In a welcome boost ahead of the new year, three Flinders University-led projects will share in over $2 million after being awarded funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the federal government's funding agency.
Two of the projects will share in over $1.6 million after being successful in securing an ARC Linkage Project grant, designed to promote national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.
A third project will receive more than $400,000 as part as part of the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme. The scheme enables researchers to participate in cooperative initiatives so that expensive research infrastructure, equipment and facilities can be shared between higher education organisations and also with industry.
The two Linkage Projects are:
- "Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods" - $897,337 - led by Professor Adrian Werner and Dr Eddie Banks (College of Science and Engineering) with industry partner Lower Burdekin Water.
- "Designing successful genetic-rescue approaches for threatened species" - $770,622 - led by Professor Corey Bradshaw, Professor Luciano Beheregaray, Dr Frederik Saltre and Professor Karen Burke da Silva (College of Science and Engineering) with partners Department for Environment and Water, Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, Koala Life and World Wide Fund for Nature Australia
The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities project is:
- "SA Spectromicroscopy Facility: From Band Mapping to Atomic Scale Imaging" - $405,049 - led by Professor Sarah Harmer, Professor Gunther Andersson, Professor Colin Raston, Professor Mats Andersson and Professor Jamie Quinton (College of Science and Engineering).
52 projects across Australia were funded in the latest ARC Linkage Project round, for a total of $24.4 million.
Flinders University's share of $1,667,959 was the largest amount awarded to a South Australian institution, highlighting Flinders strong research credentials.
In addition to the Flinders-led projects, Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences has been named an investigator for a University of Melbourne-led project - "Cancer culture: understanding anti-cancer campaigns in Australia" - awarded $566,400 in Linkage Project funds.
Other Flinders University academics involved in successfully funded Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities projects are:
- Associate Professor Mike Gardner, Dr Martin Breed and Professor Rob Edwards (College of Science and Engineering) for the University of Adelaide-led project "Enhancing the SA Regional Facility for Molecular Ecology & Evolution" – $361,354
- Professor Elizabeth Dinsdale and Professor Jamie Quinton (College of Science and Engineering) for the University of Newcastle-led "BioSHeM: A High-Resolution Imaging and Spectroscopic Helium Atom Microscope" – $420,347
- Dr Margaret Shanafield (College of Science and Engineering) for the UNSW-led project "National groundwater recharge observing system" – $158,845
For more details on the ARC Linkage Projects click here or for the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme click here.
