Research on countering antimicrobial resistance, combatting extremism, and tuning body clocks for personalised sleep treatments are amongst six transformative Flinders University projects awarded $6.67 million in Future Fellowships by the Australian Research Council.
Flinders secured the lion’s share of projects awarded to South Australia, with Professor Emma Thomas (Psychology), Associate Professor Andrew Phillips (Sleep), Associate Professor Martin Polkinghorne (Archaeology), Dr Vi Khanh Truong (Biotechnology), and Dr Witold Bloch (chemistry) named future fellows in the 2024 funding round.
The Future Fellowships scheme facilitates research excellence by supporting outstanding mid-career researchers to undertake high-quality research in areas of national and international benefit over four years.
Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Raymond Chan says from 2018, Flinders saw the fastest growth in research income of any Australian university* and this latest funding success reflects the University’s commitment to impactful research through industry and community collaboration on an international scale.
“It’s pleasing to see that Flinders’ success rate for these fellowships is well above the national average and the strongest among SA universities. Fifty percent of the university’s projects received funding, and we look forward to seeing their invaluable impact over the next four years.”
“Congratulations to our successful researchers as they embark on projects that will transform industry practices, enhance our cultural knowledge, and lead to scientific breakthroughs that ultimately benefit the entire community.”
FUTURE FELLOWSHIPS:
Professor Emma Thomas – College of Education, Psychology & Social Work
Unravelling the psychological foundations of reactionary social movements.
Grant Amount: $1,211,132
Research on why people act collectively to oppose equality and inclusion is rare. Using new approaches, this project aims to understand when, how, and why people organise collectively to oppose the inclusion of migrants and transgender people; what prompts some people to escalate to political or physical violence; and how online platforms enable engagement.
This work aims to define the social psychologies and trajectories of engagement and extremism, and will support a growing collaboration with the national intelligence community to bolster social cohesion and inform de-escalation tactics.
Associate Professor Andrew Phillips – College of Medicine & Public Health
A new paradigm for tracking the circadian clock.
Grant Amount: $1,211,101
The circadian clock controls biological processes in every tissue. There are large differences between people in circadian timing, yet we lack accurate and simple methods for measuring this. This project aims create a novel model of the human circadian system and new methods to enable rapid individualisation of the model.
This research will collect data from wearable devices to accurately assess the timing of a person’s body clock. Benefits will include individually tailored countermeasures for mistimed circadian rhythms to improve sleep, enhance workplace performance, and treat diseases that involve mistimed circadian rhythms.
Associate Professor Martin Polkinghorne – College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences
Resilience and Relocation: Unravelling the end of Angkor.
Grant Amount: $1,211,132
This research addresses the unresolved issue of Angkor’s decline, among the largest pre-industrial cities on Earth, by examining human settlement, landscape management, and resilience to climatic and demographic changes.
Employing novel methods in archaeology, geoscience, and history, and building upon twenty-five years of Australian-led research in Cambodia, Dr Polkinghorne will lead a team to interpret Angkor’s decline as a distinct socio-cultural event, rather than a simple ‘collapse.’
The focus is on Srei Santhor, a pivotal site where Angkor’s elites sought to ensure food security and maintain political authority amidst an agricultural crisis. The findings will reveal key insights into societal evolution, modelling long-term socioeconomic trends.
Dr Vi Khanh Truong – College of Medicine & Public Health
Gallium Liquid Metal Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of Antimicrobials.
Grant Amount: $922,232
Antimicrobial resistance has become an urgent problem. This project aims to employ advanced strategies to design the next generation of antimicrobial materials using gallium liquid metal nanoparticles.
These materials will efficiently target microbial pathogens while remaining safe for mammalian cells. This project will generate advanced knowledge and an understanding of bio-nano interactions between liquid metals and biological cells. On the applied side, the project will deliver novel solutions to current challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance in various fields, including healthcare, food, environment, and agriculture.
Dr Witold Bloch – College of Science & Engineering
Supramolecular host-in-host adsorbents that trap perfluorinated pollutants.
Grant Amount: $922,912
This project aims to enhance the design of advanced composites to trap types of perfluoroalkyl pollutants that current water treatment approaches fail to address.
This research expects to generate significant new knowledge in chemistry, materials design, and water remediation. Significant benefits include access to high-performance adsorbents that remove pollutants from water and reduce adverse health effects associated with exposure to these harmful toxins.
College of Science & Engineering
Quantifying the long-term resilience of Australian mammal communities.
Grant Amount: $1,194,104
This project aims to study how mammal communities in Australia have changed over the last 25 million years and provide major new data showing how biodiversity is assembled, maintained, and lost over time.
Expected outcomes include new knowledge regarding the resilience of Australian mammal communities to environmental changes and extinction and identifying when there have been major shifts in the way in which they have functioned. It will help predict how modern Australian mammal fauna will respond to the current extinction crisis and to climate change, thereby informing more effective conservation strategies.
Footnote:
* HERDC data 2018 – 2022