Researchers from the University of Adelaide have been awarded over $5 million of funding through the 2025 Australian Research Council Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme.
Over five years, the five successful recipients will explore topics from national water security to high energy astrophysics.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Anton Middelberg congratulated the recipients.
“We’re delighted with the University of Adelaide’s success in this Australian Research Council grant round. This funding will help provide access to vital research infrastructure, equipment and facilities to support the scale and focus of our world-class research,” he said.
“These grants empower our researchers to push boundaries and deliver innovations in collaboration with industry and the broader research community.”
The ARC’s LIEF scheme fosters collaboration between higher education organisations and industry enabling access to the infrastructure, equipment and facilities needed to carry out research.
The full list of University of Adelaide recipients under the ARC LIEF scheme include:
Professor Gavin Rowell of the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences and the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) was awarded $2,100,000 for a transformational multi-national facility in gamma-ray astronomy which will be ten times more sensitive than current instruments and provide a paradigm shift in understanding many challenges in high energy astrophysics and in the makeup of dark matter.
Dr Andreas Boes of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and IPAS, was awarded $989,620 for a project aiming to create Australia’s first and only facility for Atomic Layer Etching which is set to be a connection point between multiple disciplines, enabling research in quantum technology, broadband networks, sensing, materials science, and beyond, accelerating its adoption by Australian manufacturing.
Professor Paul Jackson of the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences was awarded $900,000 for a project which aims to provide continued access to both the high energy and high precision frontier of high energy physics to explore how the universe works at a fundamental level. The project is in collaboration with the European Laboratory of Particle Physics at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) and the KEK Laboratory in Japan.
Professor Andre Luiten, Chief Innovator and Chair of Experimental Physics from IPAS was awarded $824,046 which will increase the capacity of the University’s Atom Trap Trace Analysis facility addressing national water security and sustainability goals through generating new knowledge into groundwater systems.
Professor Nigel Spooner from the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences and IPAS was awarded $589,412 to support a unique Micro-photoluminescence facility for robust, field-deployable material identification, enabling spatially resolved analysis of samples in multiple industries from mining and mineral processing, to food and agriculture.
University of Adelaide experts are also involved in eight other projects with other universities that have received funding under the LIEF scheme.
In addition to the LIEF funding, Professor Spooner was also awarded in round one of the 2024 with $675,816 for a project which will develop a new portable device that can be used to detect asbestos in real-world scenarios such as within homes or workplaces. This has the potential for significant public health and economic benefits through reduced exposure to hazardous asbestos dust.
See the full list of recipients of the scheme.
See the full list of recipients of the scheme.
