Examples of Linkage Projects commencing in 2015
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) universities will receive more than $8 million through the Australian
Research Council Linkage Projects scheme for 21 new research projects commencing in
2015.
Some examples of the WA projects are provided below.
To view the summaries of all successful projects, visit the ARC website.
The University of Western Australia
Lead Chief Investigator: Professor Christophe Gaudin (LP150100598)
Summary: This project aims to develop an economic and efficient anchoring system for
taut-moored wave energy converters to enable us to exploit sustainable wave energy
resources. Australia’s potential near-shore wave energy resource is four times larger than the
current total capacity of our installed power generation. But the development of ocean wave
energy is presently hampered by expensive, traditional anchoring systems. Using better
estimation of extreme loads, the project will use multidisciplinary approaches to investigate
unique anchoring concepts with the aim of developing novel strategies to avoid the most
extreme loads and enabling optimum anchor design. The outcomes of the project are intended
to help to deliver economically viable wave energy projects.
Partner Organisation: Carnegie Wave Energy Limited/Carnegie Corp Ltd
ARC funding: $460 000 over three years
Curtin University of Technology
Lead Chief Investigator: Dr Wensu Chen (LP150100259)
Summary: This project plans to investigate the dynamic response of basalt fibre reinforced
polymer (BFRP) reinforced structures against blast loading. Critical infrastructures such as
embassy buildings, high-rise building, bridges and defence facilities are intensively targeted by
increasing terrorist activities or accidental explosions. BFRP is a promising material for such
structures because it is cheaper than carbon fibre and has better physico-mechanical
properties than glass fibre. However, there has been very limited study of the effectiveness of
BFRP strengthening on structure blast-loading resistant capacities. This project aims to
perform numerical and experimental studies to support the development of BFRP applications
in strengthening structures against blast loads.
Partner Organisations: Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co Ltd; State Key Laboratory of
Disaster Prevention & Mitigation of Explosion & Impact
ARC funding: $210 000 over three years
The University of Western Australia
Lead Chief Investigator: Professor Peter Veth (LP150100490)
Summary: This project aims to examine the role that art has played in managing social and
environmental change over the past 50 000 years. The project seeks to carry out the first
systematic comparative analysis of different rock art repertoires and associated archaeology
from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. It is intended that identifying continuities and changes
in this archaeological signature will provide direct evidence of how people adapted and
signalled their identity. Intended outcomes are new understanding to contribute to interregional rock art studies and inform Indigenous and government heritage management
practices.
Partner Organisations: Kimberley Foundation Australia; Department of Parks and
Wildlife/Department of Environment and Conservation; Dunkeld Pastoral Co. Pty. Ltd./Dunkeld
Pastoral Co Pty Ltd
ARC funding: $865 905 over five years
Curtin University of Technology
Lead Chief Investigator: Professor Kliti Grice (LP150100341)
Summary: The project aims to reduce the costs of drilling in deep-water offshore by better
identifying potential drilling sites. The North-West shelf offshore Australia is the main supplier
of liquefied natural gas. However, there is uncertainty about the age of petroleum (oil and gas)
discovered in the region. It is not currently possible to constrain an age of fluids to a number of
source rocks. The aims are to develop a high-level age discriminative tool for fluids. An
interdisciplinary approach will be applied using state-of-the-art techniques including
comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry,
compound specific isotope analysis of hydrocarbons, clumped isotopes of methane and
metagenomics.
Partner Organisation: Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
ARC funding: $455 000 over three years
Murdoch University
Lead Chief Investigator: Professor John Howieson (LP150100848)
Summary: This project aims to develop nitrogen-fixing legumes adapted to the changing
climate. Nitrogen fixation from legumes is worth $3 billion to the Australian agricultural
economy, but changing rainfall patterns threaten much of this. One solution is to transition
pasture growth to a reliance on perennial plants, which are less affected by unseasonal rain.
Lebeckia ambigua is an outstanding perennial legume to begin this change, but its nitrogen
fixation is compromised by nodulation failure caused by death of its symbiotic rhizobia. This
project intends to improve the survival in acid and infertile soils of the unique rhizobial
symbionts the research team has discovered for Lebeckia ambigua in South Africa.
Partner Organisations: University of Cape Town; Department of Agriculture & Food; Global
Pasture Consultants Pty Ltd; Alosca Technologies Pty Ltd
ARC funding: $335 834 over three years