Nine projects led by The University of Western Australia, from genetic strategies to grow more resilient crops, to combating misinformation in the age of AI, to discovering how stars were formed in the first four billion years of the Universe's history, have been awarded $5.3 million in funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).
"This support demonstrates the high quality and innovation of these projects, which seek to bridge important gaps in understanding, solve significant problems, and provide new or advanced knowledge"
Professor Anna Nowak, UWA Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
The major boost is part of more than $220.2 million in funding, commencing in 2024, pledged to 421 research projects under the ARC Discovery Projects scheme.
18 UWA investigators working across 10 projects include Professor Jacqueline Batley, who is leading the study "Investigating a novel genetic strategy for insect resistance in crops", which looks to apply the latest genomics technologies to breeding for crop resilience, leading to more sustainable production.
Associate Professor Elisabete da Cunha's "Galaxy evolution in high definition with the world's largest telescopes" project will use the most powerful telescopes ever built to determine where, when, and how galaxies formed their stars - and enhance Australia's standing in astrophysical research.
And Professors Ullrich Ecker and Stephan Lewandowsky are working to overcome the unique challenges to democracy and public health posed by visual and AI-generated misinformation with the project "The Misinformation Future—Confronting Emerging Threats".
UWA Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Anna Nowak, said the funding reflected the excellent research being undertaken at the University.
"This support demonstrates the high quality and innovation of these projects, which seek to bridge important gaps in understanding, solve significant problems, and provide new or advanced knowledge," she said.
"It's also a testament to the ability of our lead investigators and teams of researchers to build strong collaborations within Australia and internationally."
You can see the full list of the Discovery Projects awarded funding for 2024 here.
