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 12 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 12 results
Laser light sensors that see through containers
Raman scattering has been used as a powerful 'fingerprinting' technique for more than 80 years, and is widely used by security and law enforcement for detecting hazardous threats. To better safeguard the community, QUT has developed a unique eye -safe laser Raman sensing system for detecting threats, that works at distance from a target (> 10 m) and operates in real time. Increasingly however, threats are being concealed in order to avoid detection. This project will investigate what range of …
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
Microfluidic chip-based tumor-immune cancer models for biomarker discovery
In-vitro profiling of tumour-immune cell interactions in proximity can provide valuable insight into patient response to new combinatorial immunotherapies that are in the pipeline and currently being tested in clinical trials. These in-vitro models allow for a more controlled and isolated environment and provide a methodical approach for generating quantifiable data characterizing the interactions between target and effector cells. Traditionally executed in well-plates, tumour-immune models have been slowly moving towards a microfluidic chip-based approach for several reasons: better control over …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Development of a microfluidic sample processing integrated robot (micro SPIN-R)
Microfluidic devices are increasingly relied upon to address the complexity of in-vitro disease models that are intended to mimic and provide insight into in-vivo processes and reactions to novel therapies and in turn, can become powerful companion diagnostic devices essential for predicting and individual patient’s reaction to a particular treatment. However, as these microfluidic devices become more and more prominent and necessary for addressing the drug screening and disease modeling needs of the industry, we have observed a lack in …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Security analysis of open-source software
Several open-source projects drive modern-day IT applications. However, some open-source projects get compromised by malicious attackers, who include malware to the code to compromise the security of the application users.This project will investigate approaches for securing the open-source software.
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Investigate, design and develop a trusted data sharing and decision making platform for enterprise applications
Blockchain technology relies on a consensus protocol to agree on the state of the system through data. Existing consensus algorithms rely on pre-defined rules, which are used to verify whether the data is obeying all the rules. This model of consensus may be suitable for broad classes of distributed and multi-stakeholder applications. Still, it does not cover applications that require consensus among human operators in the enterprise setting. This project investigates the possibility of achieving consensus through lightweight mechanisms.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Energy-efficient blockchain using a variant of Python
Studies find that BitCoin will soon consume more power than the entirety of Australia. BitCoin’s energy consumption is nearing 200 terrawatt hours (TWh), while Australians consumed 192 TWh in 2020.Blockchain platforms such as BitCoin and Ethereum employ a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus and blockchain management algorithm, which relies on a computationally expensive cryptographic puzzle. While PoW provides a strong security guarantee in a truly decentralised and public network, it comes at the cost of significant computation. This, unfortunately, does not provide …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Strengthening security for cloud computing applications
In today's digital landscape, applications are increasingly being deployed on cloud platforms, offering benefits such as streamlined management and cost-effectiveness. However, even with the efforts of cloud providers to deliver reliable services, the risk of runtime failures and faults still exists. This project aims to address this challenge by exploring innovative approaches to detect and mitigate errors that occur during the operation of cloud-based applications. By proactively identifying and resolving runtime issues, we can enhance the overall performance, reliability, and …
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Cybersecurity for open-source software using machine learning and AI
People are increasingly using open-source software in businesses and industries. These software programs are made by a community of developers and are managed by platforms like PyPI and npm. However, there is a worry about the safety of these programs because hackers add harmful code to compromise security and steal important data. This project explores approaches to detect harmful open-source projects using machine learning and AI.
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Blockchain-based data governance for enterprise applications
Blockchain technology relies on consensus protocols to establish agreement on the system's state using data. However, existing consensus algorithms primarily focus on verifying adherence to pre-defined rules, which may not fully address the need for consensus among human operators in enterprise settings. To bridge this gap, our project explores the potential of lightweight mechanisms to achieve consensus in such scenarios. By investigating alternative approaches, we aim to develop solutions that enable efficient consensus among human operators, ensuring the success of …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Identification and functional characterisation of genetic modifiers of iron overload
Iron is an element essential for virtually all life forms; aberrant iron metabolism is linked to many diseases. These include cancers, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, iron overload and iron deficiency disorders, iron-loading anaemias, and the anaemia associated with chronic disease. Central to proper iron regulation is the appropriate expression and activity of the liver-expressed regulatory peptide, hepcidin, and the iron exporter, ferroportin (FPN). Modulating the expression and activity of hepcidin and FPN, and their interaction is …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Legal Approaches to Conservation Conflicts and Land-Use Conflicts
Conservation and land-use conflicts arise when people have different needs and interests concerning a protected area or land space. The management of these types of conflicts often has to broach disciplinary divides to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the many complex and diverse issues that surround them, such as social justice, food production, biodiversity, the history of a place, and the attitudes and values of local stakeholders. The Law School invites students to express an interest in research …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
QIMR01 - Improving diagnostic processes for regulatory region variants
Hereditary disease diagnosis has improved dramatically in recent times due to improvements in genomic sequencing technology. The majority of work however has centered on the diagnosis of gene variants in the protein coding region of the genome. The non-coding region of the genome remains an unexplored and underdiagnosed area. In particular, variants in regulatory regions have a high likelihood of impacting gene function and causing disease, but few have sufficient available information to determine if they cause disease in a …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
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