Skip to Specific Areas

Search ARC website

Site Navigation

Main Content

Breadcrumb Navigation

You are here:

ARC Centres of Excellence - Selection Report for funding commencing in 2005

Background

The Commonwealth Government's package of initiatives announced in May 2004 Backing Australia's Ability – Building our Future through Science and Innovation maintained the doubling of funding support for high-quality research in the National Competitive Grants Program achieved by Backing Australia's Ability. This continued funding included an emphasis on raising the scale and profile of Australia's leading research teams and encouraging greater research collaboration within Australia, all within the framework of research areas of national priority.

As part of this plan, the Australian Research Council (ARC) has conducted a second selection round for ARC Centres of Excellence in 2005. Successful Centres will be expected to undertake highly innovative and internationally competitive research that addresses challenging and significant problems, and to produce outcomes of economic, social and cultural benefit to Australia.

The objectives of the ARC Centres of Excellence program are to:

a) undertake highly innovative research at the forefront of developments within areas of national importance, with a scale and a focus leading to outstanding international and national recognition;

b) enhance the scale and focus of research in designated National Research Priorities. In 2003, the Government designated the following areas as National Research Priorities for Commonwealth-funded research:

  • Research Priority 1: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia
  • Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health
  • Research Priority 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries
  • Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia

c) promote research that will enhance Australia's future economic, social and cultural wellbeing;

d) link existing Australian research strengths and build new capacity for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to address the most challenging and significant research problems;

e) build Australia's human capacity in a range of research areas by attracting, from within Australia and abroad, researchers of high international standing as well as the most promising research students;

f) provide high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training environments for the next generation of researchers in innovative and internationally competitive research;

g) offer Australian researchers access to world-class infrastructure and equipment, and to key research technologies;

h) develop relationships and build new networks with major international Centres and research programs that help achieve global competitiveness and recognition for Australian research; and

i) establish Centres of such repute in the wider community that they will serve as points of interaction among higher education institutions, Governments, industry and the private sector generally.

Selection processes

Applications

The ARC Centres of Excellence Funding Rules were approved by the Minister for Education, Science and Training on 25 June 2004 and released on the ARC's website on 21 July 2004.

The application form for ARC Centres of Excellence proposals was made available on the ARC's Grant Application Management System (GAMS) on 9 September 2004. Applications closed on 29 October 2004.

The ARC received 97 applications from 24 Administering Institutions, involving more than 1,500 researchers as potential participants. Of the 97 applications, more than half (52.6%) indicated that their proposed research program fell under the National Research Priority “Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries” (see Table 1).

Table 1: Distribution of applications by National Research Priority Area

Area No of applications
An Environmentally Sustainable Australia 19
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health 16
Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries 51
Safeguarding Australia 11

Selection Advisory Committee

An ARC Centres of Excellence Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) was appointed with the approval of the Minister for Education, Science and Training. The Committee consisted of 12 Australian and international experts, with two members representing each ARC discipline cluster. The Committee was chaired by Dr Robert (Bob) Watts, formerly Chief Scientist of BHP Billiton. The members of the Committee are listed at Appendix 1.

Assessment

To ensure a thorough review, assessors of the following types were assigned to each application: two SAC members, two members of the ARC's College of Experts and two Australian and three International Readers. A further two assessors nominated by the applicants themselves were also assigned to each application.

All 97 applications were assessed and ranked using the scores provided by the assessors. The 30 applications ranked highest were then re-assessed by the SAC members, and ranked within discipline fields. After consultation with the discipline-specific members, the top 21 applications across all disciplines were extracted. The full Committee then considered this list of 21 applications to determine the final shortlist of 17 to be interviewed.

The Committee convened during the week 7-11 March 2005 to conduct interviews with the shortlisted applicants. At this meeting the ARC rules for managing institutional and personal conflicts of interest were observed. Based on the application and the additional information relating to the application provided in the interview, the Committee ranked the shortlisted applications and finalised the funding recommendations.

Selection criteria

The assessment of applications was based on the scheme's selection criteria:

A. Research program

i. The creative and innovative nature of the proposed research program, and its capacity to lead to a significant advancement of knowledge in areas of national importance;

ii. The degree to which the application enhances the concentration and coordination of research in the particular field(s) of research; and

iii. The adequacy of the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses and their integration into the aims of the research programs.

B. Investigators

i. The applicants’ track records, relative to opportunity, relevant to the proposed Centre's research area, as indicators of their potential to contribute to the Centre's research program;

ii. The Director's capacity for leadership, vision, management and strategic planning; and

iii. The commitment of Chief and Partner Investigators to the research program.

C. Research training and professional education

i. The potential contribution of the Centre to research training at the Honours, Postgraduate and Postdoctoral level; and

ii. The potential value of the education and outreach programs in professional and technical training.

D. National benefit

i) The extent to which the Centre would expand Australia's knowledge base and research capability;

ii) The potential for the research to contribute to the National Research Priorities;

iii) The capacity for the research program to enhance innovation in Australia; and

iv) The potential of the research to result in economic, cultural, environmental or social benefits for Australia.

E. International, national and regional links and networks

i. The potential standing of the proposed Centre relative to major international Centres in the general field(s) of research;

ii. The potential for development and enhancement of effective international interactions and linkages;

iii. The planned links with Australian researchers in universities and other research organisations working in the proposed fields of research; and

iv. The commitment and mechanisms proposed to provide a national and regional intellectual focus for the planned field(s) of research.

F. End-user links

i) The participation of end-users in research planning and Centre governance;

ii) Where applicable, the adequacy of plans and strategies for facilitation of technology transfer, including fostering a culture of innovation; and

iii) The adequacy of organisational arrangements and plans relating to ownership of intellectual property and/or utilisation or commercialisation of research.

G. Organisational support

i. The commitment of the Collaborating Institutions/Organisations to provide basic infrastructure, including provision of space, equipment, administrative and technical staff support, telecommunications and computing facilities, library and other key resources, over the funding period;

ii. The fit or complementarity of the proposed Centre with the Collaborating Institutions’/Organisations’ overall research strengths and directions; and

iii. The provision of funding to support the Director and key investigators to execute their research leadership roles.

H. Governance

i) The adequacy of the proposed management arrangements and responsibilities, including the organisational structure of the proposed Centre, its reporting arrangements both internally and externally, its financial systems, and its business and strategic plans which should include milestones for achievement of objectives; and

ii) The relevance of the performance measures listed in the application to the Centre's objectives and their pertinence for assessing the Centre's performance.

Recommended applications

The SAC interviewed the 17 most highly ranked applications, which sought a total of $240 million in ARC funds. Eleven applications were recommended for funding (11.3% of all applications), and these are listed in Table 2. The Committee found that each of these applications met the selection criteria. The Committee noted that several of the research teams in proposed centres which were recommended for funding were already outstanding relative to top research teams overseas, and that all the proposed Centres recommended for funding have the potential to rank among the very best in the world. The recommended funding for these proposed Centres totals $122 million.

Several of the recommended ARC Centres of Excellence build on existing ARC Special Research Centres (SRC for Ore Deposit Research) and ARC Centres (ARC Centre for Nanostructured Electromaterials; ARC Centre for Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics). Under the Funding Rules, funding for these existing Centres must be relinquished if the ARC Centre of Excellence grant is accepted. Summary descriptions of the recommended Centres are provided at Appendix 2.

Table 2: ARC Centres of Excellence applications recommended for funding

ARC Centre of Excellence applications Administering Institution Interim Director Total recommended funding
$m
Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity James Cook University Dr T Hughes 12.0
Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics Monash University Prof B Adler 10.0
Design in Light Metals Monash University Prof B Muddle 14.5
Cultural and Media Industries Queensland University of Technology Prof S Cunningham 7.0
Antimatter-Matter Studies Australian National University Prof S Buckman 7.0
Vision Science The Australian National University Prof T Lamb 11.0
Coherent X-ray Science The University of Melbourne Prof K Nugent 9.0
Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology The University of Melbourne Prof C Schiesser 12.0
Plant Energy Biology University of Western Australia Prof J Whelan 12.5
Ore Deposits University of Tasmania Prof R Large 15.0
Electromaterials Science University of Wollongong Prof G Wallace 12.0

Unfunded applications

Although many of the applications were of a very high standard it was not possible to fund them all. A total of eleven applications were recommended for funding. The remaining 86 applications (88.7%) were not recommended for funding.

Statistical characteristics of recommendations

Overall outcomes

Table 3 shows applications recommended for funding, with details of requested and recommended funds and partner cash contributions offered in the application.

Table 3:  Applications recommended for funding

ARC Centre of Excellence applications Administering Institution Requested from ARC
$m		 Administering Institution and partner –matching funding
$m		 Recommended ARC funding $m
Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity James Cook University 19.8 5.3 12.0
Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics Monash University 17.6 8.8 10.0
Design in Light Metals Monash University 15.5 6.7 14.5
Cultural and Media Industries Queensland University of Technology 10.6 3.8 7.0
Antimatter-Matter Studies The Australian National University 10.6 3.1 7.0
Vision Science The Australian National University 12.1 2.9 11.0
Coherent X-ray Science The University of Melbourne 14.6 7.0 9.0
Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology The University of Melbourne 14.8 4.3 12.0
Plant Energy Biology The University of Western Australia 15.0 9.8 12.5
Ore Deposits University of Tasmania 15.0 14.7 15.0
Electromaterials Science University of Wollongong 19.5 5.3 12.0
TOTAL   165.1 71.7 122

Outcomes by National Research Priority

Table 4 provides information on applications recommended for funding classified according to National Research Priority areas.

Table 4: Research in National Research Priority areas

ARC Centre of Excellence applications ESA PMG FTB SA
Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity √      
Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics     √  
Design in Light Metals     √  
Cultural and Media Industries     √  
Antimatter-Matter Studies     √  
Vision Science   √    
Coherent X-ray Science     √  
Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology   √    
Plant Energy Biology     √  
Ore Deposits √      
Electromaterials Science     √  

ESA = An Environmentally Sustainable Australia
PMG = Promoting and Maintaining Good Health
FTB = Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries
SA = Safeguarding Australia

Institutional outcomes

Table 5 shows, by Administering Institution, the requested funding and partner contributions for all applications and for those applications recommended for funding.

Table 5:  Funding requests & partner contributions by administering institution

  All applications Applications recommended for funding
Admin. Institution Number submitted ARC funding requested
$m		 Number recomm-ended ARC funding requested
$m		 Admin. Institution and partner-matching funding
$m		 Recommended ARC funding
$m
Charles Darwin University 1 14.0 0 - - 0
Charles Sturt University 1 15.0 0 - - 0
Curtin University of Technology 2 26.9 0 - - 0
Griffith University 2 18.8 0 - - 0
James Cook University 1 19.8 1 19.8 5.3 12.0
Macquarie University 2 25.4 0 - - 0
Monash University 11 140.8 2 33.0 15.5 24.5
Murdoch University 3 37.8 0 - - 0
Queensland University of Technology 3 35.6 1 10.6 3.8 7.0
RMIT University 1 10.2 0 - - 0
The Australian National University 9 99.6 2 22.7 6.0 18.0
The Flinders University of South Australia 1 5.7 0 - - 0
The University of Adelaide 5 75.7 0 - - 0
The University of Melbourne 10 119.2 2 29.4 11.3 21.0
The University of Queensland 13 180.5 0 - - 0
The University of Sydney 8 107.2 0 - - 0
The University of Western Australia 7 98.6 1 15.0 9.8 12.5
University of Newcastle 2 35.9 0 - - 0
University of New South Wales 8 114.8 0 - - 0
University of Southern Queensland 1 4.8 0 - - 0
University of Tasmania 2 30.0 1 15.0 14.7 15.0
University of Technology, Sydney 1 12.8 0 - - 0
University of Western Sydney 1 15.7 0 - - 0
University of Wollongong 2 33.9 1 19.5 5.3 12.0
TOTAL 97 1,278.7 11 50.8 28.6 50.5

Incidence of collaboration

Applications for the ARC Centres of Excellence scheme involved an exceptionally high degree of collaboration between Australian universities, Commonwealth and State Government research organisations, State and Commonwealth Government funding bodies, and international partners. A total of 24 Australian universities were involved in at least one full application, with twelve universities being involved in more than one application and seven in more than five applications. A total of 308 other organisations were involved in applications, including 11 Australian universities, approximately 20 non-university Australian research organisations, over 30 Commonwealth and State agencies, over 25 Australian companies, and around 200 overseas organisations, mainly universities.

Appendix 1

ARC Centres of Excellence Selection Advisory Committee

Chair

Dr Robert (Bob) Watts, FAA, consultant, formerly Chief Scientist, BHP Billiton

Members

Professor Denis Weaire, FRS, Erasmus Smith Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Trinity College, Dublin

Professor Jonathan Gershuny, FBA, Director, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex

Professor Deborah Terry, Head, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland

Professor Kathleen Woodward, Director, Simpson Center for the Humanities and Professor of English, University of Washington, Seattle

Ms Kim Anderson, Chief Operations Officer, Southern Star Entertainment

Professor Graham Goodwin, FRS, FAA, FTSE, Deputy Director, ARC Centre for Complex Dynamic Systems and Control, University of Newcastle

Professor Lee Giles, FIEEE, David Reese Professor, School of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University

Professor John Patterson, FIEAust, CPEng, Professor and Head, School of Engineering, James Cook University

Dr Tony Armstrong, Manager R&D, Austal Ships

Professor David Cook, FAA, FRACP, Department of Physiology, The University of Sydney

Professor Dr Heinz Mehlhorn, Chairman, Department of Parasitology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany

Appendix 2

ARC Centres of Excellence – recommendations for funding

ARC Centre of Excellence in Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity

Recommended Funding: $12m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof TP Hughes
Host Institution: James Cook University

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The Australian National University
The University of Queensland
Stockholm University
University of Delaware
University of Maine
University of Perpignan
Australian Institute of Marine Science CSIRO - Marine Research
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Doulgas Shire Council
Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation
Mackay City Council
Mackay-Whitsunday Natural Resource
Management Group
Voyages Hotels and Resorts

The primary goal of this ARC Centre of Excellence is to develop research programs of international significance (through the establishment of new collaborative teams of Australia's leading coral reef researchers) that transcend traditional disciplinary, institutional and geographic boundaries. The aim is to add focus, scale and scope to build an enduring program of innovative research development, leading to world leadership in coral reef science. A key outcome of the ARC Centre of Excellence will be to actively transfer scientific knowledge (through its governance structure) to industry partners and end-users, to increase their capacity and effectiveness and provide tangible benefits to all Australians.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics

Recommended Funding: $10m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof B Adler
Host Institution: Monash University

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The University of Sydney
The University of Queensland
CSIRO - Livestock Industries
Australian Proteome Analysis Facility
Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium
Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing
Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
Australian Genome Research Facility Ltd
Pfizer Australia
Department of Innovation, Industry and
Regional Development, Victoria

Australian primary industry will benefit from a team of experts in microbial genetics, bioinformatics and protein structure and function undertaking integrated studies on microbial genomics that are focused on fundamental biological processes and host/pathogen interactions. Whole genome expression and protein profiling will be used to characterise genes whose expression is altered in the infected host and to analyse genes involved in the control of key cellular processes. The ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics will also determine the shapes of key molecules and their interactions. Practical outcomes will include new veterinary vaccines and the identification of novel antimicrobial targets.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Design in Light Metals

Recommended Funding: $14.5m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof BC Muddle
Host Institution: Monash University

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The University of Queensland
Deakin University
The University of New South Wales
The University of Sydney
The University of Melbourne
Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, Victoria

The ARC Centre in Design in Light Metals will adopt a systematic process of ‘virtual materials selection’ to assess modifications to the property profiles of light metals systems that will maximize the competitiveness of light alloys and new light metal hybrid materials based on aluminium, magnesium and titanium. Using a novel ‘design-directed’ approach to fundamental research, it will address strategic design targets through innovations in structural design at the nanoscale and advances in processing, to enhance the properties of existing alloys economically. It will also embrace innovation in design of light metal systems to create novel hybrid and surface-modified materials that expand the range of properties available and thus the applications for light metals.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Cultural and Media Industries

Recommended Funding: $7m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof SD Cunningham
Host Institution: Queensland University of Technology

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The Australian National University
Swinburne University of Technology
University of Wollongong
Charles Darwin University
Edith Cowan University
Australian Film, Television and Radio School
Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
Australian Film Commission
Department of Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts
The Salvation Army
State Library of Queensland
The Australia Council for the Arts
Australian Museum
National Museum of Australia
Queensland Museum

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Cultural and Media Industries drives the development of Australia's capacity to maximise the national economic and cultural benefits of digital content industries. It integrates research across a range of disciplines to develop new modes of access and distribution for user-led innovation. It will provide integrated, empirically grounded solutions to structural, conceptual and policy problems, during an exciting period when new technologies, end-user activism and semi-professional practices are challenging traditional models of production and consumption in the creative value chain. The Centre's research outcomes across six program areas will improve industry, government, education and creative services in Australia.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Antimatter-Matter Studies

Recommended Funding: $7m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof SJ Buckman
Host Institution: The Australian National University

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The Flinders University of South Australia
Murdoch University
Griffith University
CSIRO - Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology
The University of Western Australia ANSTO
The Open University
The University of California San Diego
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The University of California Davis
Drake University
The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Tohoku University Japan
The University of Munster

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Antimatter-Matter Studies will develop tools and techniques to lead Australia into a new and exciting area of research in the physical, chemical and biological sciences. Pre-eminent Australian and international scientists will explore antimatter-matter interactions, in fundamental and applied fields, so that Australia maintains an international role in this emerging field. All particles have antiparticles of which the most abundant is the positron, the electron's antiparticle. The positron is the “workshop” for most antimatter studies and we shall use it to characterize nanoscale materials, including gases, polymers, insulators, thin films and surfaces, and to develop novel, nanostructured materials.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science

Recommended Funding: $11m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof TD Lamb
Host Institution: The Australian National University

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The University of Queensland
The University of Western Australia
The University of Sydney
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
Emory University
Seeing Machines
CSIRO - ICT Centre
Centre for Information Science, Kokushikan University
University of L’Aquila
Helsinki University of Technology
ObjectiVision
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
Royal Holloway University of London
Universitaet Bielefeld
Regenera

Vision is our most powerful sense, and blindness is a severe loss, yet increasingly common as the population ages. The ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science will explore three themes: the extraordinary sensitivity and adaptability of vision; how vision forms the basis for behaviour; and why vision fails, especially with age. One major outcome will be fundamental understanding of retinal mechanisms and brain algorithms of vision. A second will be the application of this knowledge to the design of autonomous visually guided robots (e.g. flying machines). A third outcome will be understanding of the stability and degeneration of the retina and eye, laying the scientific foundation for diagnosis and therapy in a range of age-related blinding diseases.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Coherent X-ray Science

Recommended Funding: $9m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof KA Nugent
Host Institution: The University of Melbourne

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
La Trobe University
Swinburne University of Technology
Monash University
CSIRO - Health Sciences and Nutrition
CSIRO - Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology
Australian Synchrotron Research Program
Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
SPring8, Riken
National University of Singapore
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Advanced Photon Source
University of California, Los Angeles
Victorian Department of Innovation,
Industry and Regional Development

X-ray sources are becoming ever brighter, and x-ray lasers will be available in the next ten years. These sources will open up whole new areas of investigation such as the structural determination of proteins not amenable to conventional methods. The ARC Centre of Excellence in Coherent X-ray Science will bring physicists, chemists and biologists together to develop fundamentally new approaches to probing biological structures and processes. It combines world-class expertise in imaging, structural biology, laser science and molecular theory. The project will develop novel high-resolution imaging and probing using the Australian Synchrotron, and ultimately x-ray lasers. An overarching scientific aim of the centre is the determination of the structure of membrane proteins.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology

Recommended Funding: $12m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof CH Schiesser
Host Institution: The University of Melbourne

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
Monash University
The Australian National University
The University of Sydney
Queensland University of Technology
Dulux/Orica Pty Ltd
Carlton United Brewery
Bluescope Steel
The Howard Florey Institute
CSIRO - Molecular Science
Victorian Institute for Chemical Sciences

Free radical chemistry plays a crucial role in important processes that affect the manufacturing industry, the environment, human health and animal health. The aim of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology is to develop new methods of radical generation and explore new reactions of synthetic significance involving radicals, including novel polymerisation processes. In addition, the increased understanding of free-radical chemistry gained through the research carried out in the Centre will be used to develop new biotechnology initiatives, including pharmaceutical products and antioxidants that will defend against oxidative stress associated with several diseases, as well as the degradation of industrial materials.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology

Recommended Funding: $12.5m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: A/Prof JM Whelan
Host Institution: The University of Western Australia

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The Australian National University
The University of Sydney

Plants are sources of many essential products, including food, fuels, and vitamins. These products result from energy metabolism in sub-cellular compartments (organelles) called mitochondria, chloroplasts and peroxisomes. The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology aims to use functional genomic analysis to discover and characterise molecular components and control mechanisms that underpin plant energy metabolism. Knowing the factors that control biogenesis of these organelles will better enable the breeding of plants with specified metabolic traits. Benefits include enhanced control of biomass and yield, water and nutrient efficiency, synthesis of nutrients important for human and animal health, and plants better able to tolerate the environmental stresses of Australia.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits

Recommended Funding: $15m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof RR Large
Host Institution: University of Tasmania

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
The Australian National University
The University of Melbourne
The University of Queensland
University of British Columbia
Johns Hopkins University
Colorado School of Mines
AMIRA International
CSIRO - Exploration & Mining
State Government of Tasmania
Minerals Council of Australia
Anglo American
Anglo Gold Ashanti
Barrick
BHP Billiton
Newcrest Mining Limited
Newmont Mining Corporation
Rio Tinto
Teck Cominco Limited
WMC Resources Ltd
Zinifex Limited

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits will encompass an innovative program of multidisciplinary research in ore deposit location, formation, discovery and recovery. Innovative fundamental research on where ore deposits occur, how they form and their deep earth signatures will give our minerals industry a new scientific framework in which to search for ore. The existing ARC Special Research Centre for Ore Deposit Research has played a pivotal role in Australia's current leadership in mineral exploration-related research. The new ARC Centre of Excellence will build on this success by increasing collaboration and expanding into new research areas critical to the growth of Australia's minerals industry.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

Recommended Funding: $12m for five years commencing 2005
Interim Director: Prof GG Wallace
Host Institution: University of Wollongong

Collaborating or Contributing Organisations:
Monash University
Bionic Ear Institute
NSW Department of State and Regional
Development

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science brings together eminent scientists to develop the nano-science and nano-technology related to the movement of electric charge within and between materials. Such processes are fundamentally important to a diverse array of phenomena important in many biological and industrial processes. The exciting new developments in nanoscale materials offer the potential for groundbreaking improvements in charge generation and transfer. However, there is a general lack of understanding of these processes at the nano domain. The new ARC Centre of Excellence will study these processes, develop improved electromaterials and apply these materials in biomedicine, industrial processes, energy harvesting and energy storage.

Top of page