Congratulations to Macquarie’s newest Australian Research Council (ARC) grant recipients.

Announcing the grants, totalling close to $800,000, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sakkie Pretorius said the Macquarie recipients were among ten announced by the Council.

Professor Vladimir Strezov; Professor Mark Taylor; Professor Peter Nelson; and partners Hammersley Iron
Improved control of dioxin emissions during iron ore sintering

This project aims to develop an innovative assessment of dioxin formation through analysis and speciation of its precursors (Cl and Cu). Iron ore sintering is the industrial process with the highest emissions of dioxins and furans to the environment in Australia, which are amongst the most toxic substances produced by man. The aim of this project is to conduct critical investigations required for control of dioxin emissions during iron ore sintering. The expected outcome of this project is the development of control mechanisms for the process conditions responsible for dioxin formation. This should provide significant benefits, such as assisting the Australian iron ore industry to address the environmental requirements of their international trade partners and sustain their iron ore exports.

Dr Katharine Fullagar and partners from University of Sydney, ANU and the National Portrait Gallery 
Facing New Worlds: Comparative Histories of Australasia and North America

This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of complex indigenous-settler relations across “New World” sites. The expected outcomes of this project are to promote a deeper appreciation of Australia’s place in a Pacific world with as yet unexplored links to the Americas, and also to model new ways for art history and socio-cultural history to come together to explicate a shared, complicated past.

Professor Pretorius says Macquarie researchers have two additional Linkage applications currently being processed.

“Let’s hope for more such good news around those soon,” Professor Pretorius said.