Research Grants

Having sufficient funds available at retirement is now largely considered the responsibility of the individual, and the Federal Government encourages financial planning as part of their advice to retirees. Nevertheless, only 30% of eligible Australians take advantage of professional financial planning services. It is imperative that we understand how Australians derive their perceptions of the value of financial advice.

This longitudinal study, conducted in collaboration between the Financial Services Council, the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia and the University of Technology Sydney, aims to identify how value perceptions are formed and change over time, as well as why financial advice is assigned value by some and not others. This will contribute to the academic literature on value creation and lead to strategic recommendations on participation in financial planning.

The century after 1689 witnessed momentous changes in English traditions of law and governance. This project will result in a new history of English law during the period, centred upon prestigious publications that will become standards and starting-points for future study by historians, lawyers, other scholars, and legal professionals.

The important Australian architect John Andrews had a career unique for its success, first in Canada and the United States and then in Australia. Research into his design work and how it has been understood will develop new knowledge of design practices of the 1970s, how architecture is understood in terms of nationality, and how design has become globalised.

My role will be to examine critical and cultural factors behind the differential reception in Canada vs. Australia of the architectural work and career in question. Better understanding of this case will help explain how modern Australian conceptions of communal and institutional space have had far reaching impact through the globalisation of architectural ideas and expertise since the mid 20th century.

This was the only LIEF grant given in the field of Law and Legal Studies. The ARC granted $330,000 (about 75% of the amount requested), so with the contributions from the project partners the total project funding is $856,000, approximately 90% of the original budget.

The Australasian Legal History Library, to be located for free access on AustLII, will provide comprehensive legislation and case law from all colonies (subsequently Australian States, Territories or New Zealand) up to 1950. Its citator will show how these historical materials are used in current legal decisions. It will be a revolution for legal history research.

This project uses economic theory and experimental tests in order to inform tax authorities on how to best audit tax receipts from corporations.

The project will result in advice on how audit resources should be allocated across firms, if minimising corporate tax evasion and at the same time maximising social welfare are the authority's objective.

This is the third ARC Discovery Grant in a row received by A/Professor Samer Akkach as a single Chief Investigator, which also includes a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA), one of only 26 awarded nationally for projects commencing in 2012.

The tragic destruction of the nearly completed Istanbul observatory by Sultan Murad III (1547-1595) after financing it himself is one of the most puzzling events in the history of Islamic science. By examining this neglected event, the project sheds new light on critical phases in Islam's transition into modernity. It shows how a new fundamentalist cosmology was successfully promoted in the name of science as religious rationalism during the early Ottoman period, how this had led to the destruction of the observatory, how such rationalist approach was later adopted and promoted in the name of modernity and enlightenment by Muslim intellectuals, and how Islamic enlightenment and ensuing modernity had remained ambivalent on modern cosmology.

Gram-positive bacteria are a major cause of infectious diseases in both developed and developing countries.

This project will contribute to our understanding of how zinc causes toxicity to these bacteria and facilitate our exploitation of this Achilles heel, by providing new insights into fundamental aspects of microbial physiology.

Apicomplexan parasites are successful agents of disease (e.g. malaria) due to their superb ability to quickly invade host cells and generate many more parasites.

This project will study the dedicated structures beneath the parasite cell covering that are responsible for these abilities to help refine strategies for combating apicomplexan diseases.