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 11 matching student topics
Displaying 1–11 of 11 results
Data Management and Privacy Law for Transnational Corporate Entities
Dr Lucy Cradduck is looking for PhD/MPhil candidates wishing to examine cross-jurisdictional data management and privacy concerns for transnational corporations, particularly comparing EU, South East Asian nations and Australia. Candidates with an interest in approaching the topic through empirical approaches involving interviews and stakeholder engagement are particularly encouraged. This topic is led by the QUT School of Law within the Datafication and Automation of Human Life research group.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
Corporate Law, Innovation and the Rise of Fintech
Dr Anne Matthew is interested in talking to students wishing to undertake research in the areas of corporate law and access to finance. This research will focus on the impact of innovation and entrepreneurship in access to finance, including for example the rise and early experiences of innovators, investors and/or fundraisers with fintech platforms. Projects may take comparative, theoretical and/or empirical approaches. This topic is led by the QUT School of Law within the Consumer Policy and Regulation research group. …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
Corporate Law, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Dr Anne Matthew is interested in talking to students wishing to undertake research in the areas of corporate law and innovation. This research will focus on the flexibility and agility of corporate law to respond to change in the business environment, and its capacity to support innovation and entrepreneurship. Projects may include a focus on the constraints of the corporate form, access to finance, and/or abuse of limited liability. Projects are likely to involve a comparative approach. This topic is …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
Trust and transformation in corporate reporting: audit, governance and ESG assurance
This project investigates how corporate reporting is shaped by audit quality, board oversight, and emerging ESG assurance practices. With regulatory shifts like the AASB Climate Disclosure Standard and ASSA 5000, the project explores how auditors, boards, and regulators interact to deliver credible disclosures. Cross-country data, especially from Australia, Korea and China, can be used to evaluate assurance frameworks, audit judgement, or ESG strategy governance.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Future Enterprise
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
Board interlocks and firm decisions
Board interlocks research is one of the most vibrant areas in corporate governance research. A board interlock is a tie created by two firms sharing a common director. In other words, a director can hold multiple directorships in more than one firm. Board interlocks reflect complex inter-organisational relationships which play an important role in determining a firm’s strategies and structures.Prior research finds that board interlocks have an impact on reducing environmental uncertainty, gaining access to diverse and unique information, diffusing …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
How does executive compensation influence voluntary turnover?
Corporate remuneration schemes can attract, retain, and motivate executives to exert effort and align their interests with shareholders’ interests. Prior studies find that executives are likely to resign when they are paid less than their peers, leading to a high rate of managerial turnover. However, paying excess compensation reduces firm value and it’s commonly related to firm underperformance. On the other hand, replacing top executives can be extremely costly for firms. Therefore, it’s very important to understand the reasons behind …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Corporate social and environmental performance information and related accountability practices
Due to stakeholder attention, companies are increasingly disclosing social and environmental performance information within their annual and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports.OutcomesThis study will investigate whether these disclosures reflect real performance, and thereby create accountability practices by corporations. Both Australian and international companies are the focus of this project.The project considers both qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Curtailing corporate tax aggression through uncertain tax benefits
Over the last five years Australia has adopted numerous measures to address aggressive corporate tax practices. A recent addition to these measures (on the 1st of January 2019) is AASB Interpretation 23 - Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments, which was developed to clarify the treatment of uncertain tax positions. This interpretation requires entities who produce general purpose financial reports (GPFRs) to disclose uncertain tax benefits (UTB) in the notes to their financial statements. Extant literature suggests that UTB disclosures are …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Identifying corporate tax avoidance
It is not possible to empirically measure, with certainty, a corporation’s level of tax avoidance due to a lack of publicly available information. As such, academic studies that seek to identify determinants, moderators and consequences of corporate tax avoidance, in order to evaluate the equity of the tax system (Callihan, 1994), measure corporate tax avoidance by proxy suggesting a wide variety of calculations.But these calculations have limitations. For example, most proxies measure non conforming (transactions that are accounted for differently …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
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)
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Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology
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