QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 43 matching student topics
Displaying 37–43 of 43 results
Mapping the world: understanding the environment through spatio-temporal implicit representations
Accurately mapping large-scale infrastructure assets (power poles, bridges, buildings, whole suburbs and cities) is still exceptionally challenging for robots.The problem becomes even harder when we ask robots to map structures with intricate geometry or when the appearance or the structure of the environment changes over time, for example due to corrosion or construction activity.The problem difficulty is increased even more when sensor data from a range of different sensors (e.g. lidars and cameras, but also more specialised hardware such as …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Robotics
Optimal conservation management in uncertain Antarctic environments
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
Adaptive evolution of anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea mediating methane oxidation in freshwater environments (PhD)
The as-yet-uncultured archaeal lineage Methanoperedenaceae are anaerobic methanotrophs with a key role in mitigating the atmospheric release of methane in freshwater environments. The metabolic diversity of these microorganisms directly links methane with several key biochemical cycles and suggests a remarkable ability of these microorganisms to adapt to diverse environmental conditions.The overall aim of this PhD project will be to uncover the metabolic diversity of the Methanoperedenaceae and to understand the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for these adaptations.Methods and ResourcesThe project will …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Microbiome Research
Aerosol presursors in Australian marine environments
Aerosols, tiny solid or liquid particles, play an important role in global climate regulation, firstly, by scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation and, secondly, by their ability to take up water vapor from the atmosphere and serve as nuclei for cloud droplet formation (Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN)).With oceans covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, marine aerosols present a significant proportion of the global aerosol budget. Production of particles in the marine environment occurs via 2 pathways: 1) wave breaking and …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Re-localisation in natural environments
Re-localisation in robotics involves the process of determining a robot's current pose, consisting of its position and orientation. This can either be within a previously mapped and known environment (i.e. prior map) or relative to another robot in a multi-agent setup. Re-localisation is essential for enabling robots to perform tasks such as autonomous monitoring and exploration seamlessly, even when they encounter temporary challenges in precisely tracking their location in GPS-degraded environments. For instance, consider the 'wake-up' problem, where a robot …
- Study level
- PhD
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
The softer side of next-gen entrepreneurship: the emotional experience and success
Next-generation (next-gen) entrepreneurs are described as people who operate solely in online environments (i.e. via the internet). The internet and mobile technologies have profoundly impacted the ways in which business is conducted, yet little is known about this new type of business environment. There has been considerable research into entrepreneurs who operate largely in physical 'bricks and mortar' settings, however the literature is limited in providing insight into entrepreneurs who operate solely in online environments.We know that emotions influence the …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- School
- null
- Research centre(s)
- null
null
Physics-informed reinforcement learning for complex environments, using graph neural networks
Neglecting to incorporate physics information into world models for reinforcement learning leads to reduced adaptability to dynamic and complex environments and overall learning outcomes.In this project, we endeavour to develop and implement learnable models in reinforcement learning (RL) based on graph neural networks (GNNs). These models will integrate object and relation-centric representations to enable accurate predictions, strong generalization, and system identification in complex, dynamical systems. Additionally, we will focus on leveraging extensive world knowledge or physics information to refine representations …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
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