ARC funding to build demography and Indigenous research capability
Elizabeth Ellis, who received an Indigenous Discovery grant. Photo by Inge Kral.
The latest round of grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC) announced on Wednesday has given a significant funding boost to Indigenous research and demography in the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS).
Of the eight projects awarded to CASS-led research, with a total of around $2.5 million in funding, two projects will investigate Indigenous matters and two will investigate demographic trends in Australia. Grants were also awarded in music, archaeology, philosophy and politics.
The grants further cement the College as a leader in social research following the launch of AusCen, a new centre focused on producing credible evidence-based research to inform and evaluate policy, programs and initiatives.
Almost $1 million was awarded to the College for Indigenous research which adds to the considerable strength the College has in this area through archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics and the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR).
Ms Ellis, a Ngaatjatjarra educator, interpreter and linguist from the Ngaanyatjarra region of Western Australia, was awarded a fellowship to help revitalise endangered language styles of the Ngaanyatjarra and Ngaatjatjarra people of the Western Desert.
“We are very happy to receive this grant,” Ms Ellis said.
“The project will provide a significant and unique contribution to our understanding of speech styles and the verbal arts in the Western Desert, in particular those of the Ngaatjatjarra and Ngaanyatjarra peoples.
“It will be an investment in the heritage value of the world’s small endangered languages.”
The Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute (ADSRI) will expand on research into Australian social trends with grants to investigate family dynamics and immigration.
ADSRI’s Dr Edith Gray and Dr Ann Evans were awarded a grant to investigate the socio-economic factors of parenthood in Australia.
“We are pleased that the ARC continues to support research into family dynamics in Australia,” said Dr Evans.
“This funding provides us the opportunity to increase our understanding of how inequality across a range of social measure impacts the timing of when Australians enter parenthood by having their first child.”
A better understanding of the long-term demographic consequences of migration to, from and within Australia will be achieved through a grant provided to ADSRI Director Professor James Raymer, working with Dr Tom Wilson from the University of Queensland.
College Dean, Professor Toni Makkai congratulated successful applicants.
“Funding from the ARC is extremely important for the ongoing success of the College but more importantly ARC funding is critical for sustaining research in the humanities, creative arts and social sciences across the country,” she said.
Further information is available on the ARC website