ARC Laureate and Future Fellowships for two CASS women

 ARC grant winners Professor Ann McGrath (left) and Associate Professor Katherine Bode. Images: Stuart Hay/supplied

ARC grant winners Professor Ann McGrath (left) and Associate Professor Katherine Bode. Images: Stuart Hay/supplied

Two academics in the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Ann McGrath, and Associate Professor Katherine Bode, have received prestigious grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC), among 11 ANU scholars honoured in the latest round of ARC funding.

Professor McGrath, Director of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, won the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship for the humanities for a project to create a big picture history of Australia by including epic Indigenous narratives alongside new scientific evidence.

Associate Professor Katherine Bode from the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics was awarded a $950,000 ARC Fellowship for a project that expects to generate new knowledge of literary culture and digital approaches to research in the humanities.

“Prof McGrath’s project Rediscovering the Deep Human Past: Global Networks, Future Opportunities and Dr Bode’s project Reading at the Interface: Literatures, Cultures, Technologies, are of exceptional merit in their own right, but also reflect the high quality of the College’s academic environment more broadly,” CASS Dean, Professor Rae Frances, says.

“I extend my warmest congratulations to Prof McGrath, Dr Bode, and to CASS for these outstanding results.”

Professor McGrath's $2.8 million Australian Laureate Fellowship is for a project to develop new techniques for researching the deep human past, and will analyse Australia's epic Indigenous narratives alongside relevant new scientific evidence.

The project will also enable early career scholars to join international networks and be trained in digital research techniques.

Professor McGrath said she was thrilled with the ARC funding.

"Much of Australia's human history is not seen as history at all. This community collaborative project aims to change this, using neglected and new evidence to locate this epic story in its global context," Professor McGrath said.

"It's terrific that the ARC scheme backs new research approaches and directions. This will provide new directions for Australian history."

Professor Michelle Coote and Professor Gottfried Otting, both from the ANU Research School of Chemistry, also received ARC Laureate Fellowships.

ANU also won eight ARC Future Fellowships in the latest funding round, announced by Education Minister the Hon Simon Birmingham.

ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Margaret Harding says ANU success in the latest funding round underlined the University's core strengths and leadership in research and excellence.

"These Fellowships are a great testament to the outstanding staff at the ANU and the transformative research being done at the ANU," Professor Harding said.

"On behalf of the University, I congratulate each of the winners and look forward to the results of their projects."

Other winners of the ARC Future Fellowships were:

Associate Professor Scott Morrison and Dr Qinian Jin from the Mathematical Sciences Institute at ANU, Dr Stephanie Goodhew from the ANU Research School of Psychology, Dr Chunle Xiong and Dr Alexander Poddubny from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering, Dr Ceridwen Fraser from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, and Dr Pu Xiao of the ANU Research School of Chemistry.