July 24, 2014

Research stars awarded $5million for projects of critical importance to Australia

Rising research stars receive more than $5.39 million as part of ARC Future Fellowships scheme.

UOW researchers have received more than $5.39 million to assess Indigenous justice programs, develop frameworks to prevent violence against women, and create new sediment dating techniques, following the announcement of the latest round of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Future Fellowships scheme yesterday (23 July).

Minister for Education, the Hon. Christopher Pyne MP announced that seven UOW academics had been named among the nation’s Future Fellows, with UOW ranking third nationally (relative to size) and placing eighth for total funding awarded.

UOW’s Centre for Archaeological Science (CAS) has enjoyed outstanding success with three new Future Fellows hailing from the group. CAS is dedicated to the development and application of modern scientific techniques to answer fundamental questions about past human life and activities.

CAS shell expert Dr Katherine Szabó (pictured above holding a Papuan Chief dress piece made from clam shell and turtle) has been awarded more than $800,000 over four years to help improve understanding of Melanesian societies and their transformations over time. The Melanesian region, comprising Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, has a rich repository of important shell artefacts that Dr Szabo hopes to give due attention to.

“Shell money is critical in customary exchanges and still has value as legal tender in the Solomon Islands, so it’s in Australia’s interest to understand how such a different approach to economics works in one of our nearest neighbours,” Dr Szabó said.

Dr Szabó shares the honour of being named a Future Fellow with CAS colleagues Associate Professor Benjamin Marwick (currently based at the University of Washington in Seattle) and Dr Bo Li, who joined UOW in 2012 on a Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. Both Dr Szabó and Associate Professor Marwick are the only archaeologists to be awarded a Future Fellowship in this round. CAS Director and ARC Australian Laureate Fellow Professor Richard (Bert) Roberts said the work of the new Fellows underscores the importance of ongoing archaeological projects in mainland and island Southeast Asia.

“I am tremendously proud of our new Future Fellows,” Professor Roberts said.

“In addition to Kat’s work in Melanesia, Ben Marwick is an archaeologist with a wealth of experience in mainland Southeast Asia. Bo Li is at the international forefront of his field of geochronology, and will be developing new-generation sediment dating techniques that will have application worldwide. We can expect exciting findings from each of these mid-career researchers,” he said.

The history of human and environmental interactions between Central Asia and northern Australia is the focus of Professor Roberts’ ‘OUT OF ASIA’ Laureate project.

“The Future Fellowship projects of Dr Marwick and Dr Li are complementary to my Laureate project, and together we hope to shed new light on the evolution and dispersals of humans through the region over the last 130,000 years,” Professor Roberts said.

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper said the Future Fellowships scheme recognises and supports research in areas of critical national importance.

“The aim of Future Fellowships is to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers and we are thrilled to have seven of them at UOW,” Professor Raper said.

“I am delighted by these exceptional results and would like to congratulate all of our successful Future Fellows. Special recognition should also be given to the Faculty of Law, Arts and Humanities (LHA), who enjoy the lion’s share of home-grown talent, with three of our seven new Fellows belonging to LHA,” she said.

Sociology lecturer Dr Michael Flood is leading a project that evaluates key strategies and interventions to develop a framework that effectively engages men and boys, preventing violence against women.

“Improving our ability to prevent and reduce domestic and sexual violence against women has a direct and positive impact on the wellbeing of families and communities in Australia,” Dr Flood said.

“This research identifies the most effective ways to involve men and boys in violence prevention. It provides both a rigorous assessment of emerging strategies of prevention among men and boys and practical guidance for future efforts.”

UOW’s 2015 Future Fellows and their projects are:

• Dr Tanja Dreher – Listening for Media Justice: mapping the response to Indigenous and community media in Australia's mainstream public sphere.
• Dr Michael Flood – Engaging men and boys in violence prevention: effective directions for practice.
• Professor Elena M Marchetti – Nothing works? Re-appraising research on Indigenous-focused crime and justice programs.
• Associate Professor Shujun Zhang – New dielectric materials: Improving storage density of high temperature multilayer ceramic capacitors to sustainably meet future energy demands.
• Associate Professor Benjamin Marwick – The archaeology of Thailand and Myanmar: a strategic region for understanding modern human colonization and interactions across our region.
• Dr Katherine Szabó – Dimensions of value: understanding the role and measuring of shell valuables in the Melanesian past and present.
• Dr Bo Li – Next-generation luminescence dating techniques for earth and archaeological science applications.

Media contact: Elise Pitt, Media & PR Officer, UOW, +61 2 4221 3079, +61 422 959 953, epitt@uow.edu.au.