Research projects to enhance mineral exploration, improve disease resistance in canola, boost respiration efficiency in plants, transform pyrochemical processes and develop complex AI systems, were among those to receive funding from the Federal Government.
Five projects led by The University of Western Australia received almost $2.6 million from the Australian Research Council's 2026 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme.
Dr Isra Ezad, from UWA's School of Earth and Oceans, was awarded funding to enhance mineral exploration in Australia by combining experiments, geophysical imaging and geochemical fingerprinting.
"We aim to revolutionise mineral system models by investigating hydrous pyroxenites, a type of igneous rock, as alternative sources of critical metals like copper, cobalt, and platinum group elements," Dr Ezad said.
The outcomes will provide new tools for identifying untapped metal resources, benefiting industry and net-zero efforts. Training a PhD student will support future expertise in mineral exploration and sustainability-driven geoscience research.
Dr Adil Khan, from UWA's School of Molecular Sciences, received funding to develop synthetic gene circuits to enhance adaptive disease resistance in canola
"Canola is a $4 billion industry vulnerable to blackleg disease, which can cause over 50 per cent yield losses," Dr Khan said.
"Current control methods, including fungicides and R genes, are becoming ineffective as the pathogen evolves. By integrating CRISPR-based gene circuits, this research will enable precise, on-demand regulation of resistance and susceptibility genes, improving long-term crop resilience."
The project aims to reduce fungicide dependence, enhance food security and strengthen Australia's global leadership in sustainable agriculture.
Dr Ha Xuyen Le, from UWA's School of Molecular Sciences, was awarded a grant to boost respiration efficiency in plants.
"Plant respiration increases with global warming, leading to the loss of nearly half of the fixed carbon back into the environment, which reduces potential yield and negatively impacts the ecosystem," Dr Le said.
"This project aims to uncover how pyruvate, the key fuel for respiration, is transported to mitochondria, what factors regulate this process and how it can be manipulated to minimise carbon loss from unnecessary respiration.
"Through genetic engineering, I will develop a wheat line with adjusted pyruvate transport to improve yield resilience under rising global temperatures."
Dr Yiran Liu, from UWA's School of Engineering, received funding to develop a fast, multi-view predictive approach for transforming or upgrading conventional pyrochemical processes.
"We will tackle key challenges in feasibility, design and optimisation of reactor redesign for transforming carbon-intensive pyrochemical processes to net zero," Dr Liu said.
"This project will drive advancements in next-generation low-carbon industrial processes, offering scalable solutions to Australia's and global environmental challenges and the energy crisis."
Dr Lian Xu, from School of Physics, Mathematics and Computing, was awarded a grant to develop advanced artificial intelligence systems that can understand and interpret complex visual environments more effectively, efficiently and transparently.
"Current AI models for tasks often struggle to adapt to new scenarios, require vast amounts of labelled data and lack clarity in how decisions are made," Dr Xu said.
"By combining visual perception with human-like reasoning, this research will create systems that actively refine their understanding of scenes, ask questions when uncertain and explain their decisions in plain language.
"The outcomes will enable safer autonomous systems and more reliable healthcare diagnostics while reducing reliance on costly data annotation."
