CASS researchers awarded over $4M in ARC Discovery Projects

15 researchers in the Australian National University (ANU) College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) have been awarded funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), securing a total of $4.27 million to help expand Australia’s knowledge base and research capability. 

Investigating the legality of police collecting of Indigenous Ancestral Remains and studying the role of women in shaping the history of colloquial language in Australia are among the research aims of the new government-funded CASS research projects. 

As a flagship scheme for fundamental research and the largest under the ARC National Competitive Grants Program, Discovery Projects (DP) provide funding to individual researchers or teams for up to five consecutive years.

Of the eight funded projects, four will be led in Canberra by The Australian National University (ANU), and four will be spearheaded by partner universities across the country, including James Cook University and Charles Darwin University.

In a highly competitive process, the College obtained a success rate of 50%, exceeding the national average of 47% and the Go8 average of 47.6%. 

ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Lachlan Blackhall congratulated the funding winners. 

“We are proud of the dedication of our academics and the far-reaching benefits this important work brings to science, society and the environment,” he said.

Internally led projects

Externally led projects (including those from other ANU colleges)

  • Dr Rosey Billington, from the School of Literature, Languages & Linguistics (RSHA), has been awarded $461,729.00 for her project Transformed landscapes: 3000 years of adaptation and resilience in Vanuatu, led by the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. 
  • Professor Adrian Mackenzie, from the School of Sociology (RSSS), has been awarded $508,427.00 for his project Where Waters Meet: Empirical philosophy amidst more than human collectives, led by Charles Darwin University. 
  • Dr Thao Phan, from the School of Sociology (RSSS), has been awarded $455,058.00 for her project The Australian experience of automated advertising on digital platforms, led by The University of Queensland. 
  • Professor Michelle Ryan, from The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, has been awarded $500,021.00 for her project Advancing workplace gender equality through effective allyship, led by James Cook University. 
  • Dr Estelle Strazdins and Dr Tatiana Bur, from the School of Literature, Languages & Linguistics (RSHA), have been awarded $378,678.00 for their project Night Vision in the Late Ancient Mediterranean, led by The Australian Catholic University. 

For more information on the projects, please visit the Australian Research Council's official release.