Research Impact

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Research unpacking student scholarships for work experience

Financial support for students undertaking work integrated learning is essential for improving the accessibility of internships and work placements. Research from the University of Adelaide Law School has identified key gaps in these programs and generated recommendations for maximising their accessibility.

Growing the graphene industry

With the goal of developing a sustainable graphene-based industry in Australia and world-wide, the team at the University of Adelaide’s ARC Graphene Research Hub has made several significant breakthroughs in graphene manufacturing and utilisation.

Stress less! Targeting the plant cargo hub to help them deal with environmental stress

Just like an international port in a big city, every individual plant cell contains its own cargo hub that responds to their import and export needs.

Citizen scientists recruited to EchidnaCSI

Echidnas are one of Australia’s most iconic mammals, but although the prickly critters have made their homes in hundreds of different habitats across the country, some populations are sadly in decline.

Research looking at blocking the action of damaged genes

Sometimes all it takes to cause a severe neurological disorder is one tiny defect in a single gene. Unfortunately, there are thousands of these genetic, childhood-onset conditions, and while they are rare, the symptoms can be devastating.

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Stress less! Targeting the plant cargo hub to help them deal with environmental stress

Just like an international port in a big city, every individual plant cell contains its own cargo hub that responds to their import and export needs.

Insects put to the taste test

University of Adelaide researchers are creating a new tool that will help people understand what it’s like to eat one of the most sustainable and protein-rich food sources on the planet: edible insects.

Microscopic camera is helping us see new opportunities for the meat industry

Australia’s position as the world’s largest exporter of lamb and mutton is under threat from other international suppliers – China has three times our production capacity and our neighbours in New Zealand have high-quality produce, threatening our current position.

Cleaning up the farm

The Discovery Pod | Season 2, Episode 4
Australia’s farmers are increasingly turning to transient migrant labour to keep their properties running.

What people’s beef is with gene editing?

Gene editing in the beef industry could provide significant new strategies for producing far superior livestock. It could be used to produce cattle that are heathier, more environmentally resilient and allow for higher levels of animal welfare by eliminating the need for painful common procedures.

Close up photo of a wheat field at sunset

Genetically modified foods

The Discovery Pod | Season 1, Episode 10
Unnatural, Harmful and Unsafe? Does genetic modification really have a role to play in our food futures?

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Breathing life back into performing arts

COVID-19 has decimated the performing arts sector and many people are wondering what post-pandemic live performances will look like.

The solution to staying safe could lie in the virtual world

Whilst many of us escape into virtual worlds as a fun diversion, Researchers believe the secret to teaching people to behave safely and act decisively in the real world can also be found amongst online realms.

Reading the history of indigenous South American peoples in ancient DNA

Ancient human DNA dating back almost 9,000 years has provided significant genetic insights for an international large-scale study in South America.

The people behind the cars

History will not forget the people and places that made Holden cars an icon of Australia.

City nightlife takes on a new dimension

The growth of small venues has changed the face of Adelaide’s social scene, adding life and livelihood.

Macau shown in three dimensions

An immersive multimedia experience has brought to life the diverse cultural history of a former colonial enclave.

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Giving REDSPICE bite: Why strengthening Australia’s cyber capability demands unprecedented ASD-university collaboration

The Australian Government’s REDSPICE blueprint, released with last week’s 2022-23 budget, will significantly increase the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) cyber and intelligence capabilities.

Person at a computer with a few laptops and monitor visible

Standing firm

The Discovery Pod | Season 2, Episode 9
Our societies are more connected than ever, with countless governmental processes now taking place online, making it worryingly easy for foreign actors to sow the seeds of domestic division and unrest.

Moon boot

The Discovery Pod | Season 2, Episode 8
Powering up human settlement on the Moon is widely considered the ideal first step towards long-term crewed planetary exploration—and it could feasibly happen as soon as this decade.

Youth online safety and cybercrime prevention

Knowing how young people operate in the digital world is the key to keeping them safe.

Many countries join The US, Russia and China in creating space agencies

Civilian and Military use of space has been dramatically increasing in recent years thus leading many States, including Australia, to create National Space Agencies.

Tackling traffic congestion on the final frontier

To prevent damage and loss of valuable space assets it is critical that we develop space situational awareness.

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Growing the graphene industry

With the goal of developing a sustainable graphene-based industry in Australia and world-wide, the team at the University of Adelaide’s ARC Graphene Research Hub has made several significant breakthroughs in graphene manufacturing and utilisation.

Renewable energy

The Discovery Pod | Season 1, Episode 6
Cracking the code – finding new ways to power our nation and drive the manufacturing economy.

Professorial Lecture Series: Assoc. Prof. Carl Spandler

Unearthing rare earths: Why mining critical metals is vital to our future, and why Australia is well placed to profit.

Harnessing low cost, sustainable, activated carbon from waste

In what is believed to be a world-first, an Adelaide-based start-up has developed a new, low cost, sustainable method of producing activated carbon.

$What's really going on during fracking$

What's really going on during fracking

How do fluids such as water, gas and petroleum move in the earth?

Solar thermal for mineral processing

It is a fact that in a country like Australia, dominated by the primary production of commodities such as iron ore, copper and alumina, the industrial processes that produce these for export account for around half of our energy consumption.

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Bringing oyster reefs back from extinction

Oyster reefs carpeted thousands of kilometers of Australian coastline 200 years ago, but were dredged to near extinction within a century of colonial settlement. An ambitious nationwide restoration program now seeks to bring them back. In South Australia, the largest reef restoration in the Southern Hemisphere, Windara Reef, was constructed in 2017 to restore the ecosystem of the native mud oyster, Ostrea angasi, off the Yorke Peninsula.

Bushfire and the challenge to respond to new levels of environmental risk

There have been terrible bushfires this summer across southern Australia – and they are still going. Part of the reason for this disaster is the unprecedented climatic conditions that the country has been facing, including record hot and dry conditions.

Stress less! Targeting the plant cargo hub to help them deal with environmental stress

Just like an international port in a big city, every individual plant cell contains its own cargo hub that responds to their import and export needs.

Citizen scientists recruited to EchidnaCSI

Echidnas are one of Australia’s most iconic mammals, but although the prickly critters have made their homes in hundreds of different habitats across the country, some populations are sadly in decline.

The foundation for cereal crops that beat the heat

A project conducted by University of Adelaide and Macquarie University researchers has revealed insights into how an Australian ‘wild rice’ thrives in extreme heat, opening the door for the breeding of new cereal crops that can withstand high temperatures.

Stopping the illegal trade in timber from a server farm in Adelaide

Most people appreciate the enormous cost and suffering caused by the illegal global smuggling of people, drugs and arms. But illegal logging rivals those in monetary value and impact.

Stories

Research looking at blocking the action of damaged genes

Sometimes all it takes to cause a severe neurological disorder is one tiny defect in a single gene. Unfortunately, there are thousands of these genetic, childhood-onset conditions, and while they are rare, the symptoms can be devastating.

Tracking the early-life triggers of type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the University of Adelaide are leading a national collaboration that has been collecting tens of thousands of biological samples from pregnant mothers and their babies in an attempt to discover how genetics and early-life environmental exposures contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes.

We’re creating a faster, less invasive way to diagnose endometriosis through machine learning

Endometriosis is a debilitating disease with serious impacts on a person’s quality of life far beyond the extreme pain it causes. It can affect them financially, cause disruption to their work, social lives and relationships.

Tiny tech goes to the heart of disease

As our leading single cause of disease and death, it would be rare for any Australian not to have been touched by coronary heart disease amongst family or friends.

Microscopic camera is helping us see new opportunities for the meat industry

Australia’s position as the world’s largest exporter of lamb and mutton is under threat from other international suppliers – China has three times our production capacity and our neighbours in New Zealand have high-quality produce, threatening our current position.

Chemotherapy with a side of bacteria, thanks!

The intense chemotherapy used to destroy blood cancer also damages healthy cells in a person’s body, including those that line the intestines and the bacteria that rely on these cells to survive.

Stories

Research unpacking student scholarships for work experience

Financial support for students undertaking work integrated learning is essential for improving the accessibility of internships and work placements. Research from the University of Adelaide Law School has identified key gaps in these programs and generated recommendations for maximising their accessibility.

As the Aussie home ownership dream fades, it’s time to lift our game for renters

The number of people renting in Australia is growing at twice the rate of home ownership, and a new dataset generated by University of Adelaide researchers will help inform future policy that supports renters and guides infrastructure spending.

A cool change is coming to city streets

Our cities are heating up and we need to find innovative ways to lower urban temperatures, or life will become increasingly harder for residents. In Adelaide, the number of days when outdoor temperatures soared above 40°C increased from only two days per year in 2000 to six days per year in 2020.

The solution to staying safe could lie in the virtual world

Whilst many of us escape into virtual worlds as a fun diversion, Researchers believe the secret to teaching people to behave safely and act decisively in the real world can also be found amongst online realms.

Battling the complexities of diagnosing Parkinson’s Disease

New research is hoping to create more accurate diagnostic tests to allow earlier intervention.

What people’s beef is with gene editing?

Gene editing in the beef industry could provide significant new strategies for producing far superior livestock. It could be used to produce cattle that are heathier, more environmentally resilient and allow for higher levels of animal welfare by eliminating the need for painful common procedures.

Research Impact

Featured stories

Agriculture, food and wine

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Creativity and culture

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Defence, cyber and space

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Energy, mining and resources

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Environment, sustainability and climate change

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Health and biotech

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Societal wellbeing

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