Scholarship details

Study levels

Research and PhD

Student type

Future students

Study area

Health, Health and community, Information technology, Law and Science

Eligibility criteria

Academic performance

Citizenship

Australian or New Zealand

Application dates

Applications close
31 October 2024

What you'll receive

  • You'll receive a stipend scholarship of $32,192 per annum for a maximum duration of three years while undertaking a QUT PhD. This is the full-time, tax-exempt rate which will index annually.
  • You will receive a tuition fee offset/sponsorship, covering the cost of your tuition fees for the first four full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies.
  • As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.

Eligibility

  • You need to meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy, including any English language requirements.
  • Enrol as a full-time, internal student.
  • Given the interdisciplinary nature of the SafeAge Project, a range of skills and experience will be considered including:
    • a background in health, data science, law, gerontology, occupational therapy, or psychology
    • strong quantitative and qualitative skills
    • experience in handling large datasets in R, Stata or similar software for data cleaning and analysis
    • excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for presenting research findings and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams
    • demonstrated publication record (or potential) in peer-reviewed journals.

How to apply

You need to meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy, including any English language requirements.

  • The first step is to email Dr Catherine Niven detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
  • If supported to apply, you will then submit an expression of interest (EOI) following the advice at how to apply for a research degree.
  • In your EOI, nominate Professor Kirsten Vallmuur as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question two of the financial details section.

About the scholarship

Overview

Older persons as a cohort are at high risk of consumer product-related injury and death. The most recent Australian research into product safety issues for older persons was conducted more than 25 years ago, yet the marketplace and product technology have changed dramatically and the population at risk has grown. This Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project aims to generate contemporary knowledge of the role of consumer products in injuries and deaths for older persons. It is a three year collaborative academic research project with an interdisciplinary investigatory team from the Queensland University of Technology, Australian Catholic University, Flinders University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA).

Research activities

The SafeAge Project will collect product safety data for the 50+ year cohort from various sources including international regulatory responses, consumer complaints, online product reviews and administrative health records. The data will be interrogated with public health, behavioural risk, and human rights lenses to generate contemporary knowledge of product safety risks and hazards.

The successful candidate will be a key member of the project team involved in the following activities:

  • quantitative and qualitative analysis of large datasets
  • investigation of product safety issues from a public health, behavioural risk and/or human rights perspective (depending on skillset)
  • collaboration with chief investigators, researchers, and an advisory committee of experts
  • publishing research findings in reputable journals and presenting at relevant conferences and stakeholder forums.

Outcomes

The SafeAge Project will generate contemporary knowledge of leading product-related injuries and classes of hazardous products, risk factors and high-risk behaviours, and human rights issues associated with unsafe products.

This knowledge benefits:

  • older Australians and carers by informing purchasing decision-making and product use
  • industry by informing safer product design
  • government and health professionals by informing injury prevention strategies and regulatory responses such as recalls and safety standards.

SafeAge project team

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers motivated to create safer home/residential environments for older Australians.

Chief investigators:

Research fellows:

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