高清福利片

The聽Sydney Research Excellence聽Initiative - SREI 2020聽is a new program to help Sydney researchers test new ideas, push disciplinary boundaries and identify ways to scale up their research.

In its first year, just over $3M was awarded to 21 projects across the University.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Duncan Ivison said SREI 2020, a key new program in the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, supports researchers to be creative and build a 鈥榩roof-of-concept鈥� before applying for external category one funding, such as from the ARC or NHMRC.

鈥淲e know it can be incredibly difficult to secure research funding, so we鈥檙e giving researchers a helping hand to take risks and be ambitious,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e were overwhelmed by the number and quality of the applications we received for this first round of funding. These projects have the potential to develop into world-leading research that advances the boundaries of knowledge and can be applied to the benefit of the societies we serve.鈥�

Professor Ivison said SREI 2020 is part of the wider Sydney Research Excellence Initiative, which by 2020 will provide $150 million per annum for research; a tripling of our current investment.

鈥淪ydney is one of the best research universities in Australia and SREI 2020 will enable us to build research excellence in new and existing areas of expertise. I look forward to seeing the projects in our first round take shape over the next year.鈥�

Creating a real-time bullsh*t detector

, Arts and Social Sciences

A bullsh*t detector that can detect 鈥榩ost-truth鈥� (the聽) discourse in real-time? Linguist Professor Nick Enfield will lead an interdisciplinary team that includes top researchers in physics, philosophy, data science, government and international relations, media and communications, and software engineering, to create a sophisticated artificial intelligence program that can pick up on speech that is devoid of logic or evidence.

鈥淩ational discourse exists but is lacking where it would seem to matter most,鈥� Professor Enfield said.

鈥淓vidence and logic often count for little, whether the issue is carbon footprints or food supply, city planning or campaign debates, health policy or anti-terrorism.鈥�

鈥淭his is post-truth discourse: the disregard for evidence in decision-making, and a deep suspicion of experts. The problem is worsening, and the stakes are increasingly high, as we see from the spectacles of Brexit and Trump to the world鈥檚 stunning inaction on climate change.鈥�

A new way to combat untreatable blindness聽

聽(pictured), Medicine

Genetic retinal disease, which destroys the ability to sense light, affects about 1 in 3,000 people, or more than two million people worldwide. It鈥檚 now more common than diabetes as a cause of blindness in working-age people.聽Devastatingly for those affected, there are currently no treatments or preventions.

Professor Jamieson will assemble some of Sydney鈥檚 best geneticists, ophthalmologists, molecular biologists and basic scientists to find new treatments for these conditions, using newly available technologies such as genome sequencing, genome engineering and stem cell therapies.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really difficult to see people, especially children, with problems with their vision. So this project presents a really great opportunity to use new technologies to work towards treatment for those people so that we can potentially restore sight.

鈥淭o be able to give people that hope is a fantastic thing.鈥�

All SREI 2020 projects funded in 2017:

• The post-truth crisis: creating a real-time bullsh*t detector 鈥撀�, Arts and Social Sciences
• A new way to combat untreatable blindness 鈥撀�, Medicine
• A unique approach to pathogen discovery 鈥撀�, Science
• Improving Australian women鈥檚 work futures 鈥撀�, Business
• A regenerative medicine approach to cure type 1 diabetes 鈥撀�, Medicine
• New drugs for pain, stroke, depression and diabetes 鈥撀犔�笔丑补谤尘补肠测
• Framing oral health as a new way to understand and prevent chronic diseases 鈥撀�, Dentistry
• Digital rights and governance in Australia and Asia 鈥撀�, Media and communications
• 高清福利片ing the diversity of cells to deepen our understanding of ageing and disease 鈥撀�, Medicine
• How the Enlightenment shaped modern values and identity 鈥撀�, Humanities
• Harnessing the immune system to combat disease 鈥撀�, Medicine
• Helping Australian policy-makers analyse the long-term effectiveness of interventions 鈥撀�, Economics
• Developing a new model for environmental risk assessment 鈥撀�, Engineering
• Understanding the deep carbon cycle, from icehouse to greenhouse climates聽, Science
• Creating a virtual 3D leaf 鈥揚rofessor Margaret Barbour, Agriculture
• Understanding how people learn to co-create knowledge,聽, Education
• Developing farm robots with photonic sensors that detect deadly bacteria on food 鈥撀�, Science
• Tackling health impacts of climate change 鈥撀�, Public Health
• Improved detection and treatments for neuroimmune disorders 鈥撀�, Medicine
• Modelling social risks and extreme events: from Angkor's demise to Australia鈥檚 housing crisis 鈥撀�,听贰苍驳颈苍别别谤颈苍驳
• New ways to detect dementia and Parkinson鈥檚 disease 鈥撀�, Medicine