STORIES OF EUROPEAN- AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH

Australian mirrors power Cyprus

Creatures of the Southern Ocean

Big data for life

Making wine in a warming world

Hypersonic travel Welcome to Stories of European-Australian Research

Europe and Australia both have much to gain from increased collaboration

I have long been an advocate of deeper scientific collaboration between Europe and Australia, in no small part because I have seen at first hand the benefits it can bring to both partners. My own collaboration with European scientists began in 1964, when I left Australia to spend a year at the University of Delft. This was followed by a year at the Technical University of Athens, a few years at Oxford and a few more at the Harvard-Smithsonian Observatories in the US working in the emerging field of satellite geodesy. In 1970 I took up a position in France to transfer my recently gained knowledge and experience to the French space program. I intended to stay for a single year, but ending up staying for eight, the latter years at the University of Paris. The knowledge I acquired in these years, as well as the scientific relationships I formed and projects I became involved with, laid the foundation for all my work in the decades since as well as for all my subsequent collaboration with institutions across the EU. I believe that to acquire the complex understanding that sustains one’s research through future decades it is important we have a long-term vision of researchers working internationally and across the entire range of research and scholarship. Researchers should be able to work overseas not just for six months or a year but for longer periods, with the confidence that they will be supported at home and internationally. Professor Kurt Lambeck is a geophysicist who revealed It is such international and interdisciplinary connections that produce many of the how our planet changes shape—every second, every new ideas that you would never get without the bridge to the world. day, and over millennia. He is a former president of the As Australia’s ties deepen with Asia and America, we should not ignore the substantial Australian Academy of Science, an officer of the Order depth of knowledge and understanding that resides in the EU members and their of Australia, a knight of the French Legion of Honour institutions. Access to that, combined with the often more pragmatic approach common to Australian science, is a certain formula for success. and the Italian Order of Merit, and the recipient of the 2018 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. Kurt Lambeck AO, FAA, FRS Emeritus Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University

International 3D printing eye in carbon fibre the sky at industrial 06 scale Making wine in a warming 02 world 05

Concept Writers Niall Byrne Janine Young, Lauren Fuge, [email protected] Claire Harris, Tara Bautista, Michael Lucy Editor Design Michael Lucy www.saltcreative.com.au [email protected] Printing immij Contents

Making wine in a warming world 2 @EUinAus Spying on the denizens of the Southern Ocean 3 EUinAUS How much carbon can we dig in? 3

Sharing knowledge, fighting fires 4 EUAustralia

Compound interest 5 stories.scienceinpublic.com.au/EU 3D printing carbon fibre at industrial scale 5

International eye in the sky 6

Hypersonic travel 7 Published for the Delegation of the European Union to Australia. 50 CubeSats explore the thermosphere 7 Available in print and online at The world’s largest scientific instrument 8 stories.scienceinpublic.com.au/EU Inventing the ultimate suspension system 9 We encourage fair reporting of these stories. Bone mechanics 9

Australian mirrors helping to power Cyprus 10 @ausscistories @scienceinpublic Finding the way to zero-carbon energy 11 ausscistories Tougher materials for bigger turbines 11 Stories of Australian Science Big data for life 12

The neutron zone 13 [email protected]

How much carbon can 03 we dig in? Sharing knowledge, fighting fires 04 09

1 Making wine in a warming world

South Australian winemakers are looking to Europe as the climate—and what drinkers want—is changing.

“Most of the studies are coming from Italy and Spain,” Roberta says. She is working with researchers at the universities of Sassari and Pisa in Italy to try these methods in Australia, and early results are promising. This collaboration resulted in a paper that has just been submitted for publication.

Grapes don’t ripen the way they used to

Ashley Ratcliff is another taking lessons from European winemaking. Based at Barmera in the South Australian Riverland, Ashley’s company Ricca Terra Farms supplies grapes to winemakers and also produces its own wine. After working in the wine industry for decades, Ashley was inspired by travel in Italy to go Grapes don’t ripen the way they used to. Dr Roberta De Bei is trialling countermeasures beyond the standard chardonnay and shiraz As temperatures climb, they are getting to delay ripening at the University of Adelaide, to find European grape varieties that might sweeter faster. where she has worked as a research fellow better suit the times. Winemakers find that by the time the in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine “These varieties like the warmer weather,” crop achieves the right colour or level of since she left Italy in 2008. he explains. “And also consumers are liking tannins, the grapes contain more sugar. These techniques, such as removing part the lighter wines.” More sugar means heavier, more alcoholic of the leaves of the vine while the grapes Ashley now grows a wide range of grapes from wine. At the same time, drinkers are are ripening, are being developed in hot Italy, Spain and Portugal—and even a Serbian preferring lighter wines. Mediterranean climates. white variety called Slancamenca Bela. Ashley’s next move is a trip to Portugal. “I’ve been planting Portuguese grapes for years, but I’ve never been to visit,” he says.

2 Spying on the denizens of the Southern Ocean

Sonar and satellites reveal the fish and other creatures that live far below the surface.

The depths of the ocean still hold great mysteries. At depths between 200 and 1,000 metres live creatures that, taken altogether, weigh as much as 10 billion tonnes. Rudy Kloser, an expert on echo sounding and deep-sea ecosystems at CSIRO in Hobart, says these creatures are vital but poorly understood. “Each soil is different, exists in a different climate and is constantly breathing” “A lot of small creatures—fish, crustaceans, squid and jellies—swim up to the surface at night to feed and go back down in the day. They are important food for top predators like tuna and seals,” Rudy says. How much carbon can we dig in? “Also by taking food from the surface to the deep water they take carbon out of the carbon cycle. This helps to transfer carbon Healthy soil for a healthy planet dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep ocean where it is stored for a long time.” To rein in global warming, scientists believe it “Carbon sequestration in soil is complex. will not be enough to reduce our greenhouse Each soil is different, exists in a different gas emissions: we will also need to remove climate and is constantly ‘breathing’, These creatures are vital CO2 from the atmosphere. so carbon is being exchanged with the but poorly understood Soils are an important reservoir for carbon, atmosphere. CIRCASA is an ambitious as they contain nearly double that found in initiative, because it is trying to gather a Rudy is participating in a European initiative the atmosphere and vegetation combined. sense of these complexities, and strengthen to trace these tiny deep-water creatures in the Agricultural practices have degraded soil the coordination of research across the world.” Southern Ocean. The Mesopelagic Southern carbon stocks, so there is a large potential for There are added benefits to preserving and Ocean Predators and Prey project (MESOPP) atmospheric carbon to be sequestered in soils. enhancing soil organic carbon, as increasing will use data that Rudy and his European soil carbon makes the soil healthier. Soils colleagues acquire from the echo-sounders with more carbon in them hold more moisture, of fishing boats alongside satellite imagery We will also need to remove have better nutrient dynamics and are more to understand what’s happening beneath CO2 from the atmosphere resilient to change. the surface. CIRCASA involves 22 partners from The project is led by Patrick Lehodey from The EU-funded Coordination of International 17 countries around the world, and was Collecte Localisation Satellites in France. His Research Cooperation on soil Carbon formed in response to the UNFCCC team is building a model that uses information Sequestration in Agriculture program Conference of the Parties 21 and 22 global about water temperature, colour and currents (CIRCASA) aims to develop a research agenda meetings on climate change. to predict where the creatures are. based on the most pressing questions and barriers in soil carbon sequestration. “This is only a first step,” Patrick says. “We are studying the Southern Ocean now “CSIRO is a partner, as we have been working but our model is global.” on soil carbon sequestration for a long time,” says Mike Grundy of CSIRO Agriculture An expanded version of the model that and Food. covers all the world’s oceans will soon become freely available as a service from the European “CIRCASA is led by a team at the French Copernicus Earth-observation program. National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) that CSIRO has been collaborating with closely for decades, so we are well-placed to make a contribution.”

Photos: Grape varieties from Europe are helping Australian winemakers, credit: Ricca Terra; Roberta De Bei is working with Italian researchers, credit: University of Adelaide; Sentinel satellites observe the ocean, credit: ESA; Antarctic krill, credit: Uwe Kils; Soil is an important carbon reservoir, credit: Shutterstock

3 Sharing knowledge, fighting fires

Southern Australia and Mediterranean Europe’s common problem: bushfires.

Bushfires are becoming more intense Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie “The difference in timing of the fire season and increasing their range—so European RISE scheme, GEO-SAFE brings together in Australia and Europe also facilitates the and Australian researchers have initiated a expertise from 15 organisations across exchange between responders to bushfires,” five-year joint project to combat the threat. France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Marc notes. “New regions are becoming affected by Netherlands, the UK and Australia. He has already hosted some 40 European recurrent fires,” says Associate Professor researchers at RMIT as part of the huge Marc Demange from the Royal Melbourne The severity and intensity undertaking. of fires is changing Institute of Technology (RMIT). While the focus of GEO-SAFE has been “A critical problem is to train communities to initiate new research collaborations and responders in the new exposed regions.” The five-year project aims to build better tools and enhance existing ones, the collaborations for bushfire management. This includes better Marc is coordinating Australia’s participation have also already inspired new research predictive mathematical models of wildfire in an EU-backed knowledge-sharing project projects. spread and urban-scale evacuation, strategies called Geospatial based Environment for One such project is to combine current for making land more resilient to fire, training Optimisation Systems Addressing Fire methods with historical fire management tools, and maths-based decision methods Emergencies (GEO-SAFE). techniques used by traditional owners and for protecting lives and goods. “The severity and intensity of fires is changing, farmers in Australia and Europe. Another is The strength of the collaboration comes with fire seasons starting earlier and lasting to develop large-scale evacuation models from the differences in knowledge between longer,” says Professor Edwin Galea of the that cooperate with models of fire spread. Australia and Europe with regards to University of Greenwich in the UK, the landscape, urban organisation, firefighting project’s coordinator. techniques and legal environment.

4 Compound interest

What happens when disaster builds on disaster.

Climate change will bring hotter weather and rising seas, but what it means for natural disasters such as floods and fires is less clear. Part of the difficulty is that such catastrophes are often “compound events” in which multiple factors combine to wreak havoc. Heavy rain will cause worse flooding if dams are already full, for instance, and a heatwave is more likely to spark bushfires if it comes after a drought. “It’s sequences of events and combinations of events that really cause trouble,” says Andy Pitman of the University of NSW. “The current methods for making these materials can’t meet the demand” “We might be ready for one 47-degree day but when it’s followed by another and another our systems start to break down.” In 2017, Andy was one of a dozen researchers from Australia, Europe and the US who met in Switzerland to work out an approach to 3D printing carbon fibre at industrial scale understanding compound events and their effects. It wasn’t just climate scientists— Swinburne University researchers have developed a way to bring compound events interest the likes of insurance analysts and flood engineers as 3D printing with carbon fibre composites to an industrial scale. well, who need to understand and prepare The strong, lightweight carbon fibre “It enables us to build multidisciplinary for the risks of the future. composites can be used to make everything teams to solve big challenges,” she explains. from aeroplanes and high-end race cars “Most importantly, it means we can operate In compound events, multiple to sports equipment, and they are in strategically without reinventing something factors combine to wreak havoc high demand. that has already been developed elsewhere.” “The current methods for making these But manufacturing carbon fibre composites That group has now grown into a European- materials can’t meet the demand,” explains is just a small part of the bigger picture. funded project called DAMOCLES, led Professor Bronwyn Fox, director of Swinburne’s by Jakob Zscheischler of the University of As connectivity and digitisation increase, Manufacturing Futures Research Institute. manufacturing is being transformed. Bern and Bart van den Hurk of the Royal “We are working on a digitally enabled Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Experts say the fourth industrial revolution— system for 3D printing them on demand or Industry 4.0—has begun, driven by smart “We want to build up a network of with our partners.” and autonomous systems that are fuelled researchers on compound events,” says Currently, the Institute is working closely by big data and machine learning. Jakob. “It is hard even to know which with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing combinations of climate variables have Bronwyn’s Institute is Australia’s first Engineering and Automation, the Universities research hub to focus on Industry 4.0. the potential to cause large impacts.” of Stuttgart and Bayreuth, and the industry- Using the latest technologies, she and her The goal is first to understand what driven research consortium ARENA2036— team work to create “new, smart, flexible combinations of factors can lead to all located in Germany. devastating events, and then to find out manufacturing processes for everything from soft drinks to aerospace components”. how often and when those dangerous The fourth industrial combinations are likely to occur as the revolution has begun “We get to work on solving real-world climate changes. problems and making a difference to industry,” Bronwyn says. “We’ll see a lot of work in this area,” In addition, Austrian company Fill will says Andy. “It really connects climate science provide a key piece of 3D printing technology, with risk and insurance and infrastructure. which will be able to produce commercial This is where the rubber hits the road.” parts cheaply and with minimal waste. Bronwyn says international cooperation is essential to the project.

Photos: Fire is a growing threat, credit: Malcolm Paterson; Bronwyn Fox is making carbon fibre composites, credit: Swinburne

5 International eye in the sky

The Copernicus Earth-observation program delivers a steady stream of information about how the planet changes from day to day.

Run by the European Commission and the “GA is an important part of Copernicus,” “Another vital aspect of the Copernicus European Space Agency, Copernicus uses says the organisation’s Medhavy Thankappan. program is being able to share the data, satellites called Sentinels that continuously Governments and others use Copernicus and we are leading the world in ensuring monitor Earth from space and tools on the information to improve environmental the satellite data is ‘analysis ready’ and easier ground for calibration and cross-checking. management, understand and mitigate for commercial and scientific users to adopt the effects of climate change, and provide for their particular application.” Provide fast responses fast responses to emergencies. To fully exploit the huge datasets generated to emergencies “Our Digital Earth Australia program, and by the Sentinels, GA supports a regional Hub the Open Data Cube technology that drives that provides imagery for South-East Asia Geoscience Australia (GA) provides those it, depends on Copernicus data to detect and the South Pacific. It also encourages links tools in Australia: a network of precisely physical changes across Australia such as between European and Australian researchers positioned “corner reflectors” across the soil and coastal erosion, crop growth, water and industry to exploit the data and create continent to test the accuracy of radar satellite quality and changes to cities and regions,” new scientific insights and commercial measurements, and sensors that measure says Medhavy. products and services. gases in the atmosphere and properties of the land as the Sentinels pass overhead.

6 Hypersonic travel

Brussels to Sydney in less than three hours.

A passenger jet could one day fly halfway around the world in just a few hours. That’s the goal of the High-speed Experimental Fly project (HEXAFLY): going beyond the supersonic realm pioneered by the now-defunct Concorde to reach hypersonic speeds more than five times as fast as sound.

A larger-scale test flight is planned for 2020

Led by the European Space Agency, the project has now brought on international collaborators to prepare for an early stage test flight planned for 2020. Professor Andrew Neely is an aerospace expert at UNSW Canberra who is testing models in wind tunnels to help refine the design of the test vehicle. 50 CubeSats explore the thermosphere “The real hypersonic airliner would need to be about the size of an A380,” Andrew says. “The test flight will use a 3 metre scale model. Australian universities joined a European fleet of CubeSats We’re testing small models of that model, to explore a little-known layer of the atmosphere. about 15 or 20 centimetres long.” In May 2017, the European Union led a mission “CubeSats were perfect for this mission. At hypersonic speed, air behaves differently, called QB50 to launch a constellation of 50 Being so small, their orbits decay and they are particularly in how it transfers heat to the mini-satellites from the International Space dragged down through the lower layers of the plane, and a mistake can mean blowtorching Station. The pocket-sized CubeSats set out to atmosphere. They stay up for around a year, off a tailfin. The details are not yet as well study the thermosphere, the layer of Earth’s take millions of simultaneous measurements understood as researchers would like, so atmosphere between 90 and 600 kilometres and then burn up, so there is no space debris,” computer models are still of limited use. above the ground that carries signals from says Professor Christine Charles from ANU. “We use a special wind tunnel at the University GPS and other satellites. of Southern Queensland to get the high Three of the CubeSats were Australian, CubeSats were perfect speeds,” Andrew explains. Using a small built by teams from the University of NSW, for this mission model means they can easily 3D print new the University of Sydney, Australian National ones to test ideas, and the results can still University (ANU), the University of Adelaide When solar flares hit the thermosphere, they be applied at larger scales. and the University of South Australia. They can temporarily scramble satellite systems The larger-scale test flight is planned for were tested and certified in ANU’s Advanced or knock them out completely. This radiation 2020. The model vehicle will be hurled into Instrumentation and Technology Centre at also heats and expands gases, creating the upper reaches of the atmosphere on a Mount Stromlo. unpredictable drag forces that can change Brazilian rocket, then glide back to the ground The QB50 mission sought to measure the the paths of orbiting satellites. The new with a top speed of around seven times the density, temperature and composition of observations will improve tracking of orbiting speed of sound. the thermosphere and the way it responds objects such as the International Space to space weather. Each of these cubes was Station, satellites and debris. 10 centimetres on a side, weighed around The deployment is the culmination of work a kilogram and could be assembled into by more than 50 universities and research larger units. institutes from 16 countries and five continents.

“They take millions of simultaneous measurements, then burn up, so there is no space debris”

Photos: The Digital Earth Australia program monitors physical changes across the country, credit: GA; Hypersonic vehicles could be the future of passenger flight, credit: HEXAFLY; The Inspire-2 CubeSat being tested, credit: University of Sydney

7 The world’s largest scientific instrument

In a whisper-quiet area of the outback in Western Australia, 133,000 radio telescope antennas are about to be built.

When complete, they’ll be able to pick up radio signals from the time when the first stars in the universe formed. This will be part of the first phase of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be the world’s largest radio telescope— and its largest scientific instrument. Astronomer Antony Schinckel from CSIRO says it’s an exciting instrument because “we don’t know what questions to ask yet”. Antony is heavily involved in planning the infrastructure and construction of the Australian part of the SKA. (More of the globe-spanning telescope will be built in South Africa, while project headquarters are in the UK.) The infrastructure project Antony headed was partly funded by the EU through a Horizon 2020 grant. It laid the groundwork for the telescope by looking at the sites chosen for construction and planning the facilities.

“Countries band together to build the bigger ones”

One big challenge was to ensure the site’s electronics don’t interfere with the supersensitive receivers. This complicates the buildings, power distribution, weather stations, site-monitoring cameras and more. Similar challenges are also present at sites in South Africa, so the teams worked together to tackle them. “Astronomy has always been a highly international science,” says Antony. “Telescopes are so expensive that no one country can own a full set, so astronomers are always using telescopes in other countries and countries band together to build the bigger ones.” Around a dozen countries are involved in the SKA, and a huge number of universities, research institutes and companies are contributing to designing the telescopes. The 133,000 phase one antennas are just the beginning of an even grander plan—the full array will potentially be 10 times larger.

8 Bone mechanics

Italian and Australian researchers are figuring out how bones and joints fail.

Almost five million Australians over 50 suffer from osteoporosis, and the number is rising. In Saulo Martelli’s lab at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australian and Italian researchers are using high-resolution bone imaging devices, supercomputing models and even the Australian Synchrotron to better understand bones and joints and improve joint replacements.

Almost five million Australians over 50 suffer from osteoporosis

Saulo’s current research focuses on the bone mechanics of ageing Australians and how normal exercise impacts bone strength. “This research could also impact the development of new bio-mimetic materials “The device we are proposing isolates from low-frequency vertical vibrations” and human-machine interface issues,” Saulo says, which could improve the lives of people with certain disabilities. Saulo is also collaborating with researchers from the biomechanics group at the University of Bologna, which has more than 20 years Inventing the ultimate suspension system of experience in the biomechanical testing of bones. To hear tiny vibrations from half a galaxy away, The high-resolution bone imaging devices at first you need to filter out the Earth’s constant rumbling. Flinders, which use powerful supercomputers to replicate the impact of regular physical At gravitational wave observatories such At the heart of the proposed design— activity on bone, make it an enticing as the European Advanced Virgo in Italy, based on previous work by Joris’ UWA destination for international researchers, scientists try to detect ripples in spacetime colleague John Winterflood—is an Euler Saulo says. caused by colliding black holes and other spring, a flat metal strip that buckles and Recently Marco Palanca visited from Bologna stellar cataclysms. flexes to absorb jitters. to use state-of-the-art technology to replicate The detectors work by measuring tiny changes Joris is part of a team that is developing an falls that produce hip fractures, and also used in the paths of laser beams fired through improved design that is lighter and protects the Australian Synchrotron to image femur kilometres-long vacuum tubes. These changes against vibrations of a wider range of specimens in detail. are about 100 billion times smaller than the frequencies. Another Italian researcher, Francesca Bucci, effects of background seismic rumbling, so visited while developing personalised the detector components must be extremely Scientists try to detect biomechanical models for patients suffering well isolated from outside vibrations. ripples in spacetime from severe hip osteoarthritis that could Joris van Heijningen worked on vibration reduce surgical errors during joint restoration. isolation systems for the Advanced Virgo If all goes well, these Euler springs will be “The idea of improving knowledge and detector during his PhD at the Dutch National used in the Einstein Telescope, a proposed technology, and ultimately improving Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef). European gravitational wave observatory quality of life, is very exciting,” Saulo says. Now based at the University of Western that will be 10 times more sensitive than Australia (UWA), Joris is working on a kind of Advanced Virgo. spring that he hopes will add a new dimension “At Nikhef they are planning to build an to the “vibration isolation toolkit” for the next Einstein Telescope Pathfinder to test all generation of gravitational wave detectors. the technologies they want to use for “The first ultra-low frequency stage of many the Einstein Telescope. I hope our ideas isolation systems is an inverted pendulum,” can be part of it.” says Joris, “but that works in the horizontal direction. The device we are proposing isolates from low-frequency vertical vibrations.”

Photos: The Square Kilometre Array is under construction, credit: SKA; Advanced Virgo is Europe’s gravitational wave observatory, credit: Virgo; A model of a hip bone, credit: Saulo Martelli

9 Australian mirrors helping to power Cyprus

Australian-made mirrors are helping the Mediterranean country of Cyprus move to renewable energy and secure its supply of drinking water.

Wes Stein, the leader of the CSIRO solar research program, says the collaboration grew out of his long friendship with Costas Papanicolas, the President of the Cyprus Institute. The plant was built in 2015, and an expansion is now on the drawing board. The larger plant could demonstrate the technology and help promote it across the Mediterranean and in the Middle East. CSIRO researchers are also working with the EU’s solar thermal energy consortium (STAGE-STE), and are developing technology for solar steam turbines and storage in partnership with the Spanish company Abengoa. Though Cyprus is blessed with plentiful The plant uses a field of 50 small mirrors— sunshine, rainfall is low and the country known as heliostats—to reflect sunlight depends on energy-intensive desalination towards a receiver on top of a central tower. CSIRO’s heliostats are designed plants for its drinking water. The concentrated light heats and melts salt for rugged conditions Solar thermal power generation is one way which is then used to generate electricity for Cyprus to maintain its power supply and power a desalination plant. The molten while cutting carbon emissions. In partnership salt also retains its heat to use when the with the Cyprus Institute, researchers from sun isn’t shining. CSIRO’s Energy Centre in Newcastle have CSIRO’s heliostats are smaller than many built a small solar thermal plant at Pentakomo others, which gives finer control over the on the south coast of the island. plant’s output, and are designed for rugged conditions.

10 Finding the way to zero-carbon energy

German and Australian researchers are seeking opportunities in transition.

Moving away from fossil fuels is challenging, but it also presents huge opportunities. At the Energy Transition Hub, more than 140 Australian and German researchers are working together to tackle the social and technical challenges and take advantage of the trade and export opportunities. The Hub’s projects assess technology, regulations, policies and economics to find “energy transition pathways” for the two countries, and at the same time explore how trade and industry can increase the benefits from these pathways. Recent projects from Hub researchers include OpenNEM, a website that shows what’s happening in Australia’s National Electricity Market, including simple, real-time 40% of all carbon fibre is used in wind turbine blades visualisations and basic analytical tools to inform the national discussion about Australia’s energy system; and the Global Pumped Hydro Atlas that maps 530,000 sites around the world with potential for pumped hydro energy storage. Tougher materials for bigger turbines The core institutions of the Hub are the University of Melbourne, the Australian The Danish wind turbine company Vestas is teaming up with Australian National University, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the University of scientists to develop stronger carbon fibre composite materials to be used Münster and the Mercator Research Institute in reinforcing turbine blades. on Global Commons and Climate Change, with support from the Australian Department Vestas has funded two years of research at “We’ve made a commitment to develop the of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the German Deakin University’s Carbon Nexus facility in industry here, from assembling our turbine Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Geelong into strengthening carbon fibre. hubs in a decommissioned Ford factory to research into materials and other technology.” According to Rebecca Burdon, the Hub’s The investment is part of a project to build Managing Director in Australia based two wind farms in Victoria that together will Work has begun on assembling the first of a at the University of Melbourne, the Hub deliver more than 500 megawatts, enough planned 100 turbine hubs—each the size of allows international collaboration between to power 350,000 homes. a 4WD and weighing more than 30 tonnes— researchers, government, community “Carbon fibre is very strong in tension, but and two new researchers have hit the labs at and industry. actually quite weak in compression,” says Carbon Nexus. “Where the Energy Transition Hub really Professor Russell Varley at Deakin. adds value is in building deep and broad “That limits the length of wind turbine Longer blades could catch even working links with industry, civil society blades to 80 or 90 metres—but longer blades more wind and generate more power and governments around the complex could catch even more wind and generate issues of energy, and in using the tools more power.” “Vestas has been an amazing partner,” says Russell. “Beyond just funding, they have and lessons that can only come from strong Wind turbine blades are the most significant helped us make connections all over the bilateral collaboration between Germany use of carbon fibre, accounting for 40% of world with producers and users of carbon and Australia.” all production. fibre and composites.” “Vestas is the biggest user of carbon fibre in the world,” says Neville Gall, who is managing the Victorian project for the Danish company.

Photos: The solar field at Pentakomo, credit: CSIRO; Costas Papanicolas, Mike Collins and Wes Stein, credit: CSIRO; The Tumut-3 pumped hydro power station, credit: ARENA; Wind turbines, credit: Shutterstock

11 Big data for life

Australian and European researchers are finding the secrets of cancer and the immune system hiding in the numbers.

From his lab at the South Australian Health Another is the PRIMES project, an €11 million David joined SAHMRI in 2014 under the and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), project funded by the European Commission auspices of the EMBL Australia initiative. Irish-born researcher David Lynn is combining that brings together several European EMBL, the European Molecular Biology computational and big data analysis with institutions with David’s team and researchers Laboratory, is one of the world’s top life experimental approaches to unpicking from the University of Toronto in Canada to sciences institutions. In 2008 Australia joined biological networks at the molecular level. map the molecular interactions in colorectal EMBL as the first non-European associate David leads a group of eight scientists who cancer cells in exhaustive detail. member country. cover a lot of ground. One project revolves Under the EMBL scheme, top researchers around understanding how gut bacteria affect “There are about 4,000 receive up to nine years of funding for their the broader immune system: in particular, how different interactions” group. That support—alongside SAHMRI’s giving antibiotics to infants can knock those high-grade facilities and the chance to join bacteria around, which in turn can change “There are about 4,000 different interactions,” the EMBL Australia network—was what drew how well the infants respond to vaccinations. David says. “We’ve seen how a common David to move to Adelaide with his wife mutation can rewire the whole interaction and baby daughter in 2014. network and make the cancer resist “It was a very attractive proposition,” treatment.” David says. The third stream of David’s work involves building software tools. “We make tools for systems biology,” he says, “with a focus on networks.” This software is used by more than 50,000 people around the world.

Giving antibiotics to infants can knock bacteria around, which in turn can change how well infants respond to vaccinations

Photos: The SAHMRI building in Adelaide, credit: Sean Heatley / Shutterstock; A molecular interaction diagram, credit: David Lynn; The Spatz instrument under construction, credit: ANSTO; front cover credits: Shayne T Wright and trappy76 / Shutterstock

12 The neutron zone

The gift of a high-tech German neutron beam instrument is set to help Australian researchers develop new antibiotics, understand smart polymer coatings and create more efficient solar cells.

The Spatz neutron reflectometer uses a In 2015, HZB decided to donate Spatz to “I’ll be looking at new antibiotics to beam of neutrons generated in the Open ANSTO because its own nuclear reactor was see how they attack the surface layers of Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) reactor scheduled to be decommissioned. bacteria,” he says. in Sydney to reveal the structure of surfaces So the machine was broken down and packed “Other projects will study how smart polymers and interfaces such as cell membranes and into 43 wooden crates, collectively weighing change under different conditions, and how multi-layered electronics. almost 30 tonnes, for a 45-day sea voyage solar cells react to variations in heat and light.” The instrument originally belonged to the from Hamburg to Sydney. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), a materials After Spatz arrived at ANSTO’s Lucas In 2015, HZB decided to research centre in Germany with strong Heights facility in 2017, it took a team donate Spatz to ANSTO ties to the Australian Nuclear Science and of experts including instrument scientist Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Dr Anton Le Brun more than 18 months ANSTO already has one neutron reflectometer, to reassemble it and begin testing. called Platypus, but Spatz will mean more Anton and other researchers are looking experiments can be done and adds the forward to having the new tool at ability to analyse samples with infrared light their disposal. as well as neutrons. The instrument is now in the final stages of testing and certification, and the first real science is expected to kick off in late 2019.

Anton Le Brun will use Spatz to study how new antibiotics attack the surface layers of bacteria

@EUinAus EUinAUS EUAustralia stories.scienceinpublic.com.au/EU

13 Stories of European-Australian Research

The European Union (EU) will invest more than $115 billion in science and innovation through the Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–2020). Horizon 2020 is open to the world, which means researchers from any country can participate in most calls. The EU has invested almost $10 million in Australian research and innovation through Horizon 2020, supporting projects from ocean wildlife monitoring and hypersonic flight to CubeSat swarms and bushfire defence. The European Research Council has supported more than 48 Australian researchers based in Europe and, since 2007, more than 590 Australians researchers have taken part in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions which also support interdisciplinary mobility. Funding research and innovation, science and scientists, encourages the pooling of international resources and inspires researchers to create a more knowledge-intensive society and discoveries for future generations. Stories of European-Australian Research shows some of the depth and diversity of research collaborations between Europe and Australia, which will continue to flourish under the Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027). For more information look up Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe at the EU’s funding and tenders web portal, or search EURAXESS for jobs and funding opportunities in Europe and Australia.