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 28 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 28 results
Development of high value products from mining waste resources
Mining represents one of the largest industry sectors in Australia. It is central to creating 1 million direct or indirect jobs and generates significant wealth to Australia. However, the mining industry produces a substantial amount of waste material which ideally needs to be recycled.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Value-adding waste materials
Many industries generate copious amounts of waste products.Of particular interest are those wastes generated by the mining sector as typically a large fraction of the ore bodies are dumped or the agricultural sector.Potential solutions we are investigating include:converting aluminosilicate waste to zeolitestransforming inorganic waste to catalyst materialscreation of materials for water and wastewater treatmentmaking activated carbonrenewable fuels,
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Green polymer-inorganic composite materials
Composite materials are widely researched and widely used in applications such as aircraft, automobiles, ships, structural components and even the space industry.There is a need to create new composite materials which are environmentally friendly and do not use fossil fuel based products. Moreover, the properties of the composites need to be improved while at the same time minimising the costs involved.Consequently our research group is working on composite materials which not only include inexpensive inorganic fillers from the mining sector …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Using time-controlled grazing to sequester carbon in Queensland rangelands
Time-controlled grazing (TCG), or cell grazing is a management strategy in which cattle are stocked and rotated across small paddocks or “cells” according to fodder availability. Grazing takes place in short durations at high stocking densities, in an effort to mimic the grazing patterns of wild ungulate herds.This management strategy has gained traction in recent years due to claims that it improves both pasture productivity and diversity, whilst also increasing long-term carbon pools. Limited data is available on the impact …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Biology and Environmental Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy
Investigating factors impacting urban heat vulnerability in subtropical cities
In recent years, with the rise in climate change impact, urban heat has become a major issue for many cities to tackle consequently. Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, which has directly caused a substantial increase in heat-related morbidity and mortality. This indispensably puts an extra burden on medical systems and national finance. Meanwhile, the urban heat island effect has been exaggerating the consequences caused by the increased extreme heat in metropolitan areas. …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Structural application of green concrete
The need for sustainable construction has prompted researching alternative concrete technologies around the world. In QUT, a project has been developed to investigate structural applications of environmentally friendly (Green) concrete.Project activities can be undertaken by students at various levels, including VRES, final-year undergraduates, and PhD researchers.
- Study level
- PhD, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for the Environment
Economics of sustainability
This project investigates how a society moves to strong sustainability and sustainable development in a more efficient and equitable way. Students can choose the scale unit of analysis, such as regions, countries, states, firms, organisation, households or even individual level. The research is very inspirational. Methodological approach to the research include theoretical and/or empirical elements.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Economics and Finance
Local sustainable procurement to support a circular local industry in fashion and textiles
The textile industry is one of the world’s largest, with global sales in 2016 of USD 1.5 trillion. It is also one of the most polluting industries, producing 20% of global wastewater, and contributing to 10% of carbon emissions. Fashion generates large amounts of waste, and has negative social and health impacts for workers.According to the European Community Action Plan (ECAP 2019), sustainable procurement has the potential to transform the fashion and textile industry acting as a driver for local …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
- Research centre(s)
-
Design Lab
Exploring the value and potential of hyperlocal gift economies
The Australian federal government has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to address and reverse the effects of climate change and transition to a circular economy. Achieving net-zero will require a shift in how we use, share and dispose of products, and our relationship to our local communities and planet.In other words, this goal will require an extraordinary shift in the way we ordinarily live. As informal practices of circularity are already happening across Australian neighbourhoods, they have …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
Supporting second hand clothing purchases
Clothing production and consumption systems are recognised as needing urgent change to reduce the world’s waste and carbon emissions. Each year, Australians purchase some 15kg of new clothing per person, with a similar amount discarded each year, and clothing and textiles have recently been identified by the Australian government as a waste priority area.One of the oft-repeated strategies for sustainable consumption is to purchase second-hand, with many services and systems rapidly emerging to support and commercialise this consumption practice. However, …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice
- School
- School of Design
Modelling of electrochemical CO2 capture and conversion
Renewable electricity is remarkably cheap, and is only going to get cheaper. However, existing state-of-the-art CO2 capture and conversion processes use thermal energy (typically generated by burning natural gas). This modelling project will investigate electrochemical techniques for capturing CO2 from air (direct air capture) and converting it to useful chemicals and materials.
- Study level
- PhD
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Understanding public perceptions of the sustainable energy transition: a social network analysis
The challenge to keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2023). One major challenge is the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to reduce emissions (Gholami et al., 2016). The share of renewable energy in electricity generation has increased to 28.3%, however, an acceleration of the pace of the transition is required to limit global temperature rise (REN21, 2022).In this project we investigate public …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- School
- School of Information Systems
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
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