The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced the 2025 round of successful Discovery Projects, which includes projects that explore new applications of artificial intelligence, the impact of climate change across human society and natural ecosystems, and innovative new materials and techniques with industrial applications.
The University of Sydney leads on 57 projects awarded a total of $36.85 million – more than 10 percent of the funding awarded in the current round by the ARC to 536 new projects across the country.
Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Research) Professor Julie Cairney, congratulated the successful applicants.
“The ARC Discovery Projects scheme is incredibly competitive, and it’s fantastic to see so many projects from the University of Sydney recognised in the latest round,” Professor Cairney said.
“To have 57 successful applications from across the University’s faculties and schools, out of 536 awarded nationally, speaks to the calibre of our academics’ expertise and our world-leading facilities which enable research excellence.”
ARC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Richard Johnson, said the ARC Discovery Projects scheme supports excellent basic and applied research to expand Australia’s knowledge base and research capability.
“Discovery grants support individual researchers and research teams in research projects that provide economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits to the Australian community,” Dr Johnson said.
Research projects funded by the ARC’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Competitive Grants Programs such as the Discovery Projects scheme have been found to generate $3.32 in economic output for every $1 of research funding.
- Professor Steven Armfield , $624, 591 – Understanding Turbulent Mixing to Prevent Fish Kills in Australian Rivers
- Professor Alison Betts , $863,257 – Building Climate Resilience in India’s Northeast Nagaland Region
- Dr Gareth Bryant , $833,154 – Evaluating Strategies for Australia’s Economic Response to Climate Change
- Professor Julie Cairney , $1,020,143 – Developing Safe Alloys for Hydrogen-Rich Environments
- Professor Yuan Chen , $825,497 – Innovative Carbon Material Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Associate Professor Ronald Clarke $831,600 – Discovering Ion Pump Regulation Mechanisms in Cell Membranes
- Professor Deanna D’Alessandro , $499,601 – Creating Advanced Materials for Ultrafast Optical Signal Processing
- Professor Fariba Dehghani , $512,052 – Enhancing Electroconductive Polymers for Diverse Industrial Applications
- Professor Abbas El-Zein , $625,501 – Studying Micro- and Nanoplastics in Soil to Protect Water Bodies
- Dr Jasmine Fardouly , $681,211 – Reducing Harmful Social Media Ads to Improve Body Image
- Professor Michele Ford , $561,608 – Assessing AI’s Role in Digital Attacks on Freedom of Association in Southeast Asia
- Associate Professor Vincent Gramoli , $480,422 – Creating a Fair Decentralised Platform for Client Requests
- Dr Joanne Gray , $486,393 – Developing Regulations to Prevent Harms in Virtual and Augmented Reality
- Professor Christopher Hilliard , $242,634 – Exploring the History of Efforts to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Australia and Britain
- Professor Simon Ho , $525,902 – Studying Evolutionary Rates and Timescales Using Phylogenomic Data
- Professor Anita Ho-Baillie , $662,287 – Advancing In-Memory Computing with Lead-Free Perovskite Transistors
- Professor Jun Huang , $637,673 – Converting Glycerol into High-Value Chemicals and Green Hydrogen Fuel
- Dr Daniel Huber , $475,184 – Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to Study Stellar Convection
- Professor Kurt Iveson , $635,938 – Examining the Process of Wiring Australian Cities for Telecommunications
- Professor Onur Kesten , $359,134 – Developing Optimal Mediation Protocols for Dispute Resolution
- Professor Julia Kindt , $345,000 – Exploring the Emergence of Truth as a Social Value in Classical Greece
- Professor Manfred Lenzen , $598,386 – Investigating Degrowth Pathways for Australia’s Climate and Wellbeing Goals
- Dr Fengwang Li , $664,600 – Innovative Cooling Strategies for Large-Scale CO2 Electrolysis
- Professor Yonghui L i, $627,136 – Advancing Wireless Human-Machine Collaboration for Industry 5.0
- Professor Qing Li , $734,581 – Designing Flexible Metamaterials with Exceptional Mechanical Properties
- Professor Xiaozhou Liao , $627,538 – Unraveling Mechanical Behaviors of Metallic Materials at the Atomic Level
- Associate Professor Khoon Lim , $765,000 – Engineering In Vitro Aging Models to Study Human Aging Mechanisms
- Professor Nathan Lo , $664,105 – Establishing a Genomic Observatory for Invertebrate Conservation on Lord Howe Island
- Dr Sophia Maalsen , $648,006 – Developing Governance Frameworks for AI Urbanism in Australian Cities
- Associate Professor Federico Maggi , $1,134,690 – Understanding the Role of Inorganic Carbon in Soil Carbon Turnover
- Dr Benjy Marks , $579,272 – Developing a New Model to Predict and Mitigate Soil Erosion in Earth Dams
- Professor Assaad Masri , $618,677 – Creating Optimal E-Fuel Blends for Clean and Efficient Combustion
- Professor Clare McArthur , $670,775 – Using Plant Odours to Improve Herbivore Foraging and Plant Survival
- Associate Professor Andrew Merchant , $762,116 – Quantifying Leaf to Seed Material Transfer in Plants Under Stress
- Professor Kristie Miller , $356,993 – Investigating Mental Time Travel in Humans and Chimpanzees
- Dr Claire O’Callaghan , $1,076,895 – Exploring Neural Mechanisms of Compositional Cognition in the Human Brain
- Associate Professor Anastasios Panagiotelis , $625,494 – Developing Robust Forecasting Methods for Retail and Energy Sectors
- Professor Gianluca Ranzi , $558,761 – Creating Cementless Carbon-Negative Concrete for Sustainable Construction
- Dr Reuben Rideaux , $793,945 – Studying Dynamic Perception in Virtual Multisensory Environments
- Associate Professor Thomas Roberts , $875,853 – Exploring the Viability of Native Grains for Commercial Food Applications
- Associate Professor Pierre Rognon , $552,481 – Improving Energy Efficiency in Excavating Granular Materials
- Associate Professor Sarina Sarina , $414,908 – Enhancing Epoxide Production Using Light to Stabilise Metal Catalysts
- Professor Frank Seebacher , $564,099 – Modeling Animal Resilience to Heat Waves Through Hormone Analysis
- Dr Jemma Todd , $668,000 – Exploring the Impact of Mental Imagery on Pain Perception Using VR
- Dr Daniel Tubbenhauer , $572,736 – Introducing New Methods to Study Monoidal Categories in Mathematics
- Associate Professor Marian Vidal-Fernandez , $824,458 – Measuring the Impact of British Colonisation on Australia’s Socio-Economic Outcomes
- Professor Gregory Warr , $827,760 – Developing Environmentally-Friendly Lubricants for Extreme Conditions
- Associate Professor Charles Warren , $591,176 – Investigating Resource Supply Effects on Soil and Gut Microbial Systems
- Professor Jody Webster , $1,081,809 – Studying Climate Impacts on Coral Reefs Using Fossil Reefs in Hawaii
- Professor Fiona White , $897,000 – Using Mixed-Reality Technology to Develop Effective Racism Reduction Methods
- Dr Thomas White , $412,152 – Identifying Resilience Drivers in Insect/Plant Pollination Systems in the Australian Alps
- Professor Stefan Williams , $523,011 – Enhancing Robotic Perception in Challenging Environments
- Professor Yiming Ying , $547,873 – Creating Fairness Algorithms for Machine Learning in High-Stakes Domains
- Associate Professor Hao Zhang , $385,359 – Developing Reliable Design Methods for Reused Steel Structures
- Associate Professor Xiaohuan Zhao , $723,881 – Examining the Evolution of Chinese Temple Theatre Architecture
- Associate Professor Bing Zhou , $495,000 – Combining Deep Learning and Federated Analytics for Real-Time Video Applications
- Professor Hala Zreiqat, $656,338 – Understanding the Impact of Hyperboloidal Curvature on Cell Senescence
