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 631 matching student topics
Displaying 565–576 of 631 results
Modelling and managing uncertain Antarctic species networks
Antarctic ecosystems are complex, and data is limited since it is expensive to collect. Species interact in food webs which can be modelled as mathematical networks. The relationships between species are not always known, or we might know they interact but not how strongly. Noisy (or imperfect) data can be used to model these species interactions to give more certainty about how the ecosystem works as a whole – although the worse the data is, the less information it contributes. …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
Visualisation of CRISPR targets
CRISPR-Cas9 technology allows us to modify virtually any gene in any organism of interest. It has generated a lot of interest, both in the research community and the general population.One of the crucial components of CRISPR experiments is the design of the 'guide RNAs' that will control where modifications occur.We have developed a software pipeline, named Crackling, to identify safe and effective guide RNAs across entire genomes. We're now seeking to develop a visualisation to communicate the results produced by …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- 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
Developing composite products for use in light steel wall and floor systems
The project will investigate the potential use of a range of composite products made of gypsum plasterboard, steel sheeting and insulation foams to improve the fire resistance of light steel wall and floor systems. It will involve investigating the potential composite products’ suitability, conducting fire tests of small scale wall/floor assemblies (1.2mx.1.2m) made of such composite products to understand how they behave in fire and determine their fire resistance levels. Civil and Mechanical Engineering students with interest in structural and …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Bushfire design of residential buildings
This project aims to investigate the bushfire performance of residential buildings in the bushfire-prone areas of Australia. This includes a detailed review of:bushfire characteristicsradiant and convective heat ratestype of materials used to construct bushfire safe housesstructural and fire performance of external wall and roof panelsstructural and architectural building design requirementsThis comprehensive review will contribute towards developing conceptual models and design methods for external wall and roof systems for residential buildings in bushfire zones.
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Data reasoning to extend domain knowledge in deep learning
A wide variety of companies now use personalized prediction models to improve customer satisfaction, for example, detecting cancer relapses, Detecting Attacks in Networks (e.g., SDN) or understanding Customer Online Shopping Behaviour. However, the dramatic increase in size and complexity of newly generated data from various sources is creating a number of challenges for domain experts to make personalized prediction.For example, early detection of cancer can drastically improve the chance and successful treatment. Recently, supervised deep learning has brought breakthroughs in …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Predicting alternative states induced by multiple interacting feedbacks: seagrass ecosystems as a case study
This project seeks to explore the complex dynamics that might arise from multiple interacting feedbacks in marine ecosystems, by designing ordinary and/or partial differential equation models of these feedbacks and analysing the steady states and/or temporal dynamics of the proposed model(s).It has been hypothesised that many social and ecological systems exhibit alternative stable states due to feedback processes that keep the ecosystem in one state or the other. The result can be tipping points, which are difficult to predict but …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
Virtual leaves: from data to surfaces and the steps in-between
Like all industries, agriculture is benefiting from the data and computing revolution. Using hand-held scanners, CT scanners, or other technologies, we can acquire data sets that represent real leaves of agricultural crops, e.g. wheat. Using this data, and performing many intermediate steps, we can build virtual leaf surfaces that can be used in computer models to perform simulations of droplet impactions, spreading, evaporation, and other phenomena of interest to the industry.This project concerns the 'many intermediate steps', for which there …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Tree-chain: a fast lightweight consensus algorithm for IoT applications
In recent years, blockchain adaptation in IoT has received tremendous attention due to its salient features including distributed management, security, anonymity, and auditability. However, conventional blockchains are significantly resource demanding and suffer from lack of throughput, delay in committing transactions, and low efficiency. We recently introduced a novel blockchain consensus algorithm known as Tree-chain, that bases the validator selection on an existing feature in all blockchains: hash function. Tree-chain achieves a fast throughput while ensuring the randomness and unpredictability of …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Computer Science
Hospital readmission prediction with domain knowledge
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has highlighted that reducing avoidable hospital readmissions supports better health outcomes, improves patient safety and leads to greater efficiency in the health system. Previous studies have reported that up to 11% of the Emergency (ED) population are "heavy users" with a higher prevalence of psychosocial problems and often co-existing chronic medical conditions. All Australian governments have committed to reforms under the National Health Reform Agreement Addendum,1 and the …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Semantic-based source code embeddings for software vulnerability discovery
Operational Technology (OT) is a field of computing which is becoming increasingly prominent in modern society. It is responsible for a variety of critical services, especially in industrial contexts, including power generation, manufacturing, transport, and many others. This important role makes OT an especially tempting target for malicious attackers. In order to counter this, tools must be developed to locate vulnerabilities and flaws in OT software systems before attacks can be launched. Vulnerability discovery in computer software systems including OT …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Augmented reality interfaces for autonomous vehicles
We're seeking brilliant and highly motivated students to work on an project seeking to improve the accessibility and usability of automated vehicles for disadvantaged users.Automated Vehicles are often touted as a solution to enable mobility for older users and people with disabilities, but these user groups are rarely included in their design. As a result, current developments are largely focused on the needs and skills of affluent, younger users, and ironically risk to further marginalise, instead of empowering, those who …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
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