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 24 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 24 results
International Environmental Law and Politics
Many environmental issues are globally significant problems and countries have to engage and interact with each other to resolve them despite having different domestic priorities. Current challenges around climate, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and plastics are just some of the issues that are influenced by international standards, agreements and institutions.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
Australia's urban and regional atmosphere: investigating influences on air quality
Global concern about urban air quality has been steadily increasing in recent years. However, most studies on the factors influencing air quality have focused on heavily polluted regions or locations in the Northern Hemisphere, where weather patterns, industrial activity, and vegetation differ significantly from those in Australia.Historically, urban areas in Australia have enjoyed relatively good air quality. Yet, rising population density, deforestation, and land use changes are placing increasing pressure on this status. Furthermore, the natural emissions from Australian vegetation …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Profiling aerosol liquid water content over Australia
Aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) is a ubiquitous constituent in atmospheric aerosol particles. The degree of ALWC present in aerosol particles is influenced various factors, including relative humidity, temperature, particle mass, size distribution, and aerosol composition. Comprehensive analyses on ALWC have been conducted in the Northern Hemisphere, but similar work has rarely been done in the Southern Hemisphere due to the scarcity of aerosol particle measurements. In the atmosphere, ALWC scatters radiation and reduces visibility, significantly affecting air quality, weather, …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Aerosol presursors in Australian marine environments
Aerosols, tiny solid or liquid particles, play an important role in global climate regulation, firstly, by scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation and, secondly, by their ability to take up water vapor from the atmosphere and serve as nuclei for cloud droplet formation (Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN)).With oceans covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, marine aerosols present a significant proportion of the global aerosol budget. Production of particles in the marine environment occurs via 2 pathways: 1) wave breaking and …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Improved data analytics for lithium ion batteries
Join the team to be part of an exciting QUT-lead project into materials for Lithium-ion batteries. The project is part of the Federally supported Future Battery Industries - Cooperative Research Centre, which hosts projects all-over the country that are aiming to boost the industry, create clean energy jobs, and enable a sustainable future.In this role you gain access to QUT's one-of-a-kind in Australia, Advanced Battery Facility. At the facility we build lithium batteries in a range of shapes and sizes. …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Southern ocean aerosols: Sources, sinks and impact on cloud formation and climate
Robust prediction of human-induced global warming and future climate requires more accurate climate models. Currently, aerosol-clouds interactions represent the largest source of uncertainty in our global climate models. To reduce this uncertainty, we need a better understanding of aerosol sources, chemical and physical properties, and processes impacting their growth to sizes where they can act as Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) and interact with incoming solar radiation.The Southern Ocean is a region of the world where climate and weather models, including …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Ecosystem responses to climate change and human impacts on sub-Antarctic islands: a context for conservation
Sub-Antarctic islands have unique ecosystems and landscapes under increasingly pressure from climate change. In many cases this is compounded by the introduction of invasive species since their discovery by humans in the 1800s.Understanding ecosystem and environmental responses to climate change and separating them from human-induced causes of change is essential for their future protection. To do this requires quantifying long-term, natural rates and variability of change, establishing the ‘baseline’ status of ecosystems and the environment prior to human arrival, and …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Biology and Environmental Science
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Using machine learning to understand how the world’s microbiomes are changing due to climate
Shotgun metagenomic sequencing has become commonplace when studying microbial communities and their relationship with the health of our planet, and their direct effects on our own health. Currently, there are >180,000 shotgun metagenomes publicly available, but until recently trying to treat these data as a resource has been challenging due to its extreme size (>700 trillion base pairs).Recently we have developed a tool that can efficiently convert this base pair information into a straightforward assessment of which microorganisms are present …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Microbiome Research
Identifying emergent ecosystem responses through genes-to-ecosystems integration at Stordalen Mire
Permafrost thaw induced by climate change is predicted to make up to 174 Pg of near-surface carbon (less than 3m below the surface) available for microbial degradation by 2100. Despite having major implications for human health, prediction of the magnitude of carbon loss as carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4) is hampered by our limited knowledge of microbial metabolism of organic matter in these environments.Genome-centric meta-omic analysis of microbial communities provides the necessary information to examine how specific lineages transform …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Microbiome Research
Climate change and trustees: powers, duties, responsibilities and liabilities
Trustees have a duty to act in the best interests of beneficiaries. In particular, it has been held that “(w)hen the purpose of the trust is to provide financial benefits for the beneficiaries, as is usually the case, the best interests of the beneficiaries are normally their best financial interests.” (Cowan v Scargill [1985] 1 Ch 270 at 286 per Megarry VC) This may require consideration of not only the economic well-being of the trust fund more generally, but also …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
-
Australian Centre for Health Law Research
Climate equity in multi-hazard vulnerability assessments
The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as intense heatwaves, floods, and bushfires, is triggering disruptive disasters that have a significant impact on communities, ecosystems, and economies. While our national climate change adaptation strategy places a paramount focus on enhancing community resilience, it is crucial to recognise that not all communities face climate risks in the same manner. Diverse communities exhibit varying capacities to respond and adapt to distinct climate hazards. This reality underscores the imperative for …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for the Environment
Greenwashing
This project is exploring the regulation of greenwashing in Australia, and elsewhere. It is investigating the environmental, sustainability and climate claims made by companies in a variety of industries including energy, vehicles, household products and appliances, food and drink packaging, cosmetics, clothing and footwear. It is exploring the impact of misleading environmental and sustainability claims on consumers. It is compiling a database of disputes and controversies over greenwashing. This project is analysing various modes of regulation of greenwashing. It highlights …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology
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