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 25 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 25 results
NHMRC Idea Grant: intergenerational living and learning models
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
Designing Inclusive Sports Technology for Broader Participation in Physical and Digital Sporting Environments
Sport and active participation play a critical role in physical health, social inclusion, wellbeing, and community connection. However, many people continue to face significant barriers to participation, including people with disabilities, and individuals experiencing mobility, sensory, cognitive, social, or economic constraint. Emerging sports technologies present new opportunities to broaden access and participation, yet many products, services, and systems remain designed for narrow user groups and performance contexts.This PhD project will investigate how sports technologies can be designed to support more …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- QUT Design Lab
Design Lab
Designing perception: Investigating gender perception in designed objects through practice-based research
Perceptions of gender are not limited to people; they extend to objects, products, and environments through subtle interactions between form, language, and cultural context. The inclusion and arrangement of specific aesthetic attributes are a primary driver of perceived object gender, interacting with various factors, including cultural and personal individual identity. This creates an opportunity to reframe the question of “object gender” through a design research lens.This PhD project seeks to explore object gender through practice-based design research. It leverages user …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- QUT Design Lab
Design Lab
Wearable futures: designing next-generation devices for Parkinson's disease
More than 10M people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease (PD). As a neurodegenerative disease it is difficult to manage with adult-onset and slow progression with both both motor (walking problems, slowed movements, tremors, etc) and non-motor (anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, etc) symptoms. Current treatments focus on symptoms and clinical assessments based on intermittent, subjective evaluations with a 20 minute visit to a neurologist every six months. This cannot capture the daily fluctuation of symptoms effectively. Non-motor symptoms remain under-assessed and …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- QUT Design Lab
Design Lab
Designing infrastructure for AVs in rural and remote Australia: built environment futures
As automated vehicles (AVs) begin to operate beyond controlled industrial environments and into the complex realities of rural and remote public roads, existing infrastructure must evolve to support their safe, reliable, and socially accepted deployment. From road geometry and signage to connectivity, rest stops and ecosystem interfaces, the built environment will play a critical role in enabling AV integration. However, rural infrastructure is often underfunded, poorly maintained, or not designed with automation in mind. Working within the ARC Training Centre …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Future Mobility/CARRSQ
Design Lab
Co-designing community support systems for autonomous vehicles in rural and remote Australia
Automated Vehicles (AVs) hold promise for addressing transport challenges in regional and remote Australia, including workforce shortages, road safety, and supply chain disruptions. However, community acceptance and social licence remain critical hurdles to widespread deployment. Past experiences with new technologies in rural settings have shown that top-down approaches often fail to account for local values, concerns, and lived realities. This project recognises that the successful integration of AVs into public life requires trust, transparency, and tangible community benefit. Working within …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Future Mobility/CARRSQ
Design Lab
Advancing humanoid robots: exploring materials and design for enhanced aesthetics and emotional connection
Humanoid robots are increasingly being developed for a variety of applications including healthcare, customer service, and industrial automation. However, their effectiveness depends not only on their artificial intelligence, technical capabilities, functionality and efficiency but also on the design and application of exterior materials for enhanced interaction with humans. This research aims to investigate how the application of colour, materials, and form (CMF) and other concepts of wearable fashion and innovative design can improve the aesthetics, perception, emotional connection and overall …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- QUT Design Lab
Design Lab
Hostile Interaction Design
Hostile interaction design has emerged as a critical issue in contemporary digital environments, where design decisions increasingly prioritise institutional and corporate interests over the needs of users and citizens. Drawing parallels to hostile architecture—where physical spaces are designed to control behaviour, such as anti-homeless spikes or uncomfortable public seating—hostile interaction design manifests in digital systems as frustrating, impersonal, or obstructive experiences. These designs often shield corporations and governments from accountability, erecting barriers that prevent users from seeking help, lodging complaints, …
- 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
Investigating community advocacy in response to aircraft noise pollution in Brisbane: an ethnographic study
The flight path design and community engagement practices associated with Brisbane Airport have long been criticised for prioritising profit over community wellbeing, leading to excessive aircraft noise pollution. These issues have now amounted to a federal Senate Inquiry and an investigation by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.This PhD research project aims to explore the dynamics between Brisbane Airport and the affected residential communities across more than 220 suburbs, drawing inspiration from a similar study conducted into the social engineering practices of Schiphol …
- 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
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
Immersive audio data visualisation for better engagement of residential communities exposed to aircraft noise pollution
This PhD project addresses the significant issue of misleading noise data in the context of residential communities exposed to aircraft noise pollution. Despite efforts by authorities to provide noise exposure forecasts and information based on the Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) approach, many communities feel misled by the noise contours presented to them. Experiences from previous major development projects at Australian airports have shown a range of problems with relying solely on the ANEF as a noise information tool as …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
-
Design Lab
Interactive (and collaborative) robot programming using language (Project 2.5 - Joint CSIRO/ACC)
Programming robots to carry out desired tasks is difficult and time-consuming. This PhD project focuses on collaborative and instructional dialogue agents to help human operators program robot tasks.In this collaborative scenario, a human operator converses with an AI agent to explain the steps that are to be performed, using high-level references and abstractions that make sense to the human, as opposed to simple verbal instructions corresponding to rudimentary robot movements. The AI agent must interpret the high-level instructions and translate …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
-
Design Lab
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