Student topics

The Computational Communication and Culture research program within the Digital Media Research Centre investigates how rapid advances in computation and human-machine communication are transforming society, through automation and AI, the Internet of Things, and disintermediating technologies such as blockchain. We draw on and extend computer science and critical humanities theory and methods (including agent-based modelling, machine vision, critical simulation, and information visualisation) to help explore and explain emergent phenomena in the digital media environment, including the fundamental transformation of communication …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Communication

Research centre(s)

Digital Media Research Centre

During the course of their PhD, the candidate will drive a research project that investigates how the use of algorithms in search and recommendation systems affect the discoverability of content, including:long tail and back catalogue contenton subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) servicesinternet platforms.The project will explore how digital tools can be developed and used to study the impacts of search and recommendation systems, and examine the regulatory options that might be used to address potential problems in the discoverability of culturally or …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Law

Research centre(s)

Digital Media Research Centre

According to dynamical systems theory, crises occur because couplings within a system (geophysical, ecological and social) create instabilities. Nonlinear feedbacks means that relatively small changes in circumstances can cause a rapid change to the system state. For example, a small increase in tourism visitors could lead to the invasion of a new species. Or, a gradual change in the average global temperature could lead to the collapse of Antarctic ice-shelves.In the coming decade, the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic are likely to …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for the Environment

ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) is calling for expressions of interest for a PhD scholarship opportunity in its news and media focus area.The PhD researcher will be based in QUT's Digital Media Research Centre, and will also collaborate closely with other partner institutions in ADM+S, including our industry partner AlgorithmWatch.

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Communication

Research centre(s)

Digital Media Research Centre

Several PhD positions are available for motivated individuals to investigate phase separation and glassy state formation inside airborne droplet nuclei and its impact on water uptake and loss during atmospheric transport.Marine and continental atmospheric aerosols play an important role in the global climate hydrological cycle while respiratory aerosols released during breathing speech and coughing are responsible for the airborne transmission of human respiratory viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2. These processes can limit the availability of cloud seeding nuclei with implications …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Organic electronic devices are flexible, light weight and stretchable, which makes them an ideal candidate for integrating and interfacing with soft tissues in biological systems. An attractive attribute of organic electronic devices is the solution processibility of constituent layers, since solution-processable devices have the potential to be printed into complex designs and shapes, leading to integrated devices with multiple functionalities.Particularly, organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) have the potential to offer low cost, easy to use and printable sensors for a …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Chemistry and Physics

Research centre(s)

Centre for Materials Science

Flexible electrothermal heaters have attracted a growing interest because of their broad applications in wearable electronics, including warming garments, and as flexural warmers for medical devices and vehicles. Traditional electrothermal materials such as ferro chromium (FeCr)-based alloys have disadvantages such as heavy weight, rigidity and low heating efficiency. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is widely used in commercial products due to its high transparency and high electrical conductivity. However, the finite reserve of indium has resulted in an increasing price of …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Chemistry and Physics

Fungi are essential components of all ecosystems in roles including symbiotic partners, decomposers and nutrient cyclers and as a source of food for vertebrates and invertebrates. While vital to soil health and organic matter turnover, fungi have great potential in sustainable design and medicine.Ganoderma strains in particular produce bioactive compounds and display growth characteristics that favour their use in medical and applied biotechnology. Some species produce triterpenoids, such as ganoderic acids, and have been used in traditional Asian medicine for …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Biology and Environmental Science

Research centre(s)

Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy

Lions mane strains are capable of producing very small fruiting bodies (mushrooms) in static liquid culture. In this project we will try establish parameters and conditions that favour mushroom synthesis on a liquid surface. If we can understand how and why this species produces mushrooms on a liquid surface – we may be able to target genes that could improve yields and tendency to grow hydroponically.'Hericium erinaceum (Bull.: Fr.) Pers. is an edible fungus of great significance in medicine. It …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Biology and Environmental Science

Research centre(s)

Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy

Diffusion in homogenous environments is relatively well understood, but the problem becomes more complicated in complex environments - such as wood tissue, cells, filters and catalysts. At QUT there is extensive expertise in using advanced numerical methods to model diffusions and first passage times in complex environments.The ability to combine this expertise with realistic models of random media based on level-sets of Gaussian random field.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

The way in which fungal cultures grow in liquid cultures are can have a major impact on scale up and producing material. Here, we will examine the growth of three fast-growing filamentous fungi and try understand how various growth parameters affect the morphology that will range from loose mycelia to compact pellets.Fungal morphology is affected by inoculum (form, concentration and growth stage), media components (type and concentration of carbon, nitrogen and phosphate, trace minerals, pH, salt content), dissolved gases (dissolved …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Biology and Environmental Science

Research centre(s)

Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy

NASA's newest Mars rover, Perseverance, has just arrived on the red planet. Tasked with searching for ancient life in the geological record of a ~4 billion-year-old crater lake, the mission science team must use our only available analogue - the Earth - as their guide to exploration.

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences