Two universities have secured funding from the recently-launched Defence Science Centre to further Australia’s defence sector.
Two research projects from Curtin University were each granted $150,000 worth of funding. One study looks into the high-speed underwater wireless commnication for Australian Navy vessels while the other looks into maximising military team development and performance.
In partnership with the Defence Science Technology Group, Murdoch University also managed to secure grants from the Defence Science Centre. Its University researchers are set to receive and share $700,000 to develop new ideas as well as technologies for defence purposes.
Like Curtin University, Murdoch will be embarking on two projects. The first of these will be the development of training tools to help naval divers detect biosecurity threats posed by returning naval vessels that could be carrying invasive and non-native marine life.
“The Navy relies on visual inspection of vessels by clearance divers to detect biosecurity threats,” Dr Matthew Thompson, a senior lecturer at Murdoch University, said.
“This is a demanding task, and genuine expertise is limited, so we’re applying established cognitive science methods to enhance that surveillance performance”.
The second project will be looking into the development of new antimicrobials to combat biological warfare threats.
“In this current age where antibiotics are failing due to multi-drug resistant bacteria, it’s imperative to develop novel anti-bacterial drugs,” Professor Geoffrey Coombs, who will lead the research, said.
Professor Combs also serves as the University’s chair of Public Health.
“The team has already identified active compounds which can reduce or stop bacterial growth altogether, and this project will investigate if these compounds can be safely used to treat human infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria”.
Aside from these two research projects, the Defence Science Centre also provided support to post-grad student, Chloe Smith, who will be conducting research to improve the high-stakes deicsion-making abilities of military personnel.
The Defence Science Centre, launched in June this year, was set up to enhance the collaboration between the defence industry and research sector. The WA Government is expected to identify collaboration opportunities for small and medium enterprises to participate in.
A word of warning…
Since 2018, Australia has been amping up its defence sector by increasing partnerships between related industries and universities in the process.
In an article published in The Conversation, Alex Edney-Browne – an International Relations PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, and Tilman Ruff, an Assciate Professor at the University of Melbourne – discussed the ethical issues these collaborations pose.
Edney-Brown and Associate Professor Ruff pointed out that educational institutions that rely on their funding downplay “the nature of these companies and the purpose of their research and products” – especially when universities strike partnerships with companies with dubious track records.
“As Australian research councils struggle and universities face a funding freeze, academics with limited funding options may be driven to seek military funding,” they wrote.
“This could undermine their control over the direction and use of their research”.