Swinburne ARC grant success highlights industry connection

Swinburne University of Technology has been awarded five industry and community connected grants worth more than $2.5 million in the latest round of ARC Linkage Projects.

The successful projects include Swinburne’s first Indigenous-led ARC funded grant, as well as research into using biomass waste to build roads, activating social connection to address isolation and broadening knowledge of south-eastern Aboriginal lives through photography.

Swinburne’s Vice-Chancellor Pascale Quester said the success across a range of projects recognised the university’s deep integration with industry.

“Swinburne is committed to working with industry to find tech solutions for a sustainable future,” Professor Quester said.

“Our success in the latest ARC Linkage Projects grant funding round highlights our capability to deliver these solutions and bring people and technology together to build a better world.”

Success for Swinburne research

Five Swinburne projects were awarded funding in the latest round of ARC Linkage Projects grants.

Moondani Toombadool Centre Research Fellow Dr Sadie Heckenberg will lead a project to develop a national framework that empowers self-determination in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls, creating life-changing educational opportunities.

Another project, led by Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History Karen Hughes, will work with Ngarrindjeri custodians and the South Australian Museum to recover, curate and exhibit a large archive of photographs created by Aboriginal photographers in the mid-20^th century.

As COVID-19 lockdowns continue to have an impact on mental health, Director of the Swinburne Social Innovation Research Institute, Professor Jane Farmer, will lead a team to create world-first practical tools and guidance to activate social connections to address isolation.

In a bid to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and redirect waste from landfills, geotechnical engineering expert Professor Arul Arulrajah will lead a team to develop a new low-carbon technology utilising biomass waste composites in road subgrades and bases.

Finally, a project entitled Scalable Graphene Enabled Smart Composites will look at creating new lightweight composite materials. Senior Research Fellow Dr Nishar Hameed is the Chief Investigator.

The ARC’s Linkage Projects scheme supports collaborative research projects between higher education researchers and partner organisations in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Funding is awarded on a basis of a competitive process and rigorous assessment to support the highest-quality researchers and research projects across disciplines.