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Twenty-four research projects have been awarded funding under the Tranche Two of Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Seed Grants.
More than $5.4 million will support 9 value-add projects in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 11 value-add projects in resources, 2 projects in renewables and low emission technology and 2 projects in medical science.
This brings the total number of projects funded under the AEA Seed pilot program to 45.
Department of Education Acting First Assistant Secretary of the Research Division Dr Anthony Millgate said that the AEA program was placing university innovation and industry collaboration front and centre of Australia’s economic recovery.
“The Australian Government is investing $1.6 billion through AEA to translate innovation and ideas for the benefit of all Australians,” Dr Millgate said.
“The program is led by experts who have experience and knowledge in research and commercialisation, and represent government, industry and research sectors.
“Through AEA we are investing in research in the National Reconstruction Fund’s priority areas which are designed to drive investment in key sectors, focusing on value adding and capability development to leverage Australia’s natural and competitive strengths.”
AEA Seed is a pilot program for the stage one proof of scale grants known as AEA Ignite and forms part of the Australian Government’s $1.6 billion investment in AEA.
The program is supporting Australia’s leading entrepreneurial researchers transform world-class research into the new industries, services and jobs of tomorrow.
For regular updates on the AEA, follow the AEA LinkedIn page.
Full list of successful projects:
Value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors
Funding awarded for value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors
| University | Project title | Lead entrepreneur | Grant funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland University of Technology | Sustainably Sourced Hard Carbon from agricultural waste for use in sodium ion batteries | Prof Deepak Dubal | $384,271 |
| Queensland University of Technology | Cost effective advanced manufacturing of high-demand cannabinoids | Dr Carlos Luna-Flores | $199,853 |
| The Australian National University | Development of non-invasive imaging tools to identify recombinant protein expression in plant-based molecular farming | Dr Richard Poire | $166,117 |
| The University of Adelaide | Revolutionising Agriculture: Innovative Encapsulation Technologies for a Sovereign Supply Chain | Dr Yue Hui | $299,994 |
| The University of Queensland | A Spinifex-based Nanomaterials Platform for Climate-ready Crops and Mine-Site Restoration | Dr Jitka Kochanek | $300,000 |
| The University of Queensland | Single-shot anti-fertility vaccine in pigs | Dr Rachel Stephenson | $471,683 |
| The University of Queensland | Proof of concept cattle tick vaccine trial for commercial adoption | Dr Hannah Siddle | $260,652 |
| The University of Queensland | Toward a rapid antibody test (RAT) for phosphine resistant insect pests of stored grain | A/Prof Paul Ebert | $58,666 |
| University of South Australia | Olives the Australian Way - A new style of table olive using a novel debittering process | Prof John Fielke | $275,054 |
Value-add in resources
Funding awarded for value-add in resources
| University | Project title | Lead entrepreneur | Grant funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monash University | Enabling the Lithium economy by creating value-added product(s) for energy storage market | Dr Md Joynul Abedin | $199,290 |
| Queensland University of Technology | Value Adding Natural Zeolite Resources: Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion for Biogas Production and Nutrient Management | Prof Graeme Millar | $288,977 |
| Swinburne University of Technology | Mining with muons: muon tomography methods for site exploration and safety management | Dr Federico Scutti | $153,823 |
| The University of Adelaide | Rapid development of new medical treatment compounds from radioactive mine waste | Ms Danielle Questiaux | $196,248 |
| The University of New South Wales | High-yield, low-cost manufacturing of quantum magnetic field sensors | Dr Maja Cassidy | $171,675 |
| The University of Queensland | Developing scaling-up process to produce haloalkaliphilic bacteria inoculum for industry-deployment to treat alkaline wastes from refining alumina | Dr Fang You | $193,720 |
| The University of Queensland | Converting raw mineral materials to highly efficient lighting and display devices | Dr Jingwei Hou | $197,102 |
| The University of Queensland | Improving flotation beneficiation of minerals | Dr Hangil Park | $156,431 |
| The University of Queensland | Ore-sand: a circular economy solution to reduce mineral wastes and produce alternative construction materials | Dr Juliana Segura Salazar | $180,000 |
| University of South Australia | Transforming Australian regions for sustainable development: a novel approach to efficient metal recovery for cleaning contaminated sites | A/Prof Larissa Statsenko | $198,056 |
| University of Southern Queensland | Manufacture and agronomic assessment of polymer-free lignite derived slow-release fertiliser (SRF) | A/Prof Lei Ge | $251,714 |
Renewables and low emissions technologies
Funding awarded for renewables and low emissions technologies projects
| University | Project title | Lead entrepreneur | Grant funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Adelaide | Sustainable metal extraction and recovery from metal-containing waste for renewable energy transition and circular economy | A/Prof Chi Wai Kwong | $199,783 |
| The University of Sydney | Sensing the unseen: Advanced hydrogen gas sensor | Prof Xiaoke Yi | $192,703 |
Medical science
Funding awarded for medical science projects
| University | Project title | Lead entrepreneur | Grant funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deakin University | World’s first chemical antibody-based intraoperative diagnostic platform for surgical pathology | Prof Wei Duan | $200,000 |
| The University of Melbourne | Towards Non-invasive Pathology using Thermal Imaging Spectroscopy for Skin Cancer Diagnosis | Miss Noor E Karishma Shaik | $200,000 |