{"links":{"self":"http://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/API/grants/FT250100040"},"data":{"type":"grant-details","id":"FT250100040","attributes":{"code":"FT250100040","administering-organisation":"The University of Melbourne","announcement-administering-organisation":"The University of Melbourne","scheme-name":"ARC Future Fellowships","grant-status":"Active","funding-commencement-year":2025,"years-funded":4,"project-start-date":"2026-01-01","anticipated-end-date":"2029-12-31","grant-summary":"Understanding the role of microscale fluid dynamics in biology. Water is vital for life, yet traditional experiments and theory in biology routinely overlook the fact that water tends to flow. Ubiquitous fluid flows disperse cells, mix chemicals, and influence the ecology of microbes which underpin entire ecosystem functioning, sometimes in seemingly paradoxical ways. This project aims to develop novel mathematical models and experimental tools for visualising, analysing and predicting microscopic fluid flows in biology. The expected outcomes include an improved capacity to predict and manage changes in coral reefs, elucidating the role of microscale flows in agriculture, and revealing novel strategies for controlling microbes in healthcare settings and biotechnological applications.","funding-current":1139323.00,"funding-at-announcement":1115510,"investigators-current":[{"title":"A/Prof","firstName":"Douglas","familyName":"Brumley","roleName":"Future Fellowship","roleCode":"FT","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0003-0587-0251 "}],"investigators-at-announcement":[{"title":"A/Prof","firstName":"Douglas","familyName":"Brumley","roleName":"Future Fellowship","roleCode":"FT","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0003-0587-0251 "}],"organisations-current":[{"organisationName":"The University of Melbourne","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"VIC"}],"organisations-at-announcement":[{"organisationName":"The University of Melbourne","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"VIC"}],"field-of-research":[{"isPrimary":true,"code":"4901","name":"Applied Mathematics","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"490102","name":"Biological Mathematics","type":"FOR20"}],"socio-economic-objective":[{"code":"180506","name":"Oceanic Processes (Excl. In the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)","type":"SEO20"},{"code":"280102","name":"Expanding Knowledge In the Biological Sciences","type":"SEO20"},{"code":"280118","name":"Expanding Knowledge In the Mathematical Sciences","type":"SEO20"}],"international-collaboration":["Denmark","France","Germany","Japan","United States of America"],"lief-register":[],"achievement-summary":null,"national-interest-test-statement":"Despite their minuscule size, microbes drive large scale processes such as carbon storage in the ocean and the health of plants. Traditional approaches in biology routinely treat microbes as if they are stationary, yet moving fluids are the medium through which biological matter interacts. Microscale fluid flows fundamentally alter the behaviour of microbes, transporting and concentrating them into preferred locations, mixing and redistributing food sources, and shaping chemical gradients that organisms use for navigation. A better understanding of these ubiquitous flows is integral to solving multidisciplinary global challenges, from resilience of corals to disease transmission. This project will reveal how microbes move, grow, and communicate in flow, providing novel quantitative tools required to accurately predict their behaviour in systems ranging from the open ocean to soils, coral reefs and the human gut microbiome. The synergistic combination of mathematical modelling and advanced microscopy developed in this project will be communicated broadly through academic journals, public lectures, press releases and public engagement, and will be directly transferrable to other model systems by researchers in Australia and worldwide. This will have major economic and environmental benefits to Australia, guiding principles for maintaining and restoring healthy reefs, influencing agricultural yields, and actively controlling microbial behaviour in healthcare settings."}}}