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 38 matching student topics
Displaying 25–36 of 38 results
Local sustainable procurement to support a circular local industry in fashion and textiles
The textile industry is one of the world’s largest, with global sales in 2016 of USD 1.5 trillion. It is also one of the most polluting industries, producing 20% of global wastewater, and contributing to 10% of carbon emissions. Fashion generates large amounts of waste, and has negative social and health impacts for workers.According to the European Community Action Plan (ECAP 2019), sustainable procurement has the potential to transform the fashion and textile industry acting as a driver for local …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
-
Design Lab
Reversing Epithelial Mesenchymal Plasticity with Eribulin to Enhance Therapy Response
Epithelial mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) is a highly regulated and powerful cellular process that is fundamental in embryonic development (1), which is hijacked by cancer cells for metastatic progression and therapy resistance in epithelial cancers (2). Eribulin is a microtubule-inhibiting cancer drug discovered in sea sponges and approved for 3rd line therapy in metastatic breast cancer, which was shown to reverse epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) (3).We hypothesise that eribulin’s reversal of EMT will sensitise breast cancer cells to other therapies and …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Digital publics
Digital and social media platforms provide new opportunities for public communication, and the formation of distinct publics and communities around shared interests and identities. Such publics may engage in political debate, popular media fandom, science communication, vernacular creativity, and other activities; but they may also be affected by, or actively engage in promoting, mis- and disinformation and other problematic content. Their activities are also shaped by the features and affordances of the platforms they use, from Facebook and Twitter to …
- 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
Eribulin effects on epithelial mesenchymal plasticity and therapy response
Epithelial mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) is a highly regulated and powerful cellular process that is fundamental in embryonic development (1), which is hijacked by cancer cells for metastatic progression and therapy resistance in epithelial cancers (2). Eribulin is a microtubule-inhibiting cancer drug discovered in sea sponges and approved for 3rd line therapy in metastatic breast cancer, which was shown to block EMP (3).We hypothesise that eribulin’s reversal of EMT will sensitise breast cancer cells to other therapies and ultimately improve patient …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Characterising drivers of melanoma cell heterogeneity
Tumour cell heterogeneity is linked to tumour progression through the generation of divergent cellular behaviours such as proliferation, survival, invasion and therapy resistance. Crucially, conventional and targeted therapies generally only target highly proliferative cells in tumours leading to initial tumour regression, however alternative sub-populations underpin the return of treatment refractory disease and facilitate metastatic spread. Our laboratory is focused on understanding the regulatory drivers of cellular plasticity in melanoma to better understand progression and metastatic spread of this disease and …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
2032 Brisbane Olympic Games: how can we achieve climate-positive urban objectives?
Brisbane is the first host city to be contractually bound to deliver a climate-positive Olympic Games in 2032 (Queensland Government, 2023). Most of the 8,000-megawatt coal plants are expected to close by 2032, which requires a viable and sustainable transition to renewable energies (Simshauser, 2024).In this project, we investigate how digital energy services and analytics (DESA) can help a sustainable energy transition for a climate-positive 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.ReferencesQueensland Government. (2023). All Queensland. All in. 2032 procurement strategy. https://www.forgov.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/404030/Q2032-procurement-strategy.pdfSimshauser, P. …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Information Systems
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Understanding urban complexity for climate resilience
Addressing the urgent need for community resilience amid escalating climate risks, including floods, extreme heat, and bushfires, is crucial for burgeoning cities. These cities comprise intricate networks of social, ecological, physical, and technological subsystems with structural and functional interdependencies. Understanding this complexity is vital for evaluating a city's resilience to climate risks and formulating effective policies and planning strategies. By applying complexity science principles, researchers can illuminate the dynamic relationships within these networks, revealing opportunities for sustainable urban development and …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Empowering communities with DataCare: ethical data practices for smart cities
Smart cities hold immense potential for progress, but their success hinges on citizen empowerment and ethical data practices. Our research initiative, DataCare, aims at reshaping the landscape of smart cities by prioritising citizens, communities, and small businesses. This project, developed in collaboration with Brisbane Residents United (BRU), focuses on transforming smart cities from profit-driven entities to community-led developments.BRU is a community association serving as a vital grassroots advocacy and peer support network for suburban and local resident groups across Greater …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- Digital Media Research Centre
Design Lab
Model predictive control of connected vehicle platoons
Control of connected vehicle platoons can ensure the swift movement of traffic through a city by sharing vehicles' states and desired actuation. This networked control design can alleviate traffic jams, reduce vehicle emissions, and reduce fuel usage through improved aerodynamics. Model Predictive Control algorithms are a natural solution to address constraints arising from both communications and system dynamics. A key challenge is to design distributed control algorithms that are robust to disturbances in the environment and to stochastic information from …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
Very high-speed dynamic motion planning for arm robots
Robot manipulator arms are increasingly used for logistics applications. These typically require robots to run at the limits of their performance: motor torque and motor velocity. Added challenges include significant payloads (if we are schlepping heavy parcels) with apriori unknown mass, the possibility of boxes detaching from the gripper under high acceleration, and fixed obstacles in the workspace. How can we determine the limits to performance, quickly identify the payload mass, then plan the fastest path to get from A to B.
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
Investigating the rise of super apps: platforms, services, adoption
Imagine you want to go to a rugby game in Brisbane in a few weeks with some friends. You will probably jump across at least a few apps – coordinating plans on WhatsApp, buying tickets from Ticketmaster, booking a ride through Uber, and paying each other back for drinks over Venmo. But what if all that activity happened in one app on your phone? Meet the so-called 'super apps'.Super apps refer to marketplaces that offer a wide range of products …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology
Macromolecular barcoding for tracing plastic materials for the circular economy: a game changer for recycling
The reduction and management of plastic waste is perhaps the most critical challenge facing modern economies and plastic pollution cannot be resolved by generic approaches to research or to problem-solving. The Soft Matter Materials Team aims to resolve the anonymity and ubiquity of plastics by pioneering a simple optical readout system that can identify the uniquely coded information in macromolecules that have been embedded in plastics.In this project, optically readable macromolecular barcodes based on a system of excimer fluorescence switch-on …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
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