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Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017

Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2015

Title: A human neural chip platform for in vitro neuroscientific discovery

Recipient(s): Dr CP Unsworth | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr ES Graham | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr MC Simpson | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr NOV Plank | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Professor AF Murray | AI | University of Edinburgh

Public Summary: This Neural Engineering proposal will create a transformative silicon chip technology
that will allow us to build highly accurate large scale grid networks of neurons on chip
which are electrically addressable at the single cell level. We will achieve this aim by
innovatively combining our recent breakthroughs in cell patterning and ultra-sensitive
electrode design with laser cell steering and laser ablative microsurgery to produce
precisely defined circuits on chip.

This will provide an enabling platform technology for scientists to accurately map how
the electrical signals of cells propagate from the single cell level through to large network
scales, currently not possible, providing higher degrees of control and repeatability over
randomly cultured networks.

The technology's impact will be to enable scientists to investigate healthy networks of
cells in order to understand how electrical signalling propagates during processes
such as learning and memory. In addition, it will enable researchers to study how the
propagation of electrical communication may change in dysfunctional networks such as
occur in epilepsy and stroke. Finally, the technology will not be restricted
to neural cells alone but will also enable scientists to perform large scale network studies
on other electrical signalling cell types and cells from other species.

Total Awarded: $805,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr CP Unsworth

Panel: EIS

Project ID: 15-UOA-032


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: A hybrid 3D-1D framework for site-specific seismic response analysis

Recipient(s): Dr CR McGann | PI | University of Canterbury
Professor P Arduino | AI | University of Washington
Professor BA Bradley | AI | University of Canterbury
Dr J Kaklamanos | AI | Merrimack College

Public Summary: Current state-of-the-art analytical techniques for site-specific seismic response analysis are largely based on 1D wave propagation assumptions, while the growing body of evidence raises questions about the validity of this approach. This project will develop and validate a hybrid 3D site response analysis framework that considers 3D soil heterogeneity, 3D input ground motions, and multidimensional nonlinear soil constitutive models using data from over 5000 observations at over 100 vertical array sites in Japan. This extensively validated modeling framework will enable a critical examination of the limitations of 1D analysis, provide important insights into residual ground motion prediction uncertainty, and establish a framework for a paradigm shift away from the current 1D approach to seismic site response analysis.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Canterbury

Contact Person: Dr CR McGann

Panel: EIS

Project ID: 17-UOC-072


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: A Kingdom in Concrete: Urbanizing Thailand in the Anthropocene.

Recipient(s): Dr EA Elinoff | PI | Victoria University of Wellington

Public Summary: What can something as mundane as concrete tell us about the environmental politics of the Anthropocene? Accounting for over five per cent of global carbon emissions, concrete is a ubiquitous, but often overlooked, material in contemporary environmental debates. This research develops a multi-sited, multi-scalar ethnographic approach to studying both the situated and planetary effects of the concrete industry. Focussing on Thailand, a critical site for cement production in Southeast Asia (one of the world’s fastest urbanizing regions), this project investigates the social, technical, environmental, and political processes that give urban environments their shape. Following the concrete from quarries, to engineering laboratories, to urban infrastructure projects, to the living rooms of urban citizens, it aims to understand the role the material plays in our contemporary environmental moment. Within these settings, this study explores how concrete’s situated material effects intertwine with socio-political processes to produce trajectories of environmental change and opportunities for environmental contestation. Although there has been a proliferation of theoretical discussions of the Anthropocene across the social sciences, this research addresses both the conceptual question of how social and political processes aggregate within the environment and develops methodological tools to better understand urban ecologies in a moment of planetary transformation.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Dr EA Elinoff

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 17-VUW-119


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2016

Title: A Law Beyond Democracy: The Insulation of Private Law from Democratic Change

Recipient(s): Dr A Rosen | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: The rules of private law—of property, contracts, torts and restitution—shape our economic and social lives. These rules define property rights, prescribe the duties we owe each other, affect the distribution of wealth in society and set the limits to our free interactions. As such, one might expect these rules to be democratically determined by Parliament. Yet this is not the case. In New Zealand, as in many similar jurisdictions, the rules of private law are de facto shielded from any real democratic influence.
This research will explore the institutional aspects of this insulation, shedding light on an important junction between liberalism, democracy and law. It will offer an account of the legislative, adjudicative and academic practices that are responsible for the insulation of private law from democratic change. It will then consider the impact of this insulation on the form and substance of private law rules, their nature, and their affinity to classical liberal values. Finally, it will explain how this insulation of the core of private law from the vicissitudes of democratic politics represents a particular balance between democratic and liberal commitments.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr A Rosen

Panel: HUM

Project ID: 16-UOA-242


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2013

Title: A liquefiable bowl of jelly: understanding the seismic response of a soft and saturated sedimentary basin in the Canterbury earthquakes

Recipient(s): Dr BA Bradley | PI | University of Canterbury
Dr BR Cox | AI | The University of Texas at Austin
Professor M Cubrinovski | AI | University of Canterbury
Dr RW Graves | AI | United States Geological Survey

Public Summary: The proposed study will combine start-of-the-art techniques in seismology and geotechnical earthquake engineering to develop a unified understanding of the seismic response of sedimentary basins with liquefiable soils, and in particular, their role in producing the unique ground motions observed in the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The impact of this research will result from the holistic understanding of the seismic wave propagation and local site effect dynamics which give rise to strong ground motions, which will have a worldwide impact in the assessment, and potential mitigation of, earthquake hazards in major cities residing on such geologic conditions.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Canterbury

Contact Person: Dr BA Bradley

Panel: ESA

Project ID: 13-UOC-003


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2010

Title: A marriage of mechanisms: How is an ancient nutrient sensitive growth control mechanism coupled with multicellular programmes of development?

Recipient(s): Dr B Veit | PI | AgResearch
Dr C Meyer | AI | Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
Prof BJG Scheres | AI | Utrecht University

Public Summary: One of the most fundamental characteristics of living organisms is their capacity to promote, limit or polarize growth in a manner that is not strictly limited by energy and material inputs. To enhance their long term survival, early life evolved mechanisms to limit growth under stress, thus helping to stabilize cellular physiology, and to shape cells for optimal metabolism and reproduction. We are interested in understanding how such basic mechanisms, which arose in simple single-celled organisms, have been integrated into more complex programmes of multicellular development. To address this question, we will examine how an ancient growth control programme, termed the “TOR pathway”, has been adapted to the contrasting patterns of development seen in animals and plants. In animals, regulated TOR activity is essential to growth and contributes to longevity, while its mis-regulation features in many forms of cancer and disease. In the proposed research, we will analyse the less well understood requirement for TOR activity in specific tissues and cell types of plants. Results of our work should provide novel insights into crucial mechanisms for growth control that operate in a wide range of organisms.

Total Awarded: $640,000

Duration: 3

Host: AgResearch

Contact Person: Dr B Veit

Panel: CMP

Project ID: 10-AGR-012


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: A mathematical model of animal navigation

Recipient(s): Dr CM Postlethwaite | PI | The University of Auckland
Prof MM Walker | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: How migrating animals find their way over long distances remains one of the great, unanswered questions facing biologists today. Despite intensive research for over 60 years, there has been no convincing explanation of the mechanisms animals use for determining their position relative to a target location. The proposed research combines ideas from both mathematics and behavioural ecology, and will develop a new mathematical model of animal navigation.

Due to their ease of handling and willingness to home, homing pigeons have long been the experimental model for the study of animal navigation. Our research will involve the development of geometric techniques used to explain an observed ‘orientation error’ in the initial homing directions of pigeons. We will then develop a predictive mathematical model for how animals navigate over long distances. These results will be applicable to a wide variety of migratory species. We expect that our results will explain how birds such as godwits can fly non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, which requires locating a target only 2-3 degrees wide when migration begins.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr CM Postlethwaite

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 11-UOA-054


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2013

Title: A multi-scale model to explore how proteins (mis)behave when other molecules are around

Recipient(s): Dr JR Allison | PI | Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences

Public Summary: Proteins carry out most functions required for life, so when they malfunction, disease ensues. Although they undergo constant motion, proteins are usually depicted by static structures. Their natural environment is crowded with other molecules, but they are typically studied alone in water. These factors are particularly important for the protein alpha-synuclein: depending on its environment, it may be disordered or structured, and it may be monomeric, tetrameric, or form aggregates implicated in Parkinson’s disease.

Computer simulations allow characterisation of protein motion. Simulations using “atomic-level” models that represent each atom explicitly give detailed information, but are computationally expensive, and thus restricted to studying small-scale motion or isolated proteins. Cruder “coarse-grained” models cluster atoms together and are faster, but less accurate. I will overcome these problems by combining atomic-level and coarse-grained models to create a multi-scale model. In the process, I will develop new coarse-grained models for the non-protein components of cell membranes. The multi-scale model will permit coarse-graining of less important molecules distant from the protein, while keeping an atomic-level description of the protein and its immediate surroundings, thus balancing speed with accuracy. I will use this model to rationalise alpha-synuclein’s behaviour and search for a means of preventing its aggregation.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: Massey University

Contact Person: Dr JR Allison

Panel: PCB

Project ID: 13-MAU-039


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2010

Title: A natural history of necessity

Recipient(s): Prof ED Mares | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Prof MJ Cresswell | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr AA Rini | PI | Massey University

Public Summary: Where does necessity come from? From the world? From language? Different answers reflect
different views of science, and these can yield different attitudes towards logic. Aristotle regarded
necessity as part of the world and developed a logic of necessity, a 'modal' logic, to articulate his
science. But the empiricism that swept through Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries demanded the overthrow of Aristotelian science. Contra Aristotle, the empiricists did not see necessity as part of the world. To the extent that empiricism allowed necessity at all it explained it as a matter of how language classifies things, or a matter of relations between ideas in the mind. In the mid 20th century, W.V.O. Quine at Harvard argued strongly that genuinely modal notions like necessity and possibility simply cannot emerge from the empiricists' view of logic. His response was to throw away modality. But we argue that to give up necessity is to give up logic, and clearly that is too high a price. This project explains what is required in order to provide an adequate foundation for logic, and shows in detail why you cannot asssume the truths of logic without assuming that necessity is part of the world.

Total Awarded: $652,174

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Prof ED Mares

Panel: HUM

Project ID: 10-VUW-141


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2016

Title: A new approach to studying Legionella mobility and persistence in engineered water systems

Recipient(s): Dr L Pang | PI | Institute of Environmental Science and Research
Professor NJ Ashbolt | AI | University of Alberta
Dr C Billington | AI | Institute of Environmental Science and Research
Associate Professor EJ Prenner | AI | University of Calgary

Public Summary: Engineered water systems (EWS), such as premise plumbing, can harbour Legionella pneumophila, which can cause severe pneumonia (with up to 30% mortality). Despite numerous legionellosis outbreaks, the behaviour of L. pneumophila in EWS is poorly understood. At present there is a critical knowledge gap of how residual disinfectants in EWS influence L. pneumophila mobility and persistence. This knowledge is required for developing effective mitigation strategies.

Novel, harmless, L. pneumophila surrogates will be developed using DNA-encapsulated biopolymer microparticles. The surrogates’ composition and porosity will be formulated to mimic L. pneumophila’s adhesion/detachment to water pipe materials (including those grown with biofilms and amoebae) and its cell disruption by disinfectants. The mimics will be compared alongside live L. pneumophila to validate their suitability as a model.

This fundamental research will greatly improve our understanding of L. pneumophila’s mobility and persistence in EWS. Our novel approach will reduce reliance on risky, expensive and labour-intensive analyses of L. pneumophila and it will be more accurate than the traditionally used E. coli faecal indicator bacteria. Moreover, it will provide safe in-situ performance validation of control measures recommended in water safety plans. Once established, the concept can be extended to study other important bacterial pathogens in water systems.

Total Awarded: $830,000

Duration: 3

Host: Institute of Environmental Science and Research

Contact Person: Dr L Pang

Panel: EIS

Project ID: 16-ESR-001


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