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f  The Hon. Barry O. Jones Minister for Science  %AUST RALI

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File No.

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY 20 OCTOBER 1986

$32,384 MILLION FOR BASIC RESEARCH

| COMMONWEALTH  | parliamentary library :

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The Minister for Science, Mr Barry Jones, announced today that 1451 grants  totalling $32.384m had been awarded for 1987 under the Australian Research  Grants Scheme (ARCS).

The grants had been made on the recommendation of the Australian Research  Grants Committee chaired by Professor Don Aitkin of the Australian National  University, Canberra.

Mr Jones said: "The Government, fulfilling an earlier election promise, has given the ARCS a 10% increase in real terms for three of the four years 1984  to 1987. Total funding has increased from $19.25m for 1983 to $32.384m in  1987.

"The basic research supported by the grants is expected to make real advances  in the understanding of the subject matter of the research or to contribute to  the solution of important practical problems."

The Minister said the funds provided by the Government under the Scheme for  1987 represented an increase of $4.844m (17.59%) over 1986. A total of 170  Research Fellows and Research Associates would be supported in 1987.

The increase of 10% in real terms ($2,94m) had been allocated to large items  of equipment. Overall funding for equipment in 1987 now stood at $5.93m  compared to $3.7m in 1986.

The Minister said: "An analysis shows that grants totalling $ 2.5m are being awarded for materials research, of which $ 1 .4m is for research in materials  target areas identified in the report Materials Research Opportunities for  Australia, based on workshops sponsored by my Department last  November/December."

Mr Jones said he believed the Government had shown a notable regard for  research by increasing ARCS funds - this would substantially aid the expansion  of Australia's research base and contribute to industrial and economic  development. He endorsed the forward looking changes in the Scheme prepared

by the Chairman.

Some examples of the 1987 grants are attached.

For further information:

Fred Witsenhuysen A/g Director of Public Relations

(062) 644381  ah (062) 411612

DR J DAVIS, PROFESSOR R HANBURY-BROWN, DR W  J TANGO  Very High Angular Resolution Stellar Interferometer  (University of Sydney)

ARCS support is helping the University of Sydney in planning the construction  of the most powerful instrument ever conceived for measuring stars. The  instrument is a new type of Stellar Interferometer which will be capable of  making measurements that are impossible with even the largest optical

telescopes in the world. It has been described as "the most significant  proposal made in stellar astronomy in the last 40 years".

The world's first Stellar Interferometer was constructed in the U.S.A. in the  1920s and the second was built in Australia at Narrabri in northern N.S.W. in  the 1960s by the Chatterton Astronomy Department of the University of Sydney.  The work with this instrument established Australia at the forefront of the

field and the internationally accepted temperature scale for stars hotter than  the sun is now firmly based on measurements made with the Narrabri instrument.

The planned new instrument is based on the original American approach because  it is inherently more sensitive than an Intensity Interferometer and will be  capable of measuring the equivalent of the thickness of a human hair at a  distance of 100 km. The new instrument is based on a working prototype,  developed over the past ten years at the University of Sydney with ARCS

support, which has demonstrated the sensitivity, accuracy and potential of  this modern approach.

The new instrument will be used in a wide range of observational programmes to  measure the sizes, temperatures, masses and distances of stars and will also  significantly improve our knowledge of the scale of the universe, and hence  our understanding of the origin and the structure of the universe.

Australia has established a significant lead over the rest of the world in the  field of high resolution studies of stars and the construction of this  .powerful and unique instrument will ensure that it retains that lead.

DR A SPARGO AND DR L BURSILL High Voltage High Resolution Electron Microscopy  (University of Melbourne)

The ARCS is joining with the Victorian Department of Industry, Technology and  Resources, the C.S.I.R.O. and the University of Melbourne to fund the  establishment of an Advanced Materials Research Centre by making a  contribution to the cost of the two electron microscopes which will be the  major instruments of the Centre.

The Centre will conduct research and development in the field of high  technology advanced materials for industrial, medical, communications,  defence, scientific and other uses.

The two electron microscopes will be located at the C.S.I.R.O. Division of  Materials Science and at the University of Melbourne at a total cost of $2.33  million. The ARCS contribution is in response to a proposal by Drs Spargo and  Bursill of the University of Melbourne for support for the ultra high

resolution electron microscope to be located at the University. The  C.S.I.R.O. microscope will be specifically designed for analytical work.

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The ultra high resolution microscope will be able to provide images of atomic  positions in crystalline and non-crystalline solids. This provides the  opportunity for direct imaging of atomic rearrangements in chemical reactions,  of catalytic behaviour, of the generation and movement of interfaces,

junctions and defects in materials.

The complementary features of these two state-of-the-art microscopes, and the  abilities of the researchers, will make the Centre a focus for research and  development in electron optics, electron microscopic and diffraction, with

many applications to the development of advanced materials. A number of  companies are at present committing resources to commercial developments using  new ceramic materials and they will be pursuing applications research at the  Centre.

It is expected that the Centre will become operational in 1987.

PROFESSOR ÃÂ M MCCARTHY AND DR D J ROBERTSON Assessing multiple socio-environmental impacts of roadsides (University of Melbourne)

Roadsides are called upon to produce an enormous array of "products":  transport, utility right-of-way, some of the last remaining ecological refuges  of natural vegetation, scenic quality, tourist routes, driver safety, fire  breaks and so on. Road corridors are also called upon to fulfill a complex  array of engineering, economical, social, political and environmental uses.  There are about 50,000 km of roadways in Victoria, forming 2 million hectares

of public land, which is among the most publicly accessible and most  frequently visited of all public land in Victoria. Yet almost nothing is  known about roadsides in a systematic way. This project is developing a  system which provides information for decision.makers about conflicts and

trade-offs among roadside uses which result from management actions, leading  to the productive and efficient use of the roadside corridor, with particular  reference to aesthetics, ecology and fire safety characteristics.

EMERITUS PROFESSOR R M BERNDT AND DR C H BERNCT .

Aboriginal religion, mythology and oral literature  (University of Western Australia)

Professor Berndt and Dr Berndt have been active in the field of Aboriginal  anthropology for more than 40 years. Their work over this long, continuous  time, has resulted in a unique resource of field notebooks, photographic  records, audio recordings and artefacts which now have to be systematized and  catalogued for the benefit of future anthropologists, and to permit the

investigators to write up the central topics of their investigations. This  material is all the more important for constituting, in several important  cases, the only records of Aboriginal tribes and languages which unfortunately  are now extinct. The project will also result in a very large archive of  materials.

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DR J KAMMINGA .

Experimental investigation of the functions of prehistoric South-East Asian  stone tools (Australian National University)

Dr Kamminga has been studying wear patterns on stone-age tools in Australia  since 1971. In this project he uses microscope techniques to investigate wear  patterns on tools used by hominids in South-East Asia before the coming of  modern man. Modern tools are made from the major stone materials of the  archeological collections, including quartzite, quartz and obsidian; and these

tools are then used for working timber, rattan and bamboo to determine the  patterns of wear caused on the cutting surface of the tools. These results  can then be compared to the wear patterns on genuine prehistoric tools, using  factors like the characteristic polish produced by the presence of silica in

the timber being worked. This research is producing results which allow a  scientific classification of tools which have hitherto been described as  "amorphous". The results will also be applicable to prehistoric stone  assemblages from tropical Australia and Melanesia.

DR J H O'DONNELL Radiation Degradation of Polymers (University of Queensland) ,

High energy radiation can damage or improve plastics. Carbon fibre reinforced  plastic components are used in construction of space satellites because of  favourable weight-strength relationships and must be capable of lifetimes up  to 50 years without failure. They are subjected to large doses of radiation -

in geosynchronous orbits which lie in the 2nd Val Allen radiation belt. Dr O'Donnell is collaborating with NASA Research Laboratories in Virginia on  the selection of plastics with appropriate resistance to radiation  degradation1 .

Irradiation affects the solubility of plastics, improving their applicability  to the manufacture of silicon chip integrated circuits. Poly(olefin  sulfone)s, studied by Dr O'Donnell's group, are used at the AT&T Bell  Laboratories to make about 70% of the masks for photolithography in the  microelectronics industry.

PROFESSOR J D MORRISON  Photodissociation of Ions  (La Trobe University)

The aim of this ARCS funded project was a basic scientific study of ions  subjected to intense laser irradiation. Ions are very reactive particles  involved in the high-temperature chemistry of flames and electrical  discharges. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, an original concept, was

constructed and. the project yielded results of considerable theoretical  significance.

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During this fundamental study the potential of the instrument for analysing  very complex mixtures was realised - in particular that it might be a very  sensitive detector for drugs in living tissue. Collaboration with colleagues  at Michigan State University led to a commercial instrument with many  applications in fields of medicine. One was acquired by the Department of  Pharmacy of Sydney University and the N.S.W. Police Department and is being

used for drug detection, particularly as applied to car drivers.

PROFESSOR K C MARSHALL Adhesion and growth of bacteria at interfaces  (University of New South Wales)

In flowing water systems bacteria rapidly attach to solid surfaces, multiply  and produce large amounts of extracellular substances. Such biofilms can  reduce the speed of high-speed vessels, clog water-reticulation pipelines and  prevent heat transfer in heat exchangers. Bacteria are also responsible for

the development of massive amounts of stable foams on the surface of aeration  tanks in activated sludge systems. Attempts to develop control measures have  so far largely failed. Professor K T Marshall, a leading international  authority in the field of surface microbiology, hopes to solve these practical  problems through his studies on the factors that influence the behaviour of  bacteria at solid-water and air-water interfaces. In particular, he will  examine the effects of modifying the interfaces on cell adhesion and the  mechanism of bacterial adhesion by polymer bridging to inert surfaces.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR J W  REDMOND & DR N BATLEY  Plant-Bacterial Signal Substances  (Macquarie University)

The ability of legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen is of considerable economic  importance. Although the processes whereby Rhizobia bacteria in the soil  infect the plant roots and form nitrogen-fixing nodules have been extensively  studied, many aspects of the plant-bacterium interaction still remain obscure.  Dr Redmond and Dr Batley have recently shown that roots of white clover

release certain chemicals (flavones) which specifically induce the Rhizobia to  form nodules on clover roots. They have also identified other substances that  inhibit nodulation. Drs Redmond and Batley now plan to synthesise structural  variants of these signal substances and to test their effect on the nodulation

process. Synthetic signal substances may have a useful role in reducing the  competitiveness of indigenous rhizobial populations in the soil or in  enhancing the competitiveness of inoculated strains.

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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR M ARCHER Developing a national and international framework for the correlation of the  Tertiary Mammal-bearing deposits of northern Australia  (University of New South Wales)

Australian Research Grants Scheme support has resulted in the discovery in  northwestern Queensland of the single most important deposit of Tertiary  Mammal fossils known from Australia. Of international significance has been  the discovery of three Miocene bats of a type only known before from the  middle Tertiary deposits in France. These and 18 other new species of fossil

bats from the new deposits will provide the first substantial look at  Australia's oldest known bats. Of similar international significance has been  discovery in the Queensland deposits of the remains, including a complete  skull, of a very distinctive Miocene Platypus, one that forces a complete

reappraisal of the phylogenetic position of the egg-laying monotrematous  mammals. Further, an entirely new type of mammal has turned up, one that  appears to belong to a distinctly new order of mammals and indicative of the  as yet largely unknown early Tertiary mammal radiation of this continent.

At present, although less than 1% of the area of the newly discovered Miocene  limestone has been explored, over 35 new fossil localities have been found.  Altogether, there are approximately 100 new species of Miocene mammals, as  well as new species of lungfish, frogs, lizards and snakes. Some are

represented by complete jaws, others by complete skulls and a few by partial  skeletons. This extraordinary diversity of well-preserved fossils has already  resulted in a more than doubling of present information about the evolution of  Australia's Cainozoic vertebrates.

SPECIAL EMPHASIS GIVEN TO EQUIPMENT

A special feature of the ARCS budget for 1987 is the fact that the whole of  the 10% increase in real terms has been reserved for major equipment items.  This means, that although the general level of research funding has remained  static, there will be a chance to upgrade key items of research equipment.  Australia's international technological standing is critically dependent on

research groups having access to appropriate experimental equipment and thus  this chance to obtain a limited amount of this equipment is warmly welcomed. In many instances the ARCS funds have been brought together with funds from  other sources to allow purchases approaching $lm. Although the ARCS component  was often relatively small, say $100,000, the availability of these funds

acted as a catalyst to allow other funds to be collected.

With the decline in the price of Australia's raw materials, it is vital that  alternative sources of foreign exchange be obtained via development of our  manufacturing base. University Departments of Engineering and Applied Science  have a pivotal role to play in this development since University research or

industrial R&D carried out by people whose research training was in University  laboratories is a major input to new technological developments.

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The availability of the special equipment funds from ARCS has allowed a very  small number of research groups to obtain desperately needed equipment. This  equipment will be used to support research activities in several areas  including new materials, improved construction methods, enhanced manufacturing  activities, computer applications, surface physics and so on.

An illustration of the use to which the equipment funds have been put is the  purchase of electron microscope units at the University of Queensland and the  University of Wollongong.

The proposed instrument at the University of Queensland is a high voltage  (400kV) analytical electron microscope allowing both electron energy loss  spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to be carried out. The  facility will be shared between the University of Queensland, Griffith -   University and the Queensland Institute of Technology, all of whom are likely

to contribute to the purchase. An example of the research to be conducted on  the instrument is a study of stress corrosion cracking by Dr Atrens and  Associate Professor Smith at the University of Queensland. This research is  important in giving enhanced understanding of stress corrosion cracking in  such applications as fossil fuel powered steam turbine-rotors

The proposed instrument at the University of Wollongong should be capable of:

(i) high quality imaging in the transmission, scanning and scanning  transmission modes;

(ii) high precision micro-area chemical analyses by energy dispersive  x-ray spectrometry;

(iii) micro-area diffraction; and

(iv) convergent beam electron diffraction.

Such a machine will be of immediate benefit to several research groups  including: -

. Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

- Hot Rolling and Welding of Micro-alloyed Steels - D P  Dunne

- Rapid Solidification of Metals - G W  Delamore

- Shape Memory Alloys - N F Kennon

- Performance of Engineering Alloys under service conditions -  W  J Plumbridge

. Department of Geology

- Studies on the fine structure of Vitrinite and Liptinite with applications to oil exploration - A C  Cook

. Department of Biology

- Metabolism of Bioactive Peptides.

t  *

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The ARCS research funds in Engineering and Applied Science lead to the embryos  of Australia's technological innovations and it is imperative that they be  nurtured and expanded. Thus, the Government's continued support of ARCS is  welcomed and deemed to be of considerable national importance.

DR P D TRAVERS & DR S RICHARDSON An Australian level of living survey: an investigation of the correlation between income and other measures of well-being  (Flinders University of South Australia)

The Inquiry into Poverty conducted by Professor Ronald Henderson in the early  1970s established a poverty line in terms of income. Since 1975 the poverty  line has been adjusted in line with changes in average incomes since it is  argued that full participation in society requires that a family's income  should not be too far below the average.

This project aims to compare incomes of people with a range of other  indicators of living conditions. As a result it will be possible to test how  useful income is as a measure of poverty of living conditions. It will also  allow more useful measures of changes in living conditions over time to be  developed.

The indicators, which will be similar to those used in a 1981 study in Sweden,  will focus on the individual's command over resources; not only money but also  coirmodities, knowledge and social support. Survey techniques are needed for  this approach and will provide opportunities for comparisons between Australia

and other countries.

