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 109 matching student topics
Displaying 85–96 of 109 results
Compensation consultants: Whom do they serve? New evidence on pay for performance
It is common that companies routinely retain compensation consultants to provide guidance in setting executive pay packages. Most importantly, they offer recommendations about formulating appropriate compensation contracts for top management. Research shows that the size and structure of CEO compensation packages significantly affect firm performance (known as pay-for-performance) and, in particular, excessive CEO compensation is associated with the destruction of shareholder wealth. It is, therefore, interesting to investigate whether the use of compensation consultants actually benefits shareholders (e.g. improve firm …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Patient-derived oncology NAMs for preclinical breast cancer research and therapeutic evaluation
New approach methodologies (NAMs), including advanced 3D cultures and microphysiological systems (MPS), are creating new opportunities to develop more human-relevant approaches for preclinical cancer research. However, translating these technologies from established cell lines to patient-derived tumours remains challenging because of limited tissue availability, tumour heterogeneity and variability in model establishment and performance.Building on established QUT expertise in patient-derived bioengineered breast tumour models, this project will develop robust and reproducible patient-derived oncology NAMs for preclinical breast cancer research and therapeutic evaluation.Breast …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Occupant-in-the-loop: VR as pre-occupancy evaluation tools for climate adaptive design practices
Ongoing global warming, compounded by local overheating in cities and buildings, poses growing risks to occupant health, comfort, and well-being. Conventional design approaches rely heavily on predictive simulation, where occupant preferences and adaptive responses are typically simplified through assumptions based on average populations. This overlooks substantial individual differences in perception and behaviour, contributing to persistent gaps between predicted and actual building performance beyond simply energy performance. Although virtual reality (VR) is increasingly recognised as a promising tool for pre-occupancy evaluation …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Cultural Legalities of Social Media and Mobile Digital Devices in the Global South
Mobile digital technologies and with them digital platforms have had dramatic exponential growth within the Global South since 2015. In so doing the digital is disrupting and transforming traditional, colonial and post-colonial cultural and legal orders. This project focuses on the cultural transformation, and legal reactions, to social media and the proliferation of mobile digital devices in Global South communities. Joining an innovative intellectual community with existing projects on issues of technology and digital justice in the Global South, candidates …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Justice
Surface engineering for nanoelectronic devices
Ga2O3 is an emerging wide-bandgap semiconducting material that has received enormous attention in recent years. This is due to its potential application in power devices, UV detectors and military applications that are unattainable by conventional semiconductors such as silicon.The operation and performance of these type of electronic devices rely critically on the surface quality and properties of the semiconducting materials. However, the surface atomic structures and electronic structures of Ga2O3 single crystals are not yet fully understood.The principal aim of …
- Study level
- PhD, 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
New technology and the law
Computer vision has developed to a point where machines using artificial intelligence are better and faster than humans at performing many vision-related tasks. For example, we are now often processed through customs based solely on face recognition software. Add to this the fact that the average Australian is photographed on CCTV cameras around 75 times per day. Commercial applications of face recognition technology include Microsoft's Face Application Programming Interface that can be used to classify face images based on gender, …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
Smart triggered sampling: low-cost devices and intelligent retrofits for capturing the moments that matter
Many water quality issues are event-driven. The most informative signals often appear during short windows associated with storms, illicit discharges, first flush, or operational upsets. Capturing these windows is genuinely hard. Manual sampling is often too slow, especially overnight or during fast-changing events. Conventional autosamplers help, but they are large, power-hungry, and typically deployed only at major assets, leaving smaller drains, tributaries, pump stations, and pollution hotspots without coverage. Even when an event is captured, fixed-interval sampling fills bottles after …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Educator capability development and recognition in engineering education
This research topic examines educator capability development and recognition in engineering education, with a particular focus on the misalignment between the skills increasingly required of educators and the ways those skills are formally recognised and rewarded in higher education.Building on contemporary scholarship in engineering education and academic career development, the project explores how expectations around teaching quality, digital capability, assessment design, and evidence‑based practice have expanded—while promotion, workload, and recognition frameworks have not always kept pace.The research aims to inform …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Wearable futures: designing next-generation devices for Parkinson's disease
More than 10M people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease (PD). As a neurodegenerative disease it is difficult to manage with adult-onset and slow progression with both both motor (walking problems, slowed movements, tremors, etc) and non-motor (anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, etc) symptoms. Current treatments focus on symptoms and clinical assessments based on intermittent, subjective evaluations with a 20 minute visit to a neurologist every six months. This cannot capture the daily fluctuation of symptoms effectively. Non-motor symptoms remain under-assessed and …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
- QUT Design Lab
Design Lab
Exploring courage in followers: psychometric instrument analysis and literature review
This research project centers around the validation of a newly developed psychometric instrument designed to measure 'courage in followers' - a timely and underexplored construct in leadership research. The project offers a unique opportunity for a student to work directly on a publishable paper intended for submission to a top-tier leadership journal. This project will suit students interested in organisational behaviour, leadership, and the quantitative side of psychological research.You will be provided with a $2000 stipend to cover the duration …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Management
Investigating integration of climate change adaptation policies across government levels
Climate change poses an unprecedented global challenge, and its impact is profoundly felt at the local level. The pressing need for effective adaptation strategies requires a nuanced understanding of how local governments navigate and integrate policies at various administrative tiers. Our research project delves into the pivotal question of how local governments align with regional, state, and national climate change adaptation policies, offering a crucial lens into the challenges and opportunities that emerge at the intersection of policy and planning.This …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Driver engagement and risk in automated driving: Advanced data analytics leveraging driver monitoring systems
The project aims to the explore concept of empathic machines in the context of driver monitoring systems (DMS) and automated driving. The successful candidate will contribute to advancing the understanding of driver engagement, situation awareness, and risk through leveraging advancements in data science techniques on vehicle sensor, DMS, and other related datasets.To apply for this position, please submit the following documents:a cover letter outlining your research interests, relevant qualifications, and motivation to join the Empathic Machines projecta detailed curriculum vitae …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for Future Mobility
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