Up-and-coming researchers awarded $10m

24 academics have been awarded funding through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme.

Minister for Education Dan Tehan announced on 3 November that Sydney had been awarded $10.1m in total, with projects covering a broad range of areas, including the gig economy, mental health treatment and gendered violence in schools.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Duncan Ivison welcomed the announcement and congratulated recipients, pointing to a high success rate among Sydney applicants.

“It’s pleasing to see our success rate for these awards is 23%, the highest among the Go8 universities. This highlights not only the talent of our up-and-coming researchers, but also the support from our professional staff in helping academics reach their potential.

“My congratulations to the recipients and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this valuable research,” said Professor Ivison. “I know there are also some very good projects that didn’t get funded this round and we look forward to working with colleagues on those for upcoming ones.”

Among the recipients are Dr Carolyn McKay, from the University of Sydney Law School, who will examine the impact of digital technologies, such as audio visual links replacing physical presence in courtrooms, on vulnerable members of society, as well as Dr Milad Haghani, from the University of Sydney Business School, who will develop materials to assist in rapidly and safely evacuating crowds in mass emergencies.

Sydney’s 2021 DECRA recipients:

The full list of 2021 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award recipients and their project summaries are available on the ARC website.