Research Grants Awarded

ARC Linkage Projects awarded for 2020

Western Sydney University has been awarded three Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects grants with a funding total of over $924,415. An additional two projects involving Western researchers received almost $1.2 million in further funding.

The Linkage Projects scheme supports the development of long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and industry and other research end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems.

Linkage Projects provide opportunities for internationally competitive research projects to be conducted in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector, and enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

Linkage Projects

Linkage Projects administered by other institutions

  • Professor Kerry London
    School of Built Environment
    Constructing Building Integrity: Raising standards through professionalism
    (via Griffith University)
  • Dr Tanya Notley
    School of Humanities and Communication Arts
    Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families
    (via Queensland University of Technology)

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

NHMRC Investigator Grants awarded for 2020

Western Sydney University has been awarded two significant medical research grants worth over $2.1 million to further develop innovative strategies and approaches towards dementia prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation, both common and devastating conditions that cut short lives across the world.

Investigator Grants support research across biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research. They enable researchers to work flexibly, pursuing new research directions as they arise and forming collaborations as needed.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

  • Associate Professor Genevieve Steiner
    NICM Health Research Institute
    Teaching an old brain new tricks: optimising cognitive training through neuroplasticity
  • Dr Caleb Ferguson
    School of Nursing and Midwifery; Translational Health Research Institute (THRI)
    INFORM-AF: a randomised controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a digital education program for atrial fibrillation

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

ARC Discovery Projects awarded for 2020

Discovery Projects grants are awarded to support excellent basic and applied research by researchers and teams to conduct research that expands Australia's knowledge base and research capability. These awards aim to encourage research and training in high-quality research environments and improve international collaboration so that the international competitiveness of Australian research is maintained.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

ARC Discovery Projects administered by other institutions

  • Professor Jane Ussher
    School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute (via The University of New South Wales)
    Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status
  • Professor Eileen McLaughlin
    School of Science (via Monash University)
    Control of developmental switches by importin
  • Professor Miroslav Filipovic
    School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics (via The University of Adelaide)
    The Dawn of Extreme Gamma Ray Astronomy

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA) awarded for 2020

We are pleased to announce that Dr Renée Marchin Prokopavicius from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment has been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), receiving over $400,000 in funding for the University.

The DECRA scheme provides focused research support for early career researchers in both teaching and research, and research-only positions.

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

ARC Future Fellowships awarded for 2019

Three Western Sydney researchers have been awarded Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowships, attracting more than $2.8 million in funding for the University.

The Future Fellowships scheme supports research in areas of critical national importance by giving outstanding researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia. The aim of the Future Fellowships scheme is to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

  • Associate Professor Juan Salazar
    School of Humanities and Communication Arts; Institute for Culture and Society
    Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures
  • Associate Professor Jeff Powell
    Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
    Understanding mycorrhizal phenotypes using functional traits
  • Dr James East
    School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics
    Diagram categories and transformation semigroups

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

NHMRC Partnership Projects awarded for 2019

Western Sydney University has been awarded $1.4 million to lead a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project focused on tackling the diabetes epidemic within Sydney’s Pasifika communities.

An additional project involving Western researchers received $1.2 million in further funding.

Partnership Projects create partnerships among decision makers, policy makers, managers, clinicians and researchers to answer a specific research question to influence health and well-being through changes in the delivery, organisation, funding and access to health services.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

The Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme

Partnership Projects administered by other institutions

'Watch Me Grow': Changing practice to improve Universal Child Health and Developmental Surveillance in the primary care setting (administered by University of New South Wales)

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence awarded for 2019

Centres of Research Excellence administered by other institutions

Western Sydney University has been awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence bid as a Participating Institution. The project, led by the University of Sydney and titled ‘Reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviours in young people presenting for health care’ has received $2.5 million in funding. Congratulations to Professor Andrew Page from the School of Medicine and the Translational Health Research Institute (THRI) who is a Chief Investigator on the grant.

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

ARC Linkage Projects awarded for 2019

Western Sydney University has been awarded two Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects grants with a funding total of $485,250. An additional project involving Western researchers received $330,000 in further funding.

Linkage Projects grants are awarded to support the initiation and/or development of long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and industry and other research end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems to provide opportunities to achieve national economic, commercial, environmental, or social benefits.

Linkage Projects also provide opportunities for internationally competitive research projects to be conducted in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector and encourage the growth of a national pool of world-class researchers.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

Linkage Projects

Linkage Projects administered by other institutions

  • Dr Yingyan Zhang
    School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics
    High-Performance Polymer Composites for Electrical Discharging
    (via University of South Australia)
  • Associate Professor Christine Woodrow
    Centre for Educational Research
    Engagement in early childhood education in the context of disadvantage
    (via University of New South Wales)

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants awarded for 2019

Western Sydney University researchers have been awarded $1.9 million in NHMRC Project Grant funding to test the effectiveness of a novel medication which could prevent women who develop severe preeclampsia needing to give birth prematurely; and a Postgraduate Scholarship received $88,502 of additional funding. A further three Project Grants and one Boosting Dementia Research Grant involving Western academics, submitted via other institutions, received an additional $2.3 million.

Project Grants

The NHMRC Project Grants scheme supports individuals and teams of researchers undertaking biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research in Australian universities, medical schools, hospitals and other research institutions. The objective of the scheme is to support the creation of new knowledge by funding the best investigator initiated research project plans of five years, or less, in any area relevant to human health.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

Postgraduate Scholarships

The NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships scheme funds successful applicants to attain a research based postgraduate degree (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or a Masters Degree). It aims to support outstanding health and medical graduates early in their career so they can be trained to conduct research that is internationally competitive and develop a capacity for original independent research within Australia.

Congratulations to Amy Villarosa from the School of Nursing and Midwifery on her NHMRC funding success.

  • Amy Villarosa, School of Nursing and Midwifery
    Development and implementation of the Children’s Healthy Eating and Weight Intervention (CHEWI) program for dental therapists in Australia

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

Project Grants administered by other institutions

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

  • Dr Rose Chesworth, School of Medicine
    Novel Nanotechnology for the Delivery of Amyloid and Tau aggregation Targeting siRNA for a potential Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy (via Macquarie University)
  • Professor Dafna Merom, School of Science and Health
    WalkBack: Preventing recurrence of low back pain (via Macquarie University)
  • Professor Andrew Page, Translational Health Research Institute
    Health service and medicine utilisation before suicide: optimising suicide prevention using population-based linkage of routinely collected data (via University of Sydney)

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

Boosting Dementia Research Grants administered by other institutions

Congratulations to Dr Genevieve Steiner from the NICM Health Research Institute on her NHMRC funding success.

  • Dr Genevieve Steiner, NICM Health Research Institute
    Self-management and HeAlth Promotion in early-stage dementia with E-learning for carers - A randomised controlled trial (via University of New South Wales)

For further details see NHMRC Funding Outcomes

Australian Research Council (ARC) grants awarded for 2019

We are pleased to announce that the University has been awarded ten Discovery Projects grants and one Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) with a funding total of $3.8 million. A further five Discovery Projects involving Western academics, submitted via other institutions, received an additional $1.9 million.

Discovery Projects

Discovery Projects grants are awarded to support excellent basic and applied research by researchers and teams to conduct research that expands Australia's knowledge base and research capability. These awards aim to encourage research and training in high-quality research environments and improve international collaboration so that the international competitiveness of Australian research is maintained.

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards

Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRAs) are awarded to promising early career researchers (ECRs) who have been awarded a PhD within five years, or longer if combined with periods of significant career interruption. The award gives ECRs an opportunity for diverse career pathways in both teaching and research, and research-only positions in high quality and supportive environments with a broadened aim to expand Australia's knowledge base and research capability.

  • Dr Pejman Sharafi
    Centre for Infrastructure Engineering
    Interactions between volumetric units in modular buildings

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

Discovery Projects administered by other institutions

Congratulations to the following researchers on their funding success:

  • Associate Professor Robert Mailhammer, School of Humanities and Communication Arts
    1 potato, 2 wotatoes, 3 otatoes: Lexical access in Australian languages
    (via University of Newcastle)
  • Dr Antonio Lauto, School of Science and Health
    Bioelectronics: addressing the biointerface challenge
    (via University of New South Wales)
  • Dr Kate Umbers, School of Science and Health
    Don't eat me! Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape
    (via Macquarie University)
  • Associate Professor Ahmed Moustafa, School of Social Sciences and Psychology
    Investigating human associative learning using a genetic approach
    (via University of Adelaide)
  • Associate Professor Cristina Rocha, School of Social Sciences and Psychology
    The African diaspora and pentecostalism in Australia: mobility, media and belonging
    (via University of Western Australia)

For further details see ARC Funding Outcomes

Major grants awarded for 2019

SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)

As a member of the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) (opens in a new window), the University welcomed the $55 million funding announcement from the Federal Government’s Department of Industry, Science & Technology.

The SmartSat CRC is a consortium of industry and research organisations that will develop game changing technologies to bootstrap Australia’s space industry and catapult it into the 1/2 trillion dollar global economy.

Congratulations to the following researchers involved:

Read the media release for more information.

Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)

Western Sydney University is set to play a key role in the future of agritech in Australia after the Federal Government announced it will invest $35 million over the next ten years in the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

The CRC was initiated by the NSW Farmers Association on behalf of the national farm sector and as part of a broader industry-wide push to increase value-adding capability, product differentiation and responsiveness to consumer preferences.

Congratulations to the following researchers involved:

Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

School of Science and Health

Institute for Culture and Society

  • Professor Donald McNeill

NICM Health Research Institute

Read the media release for more information.

Internal research grants

The University supports the development of research projects through its competitive research grant schemes. Internal funding is provided through the Research Partnerships Program and the Researcher Development Funding Scheme

For details of grants awarded see Internal Research Grants Awarded