previous ARCs
ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS)
From 2018 to 2025, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) brought together researchers across Australia to engineer quantum machines and shape a thriving national quantum ecosystem. It combined world-class discovery with translation, training and outreach — ensuring Australia was not just participating in the second quantum revolution, but helping to lead it.
EQUS catalysed breakthroughs in quantum science and translation, positioning Australia as a global leader in a field that will transform industries and societies. The legacy lives on in the people trained, the companies and collaborations seeded, and the technologies brought to life — all building blocks of Australia’s quantum future.
ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET)
The ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) received funding from 2017 to 2024. FLEET’s central mission was to enable a sustainable future for computing, by developing a new generation of electronics that operate at significantly less energy, utilising novel materials in which electricity can flow with minimal resistance and dissipation of heat, and devices in which that dissipationless electric current can be switched on and off at will.
FLEET utilised new, atomically-thin, electronic materials and new topological physics that allow transmittal and switching of electrical currents with minimal energy dissipation. The Centre made remarkable progress, placing Australia at the forefront of international electronics technology research through the development of scientific foundations and backing intellectual property for future lowenergy electronic systems.
ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO)
The ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) ran from 2011 to 2018 and UQ joined as a node in 2013, with Professor Tamara Davis as node leader and head of the “Dark Theme”.
CAASTRO’s key science questions were:
- When did the first galaxies form, and how have they then evolved?
- What is the high-energy physics that drives change in the Universe?
- What are the Dark Energy and Dark Matter that dominate the cosmos?
CAASTRO focused on the blossoming technology that allowed high resolution over wide fields for the first time, both in optical and radio wavelengths, and made Australia a world-leader in this area.
At UQ this Centre laid the foundation for SMP’s current participation in major international surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey, Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED)
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) was funded between 2011 and 2018. CEED was led by Professor Hugh Possingham (Laureate Fellow), and provided international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain and changing world.
SMP contributed to developing new mathematical approaches and tools applied to ecological problems, helping deliver predictive models for fisheries and decision-making approaches to improve outcomes in conservation management, habitat restoration, spatial planning and threat adaptation under a changing climate.
SMP researchers have been on dozens of CEED publications, with a legacy of changing the way governments and researchers make environmental decisions and helping save species from extinction.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS)
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS) was a collaboration between 7 Australian universities and 5 industry partners from 2014 to 2021.
ACEMS bought together — for the first time — a critical mass of Australian researchers in applied mathematics, statistics, mathematical physics, and machine learning, and engaged in research programs that combine innovative methods for the analysis of data with theoretical, methodological and computational foundations, provided by advanced mathematical and statistical modelling.
UQ ACEMS focussed its attention on developing stochastic models for biological systems, machine learning, and developing advanced simulation methods.