GRANTS

Dr Jennifer Fitzgerald Research Grant

A Macquarie research team has been awarded this year’s Dr Jennifer Fitzgerald Research Grant from Scope for a new study that aims to better understand the act of 'sensory masking' in Autistic adults.

The research project will be led by Dr Bec Poulsen, an Autistic auditory neuroscientist at the Macquarie University Hearing Research Centre, in collaboration with Dr Diana Tan, Macquarie Research Fellow from the School of Education and Chair of the inaugural Neurodiversity Community of Practice, Dr Melanie Heyworth, Macquarie Higher Degree Research Student and Founder of Reframing Autism; and Tim Chan, a nonspeaking Autistic advocate and PhD candidate from Australian Catholic University.

Sensory masking refers to conscious or unconscious suppression, inhibition, or overriding of sensory responses to meet Autistic people’s environmental or social expectations. The project aims to better understand how Autistic adults experience sensory masking, what drives it, and what supports are needed to reduce the pressure to mask. It will also explore how different environments – such as schools, workplaces or social settings – shape these experiences.

2026 Macquarie University Lighthouse Fellowship (MQLF) scheme

Three Faculty of Arts academics have been successful in the 2026 Macquarie University Lighthouse Fellowship (MQLF) scheme:

Dr Rose Barrowcliffe (Centre for Critical Indigenous Studies)
Sponsors: Distinguished Professor Bronwyn Carlson and Professor Sandy O’Sullivan
Where’s our stuff? Finding Indigenous data in the big data era
This project aims to create an index and guides for finding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data held in collecting institutions around Australia. The project will innovate using computational humanities techniques applied from an Indigenous standpoint to analyse and summarise archival online catalogues from an Aboriginal standpoint. This will address the significant lack of findability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data resulting in an online findability resource that will benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around Australia.

Dr Joshua Hatherley (School of Humanities)
Sponsors: Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers and Professor Robert Sinnerbrink
In the AI of the beholder: Ethical issues in AI beauty assessments in medicine. AI systems are being developed to evaluate aesthetic endpoints in healthcare, including assessments of patients’ youthfulness, attractiveness, and beauty. But this is potentially problematic because AI aesthetic judgements could reinforce or exacerbate racist, sexist, and ableist standards of beauty. The impacts of AI aesthetics will disproportionately affect girls and women. This project will be the first in-depth investigation of ethical issues raised by AI-generated aesthetic judgments in healthcare. It will deliver the first set of ethical guidelines for AI developers and healthcare professionals. Benefits include reduced bias and improved transparency, accountability, and patient well-being in aesthetic medicine.

Dr Bec Poulson (School of Education)
Sponsors: Dr Diana Tan and Distinguished Professor David McAlpine
Through silence and symphony: Exploring sensory experiences, accumulative trauma, adaptive strategies, and sensory wellbeing and joy of Autistic people
This project is the first major study that holistically explores Autistic sensory experiences, its cumulative impacts, adaptive strategies, and pathways to enhancing sensory wellbeing. Using an interdisciplinary approach and community involvement, Dr Poulsen will develop a Strategic Sensory Model capturing the full trajectory of sensory experience – from accumulative sensory trauma to thriving, with deep insights into how Autistic people experience sensory regulation, joy, and self-expression. A key outcome is the Sensory Wellbeing Toolkit, which equips Autistic people with proactive, Autistic-identified strategies to manage sensory distress at various stages, break trauma cycles, support sensory self-expression, and joy, and enhance sensory wellbeing.

AWARDS

2025 NSW Young Tall Poppy

Honorary Research Fellow, Dr Richard Savery, has been named a 2025 NSW Young Tall Poppy, recognising his research excellence and community engagement. Dr Savery is a developer of artificial intelligence and robotics who uses music and creativity to program better AI interactions and models. His work includes developing Keirzo, a drumming and rapping robot that learns from human musicians and collaborates with them in real-time performances. Read more.

ACHIEVEMENTS

2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards

Dr Geraldine Fela, from the School of Humanities, has been named a finalist in the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Her book, Critical Care: Nurses on the frontline of Australia’s AIDS crisis, has been shortlisted in the ‘Australian History’ category. The publication brings together personal stories from across the country to document the care, compassion and solidarity shown by HIV and AIDS nurses.

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, established in 2008, recognise individual excellence and the contribution Australian authors make to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life. Announcement of winning works will take place on 29 September 2025. Read more.