UNSW wins extra $4 million in ARC funding

15 December 2003

The University will receive more than $4 million in additional funding following the latest announcement of grants by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

A total of 20 new projects were awarded funding by the ARC under the Discovery Projects Scheme which supports innovative research. Four of the University's projects were awarded grants between $300,000 and $500,000.

Dr Michael Balogh has been granted a five-year Australian Research Fellowship of nearly $500,000. Dr Balogh will examine how galaxies such as the Milky Way are formed and evolve over time. He is currently in the United Kingdom.

From the school of electrical engineering and telecommunication, Professor Branko Celler and Professor Andrey Savkin have been awarded $300,000 over three years to develop models of cardiac function non-invasively. This research builds on the development of the University's human performance laboratory, a $100,000 grant funded by the faculty of engineering.

A collaborative project between Professor Enrico Coiera and Dr Tatjana Zrimec from the centre for health informatics and Professor Paul Compton from the school of computer science and engineering has been granted $300,000. The three-year project will develop automated methods to learn task-specific Internet search strategies and use them to guide human-agent interactions and search behaviours.

Dr Jacky Croke from ADFA's school of physical, environmental and mathematical sciences has been awarded $300,000 over three years to research data on floodplain storage and remobilisation rates using innovative sediment dating and tracing technologies. This research is particularly relevant to rural industries and the management of Australian riverine and offshore ecosystems.

Professor Hans Coster from the UNESCO centre for membrane science and technology in the school of physics has also been awarded $294,000 over three years to head a study into organic molecular films on silicon substrates.

These Discovery grants are in addition to the $18 million in funding awarded to UNSW in mid-October by the ARC.