200 early career researchers have secured $93 million of federal grants for multi-year projects, including the deployment of 6G, membranes that capture CO2, and exploring how workers are training the AI software that may replace them.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) announced the latest round of the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award on Monday, revealing the full list of three-year projects that beat out almost 1000 other applicants.
The prestigious grants provide the early career researchers with salaries and certain costs, advancing their careers and fostering national and international collaboration.
The latest round had a success rate of 18 per cent, awarding 200 projects with $93 million after more than 1100 applicants had requested $526 million in funding.
Engineering and biological sciences were the fields of research with the most approved projects, while Monash and the University of Sydney were the most successful universities.
Monash University senior lecturer Dr Robbie Fordyce secured almost $500,000 to explore the way that office software is increasingly used to gather data from Australian workers to train the artificial intelligence that may replace them, as Australian lawmakers start grappling with the issue.
The University of Sydney’s Dr Chentao Yue secured a grant to develop advanced channel coding and decoding theories and technologies for 6G networks. Without them the next generation mobile network could be limited, threatening the potential of automated facilities like smart factories and hospitals.
UNSW’s Dr Qingqing Cheng will also explore 6G with a DECRA grant, with her project to explore ‘vehicle-to-everything’ systems in the next network in a bid to improve road safety and emissions outcomes.
The membranes used for direct air capture of carbon dioxide will be explored by the University of Queensland’s Dr Min Liu. The Adjunct Associate Professor will examine the technologies with a view to establishing fabricating efficient and scalable nanomembranes.
The full list of successful projects is available here.
ARC acting chief executive officer Dr Richard Johnson said the DECRA scheme has a strong track record of producing new knowledge that solves problems and fills current gaps.
“As well as boosting Australia’s research and innovation capacity, DECRA projects result in new technologies and ideas, leading to new jobs, economic growth, and ultimately improved quality of life for Australians,” he said.
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