Student topics

We're interested in exploring how tangible, embodied and embedded interactions (TEIs) can be used to facilitate active play in young children (age 3-5 years old). In this project you’ll explore how existing technologies are used to provide children with opportunities for active play, be involved in the design and development of new TEIs, and evaluate how these TEIs might facilitate sustained engagement with active play.This student project is part of a larger research project at QUT, which means you will …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Design

Research centre(s)

Design Lab

The challenge to keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2023). One major challenge is the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to reduce emissions (Gholami et al., 2016). The share of renewable energy in electricity generation has increased to 28.3%, however, an acceleration of the pace of the transition is required to limit global temperature rise (REN21, 2022).New energy policies are needed to …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

FGFR2 encodes two alternatively spliced isoforms that differ in their ligand binding domain and the combination of tissue specific expression of these isoforms and tissue specific expression of the FGF ligands is the foundation of normal paracrine signalling. Isoform switching from FGFR2b (inclusion of exon 8) to FGFR2c (inclusion of exon 9) occurs in tumorigenesis as it establishes an autocrine loop in epithelial cancer cells. Our lab has reported that FGFR2 activation by mutations or isoform switching is associated with …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Broadly, this research theme looks into the effects of leader transgressions (e.g., misconduct, misbehaviour, deviance) on workers within organisations.More specifically, adopting a social identity approach, projects within this theme may examine the following questions:How does the organisational level of the leader influence the effects of their transgression on workers?How do workers'  identity configurations affect whether they respond to leader transgressions?How does the type and target of the leader transgression influence the way workers respond to the transgression?

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

School

School of Management

The adage “united we stand, divided we fall” has frequently guided leadership practice – that is, for one to lead others effectively, one first needs to unite them. However, large groups of people often comprise smaller subgroups with distinct identities. How, then, does the leadership process look like when these smaller subgroups are polarised into conflicting factions that cannot simply be united under a common superordinate identity?This research broadly examines the process of leadership within teams and organisations where there …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

School

School of Management

The internet of vehicles (IoV) plays an important role in the internet of things (IoT) value system. IoV enables vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications through enhanced connectivity and data-driven decision-making. However, given the importance of energy infrastructures in IoV systems (Shen et al., 2021), the role of energy demand behaviours is yet overlooked.In the context of electric vehicles as low-emission consumer energy resources (Degirmenci & Breitner, 2017), V2V and V2I networks improve the communication with other vehicles and charging …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

School

School of Information Systems

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science

Supercapacitor is a promising energy storage device with advantages of high power density, fast charging/discharging rate and long cycling life. However, the energy density of supercapacitor is relatively low as compared to that of other devices such as lithium-ion battery. To improve the energy density, new electrode materials including graphene and metal oxides have been explored for supercapacitor electrodes.Two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures recently offered a compelling solution to enhance the performance of supercapacitors by combining more than one components into a …

Study level

PhD

School

School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering

Delays in acting in collapsing ecosystems can be catastrophic. With every passing year, the chances that the ecosystem has progressed past some point of no return increases. Yet the research and development needed to develop a new technology can take a long time. Balance between these two dynamic processes is needed to determine the optimal length and effort for developing new technologies. This project will develop a method for finding the optimal schedule for developing technological readiness, social acceptability, a …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment

Pollen allergy is a common seasonal respiratory disease triggered by hypersensitivity to pollen affecting 10-30% of adults and 40% of children, and is a predisposing factor for asthma. Pollens interact with airway epithelium to both stimulate innate immunity and elicit an adaptive immune response.Proteolytic activity is one route that stimulates release of alarmins and pro-inflammatory cytokines from mucosal epithelia. Previous studies have found the expression of Serine/Cysteine (Ser/Cys) proteases in some types of grass pollen grains, but it is not …

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Species and ecosystems in Antarctica are threatened. Optimal biodiversity conservation is an interdisciplinary field combining mathematical modelling and optimisation with ecology and conservation. We can use mathematics to understand the system, model how management actions might impact it, and then optimise which actions should be used. For example, we can explore where protected areas should be placed, how species should be managed, or how tourist impacts should be reduced. However, the complexities of conservation in Antarctica necessitate the application of …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment

Autoimmune diseases affect approximately 5% of Australians. Well known examples include type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. These diseases have unpleasant, and sometimes tragic, consequences for the affected person and are a costly burden on our health system. As treatment is often limited to managing symptoms, new therapies for autoimmune diseases are much desired.The autoimmune diseases we study are described as "organ-specific", which means the unwanted immune response attacks either a single organ, or a collection of organs …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Several studies have demonstrated the appropriateness of 3D organoid cultures over the conventional 2D cultures, the advantages of 3D models include replicating the complex attributes of the liver beyond liver-specific metabolism, such as increased cell density, organization, and cell–cell signalling, O2 zonation.In this project we will establish a novel in vitro 3D model to study hepatocyte biology in the context of liver disease. A more comprehensive approach to investigating the intercellular mechanisms of NAFLD will include co-culture of organoids with …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences