New national security grants awarded

The safety of Australians is set to further benefit from investment in 10 new research programs, aimed at addressing the ever changing intelligence and national security landscape. Chief Defence Scientist, Professor Tanya Monro announced the successful round two recipients of the National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants (NISDRG) program. “This continued initiative, jointly funded by the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) and Defence, is a key component of the National Security Science and Technology Priorities,” Monro said. “The 10 successful programs represent a balanced portfolio of Research & Development (R&D) investment that includes universities from different jurisdictions across a range of research topics. Collectively, this will generate valuable capability and capacity in tertiary sector R&D related specifically to National Security,” Monro said. Grants have been awarded to the University of Western Australia, the University of Queensland, Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, University of New South Wales, Monash University, the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney. Projects funded include addressing vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence systems, investigating supply chain risks, new explosive detection methods, the development of sensing technology, secure computing, machine learning for miniature satellites and electromagnetic shielding, amongst others. NISDRG grants administration is provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC) which enables national intelligence and security communities to systematically engage with Australian researchers, ensuring Australia’s greatest minds are working together on some of the most important security challenges. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]