Research Success

Women's health after imprisonment (PDF File 80.3 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Penelope Abbott and Professors Wendy Hu and Parker Magin of the School of Medicine have been awarded funding to investigate how women newly released from prison might have better access to primary health care. The project, which is supported by a RACGP Foundation Family Medical Care Education and Research Grant, aims to identify the barriers this vulnerable group faces in achieving something as routine and important as visiting a GP.

Changing rights to family life (PDF File 404.4 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Sonja van Wichelen of the Institute for Culture and Society is examining how globalisation and biotechology affect Australian law and families. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council through its Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme.

Listening across languages (PDF File 171.0 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Anne Cutler from the MARCS Institute, together with Dr Evelina Fedorenko from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will investigate the native listening advantage: a native speaker's ability to recognise words in new voices and contexts faster than second language speakers. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council through its Discovery Projects scheme.

Turning young lives around (PDF File 130.2 KB) (opens in a new window)
Associate Professor Brian Stout of the School of Social Sciences and Psychology has been awarded funding to examine the success of a community-based intervention program for young offenders. The research, which is supported and funded by Juvenile Justice NSW, will examine the effect of the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) on a young person's wider world: other family members, especially younger siblings, caregivers, peers and schools.

Pentecostal Connections (PDF File 236.7 KB) (opens in a new window)
Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Dr Cristina Rocha of the Religion and Society Research Centre is examining how Pentecostal churches impact on the everyday lives of Brazilian international students and migrants in Australia. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council.

Working on better mental health (PDF File 142.9 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Vanessa Rose and Associate Professor Janette Perz from the Centre for Health Research have been awarded funding to continue work on measures to improve the mental health of young people who are unemployed. The study, which is supported by Australian Rotary Health, is part of a decade-long cognitive behaviour program called Walk the Talk.

Getting down to grass roots (PDF File 253.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Scott Johnson and Dr Ben Moore from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment have been awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grant to investigate the defence mechanisms of Australian grasses against invasive root herbivores. This project will also seek to understand how domesticated grasses differ from their wild ancestors in defence strategies.

Clever thinking for student success (PDF File 86.4 KB) (opens in a new window)
Associate Professor David Cole of the Centre for Educational Research, recently led a team that examined whether students who learn to think critically in years 11 and 12 become high achievers at university. With funding from the International Baccalaureate Organization, the project investigated the experiences of more than 1300 IB students to determine what value they and their teachers placed on the diploma program's Theory of Knowledge course.

Getting to the root of the matter (PDF File 195.0 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Jeff Powell from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, has received funding from the ARC Discovery Projects program to identify plant and fungal traits that predict how mycorrhizal plants benefit under a variety of conditions. Dr Powell will be collaborating with Partner Investigator, Dr Matthias Rillig of the Free University of Berlin.

'Home Sweet Home!' (PDF File 241.3 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Mark Tjoelker of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) has been awarded an ARC Discovery Project grant to investigate how thermal acclimation influences leaf and tree carbon exchange, and whether this depends upon a tree's "home" climate. The project team includes HIE researchers; Dr Oula Ghannoum, Dr John Drake, Professor David Tissue and Professor Peter Reich.

A nod to the wise in motherese (PDF File 303.0 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Christine Kitamura and Associate Professor Jeesun Kim of the MARCS Institute along with Dr Gerard Bailly from the National Organisation for Academic Scientific Research are investigating the contribution a speaker's head gestures and facial movements make to the way babies learn language. The project will use the latest animation technology to clone a virtual 'talking mother' to explore which visual signals are most important.

Health care partners in Sydney's west (PDF File 192.1 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Jennifer Reath along with Drs Penelope Burns, Ron Brooker and Penny Abbott from the School of Medicine, have been awarded funding to evaluate the partnership between the Medicare Local charged with developing primary health care for western Sydney and the Local Health District in the same area. The project is supported by Western Sydney Medicare Local (Wentwest).

Improving English language skills (PDF File 228.3 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Jacqueline D'warte of the School of Education is investigating how teachers can create opportunities for students to reveal the language and literacy skills they possess and how to harness these for classroom learning. This project is funded by the NSW Department of Education and Communities through its Multicultural Programs Unit.

Safe to the last drop (PDF File 143.9 KB) (opens in a new window)
Associate Professor Arumugam Sathasivan from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics is investigating an early warning system to detect deterioration of drinking water in Sydney. The project, which is supported by UWS and Sydney Water, aims to detect microbiological changes to water in time to respond in a safe and cost-effective way.

When fire and water mix (PDF File 283.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor David Ellsworth from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment is leading an investigation into how rising atmospheric CO₂ concentration affects the relative abundance of grasses and shrubs in a woodland ecosystem. The Discovery Project, which is supported by the Australian Research Council, will examine the links between CO₂ and changes to soil water levels and fire risk.