Meat quality research project receives ARC Linkage grant

The University of Adelaide has been awarded nearly $2 million in Linkage grants by the Australian Research Council (ARC) to undertake research on four projects that will bring benefits in the meat, hemp, mining and performing arts industries.

The ARC’s Linkage Program is designed to assist partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.

Meat project

Professor Robert McLaughlin, who is Chair of Biophotonics at the Adelaide Medical School, received $630,000 to investigate new photonics technologies to measure meat quality in lamb and mutton. The project, ‘Maximising the value of Australia’s sheepmeat industry with smart photonics’, will develop new knowledge in the areas of fibre optics and 3D printing for use by the red meat and livestock industries.

It will aim to bring benefits for the country’s red meat industry and help establish Australia as a leading supplier of high-quality meat to domestic and international markets. Meat and Livestock Australia and Miniprobes are partners in the project. The ARC grant application was supported by the university’s Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS).

Hemp project

Professor Rachel Burton, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture Food and Wine, received $513,272 to undertake the project ‘Pioneering seed solutions for the industrial hemp industry’.

Her team aims to develop the next generation of industrial hemp cultivars, grown for their seed with high protein and oil content. They will be designed to be drought resistant and minimise the amount of THC — the psychoactive compound — found in them. The Australian Hemp and Seed Company is a partner in the project, which is supported by the university’s Waite Research Institute.

The other two University of Adelaide projects awarded grants included a mining project to build a stratigraphic and water chemistry framework for the greater McArthur Basin; and a music project to find new ways of tackling the challenges facing the Australian performing arts sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change emergency.

“I congratulate our experts on securing funding for their important projects,” said Professor Anton Middelberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), the University of Adelaide

“These Australian Research Council grants will enable our experts, in partnership with industry, government and the performing arts community, to undertake valuable work that will benefit society.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/koss13