CRC for Alertness Safety and Productivity
Monash is a key participant in the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Alertness, Safety and Productivity, announced recently by the Australian Government.
Supported by a government grant of $14.5 million over seven years, with an additional $60 million in funding and in-kind contributions from consortium partners, the CRC aims to reduce the burden of impaired alertness on the safety, productivity and health of Australians.
Professor Shantha Rajaratnam from the School of Psychology and Psychiatry will lead the CRC research program at Monash. He said the new centre will be dedicated to reducing the avoidable burden of poor alertness on the safety, productivity and health of all Australians.
"We have brought together industry, government and university sectors in a coordinated, output-driven program that is unprecedented anywhere in the world," Professor Rajaratnam said.
“Our success in this application reflects the strength and quality of sleep research at Monash and across Australia, and recognition that impaired alertness due to sleep loss, sleep disorders and body clock disruption is a significant societal problem. The Centre will transform the ways in which these problems are being addressed.”
Monash researchers will be supported by national and international thought leaders in sleep and alertness drawn from disciplines including molecular biology, biophysical modelling, cognitive neuroscience, human factors, electrical and bioengineering, lighting design, occupational health and safety, and transport safety.
The CRC will develop and deploy the next generation of shift scheduling and workplace design techniques, alertness assessment devices, individualised programs for better sleep health, and a range of innovative strategies to reduce fatigue with the aim of improving alertness, performance and efficient and reducing workplace injuries.