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Doctor of Philosophy, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science

A single four year research award offered by the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science

  • Length 4 year full-time
  • Minimum 192 Units
  • Academic plan 9070XPHD
  • Post Nominal
  • CRICOS code 048353A
  • Engineering and Related Tech
  • Ms Erin Maplesden
  • Admission & Fees
  • Introduction

Employment Opportunities

Career options, learning outcomes, further information.

  • Additional Information

Admission Requirements

Scholarships.

  • Indicative Fees

Program Requirements

As a PhD student you will work with increased independence, under the direction of an expert academic supervisor or a supervisory panel. Your research will make an original and important contribution to human knowledge and may be published in scientific journals or presented at international conferences.

The Doctor of Philosophy usually involves three to four years of full-time study or the part-time equivalent and requires the submission and successful examination of a thesis of up to 100,000 words.

To be eligible for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy program you should have completed a relevant four-year undergraduate degree from an eligible university, or a postgraduate qualification with a significant research thesis component. There must be a supervisor at the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science who is available and willing to supervise your research, and you must have identified a research project.

Admission to a Doctor of Philosophy degree at ANU requires:

1. An Australian Bachelor degree with at least Second Class Honours - Upper (First Class Honours is often required) or its international equivalent, or

2. Another degree with a significant research/thesis component that may be assessed as equivalent to paragraph (1), or

3. A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience related to the field of study that may be assessed as equivalent to paragraph (1).

All applicants must meet the University’s English Language Admission Requirements for Students .

You may be eligible for admission if you can demonstrate that you have significant research experience and a background equivalent to these qualifications.

The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science encourages prospective students to take a self assessment test to determine their suitability for admission/scholarship before completing the pre-application process .

If you think you might qualify, you can also check out our guide on how to apply .

Indicative fees

For more information see: http://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/costs-fees

For further information on International Tuition Fees see: https://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/fees-payments/international-tuition-fees

Fee Information

All students are required to pay the  Services and amenities fee  (SA Fee)

The annual indicative fee provides an estimate of the program tuition fees for international students and domestic students (where applicable). The annual indicative fee for a program is based on the standard full-time enrolment load of 48 units per year (unless the program duration is less than 48 units). Fees for courses vary by discipline meaning that the fees for a program can vary depending on the courses selected. Course fees are reviewed on an annual basis and typically will increase from year to year. The tuition fees payable are dependent on the year of commencement and the courses selected and are subject to increase during the period of study.

For further information on Fees and Payment please see: https://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/fees-payments

ANU offers a wide range of  scholarships  to students to assist with the cost of their studies.

Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.

For further information see the  Scholarships  website.

Exceptional research degrees at ANU

The Australian National University provides PhD students with a vibrant research community and outstanding program support. When selecting a research program, an institution's reputation is everything. ANU is one of the world's leading universities, and the smart choice for your research program.

The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) has a track record of exceptional performance: a strong international research reputation based on a culture of excellence; a vibrant research-led education programme; and strong contributions in policy advice and community engagement.

We conduct research and teaching that aims to deliver solutions to some of the most pressing technological and environmental challenges the world faces, recruiting and nurturing students and academics who will lead the way in finding solutions to these challenges. The college has an extensive network of international collaboration with research institutions and industries in Europe, the Asia Pacific and the USA, as well as locally.

As a PhD student you will work with increased independence, under the direction of a supervisory panel of experts in the field. Your research will make an original and important contribution to human knowledge, research and development.

ANU ranks among the world's very finest universities. Our nearly 100,000 alumni include political, business, government, and academic leaders around the world.

We have graduated remarkable people from every part of our continent, our region and all walks of life.

We have research opportunities in a wide range of fields across engineering and computer science. Career options following completion of a Doctor of Philosophy include many opportunities in addition to an academic path such as research opportunities in industry or commercialisation of your research through a start-up.  

Some of our alumni hold positions as company directors, chief technology officers, senior managers, and consultants to major industry bodies and organisations in Australia and internationally.

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Learn more about the degrees offered at the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, read current student profiles to see what campus life is really like, and discover what our graduates have achieved since leaving the College at Visit the College of Engineering and Computer Science website.

Responsible Officer: Registrar, Student Administration / Page Contact: Website Administrator / Frequently Asked Questions

ANU Postgraduate research

Research is at the core of everything we do. It informs the content of our degrees, influences public policy and solves some of our region’s greatest challenges.

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ANU postgraduate research

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Find a supervisor

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Scholarships & Fees

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How to apply

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Change the conversation

Studying an advanced, research-focused Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree at The Australian National University (ANU) is an opportunity to make a substantial and original contribution to your discipline or area of professional practice.

We’ll automatically consider you for a scholarship when we receive your application.

Research areas

Our research priorities reflect the challenges facing the world today.

ANU researchers are currently exploring a range of disciplines and study areas .

university in the world

QS World University Rankings 2025

Nobel laureates among ANU staff & alumni

in Australia in 13 disciplines

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024

for student-teacher ratio and staff qualifications

Good Universities Guide 2023

Before you apply

Find a potential supervisor and explore our colleges’ research opportunities. Some colleges have different application requirements – so make sure you’re aware of and follow these before you apply.

1. Find a supervisor

Discover potential supervisors. Explore their research and published works and find their contact details.

Search supervisors

2. ANU college research opportunities

Our colleges can provide you with information about research areas, supervisors and groups, as well as who to contact.

NOTE: More than one college can offer supervision in a particular study area.

  • ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences
  • ANU College of Asia & the Pacific
  • ANU College of Business & Economics
  • ANU College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics
  • ANU College of Health & Medicine
  • ANU College of Law
  • ANU College of Science

3. Explore college application requirements

If you have found a supervisor you would like to work with and the college that offers this supervision, you will need to find out if there are any pre-application steps that your college would like you to take.

Most colleges would like you to find and secure the support of a potential supervisor before you complete your application. For example, the ANU College of Business & Economics has different arrangements for setting up supervision, so please check in with them before applying.

Some colleges will ask you to send a short description of your proposed area of research as an expression of interest and a summary of your academic qualifications, including grades, to them first.

Visit the ANU college research pages for pre-application advice (see the links under 'ANU colleges’ content above).

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Applying to ANU

You can apply at any time of the year – but if you would like to be considered for a scholarship, you will need to send your application within the scholarship’s application deadline.

Scholarship applicants

Your referees should send their reports before your scholarship’s deadline. Give them as much time as possible by completing your ANU application 2–3 weeks earlier than the scholarship’s deadline. We’ll contact your referees when we get your application.

Application requirements

Your application to study at ANU must meet the following requirements.

1. Minimum admission requirements

Explore our minimum admission requirements.

Requirements for admission to a Doctor of Philosophy degree

  • An Australian bachelor’s degree with at least second-class honours (Upper first-class honours may be required by some programs) or the international equivalent, or
  • Another degree with a significant research/thesis component, or
  • A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience related to your field of study

Requirements for admission to a Master of Philosophy degree

  • An Australian bachelor’s degree or higher, with an overall grade of distinction or higher, or the international equivalent, or
  • Another equivalent degree, or
  • A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience that are related to your field of study

2. English language requirements

You must meet our English language requirements to be eligible for admission to ANU. While you can apply without having met them, you will need to show that you do when you get a study offer from us.

Unsure whether you can meet the English language requirements? Contact your research school or the Graduate Research Office before you send your application.

Learn more about ANU English language requirements

3. Research proposal

Your draft research proposal only needs to be short. Check in with your potential supervisor to clarify their expectations for this proposal before you send it in with your application.

Your proposal should present your idea or question in your discipline area clearly. Consider it a statement about the basis of the research you’d like to do.

Your research proposal should:

  • establish the relevance of your idea
  • show gaps in your field – and how your research would address these
  • include how you would go about your research project – your approach, methodologies and resources.

You will be able to change the proposal once you have enrolled in your program.

Learn about research proposals

4. Referees

Referee reports are mandatory when applying for admission to a HDR Program. At least 2 referees reports are required to commence assessment of the application. Academic referees, who are able to comment on the applicant’s ability to undertake the program, are preferred, however, professional references can also be used. The University may request additional referee reports during the assessment of the application.

Ensure their contact details are correct; we will email them a report to complete from within the application portal as soon as we have received your application.

If your referee is unable to access our system-generated referee report, they can contact the Admissions team and ask for another version of the form.

Your referees must send their completed reports confidentially and directly to the University rather than to you.

Reference documents:

  • Research Application Referee Report (DOCX, 85.97 KB)

5. Supporting documentation

Upload clear, colour copies of your academic transcripts and graduation certificates with your application. You do not need to certify these documents, but they must be original copies. We will verify their authenticity.

If your academic documents were originally given to you in a language other than English, we will need official copies of the document in that language and original translations for verification purposes.

6. Incomplete qualifications

You can apply to ANU before you complete your current degree if you are in your final year. Advise the Graduate Research office your expected completion date via your application and supply a copy of the qualification when we make you an offer.

For more information, refer to ‘Supporting documentation’.

If you have the approval of a college and a potential supervisor, you can apply for admission to ANU. Without this endorsement, though, we might not be able to assess your application.

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Choose the program you want to study from the Program & Courses catalogue

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On the program’s page, click 'apply’ to open the application portal

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Complete your application

Receiving an offer from ANU

After we assess your application, we will contact you via email about the outcome within 6–8 weeks (about 2 months). This could take longer if we're also considering you for a scholarship.

If you do not hear from ANU within two months, contact your research school or email the Graduate Research Office.

  • Contact Graduate Research Office

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School of Cybernetics

We are drawing on the history of cybernetics and reimagining it for our 21st century challenges.

We are committed to helping Australia and Australians navigate major societal transformations. #

The School of Cybernetics is on a mission to establish Cybernetics as an important tool for navigating major societal transformations, through capability building, policy development and safe, sustainable and responsible approaches to new systems.

Cybernetics provides a transdisciplinary approach to understanding and managing the complexities of technological advancements, focusing on the components, connections, and dynamics of complex systems.

The School of Cybernetics was founded by Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell. She served as the inaugural Director 2021-2023 who has gone on to be appointed as ANU Vice-Chancellor in January 2024.

Based in the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics at the Australian National University, the School offers a one-year postgraduate program in Applied Cybernetics, PhD program and shorter Learning Experiences (LX) for individuals and organisations, the School of Cybernetics is at the forefront of impact-led research and innovation.

Our graduates are poised to become leaders in diverse fields such as healthcare, finance, and engineering, driving progress in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

How are we building safe, sustainable and responsible approaches to new systems? #

Education

Our programs extend existing core strengths in computer science and engineering, by drawing on design ethnography, critical studies of science and technology, philosophy, history, business strategy, and a whole lot more.

Projects

Our diverse collection of projects represent the broad application of cybernetics to challenges and opportunities in many sectors.

Cybernetic Imagination Residencies

Residencies

We have established a Cybernetic Imagination Residency program to host artists, thinkers, tinkerers and creative as well as critical doers.

Featured Projects #

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Indigenous Futurisms

Dr Ambelin Kwaymullina - Cybernetic Imagination Resident

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Calculating Empires

A Geneology of Technology and Power Since 1500

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Cybernetic Water Stories

Reimagining our relationships with water.

News and events #

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Mastering Cybernetics:Students Impress with Brilliant Prototypes

Demo Day is one of our favourite days of the year. This milestone date is where our Master of Applied Cybernetics students showcase their brilliant projects to our community in an awe-inspiring...

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Cybernetics at the World Economic Forum 'Summer Davos'

From 25-27 June 2024, Professor Katherine Daniell, Director of the School of Cybernetics, attended the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2024 in Dalian China.

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What is Cybernetics?

Understanding Cybernetics with French scientist Joel de Rosnay

Subscribe to our mailing list #

Explore the future of cybernetics with us #.

Join our mailing list to stay informed and connected. By signing up, you’ll gain access to a world of exciting content, valuable insights, and exclusive event invites directly in your inbox.

I'd like to know more about #

(select as many as you like)

  • Research collaboration
  • Master of Applied Cybernetics
  • PhD programs
  • Learning Experiences
  • Education for your organisation
  • Cybernetic Practitioners Network

Please note that by submitting this form you are agreeing to receive information about studying at The Australian National University (ANU). You may be contacted via email and/or phone regarding course and admissions details, as well as upcoming online information sessions. The information that you submit will be stored in ANU and its service provider systems. Should you wish to cease receiving communications or have your personal information removed from the University please contact [email protected]. View our privacy policy here.

Contact us #

The School of Cybernetics is located in the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Mailing Address: Level 3 Birch Building, 35 Science Road, Canberra, ACT 2601 Email: [email protected] Phone: +61 2 6125 8121

Job vacancies #

To explore all current opportunities at the Australian National University, visit the ANU Jobs catalogue .

You are on Aboriginal land.

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

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Danlu Guo

View Scopus Profile

Dr Danlu Guo

Senior lecturer

  • School of Engineering
  • 636 Citations
  • 293 Citations

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Dr Danlu Guo joined ANU CECC as a Senior Lecturer in December 2022.  Danlu completed her PhD in Hydrology at the University of Adelaide in April 2017 and worked as a Research Associate at UNSW Sydney from October 2016 to October 2017. Since then, Danlu worked as a Research Associate and Teaching Specialist at the Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne until late 2022, and is currently an honorary fellow of University of Melbourne.

Danlu ’s research spans  multiple  fields of hydrology and environmental engineering , including catchment rainfall-runoff modelling, water quality modelling and climate change impct assessment, which centre around a common  theme of  understanding and modelling catchment water resources via data-driven  and large-sample approaches.  Danlu’s  research excellence has been recognized by: the 2022 GN Alexander Medal awarded by Engineers Australia; the 2019 Early Career Research Award by the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ);   one of her publications was the most downloaded paper in  Water Resources Research during 2018-2019. 

Danlu  ha s  been the lead CI for  nearly 1M  Category 2 funding . She has also worked  in two ARC Linkage Projects.  Danlu  ha s over 4  years’ experience in teaching and  postgraduate  supervision experience , taking roles including  Subject Coordinator and Lecturer for multiple subjects in environmental engineering and hydrology.   She also serves as a  committee member of MSSANZ water wuality modelling special interest group, working towards building a strong water quality modelling community across Australia and New Zealand.

Qualifications

PhD in hydrology at the University of Adelaide

Research Interests

  • river water quality
  • rainfall-runoff modelling
  • data-driven models
  • Bayesian modelling
  • large-sample hydrology

External Scholarly Memberships and Affiliations

Fellow, Institute for Water Futures

1 Dec 2022 → …

Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne

Research student supervision

  • Registered to supervise

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Dive into details.

Select a country/territory to view shared publications and projects

Research output

Research output per year

A Comprehensive Framework to Evaluate Hydraulic and Water Quality Impacts of Pipe Breaks on Water Distribution Systems

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Reversed Flow 100%

An inverse approach to perturb historical rainfall data for scenario-neutral climate impact studies

  • Neutral Scenario 100%
  • Water Resource 100%
  • Climate Effect 100%
  • Water Resources 75%
  • Climate Change 66%

Assessing the Potential Robustness of Conceptual Rainfall-Runoff Models Under a Changing Climate

  • Climate Change 100%

Better Understanding of the Capacity of Pressure Sensor Systems to Detect Pipe Burst within Water Distribution Networks

  • Electric Power Distribution 100%
  • Sensor System 100%
  • Water Distribution 100%
  • Pressure Sensor 100%

Characterisation of spatial variability in water quality in the Great Barrier Reef catchments using multivariate statistical analysis

  • Barrier Reef 100%
  • Multivariate Statistical Analysis 100%
  • Australia 50%
  • Queensland 50%
  • Water Quality Monitoring 50%

Projects per year

Understanding uncertainties in water quality monitoring to inform future network design

Guo, D. , Croke, B. , Guillaume, J. & Razavi, S.

30/10/23 → 30/10/24

Project : Research

  • Water Quality Monitoring 100%
  • Network Design 100%

Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport

Guo, D. , Western, A., Arora, M. & Cartwright, I.

2/05/23 → 1/05/26

  • Solute Transport 100%
  • Water Body 50%
  • Pollution Transport 50%
  • Field Study 50%

Initial preliminary EC Trend Analysis using WRTDS Statistical Modelling for Basin Salinity Management Program

20/05/24 → 21/06/24

DELWP Water Quality Analysis 2022 (Stages 2)

31/08/23 → 31/10/23

  • Victorian 100%
  • Australian National University 100%
  • Subcontracting 100%

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HDR Supervisors

Academic staff with availability to supervise PhD or MPhil

The first step in applying for postgraduate research study at the ANU is to find a supervisor. Candidates for Computing PhD and MPhil programs will need to find and secure the support of a supervisor in the School of Computing before completing their application. A supervisor can be any qualified academic within the School who is able to assure continuity of supervision for the candidate, at the discretion of the Associate Director HDR. This page lists academics who are currently accepting new postgraduate research students in the ANU School of Computing.

Before submitting your application

Please first confirm that your proposed supervisor appears on the list of available supervisors below. If your proposed supervisor is not listed please seek confirmation of their availability via email to the Associate Director HDR at [email protected] before submitting your application .

Please see this page for information regarding ANU Central Scholarships, including when and how to apply. Those who are successful in the Central Scholarship round will be required to commence by certain dates also outlined on this page.

The ANU HDR Supervision Procedure prescribes that every panel comprises a Chair, Primary Supervisor, and other Associate Supervisors. The Chair is typically experienced in supervision and responsible for oversight of all aspects of a candidate’s program. The Primary Supervisor provides academic oversight of the major research aspects of a candidate’s program. The Chair and Primary Supervisor may be the same person, but at least one must be internal to the ANU. A Supervisory Panel is a minimum of three members for a PhD candidate and at least two members for MPhil.

The ANU School of Computing expects the Panel Chair to be a tenure-track, continuing, or emeritus academic within the School who holds the rank of Senior Lecturer (Level C), Associate Professor (Level D), or Professor (Level E). Primary supervisors can be any qualified academic within the School, at the discretion of the Associate Director HDR. Academics listed below are available to supervise as Primary Supervisor. Any other proposed Primary Supervisor must be acknowledged in writing by the Associate Director HDR via email to [email protected] prior to application .

Any ANU academic may serve as an Associate Supervisor on a Computing supervisory panel. Qualified individuals who are not affiliated to ANU may also serve as Associate Supervisor. Pabel composition is subject to School approval by the Associate Director HDR.

An academic may be unavailable to supervise for many reasons, including periods of extended leave, or being at capacity for the number of candidates they can feasibly supervise default ANU policy limits primary supervisors to a maximum of six HDR candidates at any one time ).

There is much good advice available online on how to find a supervisor, such as:

  • https://uvasrg.github.io/prospective/ and
  • https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/apply-grad-school.html First check a potential supervisor’s personal web page to make sure your research background and interests are a good fit before you email them.

Currently accepting HDR students *

(supervisors shown in boldface have funding available for scholarships)

Shoaib Akram

Dan Andrews

Pascal Bercher

Dylan Campbell

Yun Kuen (Marco) Cheung

Peter Christen

Quanling Deng

Charles Gretton

Thomas Haines

Patrik Haslum

Rhys Hawkins

Peter Hoefner

Matthew Hole

Antony Hosking

Piotr Koniusz

Hanna Kurniawati

Hongdong Li

Miaomiao Liu

Alberto F. Martín

Charles Martin

Fabian Muehlboeck

Michael Norrish

Bernardo Nunes

Liam O’Connor

Dirk Pattinson

Michael Purcell

Jochen Renz

Rahul Shome

John Taylor

Kerry Taylor

Sylvie Thiébaux

Yuan-Sen Ting

Felipe Trevizan

Graham Williams

Nisansala Yatapanage

Ahad N. Zehmakan

Mengxuan Zhang

Liang Zheng

* This list may not be comprehensive. For questions regarding availability of other School of Computing academics please contact [email protected] .

Project dimming Canberra's street lights shows 25 per cent reduction in light pollution

A close-up photo of a man's face. He looks at the camera.

By Victor Petrovic

Topic: Science and Technology

A graphic of a street with streetlights changing their intensity. Stars in the sky become more visible as the lights are dimmed.

Lights on Canberra's streets were turned up and down for the project, revealing more of the night sky. ( ABC: Phil Jaiyawong )

An "adaptive lighting" project in Canberra, which reduced the brightness of streetlights by up to half, showed a 25 per cent reduction in light pollution.

The project used around 30,000 "smart" streetlights in Canberra during off-peak times, and also found a reduction in carbon emissions.

What's next? 

It's hoped the approach can be applied elsewhere, with the New Zealand cities of Auckland and Christchurch already looking into it.

Looking up at the thousands of street lights that illuminate our cities, former town planner and designer Danny Bettay has always asked one simple question: "Do we really need this, or is this overkill?".

"Historically, street lights were designed, indirectly for people, but designed for technologies, essentially for horse and carriage,"  Mr Bettay said.

"And over 200 years of having these infrastructures embedded in our environment, we have slowly come to realise that there's some environmental harms of technologies that we've created in the past."

In order to reduce the impact street lighting has on the environment, Mr Bettay initiated a trial in Canberra of something called "adaptive lighting"  — dimming or brightening street lights to match people's needs at the time.

A man wearing glasses sits at a table in front of a laptop.

Danny Bettay hopes the adaptive lighting project can be applied to reduce light pollution in cities. ( ABC News: Victor Petrovic )

Of Canberra's roughly 83,000 streetlights, more than 30,000 have been fitted with LED globes and "smart nodes",  which allow their brightness to be controlled remotely from a laptop.

So between 11pm and 5am during the first half of 2024, the streetlights, mainly in areas less used at night, were dimmed 10 per cent every 15 minutes until they were at half of their usual brightness.

Clearing the sky

Up at Canberra's Mt Stromlo Observatory, astronomer Brad Tucker was monitoring cameras measuring how bright the night sky was, and along with satellite data, looking to see whether the dimming was revealing more of the night sky.

"So what we were finding during this dimming is that as the lights would dim, we could definitively ... measure a reduction of light pollution," Dr Tucker said.

"So for every 10 per cent the lights are dimmed, it's about a 5 per cent change in the glow of the sky.

"So when we dim all the way to about 50 per cent, that means the sky has been reduced by about 25 per cent in terms of brightness."

Adjust these suburban lights and see how they change the night sky (notes)

Dr Tucker said with even a 25 per cent clearer view of the night sky, the amount of extra detail was profound.

"So as that gets to that 25 per cent level, we're seeing 25 per cent 'darker-ness' of the sky, so we'll see more stars," Dr Tucker said.

"We'll see the fainter stars will be a bit brighter, the brighter stars will get even brighter, and some new stars pop out that were previously lost.

"Things like the Milky Way, detail of the Milky Way got a little bit more better resolved as that sky dropped."

A man with curly hair sits at a table in front of a laptop, and on the screen code is visible.

The adaptive lighting project can be controlled from Mr Bettay's laptop. ( ABC News: Victor Petrovic )

On top of the reduction in light pollution, the scientists found the reduction in brightness of the lights reduced their carbon emissions by 1,085 tonnes.

The scientists also hope a reduction in light can also help animals who've been disrupted by growing cities and towns.

'Scalable in any context'

The Australian-first trial was started when Mr Bettay was working for private company Omexom, which is contracted by the ACT government and is now the focus of Mr Bettay's PhD at the Australian National University.

Mr Bettay said he hopes the results of their trial can be applied in other jurisdictions, but that the ACT was uniquely placed to embark on the project as its government owns the street-lighting infrastructure, which is not the case in other major cities in Australia.

A streetlight illuminating a dark residential street at night.

One of the LED streetlights in a quieter part of Canberra that was part of the trial. ( ABC News: Victor Petrovic )

He's already in discussions with the New Zealand cities of Auckland and Christchurch about the results.

"I guess it's up to the other jurisdictions to think about why they want to use adaptive lighting, but the technology and the approach itself is scalable in any context," Mr Bettay said.

"Auckland is a much bigger city than Canberra, but they have 110,000 lights that are equipped with smart nodes that have been equipped for a while, they just haven't used them.

"They're a city much more akin to Sydney as opposed to Canberra, so they have a night-time economy that they need to take into consideration, so it's a little bit different to Canberra."

Mr Bettay said part of the trial involves monitoring the risk to safety, crime and traffic by reducing light on streets, but that the reduction is often hard for the human eye to detect.

"We've had engineers and other street lighting practitioners who've had 30 plus years experience, who sat out and looked at street lights with us, and they were unable to distinguish between 70 per cent and 100 per cent," Mr Bettay said.

"So I think it's hard for the human eye to detect that change, although some people have, some people say they can detect the change between 50 per cent and 100 per cent."

Dr Brad Tucker

Dr Brad Tucker said the adaptive lighting project helped to reveal more of the night sky. ( Supplied )

Regaining connection

Dr Tucker hopes reducing light pollution through things like adaptive lighting can help build back our connection to the night sky.

"Humans have been around on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years, but we've kind of erased our connection to the sky in about 100 years," Dr Tucker said.

"We've kind of erased a part of human culture and human history, not just for people like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with their deep connection to land and sky, but for all of us who, we like to go out and enjoy the views, we like to enjoy out and see what's above.

"We go away camping and we go away into dark skies so we can, you know, escape and disconnect, and if you start losing that ability, we're never going to be disconnected."

Interactive notes and credits: The interactive is based on the Bortle scale, as well as results from Dr Tucker's experiments in Canberra. The lighting change interactive is based on a hypothetical suburban area with a Bortle scale level of 7 with light pollution sources: street lights (50 per cent); house lights (40 per cent); sport lights (10 per cent). Solutions to light pollution: changing street lights to LED (50 per cent reduction in light pollution from that source); dimming street lights to 70 per cent (15 per cent reduction); changing sport lights from cool to warm LEDs (15 per cent reduction); shielding outside lights (50 per cent reduction). 

Concept and production: Kylie Andrews; Development: Andrew Hystek-Dunk, Matthew Heffernan; Production: Chloe Brice; Expert advice: Dr Brad Tucker.  Return to lighting change interactive

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Dr Elizabeth Buchanan

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Areas of expertise

  • Defence Studies 160604
  • International Relations 160607
  • Political Science 1606
  • Government And Politics Of Asia And The Pacific 160606

Research interests

Energy security

The geopolitics of energy 

Russian foreign energy strategy

Sino-Russian energy relations

Critical infrastructure studies (SLOC, energy transit corridors)

Petrostate models

Russian polar strategy 

Arctic security

Antarctic security 

Dr Elizabeth Buchanan is Project Lead for the EU Commission Jean Monnet Energy Policy Workshop research initiative at the Centre for European Studies at The Australian National University. Her areas of expertise are Russian foreign energy strategy, critical infrastructure security and polar geopolitics. Elizabeth completed her PhD on Russian Arctic strategy under Vladimir Putin in 2017 and holds an Honours degree in Russian-Ukrainian natural gas relations.

In 2017 Dr Buchanan was the Maritime Fellow at NATO’s Defense College where she examined the GIUK gap threat and sea cable security. Elizabeth has published widely on Russian energy strategy and Arctic affairs with Foreign Affairs, The Lowy Institute, The Australian Institute for International Affairs and The Moscow Times. In 2015, Elizabeth was a Visiting Scholar with The Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy unit. She has experience in the private oil sector, is an assistant Course Convenor on the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre teaching staff and is a 2018 Australian Institute of International Affairs Early Career Research awardee.

Researcher's projects

2018-2020 Energy Policy Workshop (Jean Monnet  Erasmus+) 

Publications

  • Buchanan, E 2015, 'Arctic Thaw: Arctic Cooperation and Russian Rapprochement', Foreign Affairs, vol. 95, no. 1, pp. online.

Projects and Grants

Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.

  • Energy Policy Workshop (Primary Investigator)

Related websites

The Moscow Times

Foreign Affairs

Lowy Institute

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Updated:   23 August 2024 / Responsible Officer:   Director (Research Services Division) / Page Contact:   Researchers

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