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 50 matching student topics
Displaying 25–36 of 50 results
Optimal ecosystem management in rapidly changing systems
Delays in acting in collapsing ecosystems can be catastrophic. With every passing year, the chances that the ecosystem has progressed past some point of no return increases. Yet the research and development needed to develop a new technology can take a long time. Balance between these two dynamic processes is needed to determine the optimal length and effort for developing new technologies. This project will develop a method for finding the optimal schedule for developing technological readiness, social acceptability, a …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
Mathematically optimising value of information for biodiversity management
When planning environmental management, data are only valuable if they lead to improved outcomes. As new monitoring technologies and approaches are developed, it is critical that they are used optimally to focus on the most important information gaps.Monitoring technologies should only be adopted if they can deliver improved management utility, and new data should be rapidly gathered in locations where early information could offer warning signals of future ecosystem change. Mathematical and statistical approaches to assessing the value of new …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
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, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
Optimal conservation management in uncertain Antarctic environments
Species and ecosystems in Antarctica are threatened. Optimal biodiversity conservation is an interdisciplinary field combining mathematical modelling and optimisation with ecology and conservation. We can use mathematics to understand the system, model how management actions might impact it, and then optimise which actions should be used. For example, we can explore where protected areas should be placed, how species should be managed, or how tourist impacts should be reduced. However, the complexities of conservation in Antarctica necessitate the application of …
- 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
Modelling and managing uncertain Antarctic species networks
Antarctic ecosystems are complex, and data is limited since it is expensive to collect. Species including penguins, seabirds, invertebrates, mosses, and marine species interact in food webs which can be modelled as mathematical networks. These networks can be large, span across terrestrial and marine systems, and are changing in response to environmental changes.These ecological networks can be modelled using differential equation predator prey models like Lotka-Volterra to describe these interactions. However, the relationships between species are not always known, or …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Centre for the Environment
Characterising drivers of melanoma cell heterogeneity
Tumour cell heterogeneity is linked to tumour progression through the generation of divergent cellular behaviours such as proliferation, survival, invasion and therapy resistance. Crucially, conventional and targeted therapies generally only target highly proliferative cells in tumours leading to initial tumour regression, however alternative sub-populations underpin the return of treatment refractory disease and facilitate metastatic spread. Our laboratory is focused on understanding the regulatory drivers of cellular plasticity in melanoma to better understand progression and metastatic spread of this disease and …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Exploring AI representation of human cultural values and preferences
In an era where AI plays an increasingly influential role in shaping our lives, it is crucial to ensure that these systems uphold our fundamental human values. Yet, it remains unclear whether AI systems (e.g., generative AIs such as LLMs) rely on values and hold preferences that may not fully represent all populations. In this project, we aim to understand the potential gaps in AI-human values alignment and uncover the hidden biases embedded within AI models and explore their impact …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Economics and Finance
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology
QIMR07 - Quantifying the use of newly proposed melanoma excision services in Australia
Location: QIMR Berghofer, Herston.Australia has the highest incidence rates of melanoma in the world, contributing to significant financial burdens on the Australian healthcare system. Complete excisions of suspicious melanoma remain the recommended diagnostic procedure for aiding melanoma diagnosis. From November 1 2022, new Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) items were introduced to resolve confusion around the claiming of excisions for melanoma.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Basic aircraft collision risk modelling and visualisation
Aircraft collision risk modelling is complex yet key to ensuring safe air transport (both crewed and uncrewed aircraft). Different collision risk models are better suited to different airspace environments which means model comparison and evaluation is an important research problem. This project takes a deeper look into a specific collision risk modelling approach: gas models.
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Robotics
Categorising Legal Provisions for the Automated Analysis of Law
The use of machine learning to analyse legalisation and regulation is growing rapidly. This project, in conjunction with an industry partner, PX4 Software, will explore the use of machine learning tools to identify and capture different types of legal and regulatory obligations, principally related to land tenement management and exploration licencing. Your work on this project will thus involve the cutting-edge application of computational tools and logics to legal analysis and interpretation.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
- Digital Media Research Centre
Understanding enduring power of attorney litigation
An enduring power of attorney (EPA) document enables an attorney(s) appointed by the principal to make decisions for the principal when the principal no longer has capacity to do so. If a dispute arises in relation to an enduring power of attorney, Courts and Tribunals may determine these matters and make orders. The purpose of this project is to review all judicially resolved matters about enduring powers of attorney for financial matters in Australian courts and tribunals over a 12-month …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
-
Australian Centre for Health Law Research
Low-cost portable Magnetic Resonance Imaging for clinical applications
The aim of this project is to develop accurate low-cost medical imaging methodology for pseudo-3D mapping of Mammographic Density (MD) within the breast. MD is the degree of radio-opacity (“whiteness”) in an X-ray mammogram. It has implications for breast cancer risk, ease of detection of breast cancer, and monitoring of the efficacy of hormonal breast cancer prevention or anti-cancer treatments.Healthcare ChallengeThere is a growing need for affordable and accurate quantitative assessment of MD without ionising radiation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
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