Student topics

PFAS, often called 'forever chemicals', are among the most persistent and harmful pollutants found in the environment. These substances accumulate in biosolids, a nutrient-rich by-product of wastewater treatment, making it challenging to safely reuse or dispose of them. Biosolid management becomes even more complex due to the large volume produced by treatment facilities, creating a pressing need for innovative solutions that address both PFAS contamination and waste volume reduction.This project focuses on cutting-edge approaches to treat biosolids, reduce their volume, …

Study level

Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Optimising the application rates of organic amendments in agricultural soils is one of the most promising and practical solutions to reduce nitrogen (N) losses into the environment while maintaining an economically-adequate crop production.Organic amendments alone often don't meet the crop's needs. Consequently, a supplementary application of N synthetic fertiliser is needed in conventional farming systems to meet perceived production needs.Accounting for the amount of plant-available N (PAN) released by organic amendments and combining this with N-fertiliser will:ensure N demands of …

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

Sorting waste or recyclables is an important but unpleasant job, currently done by specialised machinery and humans for the hard bits.  What are the core challenges that could be done by "robots that see". This is a challenging problem in perception, dynamic path planning and control.

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics

Melanoma is the 4th most common cancer in Australia. The link between skin cancer and UV exposure is now well established. If a DNA damage induced by UV exposure is left unrepaired, the mutation generated in the genome can lead to cell death or cancer. It is thus highly important to understand of how a cell can repair DNA damage. The main pathway to repair UV DNA damaged is the nucleotide excision repair pathway (NER) (Kamileri I. et al, Trends …

Study level

Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Decreasing water quality is negativtly impacting coral reefs globally and is a threat that can be actively managed.

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for the Environment

This project explores buildings, public/civic spaces, and landscapes as water infrastructure. Water is integral to human survival; hence understanding buildings and urban spaces as habitable water infrastructure has the potential to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and navigate too much water (floods) and too little water (drought) while offering different modes of occupation.With increasing rainfall intensities, floods, rising sea levels, and drought, the pervasive dichotomy between habitable spaces and water infrastructures can no longer hold. The two can't …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Architecture and Built Environment

Nutrients such as ammonium and phosphate species are essential in agriculture. However, release of excessive amounts of nutrients to waterways may result in eutrophication which can lead to toxic algae blooms, killing of fish and destruction of the environment.Compounding this issue is the fact that phosphate rock sources are gradually being exhausted. Hence, finding a means to capture and reuse phosphate species from sources such as wastewater treatment plants is potentially attractive.Consequently, this project involves the development of new phosphate …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering

Ultimately, the proper development of a plant and its ability to adapt to its environment is the result of how plants’ genes are expressed and interact with each other. Hence, it is of extreme importance to understand the mechanisms used by plants to regulate gene expression.Modification of the expression pattern of a gene is particularly important in modern biology. By changing the expression levels of a gene, it is possible to learn about its function, increase the production of a …

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

Immigrants start their own business either out of necessity or opportunity. They engage in all different types of business activities, ranging form the small business inside the ethnic enclaves to the multinational enterprises across the globe.We are interested in new insights you can bring from your own research, business or community background. Please pitch your idea to us for the opportunity to create new knowledge together.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Management

Research centre(s)

Centre for Future Enterprise
Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research

Half of Australia’s prison population have a disability. Correctional facilities have an opportunity to help people who require health care to recover, and by doing so, increase their likelihood of living independently and not re-offending. International examples show that the incorporation of health facilities into correctional facilities has been beneficial not only to prisoners themselves but to general public health practices as well.This has been especially the case for First Nations peoples in incarceration in Canada and New Zealand. Existing …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Design

Research centre(s)

Design Lab

This research project acts upon recommendations from the Inquiry into the Quality of Care and Residential Aged Care in Australia IQCRAC (2018) by developing an inter-generational model for senior living within school campuses in consultation with industry partners. The project differs from existing programs by establishing an economic policy-driven 'shared campus facilities and services' approach which is person-centred, health focused and socially inclusive. The model intends to be translatable across diverse Australian contexts, from urban realms where land is limited, …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Design

Research centre(s)

Design Lab

Australia has a multicultural population, with approximately 30% of the population from diverse backgrounds. We will propose a program of research encompassing the development of assessment processes and also interventions, addressing the diverse needs of this population, Proposed research will build upon work already undertaken by the team in collaboration with Education Queensland including Milpera State School. Methodologies to date have been broadly based, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. These have included the examination of psychometric properties of scales …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Psychology and Counselling

Research centre(s)

Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies