UNSW has exceeded the national success rate for the 2007 Australian Research Council Linkage Projects, with seven faculties receiving more than $4.5 million in grants spread across 19 projects.
UNSW has exceeded the national success rate for the 2007 Australian Research Council Linkage Projects, with seven faculties receiving more than $4.5 million in grants spread across 19 projects.
UNSW's success rate for applications was 53 percent, compared with 46 percent for the national average and 52 percent for all Group of Eight Universities.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences had a 100 percent success rate in its applications. This result will provide the Faculty with more than $763,000 in funding over the next five years for projects in the areas of social work and language studies.
"We are delighted with this result for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences," says Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Les Field. "It particularly reflects the strength of their research in the area of social work where they received three grants for research into grandparents as carers, the safety of women refugees, and children with disabilities in China."
Partners for the projects in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences range from the NSW Department of Community Services through to the Japan Foundation.
The largest UNSW grant went to a team from the Faculty of Science who will receive more than $500,000 over four years to conduct research into microbial ecology in Antarctic lakes, in order to determine ways to preserve the health of the world's ecosystems. Novel biodegradable enzymes will be developed to replace harsh chemicals, providing environmentally friendly, cheaper and more effective agents for use in medical, biotechnological, industrial and biodefence applications. Project partners are the US DOE Joint Genome Institute and Novapharm Pty Ltd.
Professor Bill Randolph and his team at the Centre for City Futures in the Faculty of the Built Environment received the second largest grant -- $465,000 -- over four years for the creation of a geospatial information model to research the outcomes of major urban renewal proposals. The City of Sydney, Landcom and NSW Department of Planning are project partners.
Announcing the grants the Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon. Julie Bishop said: "The Linkage Projects scheme is successful in encouraging traditional research academics and organisations outside the higher education sector to develop long-term strategic alliances, including industry bodies, businesses, state governments, community organisations and not-for-profit groups."