The Plant Biosecurity Training Centre aims to transform the Australian plant biosecurity sector by training the next leaders and innovators in the latest technological and societal approaches for protection of our multi-billion dollar natural and productive ecosystems.
As part of this mission, we are offering Innovation Ignition Grants to catalyse opportunities for Training Centre PhD students and postdocs to follow innovative ideas and support the translation of their research.
Our Innovation Ignition Grants are designed for ambitious, creative and original projects that have the potential to ignite advances in Australian biosecurity research, management, or policy. In parallel, a secondary goal is to provide our PhD students and postdocs an opportunity for bespoke researcher development and demonstration of leadership.
Today we are pleased to announce the four EOIs to our inaugural round of Innovation Ignition Grants which are progressing for full application:
Al-assisted diagnostics for cryptic species in the Zeugodacus tau fruit fly complex, led by Yilin Bai and Claudio Cipriani. “Our project brings together cross-institutional expertise spanning insect taxonomy (QDPI), deep learning for agricultural image classification (JCU), and high-throughput genomic approaches to pest identification (ANU/AWRI), directly addressing the Training Centre’s Surveillance and Diagnostics theme.”
Bio-SORT: Biosecurity Specimen Omni-recognition and Triage, led by Shiron Thalagala, Yufan Zheng, and Sylvia Jepkeboi. “Positioned before molecular testing, Bio-SORT utilises a benchtop prototype with a multimodal sensor array that non-destructively captures physical parameters.”
Standardising Molecular Diagnostics for Plant Biosecurity Using Multi-Target DNA Reference Materials, led by Dr Rachel Tulloch, Stephanie Morgan and Jowell El-Darwiche. “This project will develop multi-target, accurately quantified DNA reference materials to improve consistency in molecular workflows.”
Using MALDI-ToF Mass Spectrometry for Pest Species Delimitation within the Zeugodacus tau (Diptera: Tephritidae) Cryptic Species Complex led by Jowell El-Darwiche and Claudio Cipriani. “By generating species-specific MALDI-ToF references for the Z. tau complex, this project integrates proteomic fingerprinting with ongoing taxonomic research, providing an additional line of evidence for species differentiation, thus informing effective biosecurity surveillance.”
Congratulations to the project teams. Full applications are due 30 June, and we look forward to announcing the successful applicants shortly afterwards.