C166/08
10 June 2008
Curtin University of Technology has recently secured significant funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for six key collaborative research projects through its Linkage Projects Scheme.
Total funding awarded to the University amounts to $1.9 million over the life of the six projects, with partner organisations contributing another $4.3 million to Curtin.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development at Curtin, Professor Linda Kristjanson, highlighted the University’s commitment to collaborating effectively with its industry partners.
“Curtin is deeply committed to working with its industry partners on high quality research projects that have the potential to deliver lasting benefit to our community and the nation,” Professor Kristjanson said.
“The level of support shown by our industry partners for Curtin’s research has always been significant, and we continually work to nurture and enhance this collaboration over the long term.”
The six projects awarded ARC Linkage Project funding span the areas of public health, physical sciences, chemical engineering, geology, geochemistry and artificial intelligence and signal and image processing, with collaborating partner organisations from both public and private sectors.
The research projects involve improving the quality of palliative health care; ensuring long-term survival of native plant germplasm; minimising emissions from heavy diesel engines; reinvigorating iron ore exploration; developing sophisticated surveillance for infrastructure and public transport, and developing smart assistive technologies for the vision impaired.
Curtin researchers are also collaborating with researchers from University of Western Australia on two other projects that also received ARC funding under the Linkage Projects Scheme.
In the area of geochemistry, Curtin’s Professor Kliti Grice will be part of a multidisciplinary team studying the Canning Basin using biomarker and isotopic data on source rock history. The research will provide an increased understanding of the resource potential of the basin and similar settings worldwide. Along with important environmental implications, the study will provide insight into drivers for Devonian mass extinctions and as periods of past biotic crises become increasingly understood, potentially serve as analogues for present-day global climate change scenarios.
Professor Steven Tingay from Curtin will also co-lead a team developing a state-of-the-art commercial prototype cryogenic sapphire oscillator that will be used to enhance image quality in radio telescopes. This will be of significant benefit to Australia’s bid for the Square Kilometre Array project.
The ARC’s Linkage Project scheme supports collaborative research and development projects between higher education organisations and other organisations outside the higher education sector. Projects under the scheme should involve risk, and the collaborating organisation must make a significant contribution either equal to, or greater than, the ARC funding, in cash and/or in kind, to the project.
ARC funding for Curtin’s projects will commence in July 2008.
Contact: Ann Marie Lim; Public Relations; Curtin; 08 9266 4241; 0401 103 532; ann.lim@curtin.edu.au.
CRICOS provider code: 00301J
Modified: 10 June 2008
