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 90 matching student topics
Displaying 73–84 of 90 results
How to reduce consumer reactance?
Have you experienced a negative feeling when a media platform constantly pushing advertisements to your screen or when a salesman chasing you around to introduce a product? That negative feeling will typically lead to reactance and push you away from these persuasive messages. This research is embedded in the theories of persuasion knowledge and psychological reactance. We will also look into consumer personalities and cognitions. We aim at exploring and testing solutions to reduce consumer reactance.Skills and experience:Research background in …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
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)
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Centre for Microbiome Research
PSA splice variant in prostate cancer diagnosis and pathogenesis
Current clinical prostate cancer screening is heavily reliant on measuring serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. However, two-thirds of these men will not have cancer on biopsy and conversely, other prostate diseases. As a result, for ~75% of patients the large number of indolent tumours diagnosed has led to significant overtreatment creating an urgent need for appropriate prognostic assays that can distinguish indolent, slow growing tumours from the more aggressive and lethal phenotypes. PSA/KLK3 is a member of the tissue-kallikrein …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Identifying individuals at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Dementia is the greatest cause of disability in Australians over the age of 65 years. In the absence of a significant medical breakthrough, more than $6.4 million Australians will be diagnosed with dementia in the next 40 years. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), accounting for 60-80% of cases. The pathogenic process of AD begins decades prior to the clinical onset, so it is likely that treatments need to begin early in the disease process to …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Strain-level characterisation and visualisation of microbial communities associated with inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorder driven by complex interactions between environmental, microbial and immune-mediated factors. An unfavourable shift in gut microbiome composition, known as dysbiosis, is now considered a key feature of IBD, however it is unclear how specific microorganisms and their interactions with host cells contribute to disease onset and progression. Previous IBD studies have been largely limited to older sequencing methods with low resolution. Furthermore, these studies have predominantly focused on bacterial populations, …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
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Centre for Microbiome Research
Dissecting the molecular and cellular basis of melanoma susceptibility
Several factors strongly influence an individual’s chance of developing melanoma. Paramount amongst these are the number of moles (nevi) present on the skin, cumulative levels of UV exposure and skin pigmentation phenotype. Numerous Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) we have identified gene variants at a number of loci that are strongly associated with cutaneous nevi (mole) counts, UV damage response and accordingly susceptibility of individuals to develop melanoma. Currently the functional impact of genetic variants in the genes IRF4, PLA2G6 …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
A 3D mechanosensing platform for senescent osteocytes in aging bone
Project Reference: #3MPQC-NATP2Preferred Start: Late 2026/Early 2027How do our bones sense movement, and why does this ability decline as we age?Osteocytes are specialised cells embedded throughout bone that detect mechanical forces generated during movement and exercise. They form an interconnected cellular network that helps coordinate the continuous renewal and repair of bone.With age, some osteocytes become senescent: damaged cells that remain within the tissue but no longer function normally. Their accumulation may disrupt how bone senses mechanical loading and contribute …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Pulse Power Generator electronics design and construct
Pulse power shows great promise for many applications including air and water purification. Repetitive Pulse Power Generators (PPGs) generate medium frequency power pulses (few kW) with small duration (few us to few ns) and with repetition frequencies of a few hundred Hz to a few kHz (see DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2947632 for more info).The PPGs are constructed from series connected cells often in Marx generator like structures, but with active semiconductor switches such as MOSFETs in place of the traditional spark gaps …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
Automatic Generation of Software Vulnerability Datasets for Machine Learning
In recent years, machine learning has enjoyed profound success in a range of interesting applications such as natural language processing, computer vision and speech recognition. It has been possible mainly due to, in addition to better computing resources, the availability of large amounts of training datasets to these applications. However, in software security research, the lack of large datasets is an open problem that makes it challenging for machine learning to reason about security vulnerabilities found in real-world software. The …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
Development of a multiplexed gut micro-bioreactor for functional screening of gut microbiome
The human microbiome refers to the collection of micro-organisms that are living symbiotically in the human body (defined as the “microbiota”), their genetic material as well as the surrounding environmental habitat.It is now appreciated that the microbiome plays an important role in human health and diseases. Various disease states have been linked to dysregulation of the gut microbiota, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The composition of the gut microbiome can also affect responses to therapies, most notably in cancer …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Centre for Microbiome Research
Understanding the genetics of melanoma susceptibility: many roads lead to DNA repair
Repair of the damage caused by mutagens such as UV and reactive oxygen species is vital to prevent cancer and premature aging and accordingly cells have developed a suite of intricate and specific DNA repair pathways. Loss or abnormal function of components of these pathways lead to cancer pre-disposition syndromes for example breast cancer in individuals carrying mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Understanding the complexities of these DNA repair pathways is vital to efforts aimed at preventing or …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Trust formation in generative AI–supported mental health Services
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools such as chatbots and AI companions are increasingly positioned as accessible forms of mental health support. However, user engagement with these services depends heavily on trust, particularly in contexts characterised by vulnerability, stigma, and emotional risk. Trust in mental healthcare differs from trust in other service settings, raising important questions for marketing and service researchers.This project investigates how trust is formed and evaluated in GenAI‑supported mental health services from a consumer and service marketing perspective. …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
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