ACU academics receive National Industry PhD awards

ACU academics have won a prestigious government grant that will see them work with the best and brightest PhD candidates and industry partners to solve real-world challenges.

Associate Professor Grant Duthie from the SPRINT Research Centre and Professor Jo Ingold from the Peter Faber Business School have won the National Industry PhD Program award - a first for ACU.

The program is part of a $296 million government initiative to bring together researchers to solve challenges across medical research, environmental sustainability, manufacturing and AI.

It is designed to promote collaboration and provides opportunities for high-achieving PhD candidates to learn about knowledge translation and research impact.

Collaborating with VueMotion, Associate Professor Duthie's project will enhance the use of AI and two-dimensional motion capture for assessing human movement, providing a rapid, cost-effective method to enhance performance and minimise the risk of injury.

"In partnership with VueMotion, ACU will work to ensure the accuracy of this technology for applications in sports performance, healthcare, and rehabilitation," Associate Professor Duthie said.

"It's a highly competitive program, so I was incredibly excited to win this grant.

"Universities recognise the advantages of collaborating with industry and our partner benefits from hosting a PhD candidate working on an industry-relevant project, gaining access to university research expertise and facilities."

Professor Ingold will partner with Asuria to examine the diverse perspectives of employees with disabilities in small and medium-sized businesses, addressing the challenge of retaining employees with disabilities in the Australian workforce.

"It's such an amazing opportunity and I am so glad that such a scheme exists," Professor Ingold said.

"Some years back I did a collaborative PhD myself in the UK with a government department. Programs like this are critical to ensure that PhDs will support research that will have an impact on society.

"It provides an opportunity for the researcher to be embedded with the industry partner and develop critical employability skills, including communication for non-academic audiences. It's a win-win for industry, government, the university, researchers and society."

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Professor Abid Khan said industry linkage projects were a focus of ACU's long-term strategic plan, Vision 2033.

"As a mission-led university, we want to facilitate collaborative research between communities, industry and government," Professor Khan said.

"We are focused on projects that contribute to the common good and solve the big challenges facing our society.

"Working with industry is a key part of building our pathways to impact."

Graduate Research School Director Michelle Lopez said the grant was another early success for ACU's new Graduate Research School.

"The Graduate Research School oversees a range of scholarship opportunities and we're establishing a suite of industry PhD opportunities that build on our domestic and international partnerships," Ms Lopez said.

"Since we officially launched the Graduate Research School last month, we have celebrated our first John Monash Scholar and now ACU's inaugural Industry PhD grants - it is an incredibly exciting time for the university.

"Our focus is bringing together talented research students, experienced academics and industry partners to drive an impact-focused research agenda.

"Programs like the National Industry PhD give our higher research candidates an opportunity to gain practical and research experience in business and university settings, creating well-rounded researchers who can bridge the divide between academia and industry."