Student topics

Stochastic models are used in biology to account for inherent randomness in many cellular processes, for example gene regulatory networks. Noise is often thought to obscure information, however, there is an increasing understanding that some randomness contains vitally important information about underlying biological processes.When applying these models to interpret and learn from data, unknown parameters in the model need to be estimated. However, not all data will contribute to a given estimation task regardless of the data quantity and quality. …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science

Antarctic ecosystems are complex, and data is limited since it is expensive to collect. Species including penguins, seabirds, invertebrates, mosses, and marine species interact in food webs which can be modelled as mathematical networks. These networks can be large, span across terrestrial and marine systems, and are changing in response to environmental changes.These ecological networks can be modelled using differential equation predator prey models like Lotka-Volterra to describe these interactions. However, the relationships between species are not always known, or …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment

The transition toward a more sustainable energy system is generating vast volumes of data from distributed sources such as smart meters, energy sensors, and user-end devices. Energy informatics highlights the crucial role of information systems in optimising both energy supply and demand (Watson et al., 2010). In this project, we explore how cognitive computing systems (CCS), integrating artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive psychology, and neurobiology, can strategically transform energy informatics by creating adaptive, explainable, and human-aligned energy solutions.Leveraging advances in CCS …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

Research centre(s)

Energy Transition Centre

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suffer disproportionally from diet-related conditions in Australia. Much current research is deficit based, however this body of work aims to be strengths based. Research projects could include, but are not limited to:a descriptive/explorative of food literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people using an assets based framework exploring positive deviants.a food sovereignty project to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander foodways. This could be applied to a particular nation group. It could be …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences

Our built environment changes our brain function. There is considerable interest from many research fields upon the positive and negative health and wellbeing effects of our environments. This research area explores how architectural environments and spaces impact experience and mood using wearable brain-imaging technology.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Architecture and Built Environment

Air travel is poised for systemic transformation due to the advent and implementation of emerging technologies. For example, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft have the potential to deliver sustainable, efficient, and fast, short-range mobility in urban environments. Advances in fuel and propulsion systems, such as those used in hydrogen electric aircraft, could have broader impact, delivering aspirations of zero carbon aviation.Given the nascent qualities of such technology advances, it is unclear how they will affect passenger experience. Currently, air …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Design

Research centre(s)

Design Lab

This project examines the High Court of Australia’s decision in ASIC v Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd (Block Earner)—one of the first times the High Court has directly engaged with blockchain-based financial products. In June 2026, the Court unanimously held that Block Earner’s fixed-yield crypto product was a financial product requiring a licence, confirming that existing financial services laws apply to digital assets.This decision raises important questions about how the law understands blockchain technology. The Court emphasised that financial regulation is …

Study level

Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Law

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are a key energy storage component in various electrical and electronic systems such as mobile phones, electric vehicles and grid storage. A properly designed battery management system (BMS) is crucial to guarantee the safety, reliability, and optimal performance of the battery as well as to interconnect the battery systems with each other and external systems through communication channels. However, security threats of the Li-ion battery systems are often overlooked by BMS developers in the design phase. The …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics

Research centre(s)

Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices

In recent years, blockchain adaptation in IoT has received tremendous attention due to its salient features including distributed management, security, anonymity, and auditability. However, conventional blockchains are significantly resource demanding and suffer from lack of throughput, delay in committing transactions, and low efficiency. We recently introduced a novel blockchain consensus algorithm known as Tree-chain, that bases the validator selection on an existing feature in all blockchains: hash function. Tree-chain achieves a fast throughput while ensuring the randomness and unpredictability of …

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Computer Science

The emergence of the two-way communication model and Distributed Energy Sources (DES) is transforming traditional power systems from largely centralised energy production to more decentralised and connected management systems. This is called the 'smart grid'.As the smart grid evolves, electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging as unconventional and highly-disruptive participants in the grid that can add significant benefit and flexibility. Notably, EVs are equipped with a relatively high capacity battery that stores energy to power the vehicle.EV batteries, coupled with the …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Computer Science

Blockchain is an unchangeable, distributed database that provides trust in data once it is stored on the database. However, in Internet-of-Things (IoT), the data is an observation of physical context and is susceptible to noise, drift, or malicious alterations. Sensors may even be decoupled from their intended context by an attacker, which may compromise the blockchain data and its value for guiding decisions.This project aims to develop an innovative approach for pervasive trust in IoT, underpinned by blockchain. The research …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Computer Science

This project explores how advanced statistical modelling can support decision-making in complex education systems. It focuses on modelling uncertainty, interdependencies, and policy-relevant insights to guide planning and practice.The project aligns with research applying Bayesian networks to real world decision-making under uncertainty across infrastructure, health, and education contexts

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Education