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 39 matching student topics
Displaying 13–24 of 39 results
A novel molecular targeted therapy for anaplastic prostate cancer
In advanced PCa, where the cancer has spread into the bone and other organs, the emergence of treatment resistance remains inevitable. For decades the primary form of treatment in advanced PCa has been to target the production and actions of male sex hormones, androgens, the primary developmental and survival factor of prostate tissue. While these therapies result in tumour regression and cancer control, this is temporary and treatment resistance occurs, referred to as castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In the …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
BIOM05 - Application of fluorescence microscopy for the visualization of methane-oxidizing microorganisms in the environment
The archaeal lineage Methanoperedenaceae are anaerobic methanotrophs with a key role in mitigating the atmospheric release of the potent greenhouse gas methane. The metabolic diversity of these microorganisms directly links methane with several key biochemical cycles and suggests a remarkable ability of these microorganisms to adapt to diverse environmental conditions.These microorganisms have never been grown in a laboratory and have only been studied in enrichment cultures with several other partner microorganisms. How these microorganisms grow and interact with these bacterial …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Microbiome Research
Functional characterisation of putative salicylic acid hydroxylases from banana (Musa spp.)
Bananas (Musa spp.) are one of the most important fruit crops worldwide and are consumed by millions of people as a staple food. However, bananas are under threat from a wide range of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases which significantly impact their production and quality. Salicylic acid plays a key role in plant-microbe interactions and acts as a vital component in systemic acquired resistance (SAR), enabling plants to mount a long-lasting defence response against a wide range of pathogens. In …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Biology and Environmental Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy
From a descriptive to a predictive understanding of the human microbiome
Microorganisms have a profound influence on biological, environmental, and industrial processes, but understanding the complex dynamics of microbial communities and how to manipulate them to our advantage remains a challenge. CMR Director Professor Gene Tyson has recently been awarded a prestigious ARC Laureate Fellowship that aims to overcome current technological limitations and transform microbial ecology from a descriptive to a predictive science. This will be achieved using as a model the most intensively studied ecosystem on the planet: the human …
- Study level
- PhD
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Microbiome Research
Using agricultural waste and organic amendments for sustainable agriculture and soil health
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
Modeling roost selection by flying foxes in Moreton Baty region
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Acoustic monitoring of Powerful Owls – how good is the species distribution model?
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Characterising the effect of the lunar cycle on soundscapes
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Investigating differences in downstream signalling mediated by two isoforms of FGFR2 in endometrial cancer
FGFR2 encodes two alternatively spliced isoforms that differ in their ligand binding domain and the combination of tissue specific expression of these isoforms and tissue specific expression of the FGF ligands is the foundation of normal paracrine signalling. Isoform switching from FGFR2b (inclusion of exon 8) to FGFR2c (inclusion of exon 9) occurs in tumorigenesis as it establishes an autocrine loop in epithelial cancer cells.We have previously published a detailed investigation into differences between wildtype FGFR2b and mutant FGFR2b following …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Surrogate models for accurate prediction and inference in mathematical biology
High fidelity mathematical models of biological phenomena are often complex and can require long computational runtimes which can make computational inference for parameter estimation intractable. In this project we will overcome this challenge by working with computationally simple low fidelity models and build a simple statistical model of the discrepancy between the high and low fidelity models. This approach provides the best of both worlds: we obtain high accuracy predictions using a computationally cheap model surrogate.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Branching processes, stochastic simulations and travelling waves
Branching processes are stochastic mathematical models used to study a range of biological processes, including tissue growth and disease transmission.This project will implement a simple stochastic branching process to generate simulations of biological growth, and then consider differential equation-based description of the stochastic model.Using computation we will compare the two models, and use phase plane and perturbation analysis to analyze the resulting traveling wave solutions.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Conservation is a noisy business: modelling the effects of stochasticity on wildlife management decisions
To conserve species in disturbed natural environments, we need to use mathematical models to predict the consequences of different interventions. Unfortunately, these models are based on partial information of complex systems, and the systems themselves are subject to substantial observational and process noise.We often use ordinary differential equations to describe ecosystems, like the classic logistic growth model:dn/dt = r n (1 - n / k)However, these models are deterministic, and they assume we know the values of the key parameters …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
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