[Aqualist] ARC Linkage success

[Simon Haberle]

Dear All,

News on the ARC linkage grants has been released today (see 
<http://www.dest.gov.au/Ministers/Media/Bishop/2007/09/B001240907.asp>http://www.dest.gov.au/Ministers/Media/Bishop/2007/09/B001240907.asp 
or ARC site www.arc.gov.au).
ARC Discovery grants will be released on Wednesday.

The successful Linkage grants in the fields related to Quaternary 
Studies (palaeoenvironments and archaeology) are listed below. A 
summary of the outcomes is as follows:
    * There were 424 applications and 202 funded (47.6% success rate).
    * av funding per project is $308,000
    * UQ was by far the most successful institution with 25 
successful grants (Sydney, UNSW 18 each and QUT, Melb 13 each).
    * Women were marginally more successful than men (49.9% to 49.4%) 
- now I am not a statistician but this does rather imply some 
different data sets are being used here ...
    * Success rates between broad fields are roughly even ranging 
from 43% in engineering to 52.6% in physics, chem and geosciences
    * Social, behavioural and economic sciences received the highest 
amount $16.7m with engineering and environmental sciences at $16.2m, 
biological $12.2, physics, chem and geoscience $6.1m, mathematics and 
ICT $5.8m and  humanities $5.3.

_________________________________________________________
LP0882985     Dr SL O'Connor
Approved Project Title          Bayini, Macassans, Balanda and 
Bininij: A Case Study of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management and 
Tourism in West Arnhemland Northern Territory
2008 :  $  77,800
2009 :  $  72,200
2010 :  $  80,000
Primary RFCD                      4302     ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APA(I) Award(s):              1
Collaborating/Partner Organisation(s)
Department of the Environment and Water Resources
Bushfires Northern Territory
Administering Organisation  The Australian National University
Project Summary
Contact between cultures is a defining theme in history and is 
especially relevant to contemporary Australia. The timing of contact 
between South East Asians and Europeans with Aboriginal communities 
in Arnhem Land is of great historical significance to Australia. This 
knowledge will enhance the national heritage registration efforts for 
cultural heritage places in the region. Conservation efforts will be 
undertaken for the first time for these potentially world heritage 
significant Indigenous cultural heritage places. Indigenous 
communities will potentially make significant economic gains from 
developing sustainable land management and cultural tourism 
initiatives through the results and skills obtained from his project.


LP0882081     Prof TA Murray; Dr PW Davies
Approved Project Title          An Archaeology of Institutional 
Confinement: the Hyde Park Barracks 1848 1886
2008 :  $  78,648
2009 :  $  78,648
2010 :  $  78,648
Primary RFCD           4302    ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APDI                                 Dr PW Davies
Collaborating/Partner Organisation(s)
Historic Houses Trust of NSW
Administering Organisation  La Trobe University

Project Summary
This project has three benefits. First, it will help Australians 
understand more about the history of government care for the sick and 
the destitute, an issue that strongly resonates in the contemporary 
community. Second, by focusing on the archaeology of migration we can 
improve our understanding of its consequences. Third, the visitors to 
the Hyde Park Barracks Museum will be better able to understand the 
richness and diversity of the archaeological and historical records 
of early Australian history. This will enhance the heritage value of 
archaeological assemblages that present significant challenges to 
those who seek to display or interpret them.


LP0882597     Dr CE Lenehan; Dr JS Quinton; Dr P Jones; Prof A Pring; 
Mr A Durham
Approved Project Title          Chemical Fingerprinting for 
Geological and Geographical Provenancing of Ochre Minerals used by 
Australian Aboriginals
2008 :  $  50,000
2009 :  $  50,000
2010 :  $  50,000
Primary RFCD                      2504     ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Collaborating/Partner Organisation(s)
South Australian Museum
Artlab Australia
Administering Organisation  The Flinders University of South Australia
Project Summary
Aboriginal peoples have used ochre in their most meaningful cultural 
interactions. This usage is reflected in other cultures, but the 
richness and complexity of the Australian evidence is unique. This 
partnership of analytical and surface chemists with the museum 
curators and conservators provides an ideal opportunity to utilize a 
range of techniques for the unambiguous provenancing of ochre from an 
artefact, artwork or an archaeological site. The result will be a 
greatly enriched understanding of the way in which Aboriginal 
Australians interacted with one of this country's key resources and 
should yield fresh conclusions about this country's cultural past.


LP0883050     Prof GJ Hugo; Dr B Craig
Approved Project Title          The development and testing of a 
theory of the processes that shape material culture diversity using a 
New Guinea dataset
2008 :  $  70,000
2009 :  $  60,000
Primary RFCD                      3703     ANTHROPOLOGY
Collaborating/Partner Organisation(s)
OK Tedi Mining Limited
South Australian Museum
Administering Organisation  The University of Adelaide
Project Summary
Australian museums hold approximately 150,000 artefacts from the 
Pacific. Estimates of overseas holdings suggest another 500,000. From 
these collections, objects are selected for research or exhibition 
based on restricted themes. No attempt has yet been made to utilise 
these collections in a comprehensive way to maximise their research 
potential. This has now been done for the north central region of New 
Guinea and the available information provides the opportunity to 
develop a theory of the processes that bring about diversity of 
material culture. Such a theory would be of international 
significance for ethnologists and archaeologists and add value to 
publicly funded collections.