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A leading astronomer, a renowned international law expert and an accomplished historian will all conduct vital research at ANU over the next five years with new Australian Research Council grants.
The ARC this month awarded three researchers Federation Fellowships, the most valuable publicly funded fellowships in Australia. ANU has now been awarded a total of 18 Federation Fellowships over four rounds, more than any other university in the country.
Professor Brian Schmidt, from the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, will use his funding to explore how the universe formed 13 billion years ago. He is is the second Federation Fellow at Mt Stromlo, with Professor Mike Dopita having received the honour in 2003.
Professor Schmidt leads the Southern Sky Survey, the first all-sky digital survey of the southern skies using the hi-tech Skymapper telescope. He said the funding will allow the team at Mt Stromlo to study the effects of the dark side in our galaxy.
“We can, in the next five years, find many of the first stars in our own galaxy, and use their motions to see how our galaxy formed. We will also uncover the first black holes as they lit up the distant universe, and monitor the effects of ‘Dark Energy’ on the universe’s expansion.”
Professor Hilary Charlesworth from the Research School of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law will use her fellowship for more terrestrial concerns, when she starts the Centre for International Governance and Justice.
This will expand her research into the contribution of international law on democratic governance and human rights, particularly in post-conflict societies like Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
Professor Charlesworth said her goal with the new centre is to influence the activities of international governance bodies.
“We know that policy makers aren’t sitting around reading a lot of academic journals. So how do we get our ideas into the public arena? And it’s not just policy makers. I’m really interested in trying to explain some of the ideas to a wider public audience.”
Professor Geremie Barmé, from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, will use his funding to explore Chinese cultural identities in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Professor Barmé will address some of the most important and long-term issues of Chinese history, culture and society and their contemporary relevance in northeast Asia and the Asia Pacific.
“This project will provide a unique understanding of the underpinnings of the cultural heft that China will increasingly demonstrate in the years to come,” Professor Barmé said.
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