UC awarded more than $8 million in Marsden funding

University of Canterbury researchers have been awarded more than $8 million in funding in this year’s Marsden Fund round.

The government-funded awards, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand, are regarded as a hallmark of excellence, allowing New Zealand’s best researchers to explore their ideas. The fund supports projects in the sciences, technology, engineering and maths, social sciences and the humanities.

Canterbury University has received grants for 13 research projects totalling $8,336,702, which is just over $1 million more than UC researchers received in last year’s round. In at least three other projects UC researchers are sub-contractors.

Projects receiving funding cover a range of topics such as determining the role body odours are playing in the decline of our native birds, adapting computer-based cognitive training for post-stroke rehabilitation, analysing Sanskrit numerical tables and computational procedures of the second millennium and identifying early factors in childhood communication disorders.

Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Steve Weaver congratulated UC researchers on their success and said the grants illustrated the broad range of research currently being undertaken at UC.

“The fact that many disciplines feature in this year’s round demonstrates a widespread commitment to research excellence here at Canterbury.”

He said it was an excellent result for the University and a significant endorsement of Canterbury’s world-class research.

“The University of Canterbury’s share represents 14% of the total pool of funding available to NZ universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organisations. This significantly improved performance is testimony to the growing research talent at the University.”

The UC principal investigators awarded funding are Dr Ximena Nelson (Biological Sciences), Associate Professor Jim Briskie (Biological Sciences), Professor Thomas Klee (Communication Disorders), Professor Tanja Mitrovic (Computer Science and Software Engineering), Professor Andy Cockburn (Computer Science and Software Engineering), Associate Professor Maan Alkaisi (Electrical Engineering), Professor John Hearnshaw (Physics and Astronomy), Dr Clemency Montelle (Mathematics and Statistics), Dr Benjamin Martin (Mathematics and Statistics), Professor Peter Steel (Chemistry), Associate Professor Simon Brown (Physics and Astronomy), Dr Jon-Paul Wells (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr Renwick Dobson (Biological Sciences).

Dr Arvind Varsani (Biological Sciences), Dr Adrian McDonald (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr Dean Sutherland (Health Sciences Centre) are also involved in externally-led projects awarded funding in this round.

 

Adaptive computer-based cognitive training for post-stroke rehabilitation

Professor AM Mitrovic, Professor S Ohlsson (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Dr A McKinlay, Mr MM Mathews

We will develop a new ontological modelling methodology that will enable computer-based training systems adapted to users' specific cognitive functioning abilities. Current intelligent systems do not take the user’s cognitive functioning into account; they assume all users have the same level of cognitive functioning, with no restrictions on memory, attention, learning capability, or speed of processing. This new modelling method will be tested in the context of adaptive cognitive training for stroke patients. Current assistive technologies provide simple reminders to stroke patients to compensate for memory loss, but do not provide adaptive training. The proposed intelligent and adaptive training system will use the created methodology to monitor each patient's cognitive deficit and initiate adaptive strategies (e.g. provide specific exercises or tailored advice). Such adaptive training is extremely important to a country with an ageing population such as New Zealand, as it decreases substantial costs of specialized human treatment and patient care. This project will provide a framework for neuropsychological researchers to conduct similar rehabilitative research into training strategies with other brain injuries (even degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease). It also advances the field of knowledge engineering and paves the way for next-generation, human-centred intelligent systems.

Spherical buildings, geometric invariant theory and complete reducibility

Dr BMS Martin, Professor GE Röhrle (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Dr ME Bate (University of York)

Group theory is the branch of mathematics that deals with symmetry: whenever symmetry appears in a problem, there is usually a group involved. A group is a set of symmetries which is closed under certain natural operations. We will investigate geometric objects called spherical buildings. These are highly symmetric spaces on which many groups can act; studying the geometry of spherical buildings yields information about these groups. We will tackle a long-standing open problem called the Centre Conjecture, which concerns fixed points of symmetries of spherical buildings. Spherical buildings admit actions by reductive groups, which are certain groups of matrices. We will apply ideas from geometry, algebra and the theory of reductive groups to probe the structure of these spherical buildings. This research will have applications to two other branches of mathematics—geometric invariant theory and the theory of complete reducibility—which in turn will lead us to a better understanding of reductive groups and their properties.


Flexible behaviour mediated by modular processing of visual information in jumping spiders

Dr XJ Nelson

Associate Professor David O'Carroll (The University of Adelaide), Professor Robert Jackson, Dr Duane Harland (AgResearch)

With visual scenes being awash with redundant information, all visual systems face the daunting task of minimising the processing of irrelevant information. This task is especially formidable for small animals that work with few neurons and miniature brains. Research on insect vision has shown that significant information processing can occur in the sensory periphery, at or near the level of the retina, and algorithms based on what is known about insects are of considerable applied interest in the field of biorobotics. Our goal is to understand another miniature visual system, that of the jumping spider (Salticidae). These predators are famous for their exceedingly complex predatory strategies and ability to see detail in their visual world at a level more similar to that of primates than that of insects. Salticids have eight eyes. Our hypothesis is that the salticid operates with a modular, but highly coordinated, visual system (different eyes dedicated to different functions) and deploys intricate eye-movement strategies when undertaking detailed prey-classification tasks. A specialised eye tracker will be used for studying eye behaviour and neurophysiological techniques, based on newly developed methods for salticids, will be used to obtain single-cell recordings from the salticid retina.

Extrasolar planets in binary star systems

Professor JB Hearnshaw, Dr DJ Ramm (University of Canterbury)

Dr Stuart Barnes (University of Canterbury), Dr Michael Endl (University of Texas at Austin)

We will use the Hercules spectrograph at Mt John Observatory to study extrasolar planets in binary star systems using the Doppler effect. Planets can be detected by the reflex motion that they impart to the star. We will search for Earth-like planets in alpha Centauri, our nearest star. Our simulations show that Earth-mass planets in their habitable zones (where water is liquid) should be detectable in alpha Centauri after 2 to 3 years of observations using an iodine cell for zero-point calibration. We note that no Earth-mass habitable planets have yet been found beyond our solar system. We will study further nu Octantis, a bright southern binary where we have recently found a probable Jupiter-like planet, in an orbit that challenges current theory on orbital stability in binaries. This planet appears to be locked into a 5:2 resonance with the binary star orbit. Further precise observations of Doppler shift using an iodine cell should confirm the planet hypothesis and possibly allow us to measure the time evolution of the orbital parameters. Both these binary stars can be observed all year from Mt John, which is a critical advantage for observing from New Zealand.

New Metallosupramolecular Synthons

Professor PJ Steel, Professor FR Keene (James Cook University)

Modern material science and nanotechnology routinely exploit the properties of materials that contain metal atoms linked by organic molecules (ligands). We intend to dispel the current dogma that the best such bridging ligands use nitrogen heterocycles and carboxylic acids to bind the metal. Indeed, we contend that many hitherto overlooked interactions of organic functional groups with metal atoms can be harnessed to provide new building blocks for preparing both discrete and polymeric supramolecular assemblies. In this context, we will synthesise a diverse range of new bridging ligands that will be combined with various metals to assemble nanoscale species with defined architectures. By strategic design of these ligands and the appropriate choice of metal atoms we expect to prepare many new compounds that will have useful applications as functional materials, such as catalysts, sensors and multiple electron transfer agents. Examples will include 1D-coordination polymers, 2D-networks, 3D-frameworks (MOFs) and discrete assemblies such as molecular cages and helicates. Novel chiral and mixed-metal assemblies will also be studied and applications of these assemblies in organic synthesis will be investigated.

Understanding and improving the transition from novice to expert performance with user interfaces

Professor A Cockburn

Professor CA Gutwin (University of Saskatchewan)

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) mediate most communication between humans and computing devices. Their success is partly due to their natural support for novice users, but the visual search and direct manipulation mechanisms that make GUIs effective for novices fail to support users as they become more experienced, and GUIs often trap users in ‘beginner mode.’ Conversely, interfaces explicitly designed for experts (typified by command-line interaction) allow high levels of performance, but only after extensive training. While interfaces for novices or for experts have been well investigated, the transition from novice to expert is poorly understood. We will establish new fundamental understanding of the interface and human factors that influence users’ transition from novice to expert performance with computing systems. Methods will include the design, implementation, and evaluation of interfaces to test theories and demonstrate new interactive capabilities, as well as construction of predictive performance models. Research outcomes will demonstrate how interface designers can support rapid attainment of high levels of performance, as well as enabling them to predict the impact of design decisions without the expense of implementation and evaluation. Funding will enable Canterbury to continue building its reputation as an international centre of excellence for Human-Computer Interaction.

Beyond the percolation threshold: tunneling, switching and superconductivity

Associate Professor SA Brown

Professor MJM van Bael Katholieke (Universiteit Leuven), Professor KMAJ Temst Katholieke (Universiteit Leuven)

Perhaps surprisingly, the patterns that raindrops make on a concrete path and the propagation of a fire through a forest are linked: the underlying processes are random and can be described by “percolation theory”. The same theory describes many other important physical processes in which the connectivity between objects (like raindrops or trees) is important. But as we move into an era where nanotechnology becomes pervasive, fundamental quantum mechanics becomes more and more important: quantum tunneling can have very significant effects on nanoscale systems. This is never more true than in percolating assemblies of nanoparticles, where tunneling allows electrons to hop between particles even when they are not directly connected.
Tunneling processes in percolating systems are responsible for many intriguing effects which are yet to be understood. By exploring these fundamental conduction processes in random assemblies of nanoparticles we will resolve key questions in two important fields. Why do percolating-tunneling assemblies behave like switches, and could these novel switching processes be employed in new transistor technologies? How small can a superconductor be before it loses its superconductivity, and why should assemblies of superconducting particles appear to be insulating?


A Terrestrial Measurement of the Frame Dragging of the Rotating Earth

Dr J-PR Wells, Dr Robert Hurst

Professor KU Schreiber (Technical University of Munich)

We plan to build a new ring laser gyroscope in the Cashmere Cavern under the Christchurch Port Hills. It will be triangular, with side length about 5 metres, and tilted about 46 degrees to face the south celestial pole. During its operation we shall use new ideas and techniques never before used, to eliminate local disturbances. The laser will be optimized to measure the absolute rotation rate of the Earth, ultimately to better than one part in a billion. We expect to see fluctuations because variations in the westerly winds and ocean currents (averaged over the whole globe) cause compensatory variations in the rotation of the solid Earth. This causes the length of a sidereal day (during which the Earth rotates exactly once relative to the distant stars) to vary by a few thousandths of a second, over time scales of weeks. But our ultimate goal is to observe very subtle effects predicted by the Theory of Relativity: The massive Earth should "drag" nearby space as it rotates, which should result in a slightly slower rotation rate measured by a gyroscope such as our laser when compared with the rate inferred from observations of very distant astronomical objects.

I smell a ratite: predation risk and the evolution of odours in island birds

Associate Professor JV Briskie

Professor Bart Kempenaers (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology)

Some New Zealand birds have strong odours. Even to our relatively insensitive noses, kiwi smell like ammonia while the odour of kakapo has been likened to a dusty violin case! Strong odours are unusual in birds, but common in mammals, which use odours for communication and locating food. Preliminary work has revealed that strong odours may be widespread among New Zealand birds, and that these odours arise from the preen waxes produced in the uropygial gland. Preen waxes function to maintain feathers, but may also attract predators that use olfaction to locate prey. We will test if differences in the composition of preen waxes between island and continental birds are the result of their differing evolutionary histories with predatory mammals. The South Pacific area, including New Zealand, provides an ideal system for studying odours and predation risk as we can compare preen wax composition across a number of island birds that evolved without mammalian predators and their close phylogenetic relatives that co-evolved with predators in Australia. We will then test whether these differences in odours now put island birds at greater risk from introduced mammalian predators. This study will not only increase our understanding of the evolution of odours in birds, but for the first time, determine whether odours are playing a previously unrecognised role in the decline of island birds.


Mapping the evolution of a key glycolytic enzyme

Dr RCJ Dobson, Dr Timothy Cooper (University of Houston)

Adaptation is the process by which a population moves towards a phenotype that represents a better fit to the environment. We know a lot about the consequences of adaptation, but little of the underlying molecular causes of adaptation; that is, how do mutations in a gene act to change an organism’s phenotype.
In a laboratory experiment, 12 replicate bacterial populations were evolved from a common ancestor in a glucose-limiting environment. Over time, the fitness of each population increased and, interestingly, mutations concentrated in relatively few genes. For the gene that encodes pyruvate kinase, an enzyme central to the regulation of energy metabolism, mutations occurred independently in all 12 populations—a signature that they are likely to be adaptive. Why is this enzyme a focal point for adaptive mutations? This question demands a molecular ‘picture’ of the adapted pyruvate kinase enzymes, linked with fitness and metabolic information. To achieve this, an interdisciplinary team will integrate biochemical, protein structural, metabolic and evolutionary experiments to assess the effect of the adaptive mutations at these levels. Empirical data addressing why some mutations are adaptive (but most are not) will have major implications for our ability to predict and understand the outcome of evolution.


Early factors in childhood communication disorders

Professor TM Klee

Professor SF Stokes, Dr Catherine Moran

Parents are rightly concerned if their two-year-old child is late in learning to talk. At present we cannot accurately predict which of these late talkers will ‘grow out of it’ and which will go on to have later language and literacy problems. We know that risk factors include being a boy, having low optimal birth weight and a family history of speech/language problems. We also know that other social and environmental factors (like socio-economic status, being a single parent, etc), are not risk factors. But as yet, we cannot accurately tell a parent whether or not their child will continue to have problems. No single study has used the right tests and the right mix of child and family measures, like prematurity and a family history of language problems, in combination with children’s developing thinking skills (like short-term memory) to predict whether or not a 2-year-old late talker will have a later language problem. This is the focus of the current research. We will test the value of including three new measures to predict outcomes. These are verbal short-term memory, parent concern about their child’s development, and how the child learns over time.

Interactions of biological cells with bio-imprinted patterns

Associate Professor MM Alkaisi, Associate Professor JJ Evans (University of Otago)

Dialogue between engineers and biologists have increased because mechanical forces from the microenvironment are central to functioning of biological cells. Thus cells exert forces on neighbours as they grow. In the cases where tissue repair or regeneration is attempted in the event of accident or disease a substrate may be chemically constructed with nanoscale details that are vital to the new cells’ behaviour. Nanostructured materials which mimic the nanometre topography of the native tissue showed improved biological responses and result in better integration in medical implants. With the increasing developments of BioMEMs and medical devices, understanding of cell interactions with surfaces and materials is becoming very important. It has also been suggested that some cancers are caused by inappropriate mechanical force balances which activate deleterious growth and proliferation pathways. Hence an engineering approach may produce biomaterials and nanostructures that have potential to reverse cancer advancement. We have a unique capability of forming replicas of cells with nanoscale fidelity that can be scaled onto 3D scaffolds on biocompatible materials. We will be investigating for the first time the responses of cells interacting with patterns that resemble themselves. These methodologies could lead to new implant coatings that are biocompatible, bioactive and organ specific.

The Development of Computational Procedures and Numerical Tables in Sanskrit Mathematics in the Second Millennium

Dr CJ Montelle

Dr KL Plofker (Union College)

Numerical tables, a significant yet often overlooked source in the history of mathematics, not only hold intrinsic mathematical interest with respect to the computational techniques they embody, but also more broadly as they speak to scientific practices, assumptions, and aspirations of those that compiled them. Typically the result of massive computational enterprise, tables are a testament to the practical achievements of the society that produced them as well as the cultural and social contexts that define it. However the significance of mathematical tables and computational techniques often goes unnoticed, due largely to their subordinate role in classical and modern mathematics. Neglect of these subjects in the history of mathematics has led to a widespread failure to understand the role of computational practices in shaping scientific ideas. The proposed study undertakes to remedy this situation by an in-depth investigation of tables and computation algorithms in the mathematics of India in the second millennium, documenting and analyzing the growing importance and eventual dominance of computational mathematics in the Sanskrit exact sciences.