Our research

Creating global impact through innovation.

Charles Darwin University Australia is a research-intensive university where world renowned researchers are delivering cutting-edge, world-class projects

Our research gets noticed by addressing real world challenges. Our researchers are some of the most-influential in their fields, asking the questions that will reconfigure our future and finding solutions based on the evidence.

With campuses across the Northern Territory and, world-heritage landscapes like Kakadu and Arnhem Land on our doorstep, the vast central desert regions to our south, and rich First Nations cultures which date back tens of thousands of years are alive and thriving. Charles Darwin University Australia is truly an incomparable place to study and conduct research.

Guided by our values of courage, kindness, openness, innovation and leadership, we produce cutting edge research in fields ranging from Indigenous and tropical health to environmental science, energy and resource management, and public policy.

Our ties to industries like agriculture and advanced manufacturing ensure our research meets real-world problems with real-world solutions.

Our Birthing on Country research is locally transformative and globally significant, and our AI and cyber security professors are amongst the global top 2% most-cited scientists in their fields.

Our Research Institutes are powerhouses for ideas. Our researchers are bolstered to become leaders in their fields, delivering impact locally, nationally and internationally, and our emerging scholars are provided every opportunity to become the best and brightest next generation of thinkers and creators.

Our research institutes

The North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems

The North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems is a leading force in the Northern Territory’s aviation technology sector, supporting local industries, businesses, government agencies, and communities to harness and apply emerging aviation technologies safely and effectively.

Serving as a hub for national and international companies, we facilitate investment, testing, and showcasing opportunities in the Top End. Our aim is to empower industries to embrace and leverage emerging aviation technologies, while spearheading drone-based research tailored to northern Australia.

Our research investigates the wide range of applications of autonomous systems to enhance service delivery and research in remote areas both locally and across the Asia Pacific. This exemplifies the university’s commitment to building technological capabilities within our region.

The value and versatility of autonomous systems for northern Australia led to the establishment of the Charles Darwin University-RMIT Industry 4.0 TestLab. This advanced manufacturing centre is a partnership between the Australian Government, the NT Government, and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology created to drive innovation in autonomous systems and advanced manufacturing in northern Australia.

The NT Academic Centre for Cyber Security and Innovation

The NT Academic Centre for Cyber Security and Innovation (ACSCI) brings together over twenty-five research-active staff across the university, taking a multi-disciplinary approach to advance innovative research in Cyber Security, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence.

ACSCI builds effective collaborations between industry, government, and researchers, solving real-world problems to stay at the forefront of innovation, enhance workforce capabilities, and address the most pressing challenges facing society today. Our researchers bridge the social-technical divide, providing training in both technical and non-technical aspects of digital technology to meet emerging digital needs in Australia and globally, ensuring success in a thriving digital economy.

Northern Institute

While most interdisciplinary research at Charles Darwin University Australia addresses elements of social policy, the Northern Institute (NI) is dedicated to bringing an authoritative voice to social and policy change.

The work of the Northern Institute reflects our community. Northern Australia’s population is sparse and diverse, with a high percentage of First Nations people. In addition, our location is closer to Singapore than Sydney and our migrant diversity gives our research an international focus aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

NI’s research focuses on the social, cultural, economic and environmental issues that affect the lives of regional and remote populations, including First Nations communities.

Energy and Resources Institute

At the Energy and Resources Institute (ERI), we believe that small-scale renewable technology can provide regional and remote communities with greater energy independence. That’s why we created REMHART – the Renewable Energy Systems Hub for Applied Research and Training.

REMHART is a microgrid that allows us to simulate various grid conditions, test out innovative technologies, while providing a controlled and safe space to train our workforce. With state-of-the-art diagnostic tools, REMHART supports the development of new renewable energy projects.

One such project is the Alice Springs Future Grid, a Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) initiative that aims to increase renewable energy penetration into the Alice Springs grid. The institute has provided DKA with a grid testing facility which enables researchers to test technical solutions for enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the grid.

ERI also works with the North American Flame Retardant Alliance (NAFRA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to recycle plastics containing brominated flame retardants. ERI believes that bromine can become part of circular economy, instead of being disposed in landfills and in incineration.

Menzies School of Health Research

Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) is one of Australia’s leading medical research institutes dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

An independent medical research institute, Menzies employs more than three-hundred staff across main offices in Darwin, Alice Springs and Dili in Timor Leste. Menzies has been a leader in global and tropical health research into life-threatening diseases for forty years. Menzies continues to translate its research into effective partnerships and programs in communities across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Menzies main research groupings address Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Disease, Child and Maternal Health, Global and Tropical Health, and Child Development and Education.

Since its establishment in the 1980s, the Menzies School of Health Research has worked to improve health outcomes for communities of northern and central Australia as well as in the Asia-Pacific region.

Menzies’ research programs have generated economic benefits of $629 million to Australia and $1.6 billion globally.

Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods

At a time where environmental protection is a paramount global concern, Charles Darwin University Australia researchers understand better than most how people and place are intrinsically connected. Our backyard spans from the vast arid red centre to the tropical savannah woodlands of the Top End, and across the aquamarine sea country of the Gulf, Timor and Arafura Seas. In this sparsely populated region, countless questions require further study.

The Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) focuses on enhancing our knowledge of tropical and arid ecosystems and their impacts on the livelihoods that depend on them, aiming to support sustainable livelihood development, biodiversity conservation, and natural resource management. RIEL collaborates with a diverse range of partners, including government, First Nations, industry, non-profit community and research organizations across northern Australia and beyond. Additionally, RIEL has established international collaborations with a primary focus on Timor Leste and Indonesia, as well as ties to tropical and arid-zone research globally.

Northern Hub

The Northern Hub was created to help northern and western Australia’s rural industries and regional centres improve resilience to external threats such as natural disasters and extreme weather.

Both the Northern Territory and Western Australia have large areas of arid and savanna landscapes where extreme weather events can have significant impact on rural communities and recovery can be complicated. The Northern Hub is one of eight national Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs that are supporting research to reduce the impact of disaster and make recovery easier. The Hub is a partnership between Charles Darwin University Australia, the Australian Government, WA & NT Governments plus natural resource management agencies, and primary producer industry associations.

Research Institute for Northern Agriculture

Our recently established Research Institute for Northern Agriculture (RINA) is building research capabilities in aquaculture, broadacre cropping systems, livestock and grazing sustainability and biosecurity in remote regions of northern Australia.

Our research is focused on growing sustainable agriculture and industries and supporting livelihoods in vulnerable and culturally important ecological environments. Resilience in remote regions is a key concern.

Molly Wardaguga Institute for First Nations Birth Rights

The Molly Wardaguga Institute for First Nations Birth Rights (Molly Institute) focuses on maternal health and social justice from a First Nations community-driven perspective, translating research outcomes into practical solutions.

Established in 2019, the Molly Institute works to support communities realise their cultural aspirations, and to dismantle the barriers imposed by colonial approaches to birthing and maternal healthcare.

The methodology focus is on redesign of healthcare systems, investment in culturally appropriate community workforce, strengthening families, privileging First Nations knowledge and governance, and empowering self-determination. Nation building tools are shaped through qualitative and quantitative data collation and analysis, and producing solid research evidence for communities independently, and for national impact.