects funded reinforce our commitment to tackling some of the most pressing global challenges.”
Below is a list of the successful projects and their awarded funding:
School of Biological Sciences
| Project Title | Researchers | Awarded Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Dissecting the implications of endosymbiont interactions for host fitness | Damian Dowling, Heather Flores | $799,927 |
| Many ways to die: unveiling the hidden diversity in ageing | Christen Mirth, Matthew Piper | $689,493 |
| Mind bender: how neuroactive drug pollution impacts wildlife cognition | Bob Wong | $539,742 |
| Can genomics identify and predict evolutionary limits to climate change? | Carla Sgro | $511,740 |
| Thinning of nature | Melodie McGeoch, Matthias Dehling | $981,389 |
| Assessing recovery in threatened Australian amphibians and reptiles | David Chapple, Jessica Walsh | $601,000 |
| Total awarded | $4,123,291 |
School of Chemistry
| Project Title | Researchers | Awarded Funding |
|---|---|---|
| New ion-pair species-driven strategies for complex molecule synthesis | Philip Chan | $572,105 |
| Energy efficient ammonia electrosynthesis | Alexandr Simonov, Douglas MacFarlane | $966,172 |
| New polar and radical reactions via electron-poor alkyne organocatalysis | David Lupton | $366,222 |
| Trimodal materials to unlock synergistic thermal energy storage mechanisms | Karolina Matuszek, Douglas MacFarlane, Rico Tabor | $615,670 |
| Total awarded | $2,520,169 |
School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment
| Project Title | Researchers | Awarded Funding |
|---|---|---|
| How does glacier retreat threaten mountain biodiversity? | Andrew Mackintosh, Steven Chown (SAEF) | $715,555 |
| Total awarded | $715,555 |
School of Mathematics
| Project Title | Researchers | Awarded Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Abelian integrals and Hilbert’s 16th problem | Warwick Tucker | $540,000 |
| Learning to value constraints | Andreas Ernst | $563,680 |
| Total awarded | $1,103,680 |
School of Physics and Astronomy
| Project Title | Researchers | Awarded Funding |
|---|---|---|
| A crystallography for disorder: characterizing structural complexity | Amelia Liu, Timothy Petersen | $588,848 |
| Controlling magnetism and topology with an electric field | Mark Edmonds, Michael Fuhrer | $534,577 |
| Graphene for energy harvesting from the night sky | Michael Fuhrer, Stefan Maier | $728,445 |
| Strongly driven quantum gases | Meera Parish, Jesper Levinsen | $476,124 |
| Towards atomic-scale magnetic field mapping and measurement | Scott Findlay | $563,591 |
| X-ray scatter imaging: vast information with minimal radiation | Marcus Kitchen, Stuart Hooper | $670,000 |
| Total awarded | $3,561,585 |
For a full list of funded Discovery Projects for 2025, including a snapshot of funding by state and territory, please view the Grant Announcement Kit.
For more information on the Discovery Projects scheme, please visit the ARC website.
Further information:
Silvia Dropulich
Marketing, Media & Communications Manager, Monash Science
T: +61 3 9902 4513 M: +61 435 138 743
Email: silvia.dropulich@monash.edu