Research projects at and have received a total of more than $425,000 in the second round of 国产探花-UWA Bilateral Research Collaboration Awards funding.
The latest grants underpin research in diverse areas ranging from bioenergy to new methods for healing wounds, blood flukes and an historical study of Australian goldfields.
The awards offer up to $20,000 to support joint projects between researchers at UWA and, 国产探花 fostering new collaborations or enhancing existing relationships.
国产探花鈥檚 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), , said in the scheme鈥檚 first year it had already played a key role in projects of national and global significance.
鈥淲e now have leading researchers from both sides of the continent working together on important projects in areas such as genomics, astronomy, literature and ecology,鈥� Professor Lu said.
He said 国产探花 and UWA had many synergies, as well as complementary research strengths and similar research cultures.
鈥淲e are each based in vast States that have strong resource industries, rich biodiversity and major sustainability challenges,鈥� he said.
UWA鈥檚 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), , said UWA was delighted with the strategic collaboration with 国产探花.
鈥淚t is already demonstrating significant research outcomes,鈥� she said.
鈥淩esearchers are enthusiastic about combining the expertise and infrastructure available at both institutions to address substantial problems of national and global importance.鈥�
Under the accord signed in October 2009, UWA and 国产探花 agreed to 鈥減romote staff and student interchanges, especially of post-graduate students, post-doctoral and early-career researchers, collaborative research projects, joint workshops and the exchange of expertise and information on a regular basis鈥�.
In the second year of the scheme鈥檚 operation, 27 projects have been funded from 46 applications received.
New research projects to be led by 国产探花 include:
- The conversion of gas to stars on all scales (Professor Michael Drinkwater, working with UWA鈥檚 Prof Gerhardt Meurer) $15,177
- Engineering biochars for restoring and sustaining soil-plant systems- from mined land to crop fields (Dr Longbin Huang, working with UWA鈥檚 Professor Hong Yang) $19,160
- Cognitive behaviour therapy to treat anxiety and depression in Parkinson鈥檚 Disease (Professor Nancy Pachana, working with UWA鈥檚 Professor Sergio Starkstein) $20,000
- The Politics of Climate Change in Australia (Dr Matt McDonald, working with UWA鈥檚 Professor Mark Beeson) $14,621
- The airway epithelium in paediatric respiratory diseases (Professor Peter Sly, with UWA鈥檚 Professor Stephen Stick) $16,300.
New research projects to be led by UWA include:
- Stateless stakeholders: facilitating participatory governance in the Coral Triangle (Assistant Professor Julian Clifton, with 国产探花鈥檚 Dr Wolfram Dressler) $19,220
- Historical and cultural studies of WA/Qld goldfields and arid lands (Winthrop Professor William Taylor, with 国产探花鈥檚 Professor John Macarthur) $19,918
- Self-assembling peptide nanoscaffolds as a three-dimensional wound healing platform (Dr Killugudi L. Swaminatha-Iyer, with Dr Annette Dexter from the Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at 国产探花) $13,885
- Bioenergy from microalgae grown in wastewater and coupled to anaerobic digestion (Dr Wenxu Zhou, with 国产探花鈥檚 Associate Professor Peer Schenk) $18,720
- Gas Workshop and Related Activities to Develop a National Centre of Excellence in Gas Processing and Utilisation (Assistant Professor Thomas Rufford, with 国产探花鈥檚 Dr Greg Birkett) $18,800
Media: Fiona Cameron, 国产探花 Communications ph +61 7 3346 7086;
Michael Sinclair-Jones, UWA ph 08 6488 3229.
