Monash Memo - articles - 7 November 2001

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ARC grants awarded against tough competition

Monash has been awarded 57 grants in the recently announced 2002 round of Australian Research Council awards.

Deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Development) Professor Peter Darvall (pictured) said this week he was delighted for the Monash researchers who have won in grants against "very tough competition".

He said it was particularly pleasing to see early career researchers and Logan Research Fellows being awarded grants.

But Professor Darvall said that while he congratulated the winners on their performance, the university hoped for greater successes next year.

"This year, the number and value of grants to Monash researchers was down on previous years, so for next year's rounds we will be redoubling our efforts," he said.

"We want to ensure we have the maximum number of high-quality applicants to do justice to the strength and scale of Monash research."

He said applicants for the 2003 rounds should already be preparing applications ready for review by colleagues.

"All those capable of winning grants should be submitting applications. The vice-chancellor will be taking a personal interest in the process this year."

The ARC introduced a new National Competitive Grants Program this year for funding commencing in 2002, comprising funding for Discovery Projects, Linkage-Projects, Linkage-International and Linkage-Infrastructure.

Discovery Projects are an amalgamation of the former Large Research Grants and Research Fellowships Schemes, which will enable researchers to customise their own combinations of research and research fellowships, including across institutions.

A total of 41 Discovery Projects grants were awarded to Monash researchers across a broad range of categories, from physics to philosophy and engineering to ecology.

Associate Professor Ingrid Zukerman and her team were awarded more than $200,000 for research into artificial intelligence.

The team hopes to produce a system that will generate replies to questions posed to online resources.

Professor Roy Jackson and Dr Andrea Robinson from the School of Chemistry will receive $215,000 for a three-year research project to develop new, highly efficient antibiotics and other commercially important organic molecules.

Other grant recipients included Professor Julian Rood, Associate Professor John Davies, Professor Ross Coppel and Professor Ben Adler for a proposed research project on footrot, one of the most economically significant diseases affecting sheep in Australia.

Professor Pat Vickers-Rich is part of a team set to receive about $550,000 for a five-year research project on the inhabitants of early cretaceous southeast Australia.

Among the Linkage-Project grants is a three-year project led by Professor David Kinley, with a consortium of major industry partners, exploring the human rights possibilities of multinational corporations.