2005 Successful ARC Discovery Projects

Using radio frequency identity (RFID) tags to revolutionise sensor network technologies has the potential to have wide ranging impacts on many of Australia's key industries, including precision agriculture, health care and habitat monitoring (e.g., bush fires).

This fundamental research will create a new type of communication network that will have tremendous impact by allowing monitoring and tracking technologies to be deployed over large, infrastructure-free areas at nominal cost. By contributing to the solution of the cost and complexity problems that limit practical deployment of sensor networks, we hope help Australia become a global leader in realizing real-world benefits from information communication technologies.

This study will be the first detailed investigation of the evolution of mt genome reorganization, and as such it will identify the processes that shape the evolution of a molecule widely used to interpret phylogeny. A description of the processes that lead to mt genome reorganization will have a substantial impact on our understanding in two areas of mt biology;

1. the discovery of new molecular phenomena that impact on the organization and evolution of this genome, and
2. the interpretation of its phylogenetic content. It will establish our research group as a leader in the field of evolutionary genetics.

Training of high quality students, with exposure to international researchers, will be a significant component of this program.

Dielectrophoretic manipulation and separation of particles has numerous biological and medical applications, e.g. identification and characterisation of individual cells, purification of cell subpopulations from mixture suspensions, etc.

This research project aims to develop a high-efficiency and low-cost DEP device for bio-particle manipulation. It will contribute significantly to the advancements in the field of biological Micro-Electrical-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology. Industry will benefit from the expertise on micro/nano-structures and micro/nano-manufacturing achieved by this project.

This project will contribute to the identified national priority, Safeguarding Australia, by providing a better understanding of the issues surrounding labour migration, including the capacity of NGOs and state governments to address the needs and rights of labour migrants in Southeast Asia.

By expanding our understanding of the possibilities for democratisation within the region and contributing to theoretical developments on the relationship between state and civil society, this research will also contribute to the national interest in influencing institutional reform and democratic transition in Asia.

The project uses historical data to provide clear direction for public policy in the development of frontier technology for employment relations infrastructure at the workplace level. This infrastructure would support micro-economic reform, maximisation of workplace efficiency, the enhancement of employee job satisfaction, as well as offering means to close the representation gap that has emerged with the decline in trade union membership.

By using historical data policy development will be informed by Australian experience of success and failures in this area.

This project will

1. further refine two dating methods that will revolutionize Australia's capacity to date geological and archaeological events;
2. ensure that Australia remains in the forefront in applied geochronology and that a sufficient level of technical expertise remains within the country;
3. examine the sensitivity of coastal environments to rapid climate and sea-level changes;
4. increase public awareness of the scientific basis for the unique nature of Australia's coastal landscapes; and
5. may also assist in the exploration of strategically important minerals.