Monash University secures funding for multiple climate research projects

The funding is under the National Industry PhD Program, and it is in continuation with six awards in round two and single funding in round three.

Study in Australia: Monash University's seven research projects have secured funding under the National Industry PhD Program. These seven projects are in the Department of Education's National Industry PhD Program. In round two, six projects received awards and in round three, one project secured funding.

National Industry PhD Program is an industry-led PhD program where the project, research and scope are decided by the organization sponsor. This initiative allows the researchers to explore opportunities and new ideas with the goal of developing a competitive advantage.

Professor Doron Ben-Meir, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Engagement) and Senior Vice-President said, “The National Industry PhD Program represents an outstanding opportunity to amplify the impact of climate research through collaborating with major industry stakeholders. Working hand-in-hand with industry on major research projects is key to finding solutions to the greatest challenges of our age.”

Monash University Awards Details

In the third round of funding, ‘Syngas and CO2 conversion into fuels, methanol, formic acid and acetic acid’ project was announced as the winner on 12 July. PhD Candidate Satya Sireesha Rameswarapu’s project was selected for one of 48 successful Industry Linked awards. The project was conducted in partnership with Woodside Energy; BASF Australia; the University of Queensland and Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers. It was under the Australian Research Council Research Hub for Carbon Utilisation and Recycling and was supervised by Professor Akshat Tanksale.

The project is working to find out the best solution to convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals like formic and acetic acids making it commercially a viable option to mitigate climate change and reduce CO2 emissions.

Six second-round Industry Researcher awards were received by the university in November 2023. After this, two industry researchers from Woodside Energy – Lex Simons and Anrie Helberg joined the Industry Doctoral Program with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Both these projects were supervised by Professor Paul Webley, Director of the Woodside Monash Energy Partnership and they were managed in partnership with Woodside Energy.

Another funding was bagged by ‘Understanding the relationship between food security and greenhouse gas emissions through Social and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment’. It is Helberg’s project which is working to help stakeholders and policymakers to sustain our global food supply while minimising emissions.

Another project which received funding is ‘Assessing new energy and abatement technologies: A strategic approach to value creation and sustainable transition’ which is Mr Simons’ and it focuses on evaluating emissions reduction technologies and emerging energy solutions so that the stakeholders can get economic value.

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