Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Project title: 

Pick of the Crop – A health promotion intervention seeking to increase primary school-aged children’s consumption of vegetables and fruit.

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

10 weeks during Summer Vacation.

Hours of engagement will be between 20-36hrs per week during the summer vacation period.

The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement or on-site if required. 

Description:

Pick of the Crop (PoC) is one of the flagship initiatives of Health and Wellbeing Queensland and aims to increase primary school-aged children’s consumption of vegetables and fruit. PoC is a school-based initiative that collaborates with participating schools to develop and implement a school action plan with strategies to promote vegetable and fruit intake among students such as developing a school community garden and introducing healthy snack breaks.

PoC is now entering its second year of implementation and this project aims to inform learning and decision-making for the PoC team by evaluating:

• the approaches to implementing PoC among new and continuing schools;
• the barriers and enablers to implementing PoC and sustaining that implementation over time;
• opportunities for program improvements;
• the short and intermediate outcomes resulting from implementation of PoC;
• the impact of different models of program support on the implementation, impacts, and outcomes of PoC.

Understanding PoC's sustainability and how changes to the program in its second year have affected implementation and outcomes is critical to inform the potential scalability of the program across Queensland.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars will gain real-world experience of evaluating a large-scale health promotion program. They will develop skills in qualitative methodologies (that may include content analysis of school action plans and thematic analysis of focus group interviews). They may also learn how to use software designed for qualitative research (NVivo). Scholars also have the opportunity to generate a short literature review that may be used towards an academic publication, which the student may be recognised as co-author depending on the level of contribution.

Students will be encouraged to present what they have learned from the Summer Scholars program to their ISSR colleagues at completion.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from students with an interest in qualitative research and evaluation in any discipline, and/or health promotion practice.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Charlotte Young

Project title: 

Migrant civic practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

10 weeks during Summer Vacation.

Hours of engagement will be between 20-36hrs per week during the summer vacation period.

The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement or on-site if required. 

Description:

Community engagement and empowerment as core directives in health promotion have been reportedly neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic, with limited inclusion of migrants in health communication in Australia. This project aims to understand the ways migrants and immigrant organisations have engaged in various forms of civic practice to support migrant populations during the pandemic for example, by reproducing and sharing health information online, providing food and services, and advocating for greater inclusion of migrant voices in the public health response.

The development and implementation of a systematic review protocol will support the analysis of existing peer-reviewed and grey literature that reports migrant civic practices during the pandemic.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars will gain experience conducting a systematic literature review. They will develop skills in systematic review methodologies, synthesising research, and academic writing. Scholars’ work may be used towards an academic publication and the scholar may be recognised as co-author depending on the level of contribution.

Students will be encouraged to present what they have learned from the Summer Scholars program to their ISSR colleagues at completion.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from students with an interest in migrant health, health promotion, and civic practice.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Charlotte Young

Further info:

Please email charlotte.young@uq.edu.au for more information.

Project title: 

Gig work, digital platform policy and regulation: A literature review

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

10 weeks

Description:

Increasing scholarly attention has been attracted in the areas of ‘gig’, ‘sharing’ or on-demand economy, particularly how intermediary platforms build, connect and reconstruct the social relations among labourers, consumers and companies. However, little is known how these platforms are regulated. The growth of the gig economy poses fundamental challenges to traditional forms of work regulation and setting minimum standards.  Existing literature suggests that it is difficult to apply to existing regulations to gig workers as well as to effectively regulate the digital economy. This project aims to explore the implications of the gig economy for labour regulation in Australia and other developed countries and the potential applicability of existing laws and regulations to gig work.

This project involves conducting a literature review, extracting data, analysing results, and drafting a manuscript for peer-review-publication.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Expected outcomes:

- Scholar will gain skills in conducting  literature review, desktop review and gap analysis of existing literature on gig work, digital platform policy and labour market regulation;

- Data analysis, reporting and writing skills; and

- Networking and knowledge building opportunities through attending relevant seminars and workshops.

Expected deliverables:

- A draft manuscript for potential publication that will develop a conceptual framework of everyday governance that the migrant food delivery workers develop to cope with precarious employment and non-citizenship status; and

- Submit a pitch to the conversation outlining current evidence on migrant gig workers’ survival modes while navigating the platform space.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from undergraduate and postgraduate students with interests in the research topic. Knowledge of the subject matter and experience with conducting systematic literature searches is preferable.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Lutfun Nahar Lata

Further info:

Students can contact Dr Lutfun Nahar Lata at l.lata@uq.edu.au to discuss their application, but this is not mandatory.

Project title: 

Turning points? Life events and trajectories of later-life loneliness

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

10 weeks.
The project can be completed offsite if needed due to COVID-19.

Description:

The research project involves understanding whether and how significant life events generate temporary or sustained changes in loneliness, using rich panel survey data and the collection of in-depth interviews. This project expects to generate new knowledge on dynamics of later-life loneliness using an innovative multi-level, mixed-methods approach examining household and community characteristics that may also shape changes in loneliness.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars will gain a better understanding of how to carry out academic research.  They will have the opportunity to gain skills in preparing a paper for publication in an academic journal. They will also gain skills in literature review, and/or data analysis.

Suitable for:

This project is open to undergraduate and postgraduate applicants with interests in applied social research.  Students with interests in the research topics, and/or with data analysis skills including experience with STATA are encouraged to apply. 

Primary Supervisor:

Dr. Jack Lam

Further info:

Students can contact Dr Jack Lam at j.lam@uq.edu.au to discuss their application, but this is not mandatory.

Project title: 

Poverty and financial insecurity among children with disabilities

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

30 hours per week for 10 weeks. Project to run 28/11/22 to 17/2/23, with a 2 week break from 19/12/22 to 1/1/23.

Students are generally expected to attend the Long Pocket campus throughout, although flexible working arrangement will be considered on a case-by-case basis if required.

Description:

Children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable members of the Australian community. An important aspect of disadvantage among children with disabilities is elevated rates of exposure to poverty and financial insecurity. The project will conduct a systematic review of Australian and international literature on the prevalence and determinants of exposure to poverty and financial insecurity among children with disabilities, with the aim of establishing an overview of existing knowledge and gaps for future research.  

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Systematic review of Australian and international literature on poverty and financial insecurity among children with disabilities.

Dependent on the student’s skills and interests, other work may be negotiated to form part of the project – e.g., opportunities to conduct preliminary analyses of survey data.

Suitable for:

The project would suit final year undergraduate, honours, or masters students in sociology, economics, social work, or political science. Key requirements include strong written and verbal communication skills, and experience finding and synthesising academic literature. Familiarity with quantitative research may be valuable but is not required.

Students with lived experience of disability and/or caring for people with disability, and Indigenous students are encouraged to apply.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Martin O'Flaherty

Further info:

Please email m.oflaherty@uq.edu.au with any questions about the project.

Project title: 

Do Inclusive Workplaces Matter? Examining Gender and Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Australian Workplaces

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

Duration of the project, 6-10 weeks during Summer Vacation.

Hours of engagement must be between 20-36hrs per week

COVID-19 considerations: The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement.

Description:

The aim of this project is to understand how workplace context (e.g., industry, workplace policies, racial/ethnic composition) shapes worker outcomes, with a focus on racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities. We use several nationally-representative datasets to analyse the data.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars will gain skills in literature review searches, data collection, data coding, and have the opportunity to generate publications from their research. Students may also be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from students with a background in sociology or social science discipline. Some statistical knowledge is preferred. Students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Primary Supervisor:

Rennie Lee

Further info:

Rennie.lee@uq.edu.au

Project title: 

Disrupting cycles of gendered violence and disadvantage

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

This project will run for 10 weeks between November and February. Expected hours of engagement is approximately 28 hours/week. On-site attendance is preferred, some remote work will be possible.

Description:

Women’s vulnerabilities to social exclusion and deep disadvantage are strongly correlated with their experiences of violence. Eradicating violence against women is therefore not only a human rights imperative, but a fundamental step in alleviating poverty and achieving gender equality. This project will provide insights on where, when, and how government and non-government organisations can intervene to disrupt cycles of violence in women’s lives. Ultimately, this project aims to help create the conditions in which women can be free from gendered violence and have the same opportunities to realize their capabilities as men do.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Tasks will be negotiated with the successful candidate, and may include any of the following:

• Reviewing literature
• Analysing quantitative data
• Preparing ethics applications
• Collecting qualitative data
• Contributing to academic outputs (e.g., working paper, journal article, and/or conference presentation)

Suitable for:

This project would suit students with a keen interest in the topic, and a background in the social or behavioural sciences (e.g., sociology, social policy, psychology etc).

Primary Supervisor:

Alice Campbell

Further info:

If you have any questions, please contact alice.campbell@uq.edu.au

Project title: 

How do social attitudes about gender roles shape women’s childbearing and return to work intentions?

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

The duration of the project will be 6-10 weeks during Summer Vacation, approximately 30 hours a week.

COVID-19 considerations: the project can be completed under a remote working arrangement but at least partial on-site presence is preferred.

Description:

In recent decades, substantial advances in gender equality have been made with increased women’s participation in the public sphere. These changes have occurred alongside the liberalisation of gender role attitudes, as traditional gender roles rendering women and men into segregated social roles have increasingly fallen out of favour. However, how do these same beliefs about traditional gender roles influence women’s decisions in their homes and families remains unclear.

This project intends to explore how social beliefs about women’s roles in families—specifically beliefs about the importance of motherhood—shapes their intentions for childbearing and how these influence their decisions around returning to the labour force.

The findings from this project will help identify how social constructs and beliefs affect outcomes beyond the aggregate in the public sphere and shape the personal ways in which women determine their current and future opportunities in their home and work lives.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

This project will focus on a literature review to support a project on how attitudes towards gender roles shape women’s decisions regarding childbearing and labour force participation following parenting career breaks. The primary output will be a literature review of this research area.

The student may also be asked to produce a report or an oral presentation at the end of their project. If relevant, the student might participate in some quantitative data analysis.

Suitable for:

This project is open to all students and most suitable to those with special interest in the topic and has experience with conducting literature reviews and/or has a social science background (or any related discipline).
I would like to strongly encourage students from different backgrounds to apply, including people with gender and sexually diverse identities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from different cultural backgrounds, and people with disabilities.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Yanshu Huang

Further info:

Although not a requirement, I recommend getting in touch to have a chat about the project prior to applying. Please email yanshu.huang@uq.edu.au if you want to hear more or would like to discuss anything. I am happy to answer questions via email also.

Project title: 

Evaluation of My health for life, a state-wide integrated health risk assessment and behaviour change program

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

Duration of the project: 10 weeks during Summer Vacation.

Hours of engagement: 36 hours per week

COVID-19 considerations: The student can be completed under a hybrid working arrangement, but on-site attendance is preferred.

Description:

My health for life program is a state-wide integrated health risk assessment and behaviour change program. The purpose of the program is to identify Queenslanders at risk of chronic disease, support them to take steps toward healthy behaviour changes, and reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

This project aims to evaluate the implementation of this program using qualitative methodologies such as key informant interviews and focus groups with community stakeholders.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The scholar will have an opportunity to be involved in participant recruitment and data collection.

The scholar will also gain experience in designing interview schedules and focus group guides.

The scholar will also have an opportunity to participate in meetings and/or workshops with program stakeholders.

Suitable for:

Students who have completed a course on basic research methods and are interested in mixed-methods research

Students with psychology, nursing, public health, allied health, or social science background.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Joemer Maravilla

Further info:

Please contact Dr Maravilla for further details prior to submitting an application: j.maravilla@uq.edu.au