Our Research
The School carries out research in a wide range of areas related to sciences and computational technology. These are housed in three established research Centres and several research groups. More information can be obtained using the links below to each Centre and research group.
Centre for Bioactive Discovery in Health and Ageing
The focus of the Centre is on the discovery of and research into bioactive compounds that can play an important part in human health and ageing, which falls within the National Research Priorities (Promoting and Maintaining Good Health). Groups within the Centre are funded by the NH&MRC and Industry. Research areas include novel drug discovery programs for the treatment of cancer and diabetes, the role of antioxidants, dietary supplements and herbal extracts in improving health outcomes and the search for biomarkers linked with depression.
Centre for Engineering Intelligent and Secure IT-Solutions
From education to agriculture to everyday social interaction almost every aspect of life on earth is aided or influenced by Information Technology. For regional and rural communities, IT solutions such as e-learning and telemedicine have the potential to overcome the limitations of distance and lack of physical infrastructure. However, to be effective, such solutions must be secure, efficient and well-engineered. The aim of this School Centre is the development of underlying techniques and technologies in the areas of information security, artificial intelligence and software engineering in order to construct secure and reliable IT solutions. A major theme of this Centre is the facilitation of the Security targeted research area of the University.
Centre for Molecular Biology
The focus of the Centre is the use of molecular biology to study areas of importance to human health, agriculture and industry. The goals are to develop and maintain high quality, outside-funded research projects, to train graduate students, and to strengthen undergraduate teaching in this area. Molecular techniques are being used to investigate a range of biological aspects: from bone biology and homeostasis to auxin production in rice and microbial interactions. Microorganisms under study include the anaerobic bacterium Dichelobacter nodosus, which causes footrot in sheep, filamentous fungi from the genus Aspergillus, and the fungus Thielaviopsis basicola, which causes black root rot in plants, Azospirillum, plant growth promoting soil bacteria and both pathogens and probiotic species associated with lobster aquaculture.
Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behaviour
The Centre conducts research over a wide variety of species (including domestic, exotic, avian and primate species) to answer questions of perceptual processing, communication, development and memory in animals, investigating interactions of brain mechanisms and behaviour.
In 2007/8, active research projects included perception (multi-modal and biological motion), cognition, vocal behaviour and development, brain lateralization, and social behaviour studied in a variety of animal species (dogs, horses, gibbons, marmosets, elephants, zebra finches, Australian magpies).
Industrial and Environmental Process Technology Group
The focus of the Industrial and Environmental Process Technology (IEPT) group is the application of fundamental principles of Physics and Chemistry to improve the economic and environmental effectiveness of processes of industrial interest. Our activities incorporate both strategic basic research aimed at elucidating mechanisms of importance in these processes and applied research directed towards specific process optimisation.
Mathematical Analysis and Modeling Group
This group develops theoretical techniques through analytical as well as topological and algebraic tools, and apply the ideas and results obtained in the theoretical investigation to problems arising from a wide range of areas, including various important models in differential geometry and natural sciences (biology, chemistry, ecology, physics and rural sciences). The concrete problems we currently work on include the Chern-Simons model in condensed matter physics, the logistic and related models in population biology, and image reconstruction for diffraction and phase contrast tomography. Important problems in these applied areas serve as a key source of the topics for investigation by the group.
Research of this group has been supported by several ARC discovery grants and involves intensive collaboration with leading researchers around the world."
Photonics Sensors Group
The Photonics Sensors Group (PSG) was originally established as the Optical Fibre Sensing Group (OFSG) by Professor Gerry Woolsey in 1993. Since then the PSG has trained a multitude of Honours, Masters and PhD graduates. The PSG investigate photonics sensors in a whole range of applications ranging from agriculture and environmental monitoring, through to high voltage and highly-corrosive chemical environments. The group develops optical fibre and well as bulk (unbound) optical sensors for deployment in both gaseous and liquid media. Hosted by the discipline of Physics and Electronics, the PSG has two photonics research laboratories, equipped with equipment such as visible, near and thermal infrared lasers, diode array spectrometers, a multitude of oscilloscopes and electro-optical transducers, precision optical benches, precision optical components for optical fibre and bulk optical experiments, and a plethora of gaseous electronics apparatus. We welcome opportunities for conducting multi-disciplinary research with internal and external partners.
Precision Agriculture Research Group
The Precision Agriculture Research Group (PARG) is a multi-disciplinary team of academic, research and technical staff engaged in the development and application of sensors and practices in precision agriculture. Our staff come from diverse backgrounds and are based in numerous academic Schools across the university. The group, initially formed in 2002, runs numerous externally-funded research projects involving organizations such as the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI), Grape & Wine Research & Development Corporation (GWRDC), Sugar Research and Development Corporation (SRDC), Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA). PARG is well equipped with some of the latest (including newly developed) sensors and positioning technology for conducting fieldwork. We are committed to industry-led research and research-led teaching. We value our extensive network of end-user collaborators and strive to maintain a line of sight to fit-for-purpose solutions. Our undergraduate, as well as postgraduate research students are exposed to the latest, as well as tried and true methodologies and technologies available for crop, pasture, and more recently livestock management. UNE also offers Australia’s only dedicated Graduate Certificate in Precision Agriculture.