2023 Selby Research Awards

  • The Selby Research Awards are granted annually by both the The University of Melbourne and The University of Sydney. The award is to assist an outstanding academic establish his or her research career. The Foundation congratulates:

    img Graeme Selby, Chairman of the Selby Scientific Foundation
  • Dr Charlotte Petersen

    School of Chemistry
    University of Melbourne
    Awarded on 03/05/2023

    Research project title: Breaking the second law of thermodynamics with thermal fluctuations 

    This project aims to develop new statistical mechanical relationships that can be readily applied to experiments in the future. Predicting the behaviour of nanoscale technologies is challenging because they can be strongly affected by thermal fluctuations. Well-established thermodynamic relationships break down at small scales. For example, new miniaturised technologies, such as nanobatteries and molecular machines, are outside the scope of conventional thermodynamics. 

    It has been known since the time of Maxwell that the second law of thermodynamics is being continuously violated by small systems over short timescales. Quantifying these second law violations is essential for understanding new miniaturised technology, and to make rational design possible. For example, if we make a molecular motor, it is vital to know the chance that it will run backwards, converting heat into fuel, instead of using fuel to do work, as we would expect. 

    Thermodynamics provides no insight into this problem, leaving a gap in our fundamental knowledge. The recent fluctuation theorem has made progress on closing this knowledge gap, but it is challenging to apply experimentally. By studying a new material designed for easy observation of thermal fluctuations, artificial spin ice, I aim to link the predictions of theory to measurable quantities. 

    The insights gained from this project will be a key step in the development of new theories able to predict the behaviour of advanced miniature technologies. This should provide significant benefits such as an enhanced ability to rationally design nanotechnology including nanobatteries. 

    This work could not be more timely. The recent invention of an electric molecular motor will drive innovation in nanotechnology, and robust theory to understand these nonequilibrium devices, including the results of this project, will be essential for effective design. 

    The advances achieved in this project could also have longer-term benefit in fundamental biological research where there is still much to be understood about the complex and highly efficient microscopic processes that underpin living systems. For example, it is possible that advances in applying fluctuation theorems will reveal the mechanism of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, which is related to a defect in biological molecular motors. 

    Therefore, a future benefit of this project could be improving the health of Australians. 


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    img Dr Charlotte Petersen
  • Dr Ben Fulcher

    School of Physics
    University of Sydney
    Awarded on 01/03/2022

    Senior Lecturer, School of Physics

    Ben completed a Bachelor of Science (Adv) (Hons) at the University of Sydney in 2007, and a Master of Science (Physics) in 2008 on the topic of physiologically based modeling of sleep-wake dynamics.

    He later graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford in 2012, with a focus on time-series analysis and machine learning. He worked as an NHMRC early- career researcher at Monash University from 2013-2017 on computational neuroscience, involving patterns of brain connectivity and gene expression. He has been with the School of Physics at the Unversity of Sydney since November 2017.

    Ben leads the Dynamics and Neural Systems Groups in the School of Physics. His research interests are broad, spanning time-series analysis, information theory, machine learning, and systems neuroscience. Broadly, he uses methods from statistics and physics to quantify and explain the dynamics of complex systems like the brain, with the ultimate aim of understanding principles of brain function in terms of physical mechanisms of information processing.

    Message of thanks

    “I wanted to write to express my appreciation for your support of my research. I felt overjoyed and extremely grateful to receive the Selby Research Award. Support in academic research is hard to come by, and this means a lot for me as I try to build a supportive and world-class research lab at an early stage in my career. The funding improved both the quality of my research (through supporting travel to visit with cutting-edge collaborators) and its reach (through support of travel to present our work at conferences).

    Our group works across two main areas:

    – Dynamics. We are working to develop new general analysis methods to understand the dynamics of complex systems, including feature-based time-series analysis, multivariate information dynamics, machine learning, and dimensionality reduction.

    – Neural Systems. We work with experimentalists to develop and refine mathematical models of whole-brain activity dynamics, including how to obtain information about neural circuits (on the microscale) from measured population-level neural activity at the macroscale (eg. Using EEG or fMRI). Bridging this gap is key to using non-invasive neuroimaging tools to probe underlying neural architecture, a technology that, if realized, we be transformational for medical imaging. 

    Perhaps most importantly, your support is very meaningful to the extremely talented young students in my research group — it made a big difference in supporting their growth into independent scientific thinkers, through opportunities to visit leaders in the field at conferences. I would like to express my sincere appreciate to the Foundation for their support.”

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    img 2022 Dr Ben Fulcher.jpg
  • Dr Xuyu Liu

    School of Physics
    University of Sydney
    Awarded on 01/02/2023

    Senior Lecturer, School of Chemistry

    Dr Xuyu Liu is a Conjoint Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow in the School of Chemistry and the Heart Research Institute within the University of Sydney.

    Xuyu began his studies in biomedical science in New Zealand, before completing his doctoral training in the field of chemical biology under the supervision of Professor Richard Payne at the School of Chemistry, the University of Sydney, in 2017. His PhD study focused on developing new peptide ligation technologies to efficiently prepare bioactive peptide libraries for cardiovascular drug discovery. He subsequently took on the position of postdoctoral associate at Cornell University, and later the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.

    Xuyu’s research interests are in the areas of developing new chemical synthesis and proteomic platforms for precision medicine discovery. He works closely with cardiologists and haematologists at the Charles Perkins Centre and the Heart Research Institute, aiming to decipher clinical genetics to develop next-generation precision medicine.

    Project synopsis

    The objective of Xuyu’s project is to investigate how natural modifications of proteins impact protein function and cellular decision-making processes. To achieve this, the project will develop a synthetic platform for discovering novel tool molecules capable of precisely engineering proteins in living cells. This initiative is expected to generate new insights and expand knowledge in the fields of organic chemistry and chemical biology.

    In particular, the molecules developed through this project will be used to investigate the functional consequences of protein ubiquitination modifications in platelet and neutrophil cells - two critical components of blood that are involved in thrombosis and stroke. Successful translation of this technology for cardiovascular research will potentially transform the way in which protein modifications are studied and pave a novel avenue to develop cardiovascular precision medicine.

    Message of thanks

    “The Selby Research Award is an excellent opportunity for early-career researchers to receive financial support to pursue their innovative ideas, providing them with the resources to build their capacity and generate high-impact data for competitive grant applications.

    This award and other research grants offered by the Foundation demonstrate a dedication to promoting scientific research and innovation and investing in the future of science. I would like to express my gratitude to the Foundation and Mr Selby for their generous support in promoting research, innovation, and training in my laboratory.”

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    img Dr Xuyu Liu