Undergraduate Research Opportunities

UQ Winter & Summer Research Scholarship Program

The Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) participates in the UQ Summer and Winter Research Scholarship Program.

Scholars are expected to actively participate in an ongoing research project or to undertake a substantial piece of supervised research work by way of an internship during either the Summer or Winter holiday periods. The Program offers scholars practical research experience and a chance to discover the type of research undertaken at ISSR by working on actual projects.

By participating in undergraduate research programs, students gain valuable academic and professional skills, have an opportunity to develop links with industry and academic contacts, and are able to test drive research before embarking on further research studies or higher degree research projects.

ISSR aims to provide its students with a distinctive study experience which is characterised by applied research, teaching and commercial opportunities. To support this, the Institute requires our students to sign a Student Intellectual Property and Confidentiality Agreement (SIPCA) as a condition of enrolment, pursuant to UQ’s policy on Intellectual Property for Staff, Students and Visitors. Independent legal advice is available to prospective students free-of-charge through the UQ Student Union (see http://www.uqu.com.au/legal). ISSR will provide further information on the IP assignment process at the point of application and induction. Please see below for available projects.

2024 Summer Research Program
Applications open 18 September–22 October, 2023.
The program runs for 6 weeks between January and February 2024.

For more information about UQ Undergraduate research opportunities click here

2024 Summer Program Projects

A gendered gateway to disadvantage? The syndemic of sexual violence and psychological distress among adolescents

Project title:	A gendered gateway to disadvantage? The syndemic of sexual violence and psychological distress among adolescents
Project duration, hours of engagement and delivery mode:	This project will run for 6 weeks across January and February 2024. Expected hours of engagement is approximately 25 hours/week. On-site attendance is preferred, some remote work will be possible.
Description:	The high levels of psychological distress and violence victimization reported by young Australian women are topics of great concern to researchers and the broader community. For example, 40% of Australian women aged 12-25 years report high or very high levels of psychological distress, and 19% report experiencing sexual violence since the age of 15. In addition, research consistently shows that youth who identify as gender or sexually diverse are at the highest risk of both sexual violence and poor mental health. This project draws on syndemic theory to provide a unifying framework for understanding these trends, complemented by empirical evidence from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The project outcomes will be an academic publication providing insights into the drivers of this syndemic and its role in producing disadvantage among Australian youth, as well as suggestions for how we can put a break on these destructive trends.
Expected outcomes and deliverables:	This project will result in an academic publication. The summer scholar will have the opportunity to contribute to this publication as a co-author. Their role will include reviewing literature and contributing to writing the manuscript.
Suitable for:	This project would suit students with the following attributes: a keen interest in the topic experience reviewing academic literature strong writing skills a background in social science or a cognate discipline (e.g., sociology, gender studies, psychology, criminology, economics).
Primary supervisor:	Dr Alice Campbell
Further info:	If you have any questions, please email Dr Alice Campbell

A Longitudinal qualitative study of children, carers and birth parents’ experiences of the out-of-home care system

Project title:	A Longitudinal qualitative study of children, carers and birth parents’ experiences of the out-of-home care system
Project duration, hours of engagement and delivery mode:	6 weeks during Summer Vacation (8 January to 16 February 2024). Hours of engagement must be between 20-36hrs per week. COVID-19 considerations: The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement.
Description:	Children in out-of-home care (OOHC) face cumulative disadvantage across the life span, manifesting in poorer outcomes when compared to their peers who are not in OOHC. The aim of this project is to build knowledge and evidence that can be used to improve the social and emotional well-being and connections to culture of children in OOHC. This is a multi-perspective longitudinal qualitative study that includes the voices of children, birth parents and foster and kinship carers. The study is funded by the ARC and data is collected by a large multidisciplinary project team.
Expected outcomes and deliverables:	Scholars will gain skills in literature review searches, developing PowerPoint presentations, recruitment, data collection, de-identification of transcripts, data entry, data coding, creating classification sheets, analysis of short survey data, and may have the opportunity to co-author a publication depending on the contribution made. Scholars may also be asked to produce an oral presentation at the end of their project to staff in ISSR. This is a great opportunity to work in large multidisciplinary team and enhance your research skills. There may also be opportunities for further casual employment after the summer scholarship.
Suitable for:	This project is open to applications from scholars with a background in social work, psychology, sociology, social science or similar disciplines. Some proficiency with NVivo is preferred, but not essential. First Nations scholars are strongly encouraged to apply.
Primary supervisor:	A/Prof Jenny Povey
Further info:	If you have any questions, please email A/Prof Jenny Povey

Understanding the Integration of Humanitarian Immigrants

Project title:	Understanding the integration of humanitarian immigrants
Project duration, hours of engagement and delivery mode:	6 weeks during Summer Vacation (8 January to 16 February 2024). 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 humanitarian immigrants are integrating in Australia. We collect original data through interviews and surveys to understand the first year of settlement among humanitarian immigrants.
Expected outcomes and deliverables:	Scholars will gain skills in literature review searches, recruitment, data collection, deidentification of transcripts, data coding, and may have the opportunity to contribute to publications depending on the contribution they made. Scholars may also be asked to produce an oral presentation at the end of their project to staff in ISSR. This is a great opportunity to work in large multidisciplinary team and enhance your research skills. There may also be opportunities for further casual employment after the summer scholarship.
Suitable for:	This project is open to applications from scholars with a background in psychology, social work, sociology or social science discipline. Some proficiency with NVivo is preferred, but not essential. Students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Primary supervisor:	Dr Charlotte Young
Further info:	Please email Dr Charlotte Young for more information.

FamilyLinQ – a place-based intervention to improve the outcomes of marginalised families in a low socioeconomic community – validating the measures used for the evaluation

Project title:	FamilyLinQ – a place-based intervention to improve the outcomes of marginalised families in a low socioeconomic community – validating the measures used for the evaluation
Project duration, hours of engagement and delivery mode:	6 weeks during Summer Vacation (8 January to 16 February 2024). Hours of engagement must be between 20-36 hrs per week COVID-19 considerations: The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement.
Description:	FamilyLinQ is a school-based hub that will bring together high-quality learning for children, skills and training for parents, and wrap-around health and community services all in one single location. The aim of this project is to gather baseline data prior to the implementation of the hub to evaluate whether the hub achieved what it intended to achieve. The aim of this project is to use the hub 1 baseline data (collected in 2023) to validate the measures used in the parent survey so that a shorter survey can be developed for the baseline data collection of hub 2 and inform the post-implementation parent survey. This data may also be combined with other parent engagement parent survey data from socioeconomically disadvantaged schools in Queensland where data is available. The project will also involve working on a publication using the baseline data gathered (quantitative and qualitative).
Expected outcomes and deliverables:	Scholars will gain skills in literature review searches, data analysis, and may have the opportunity to contribute to publications depending on the contribution they made. Scholars may also be asked to produce an oral presentation at the end of their project to staff in ISSR. This is a great opportunity to work in a large multidisciplinary team and enhance your research skills. There may also be opportunities for further casual employment after the summer scholarship.
Suitable for:	This project is open to applications from scholars with a background in psychology, social work, sociology, social science, health, or economics discipline. Experience analysing qualitative data using multivariate analyses e.g., factor analysis would be preferred.
Primary supervisor:	Dr Maca San Martin Porter and Sarah-Ann Burger
Further info:	Please email Dr Maca San Martin Porter or Sarah-Ann Burger for more information

Do inclusive workplaces matter? Examining gender and racial and ethnic diversity in Australian workplaces

Project title:	Do inclusive workplaces matter? Examining gender and racial and ethnic diversity in Australian workplaces
Project duration, hours of engagement and delivery mode:	6 weeks during Summer Vacation (8 January to 16 February 2024). 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, gender composition) shapes gender division of household labor. 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:	Dr Rennie Lee
Further info:	Please email Dr Rennie Lee for more information.