Vacation Research Scholarships

Project Summary: Steamed Video of Demand (SVoD) such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix is growing - in 2017 just over half of all households were accessing the service, by 2023 three quarters of all households will be steaming video content into their homes (Statista, 2020). 

There is currently no empirical evidence as to whether the Laws of Growth apply to subscription television. To date, the extent of the knowledge is Double Jeopardy for newspaper {Ehrenberg, 1990 #1676}, Duplication of Purchase for radio stations {Lees, 2013 #21928}, and both DJ and DoP for websites {Corkindale, 2013 #29963}. While those are all media, there is some research on these patterns for non-media, but also non-FMCG areas including gambling {Hand, 2014 #32603}, leisure activities {Scriven, 2014 #26239}, and physical activity {Wilson, 2019 #85594}.  But to date, there is no examination of any NBD-Dirichlet consumer buying behaviour for subscription television.

Therefore, this research can then address the following research questions:

RQ1: What are the differences in how linear television and streaming television is consumed?

RQ2: What is the repertoire size of SVoD?

RQ3: Are consumers behaviourally loyal towards SVoD providers, as expected?

RQ4: Does the NBD apply for SVoD?

RQ5: To what extent does linear television share an audience with SVoD? To what extend does SVoD providers share an audience?

Contact Person: Dr Zachary Anesbury

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Project Summary: There are three critical studies examining the relationship between consumer age, and category/brand buying behaviour. Uncles and Ehrenberg (1990) finds that younger households buy slightly more brands than older households (3.2 vs 2.7). However, older households buy from those categories slightly less often, and have smaller households –accounting for the small difference. Expanding the research to brand performance measures Uncles and Lee (2006) finds minimal differences in category buying behaviour, but at a brand level, sole loyalty is higher for the older consumers, and the Double Jeopardy pattern exists for each age group. Replication in Japan by Singh et al. (2012) also finds minor differences in category buying and the DJ pattern across age groups. 

But these studies are limited. First, the research is within the UK (Uncles & Ehrenberg 1990), Australia (Uncles & Lee 2006), and Japan (Singh et al. 2012). Second, the data collection is as early as the mid-1980s (Uncles & Ehrenberg 1990), and most recently occurring nine years ago (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Lee 2006). Third, while one study uses observed panel data (Uncles & Ehrenberg 1990), the extension research uses future purchases probabilities (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Lee 2006). Forth, the sample sizes are small – ranging from 200 to 6,000 respondents (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Ehrenberg 1990; Uncles & Lee 2006). Fifth, research analyses few categories (between four and seven) (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Ehrenberg 1990; Uncles & Lee 2006). Sixth, researchers using intercept method only analysing the buying behaviour of the five largest brands (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Lee 2006). Last, and the biggest issue is the age groupings. Uncles and Ehrenberg (1990) using a binary approach (above or below 55), the other two studies use just three groups (under 40, 40-59, and 60-74) (Singh et al. 2012; Uncles & Lee 2006).

Therefore, this research can then address the following research questions:

RQ1: Are there difference in product category purchasing behaviour between younger and older buyers?

RQ2: Which if any categories do younger buyers have larger repertoire sizes than older consumer?

RQ3: How accurately does the Double Jeopardy pattern display age-based consumer behaviour?

RQ4: What affect does age have on the negative binomial distribution curve?

RQ5: Does customer sharing differ when examining age groups?

Contact person: Dr Zachary Anesbury

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Project Summary: With an increase in online supermarket shopping, which has been accelerated with Covid-19 restricting consumers to their homes, now is the opportune time to examine the buying behaviour in the online retailing world.

There is an abundance of previous research examining how shoppers purchase from traditional bricks and mortar supermarkets. The Double Jeopardy pattern has been examined for supermarkets and retailers {Wright, 2002 #12901;Bhat, 1996 #4270}, and the Duplication of Purchase pattern has been examined for supermarkets {Uncles, 2009 #17954;Uncles, 1995 #4337} and retailers {Keng, 1984 #662;Goodhardt, 1984 #2446;Sharp, 1997 #4025;Brewis-Levie, 2000 #7166} and other varieties of stores {Uncles, 2008 #24084;Uncles, 2009 #17954;Sharp, 1997 #4025}. The same patterns have been examined in alternative types of stores such as fuel {Sharp, 1997 #4025}Bennett, 2000 #6950}, fast food {Bennett, 2001 #7150}. But no research has examined if these patterns are present for online retailers.

Therefore, this research can then address the following research questions:

RQ1: What is the distribution of online grocery and department store shopping?

RQ2: Are consumers predictably loyal to online grocery and department stores?

RQ3: Are shoppers polygamously loyal to online grocery and department stores?

RQ4: To what extent does online grocery and department stores share customers, and do they share customers within store equivalents?

Contact person: Dr Zachary Anesbury

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Project Summary: With around 2,300 retirement villages across Australia, incorporating more than 68,000 retirement units and housing over 200,000 Australians the retirement villages industry represents a significant and steadily growing component of the age-specific housing market.

Congregate housing is a clear preference for many older Australians. The retirement village model of housing, with its benevolent and not-for-profit sector origins, previously met this demand for affordable congregate housing. While this remains true to some extent, this housing market sector has increasingly been consumed by the for-profit, high-end housing sector that now marginalises a growing cohort of older Australians seeking affordable housing alternatives to the private market. Such well-established trends, and the fact fewer people are entering later-life with the security of home ownership, raises the question: is the retirement village sector interested in, or able to, provide affordable housing options for older Australians, and do older Australians see this as a viable affordable housing alternative?

Given this context, it is timely that a review is undertaken to establish the reforms needed in legislation, policy, business practice and management to enabler the retirement village sector to deliver on the need for affordable housing options for Australia’s growing older population.

Over a six week period, using an economic (business) and legal lens, the applicant will explore the retirement village industry through a desk-top review of the published and grey literature (e.g.: legislative changes and acts, submissions to legislation reforms, policy white papers, business plans and annual reports, planning submissions, development proposals and planning reviews) with the objective being the development of a larger research project in partnership with the Property Development Council or an ARC Linkage.

From this scholarship the student would gain skills in literature searches, systematic reviews, and a broader understanding of project development.

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Helen Barrie and Dr Debbie Faulkner

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Project Summary: Since the endorsement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations in 2015, it has attracted considerable debate in public, policy, and research. The SDG goals and targets aim to address global issues affecting the planet, people, and prosperity such as climate change, poverty, and inequality. The United Nations has urgently called on all sectors around the world to transform the goals into tangible actions by embedding them into organisational policies and thereby contribute to sustainable development.

Given the size and impact of the business sector, it has a critical role to play in advancing the SDG agenda. The business sector in developing countries, constitute on average, 60% of GDP, while generating 90% of jobs and 80% of capital inflows (OECD). Hence, the United Nations strongly encourages, the business sector, including publicly listed companies to apply their creativity and innovation to solving sustainable development challenges. However, little is known about how listed companies in developing countries are contributing to the SDG agenda. Therefore, this study aims to examine the uptake of SDGs by the top 100 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India by undertaking a longitudinal study of their corporate reports.

This study will also uncover institutional influences that have shaped the uptake of SDG reporting in the context of a developing country. The focus of this study is on SDG reporting because it has emerged as an indispensable transparency and accountability tool. By measuring and disclosing SDG performance, companies can better engage stakeholders, enhance sustainable decision-making processes, and strengthen their accountability.

The vacation scholar will be assisting the lead researcher over a period of 8-weeks in conducting relevant literature review, reviewing the SDG reporting framework, and collecting and analyzing data.  Thus, the student will have an opportunity to be trained in conducting relevant literature review and providing a critique, collecting data using databases, and analyzing data using Nvivo. The student will also have an opportunity to gain insights into international business perspectives.    

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Amanpreet Kaur

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Project Summary: The project critically evaluates how crime and corruption are linked to social, cultural, and economic discriminations in countries. This is part of a bigger research project; however, the candidate will experience how to work with empirical data and inform research findings based on simple quantitative analyses. The students will have the opportunity to use statistical software to analyse longitudinal data in economics.

The 8 weeks’ work will particularly include:

• Brief literature review to identify relevant indicators and measurements of crime, social, cultural, and economic discriminations (2 weeks)
• Visiting various government websites and international databases to find secondary data on these relevant indicators (3 weeks)
• Collecting the data in Excel spreadsheet, cleaning and organising the data (2 weeks).
• Basic empirical analysis in excel/econometric software’s, e.g., graphs, correlations, summary statistics etc (1 week).

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: As. Prof. Raj Banerjee

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Project Summary: We have found that platelets from patients with myeloproliferative disorders differ to healthy donor platelets. Given platelets are derived from megakaryocytes we are extending our investigation to these cells. This project will focus specifically on megakaryocyte mitochondria.

Contact Person: Dr Brian Dale

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Project Summary: Frying is an extensively employed concept in homes, restaurants, and industry, that includes food immersed in hot oil. During frying, numerous reactions with oxygen, due to the high temperatures and the release of water, that leads to succession of physical and chemical changes in the food products. In addition, a range of Maillard Reaction products such as acrylamide, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, heterocyclic amines and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed.

In contrast, air frying circulates hot air uniformly around the food instead of immersing it in hot oil and reduces the fat contents in the fried food. Thus, the product is progressively dehydrated at a fixed frying temperature of 180°C, while the crisp characteristic appears on the fried products with minimum variations in food quality.

Air frying is an emerging processing technology that has been widely accepted by consumers, used as an alternative to deep frying and are considered as a convenient method of cooking over conventional techniques. However, there are limited studies regarding the sensory acceptability and formation of dietary AGEs.

In this study, the formation of specific AGEs in selected foods will be compared using air frying, oil frying and oven-heating techniques.

Contact Person: Dr Permal Deo and Dr Evangeline Mantzioris

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Project Summary: This project will use laboratory-based functional assays and bioinformatic, database and literature interrogation to generate data to better characterise a newly identified gene in its role in predisposition to bone marrow failure and blood cancer.

Functional studies will include learning skills such DNA cloning, mutagenesis, tissue culture, transactivation assays and antibody-based assays. Computer-based skills will include bioinformatic analysis of sequence data, interrogation of local and worldwide databases and literature searches.

MODE OF STUDY: This project requires in-person and online participation.

Contact Person: A/Prof. Chris Hahn and Prof. Hamish Scott

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Project Summary: Closed-eye visual hallucinations are a known but poorly researched phenomena distinct from visual hallucinations associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders and pathologies. While some people experience closed-eye hallucinations, the clinical significance, etiology, and possible treatments (if necessary) remain unknown. Further, because some reports suggest that the phenomena are not unpleasant or troubling, there may be potential value in understanding more about this very unexplored phenomenon in terms of its scope for therapeutic applications (e.g., similar to mindfulness, meditation, guided relaxation).

In this project, the student will learn to undertake and report a systematic scoping review using best practice evidence synthesis methodology in collaboration with experienced academic mentors. At least two published manuscripts will be developed over the course of this project, providing the student with the opportunity to begin building their track record in research excellence and publication. The skills the student will learn through this project have strong application potential across many subjects and will place the student strongly for further postgraduate study.

Contact Person: Dr Micah DJ Peters 

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Project Summary: The healthcare workforce has faced unprecedented challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the RBRC conducted the largest workforce wellbeing survey of nurses and midwives in Australia. The survey included demographic and COVID-19 factors and assessed domains of the workplace climate including psychosocial workplace conditions, job satisfaction, burnout, and mental health.

At the time, COVID-19 was relatively contained in Australia by global standards, however nurses and midwives were still concerned about the impacts of COVID-19 on their health, wellbeing, and the work environment. Midwives and nurses reported an average level of resilience, and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were in the normal range, however this has not been explored in detail. Over 800 midwives responded to the survey, but data for midwives have not been explored as a discrete professional group.

There is an opportunity to explore and report on these data and compare findings of this study with other existing (but limited) studies of midwives practicing in Australia since the pandemic. The health and wellbeing of the midwifery workforce is critical as Australia faces a shortfall of midwives going forward.

For information on data available for analyses please see the full report at https://www.unisa.edu.au/contentassets/0429d3a6ea70464b80a0b37aa664aa0c/covid-19-and-workforce-wellbeing-survey_report_final.pdf

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Ms Pam Adelson and Dr Julie Fleet

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Project Summary: Lymphatic vessels are a crucial component of the cardiovascular and immune systems. These specialised vessels are control tissue fluid homeostasis, direct immune cell traffic and regulate the absorption of dietary fats. Abnormalities in the growth, development and/or function of lymphatic vessels underlie human disorders including vascular malformations, lymphoedema, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The goal of our research program is to understand how lymphatic vessels are built during development and how defects in this process cause human disease.

This project will investigate how lymphatic vessel identity is programmed by transcription factors; molecular switches that bind to DNA and turn genes on and off. A range of cutting edge genomic, proteomic, molecular and cell biology techniques will be employed to dissect how transcription factors work together to control lymphatic vessel identity and how this process goes wrong in human lymphatic vascular diseases including primary lymphoedema.

Contact Person: Prof. Natasha Harvey

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Project Summary: Brain cancer is one of the most lethal type of solid cancer, and the clinical management of this disease has not changed in the last 30 years. Patient-derived tumour organoids are currently being used to screen new therapies to identify those drugs that effectively kill tumour cells. Yet, no in vitro preclinical model allows for measuring the cytotoxic effects and possible short-long term side effects these drugs can have on healthy brain tissue. This project explores the development and characterization of vascularized cerebral organoids derived iPSCs from healthy donors as a platform to quantitatively assess the detrimental effect new generation of anti-cancer drugs have on the normal brain and its vasculature. If successful, during the preclinical stage, this will enable me to discard drugs that can be toxic to patients and provide a better killing effect in tumour cells, which will be assed in parallel on patient-derived brain tumour explants, already developed in my laboratory.

Contact Person: Dr Guillermo Gomez

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Project Summary: Oral route is characterized using frequent dosing regimens to keep up the therapeutic level. Many patients failed to adhere to the frequent dosing regimen which ultimately results in treatment failure, relapse, flare-up, and poor treatment outcomes. In Australia, about 10.4 billion is spent annually to address the complications arising from suboptimal medicine use.

The objective of the project is to develop a Long-acting injection/delivery system using two different formulation technologies- microsphere and oily solution. The project aims to develop once-weekly injections of the selected model drug. The student will be involved with the preparation and characterization of the formulation using different analytical techniques and instruments.

Contact Person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr Franklin Afinjuomo

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Project Summary: Impaired fetal substrate supply because of either placental insufficiency, preeclampsia or maternal undernutrition causes intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). These IUGR babies are not only at an increased risk of longer stays in the NICU and increased perinatal morbidity but may also be at an increased risk of epigenetic programming and the development of chronic disease in adult life. To reduce the risk of these poor outcomes, the development of interventions to improve fetal substrate delivery is at the forefront of perinatal research.

The pregnant sheep model is often used to study fetal development in the setting of in utero substrate restriction and has led to medical advances such as the use of antenatal steroids in pregnancies at risk of preterm birth. Using this animal model, we have shown resveratrol to increase uterine artery blood flow and fetal oxygenation. However, unlike the human placenta; the sheep placenta does not appear to allow resveratrol to cross from the maternal to the fetal circulation.

This project will use techniques such as qRT-PCR to measure placental gene expression and immunohistochemistry to determine protein abundance and distribution of signaling molecules known to be both involved in placental development and responsive to resveratrol and MRI data. We hypothesize that resveratrol will activate signaling molecules on the maternal but not the fetal side of the sheep placenta.

Contact Person: Prof. Janna Morrison, Dr. Jack Darby and A/Prof. Michael Wiese

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Project Summary: To obtain the best outcomes for both mum and fetus during pregnancy, drugs are often required to treat illness. However, there is limited information available on the short and long term adverse fetal effects of a large proportion of drugs used during pregnancy. Animal studies can provide preliminary data regarding the safety of a drug during pregnancy. There is a large amount of human and animal evidence showing hormonal and metabolic changes that occur in both the mother and the fetus because of reduced or accelerated fetal growth. These changes could affect maternal, placental, and fetal expression of drug metabolising enzymes and drug transporters and hence alter fetal drug exposure.

This project will isolate microsomes from maternal and fetal livers in animal models of high and low substrate supply. Using in vitro protocols, we will assess the activity of cryptochrome P450 enzymes to determine if pregnancy complications impair drug metabolism.

Contact Person: Prof. Janna Morrison, A/Prof. Michael Wiese and Dr Ashley Meakin

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Project Summary: Diagnosis of many diseases is highly invasive requiring biopsies and off-site analysis, fibre optic technology can allow instant, low-cost non-invasive results in any location. We are developing new probes to attach to fibres that will give rapid responses to changes in disease markers. A student could work in one of the three areas: synthesis of a responsive molecule, analysis of response using spectroscopy or fibre optic attachment and evaluation.

Contact Person: As. Prof. Sally Plush

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Project Summary: A flow cytometer can measure fluorescence data from thousands of individual cells per second. The sample is loaded on the cytometer and the cells travel in a fluidic stream through a flow cell, where lasers excite any fluorophores in the cell. Scientists can make a cell fluoresce by staining cellular proteins or structures with fluorescent dyes. Flow cytometric data contains the fluorescence profile from each cell. We can use this data to enumerate and classify the cell populations within a given sample (immunophenotyping; healthy vs. cancer cell vs. modified cell).

There are several projects on offer in the flow cytometry lab:

Extracellular Vesicle Characterisation
Extracellular vesicles transport cargo (protein, metabolites, nucleic acids) between cells and cell-niches. Vesicles are small and at the edge of flow-cytometric measurement. We want to establish a robust protocol to measure and sort vesicles, so we can study their contents and biogenesis.

Cell Metabolism
Of late, cell metabolism within cancer is under the spotlight. We would like to establish assays to measure cell metabolism by flow: mitochondria activity, cell kinetics, reactive-oxygen species production. This will help us to easily compare the effects of gene-knockout, therapeutic treatments, cell-type effects in the context of cancer.

Fluorescent Protein Systems
We can make cells express proteins that emit colour. This allows us to “colour/paint” cells of interest to track or monitor them. We can also create a hybrid gene that fuses a fluorescence gene and gene of interest, so that we can study our gene of interests’ function.

• Colour competition: “paint” cell types of different colours track different cell types in a complex mixture.
• FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) can detect molecular interactions and cellular location.

Contact Person: Dr Bradley Chereda

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Project Summary: This project aims to achieve the best formulations for a drug in the dosage form of chewable tablets and chewable gels according to Quality Attribute Considerations for Chewable Tablets (Guidance for Industry, FDA, 2018).

The student will have experience in the evaluation tests for chewable tablets and chewable gels, critical attributes for chewable tablets and chewable gels, and these formulations' optimization process.

Contact Person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr May Song

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Project Summary: A controlled release formulation will be developed and evaluated in this project. The student involved in this project will have experience in many different instruments, including formulation preparation equipment, evaluation instruments, and analytical tools; e.g. tablet press, hardness tester, dissolution tester, and HPLC. In this study, the student will learn how to design a formulation and the criteria of the controlled-release preparation. 

Contact Person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr May Song

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Project Summary: Preterm birth affects more than 20,000 births in Australia. Glucocorticoids are routinely used to reduce the risk of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm births by promoting lung maturation. However, the use of glucocorticoids during pregnancy has been associated with adverse fetal outcomes including low birth weight. In addition, glucocorticoids also regulate the expression of Cytochrome P450 enzymes, a class of enzymes involved in drug metabolism, and drug transporters such as P-glycoprotein.

Therefore, using a sheep model, we propose that infusion of the endogenous glucocorticoid, cortisol, in late gestation will alter the expression of drug metabolising enzyme and drug transporters in the placenta, fetal liver and brain.

Contact Person: Prof. Janna Morrison, A/Prof. Michael Wiese and Dr Ashley Meakin

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Project Summary: Human studies show that babies who are born small because of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy, in adult life. However, we do not yet understand the molecular basis of this association and therefore we are limited in our capacity to implement effective intervention strategies. One factor that may cause IUGR and the programmed risk of cardiovascular disease is maternal undernutrition. Here, the developing fetus does not receive enough nutrients from the mother.

This project will use both a well-established sheep model as well as a one-of-a-kind non-human primate model of maternal undernutrition to determine the molecular links between poor growth in utero and the predisposition toward poor heart health in later life.  To address this, this project will use techniques as qRT-PCR to measure the gene expression and Western Blot to measure the protein abundance of signaling molecules involved in cardiac growth and development.

Contact Person: Prof. Janna Morrison and Dr. Jack Darby

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Project Summary: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), where a baby weighs below the 10th percentile for their gestational age, occurs in 6.5 % of live births. These IUGR babies have an increased risk of preterm birth with impaired maturation of the lung. This increases their risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).

One way of preventing IUGR and thus the risk of preterm birth and RDS, would be to increase fetal substrate (oxygen and nutrients) supply. Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skins of red grapes, increases uterine artery blood flow. We hypothesize, that increased uterine artery blood flow will accelerate lung maturation via increased oxygen delivery to the fetal lung.

This study will determine the impact of maternal resveratrol supplementation on the expression surfactant proteins (qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry) in the fetal lung and align this expression with pulmonary oxygen delivery (fetal MRI data) in the late gestation fetus.

Contact Person: Prof. Janna Morrison and Dr. Jack Darby

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Project Summary: Antimicrobial resistance is predicted to become the direct cause of ten million deaths annually by 2050; exceeding the mortality of cancer. There is an urgent need for new drugs. We have developed a lead compound which shows excellent activity, this project would focus on synthesising new analogues of this compound to be evaluated for activity.

Contact Person: As. Prof. Sally Plush

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Project Summary: Simulated health care experiences provide opportunities for learners to explore clinical scenarios in a safe and controlled manner. Perioperative management and the nursing care of the perioperative patient requires safe learning opportunities beyond undergraduate studies. There is limited research into the value of simulated learning experiences in perioperative post-graduate learning and education.

This systematic review will explore the incidence, beliefs, perspectives, and experiences of simulated learning in post-graduate perioperative education and learning. This will form the first stage in research exploring simulated learning opportunities in post-graduate perioperative nursing and the impact of intradisciplinary learning on the organisation and patient morbidity.

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Allison Roderick 

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Project Summary: Sleep and physical activity are essential for health and wellbeing. For dialysis patients, sleep complaints are commonly reported, and physical activity is often limited (due to a range of factors such as dialysis). Physical activity and sleep are thought to be interrelated. High levels of physical activity are thought to promote sleep, while a good night’s sleep is thought to reduce fatigue and increase physical activity levels. The interplay between sleep and physical activity is an important issue for dialysis patients.

The purpose of this summer vacation project is to assist in a study that examines time-use in dialysis patients. This project will involve assisting a range of activities to build research skills and experiences. Key activities will include using the MARCA (Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults) software to interview patients who agree to take part in the study, as well as assist with a literature review.

The project is ideal for a student who would like to gain research skills, is interested in pursuing a Master’s by research or PhD, is interested in working with dialysis patients and/or wants experience communicating and talking to patients.

This exciting opportunity will be available two students.

Contact Person: Dr Lisa Matricciani

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Project Summary: Sleep is essential for physical health and cognitive wellbeing. Final year nursing students are often busy undertaking final theory subjects and clinical placements, which often require rotating shiftwork.

This project aims to examine sleep in final year nursing students. This summer vacation scholarship will involve a range of activities to build research skills and experiences. Involvement will include assisting in data analysis and a literature review. The project is ideal for a student who would like to gain research skills, is interested in pursuing a Master’s by research or PhD and is interested in understanding the importance of sleep and/or the student experience.

This exciting opportunity will be available two students.

Contact Person: Dr Lisa Matricciani

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Project Summary: This project involves exploration, quantification, and qualification of:

• Social media platforms used by the public to inform medication use;
• Frequency and type of medication issues posted on these platforms;
• How to measure social media influence in the health care space and
• A review of current legislative and regulatory requirements with respect to prescription medicines and social media.

This project would suit any undergraduate or Master’s clinical health sciences student with an interest in quality use of medicines, social media, and behavioural psychology.

Support will be provided to analyse the research outcomes and draft both an internal report/presentation and manuscript for publication.

The supervisory team will include pharmacists, health service utilisation and intervention researchers, pharmacoepidemiologists, Pharmacoeconomics and statisticians.

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Jodie Hillen

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Project Summary: While relatively uncommon, infant, and early childhood cancers cause significant negative impacts on families and can result in tragic outcomes for those affected.

Supportive care in cancer aims to improve the quality of life of people who have an illness or disease by preventing or treating, as early as possible, the symptoms of the disease and the side effects caused by treatment of the disease. Supportive care includes physical, psychological, social, and spiritual support for patients and their families and encompasses pain management, nutritional support, counseling, exercise, music therapy, meditation, and palliative care. Supportive care may be given with other treatments from the time of diagnosis until the end of life.

In this project, the student will learn to undertake and report a systematic scoping review using best practice evidence synthesis methodology in collaboration with experienced academic mentors. At least two published manuscripts will be developed over the course of this project, providing the student with the opportunity to begin building their track record in research excellence and publication. The skills the student will learn through this project have strong application potential across many subjects and will place the student strongly for further postgraduate study.

Contact Person: Dr Micah DJ Peters 

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Project Summary: Missed care poses a significant burden on the health care system and is linked to poorer patient outcomes. Missed care represents care that is delayed or omitted. Missed nursing care in the management of critically ill patients is under-researched. The management of patients in the critical care environment (ICU) provides improved patient outcomes and yet in many cases increases morbidity and mortality associated with risks, such as, ventilator associated pneumonia. In addition, the cost of specialist critical care services poses an economic burden in a climate of limited health care funding.

The acuity and fast paced environment of critical care means that care is timely. Missed opportunities for care is therefore vital in the overall outcomes of the patient and the broader community. This project will conduct a systematic review of the literature to explore missed nursing care in the context of critically ill patients. The systematic review will provide the first stage of a broader study to explore the incidence and rationale to remediate associated morbidity and mortality.

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Allison Roderick 

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Project Summary: Missed care poses a significant burden on the health care system and is linked to poorer patient outcomes. Missed care represents care that is delayed or omitted. Missed nursing care in the management of venous access is under-researched. The incidence of complications associated with venous access is well document in the literature, such as venous thromboembolism, phlebitis and hospital acquired infections (HAIs). However, understanding the incidence of missed nursing care in relation to these complications is currently not understood.

The project will conduct a systematic review of the literature to explore missed care in the context of venous access management in acute care hospitals. The systematic review will provide the first stage of a broader project to explore the incidence and rationales, to mechanisms to remediate associated complications in venous access management.

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Allison Roderick 

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Project Summary: The incidence of complications associated with venous access devices is well document in the literature, such as venous thromboembolism, phlebitis and hospital acquired infections (HAIs). However, understanding the incidence of staff levels and venous access complications, is currently not understood. The project will conduct a systematic review of the literature to explore venous access complications and staffing levels in health care. Anecdotally amongst infection prevention and control professionals, it is well understood that the incidence of venous access complications increases with new rotations and recruitment of staff.

The systematic review will provide the first stage of a broader study to explore the association between staffing levels (skill-mix, timing, number of staff and experience) and venous access complications.

The study would then use artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (MI) to predict areas of risk associated with staffing levels and skill mix in acute care hospitals and explore systems to mitigate these risks. 

MODE OF STUDY: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact Person: Dr Allison Roderick 

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Project Summary: Neuroblastoma is a devastating and highly diverse childhood cancer that affects mostly children under 5. The underlying molecular biology is poorly understood and current therapies are highly damaging to the children. This project aims at understanding this complexity to find new treatment options and targets for precision medicine. Using a multi-omics approach, the students will analyse data to understand the different biological origins of neuroblastoma tumours as part of determining new tumour subtypes.

The project will involve gaining experience in analysis of gene and miRNA expression and may include opportunities for analysing both bulk and single cell sequencing data.

Contact Person: Dr. Katherine Pillman and Prof. Greg Goodall

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Project Summary:This project aims to contribute to knowledge of the interconnection between student/teacher wellbeing and inform preventative wellbeing approaches to address the increasing prevalence of anxiety, stress, and mental health of students and teachers.
Increasingly young people and teachers are disengaging from education and employment due to reports of increasing wellbeing factors, particularly compounded by the Covid-19 context.
This is contributing to growing societal social, educational, economic and health costs, both locally and globally.
This project will inform the field of wellbeing research, with implications for sustained educational engagement and employment retention.
This project will include a literature review and working on a pilot study and integrate co-design responsive to the scholarship holder’s interest in the project issue.

Contact person: Dr Deborah Price

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Project Summary: This project aims to investigate how creative and body-based teaching approaches can respond to the educational needs of students in high poverty communities. The study involves multi-sited action research and ethnography in schools located in areas of high poverty in Adelaide. It brings together teachers, researchers and teaching artists to identify complex challenges, co-create curriculum aimed at improving student engagement and investigate their impact. The vacation scholarship will contribute to this project by reviewing literature and assisting with data analysis using qualitative and visual methods. Outcomes advance understanding of the processes of educational inequity as well as how young people might be supported to engage more powerfully with school.

Contact person: Dr Robyne Garrett 

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Project Summary: Establish a set of ‘principles of best practice’ for attracting and retaining culturally and linguistically diverse players in sport. Produce various resources, such as fact sheets, guides and stories of best practice aimed at various stakeholders. Resources will outline ways in which major stakeholders can contribute to more socially inclusive practices for players.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr David Caldwell

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Project Summary: This project will explore issues of inclusion in a global context of increasing diversity in early childhood settings. The scholarship holder will have the opportunity to engage with experienced researchers in the Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion and will have opportunity to contribute to a literature review on culturally inclusive pedagogies in early childhood and learn about policy analysis.

Contact person: Dr Jamie Sisson 

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Project Summary: This project seeks to respond to two interrelated challenges for academics and support staff who work with Students from Refugee Backgrounds (SfRBs):

1) To use best practice approaches for culturally responsive pedagogies and support services built on in-depth understanding of the educational aspirations, strengths, and challenges of SfRBs.
2) To use best practice approaches for tailored learning resources and technologies supported by effective pedagogies for SfRBs engaged in blended and online learning.

The proposed project responds to these challenges by investigating the student experience of SfRBs at UniSA College as well as current approaches used by educators and support staff who work with SfRBs at UniSA College through interviews and focus groups.

This vacation scholarship would suit students in the field of Education or Social Sciences. The scholarship holder would contribute to this project by assisting with a range of activities including reviewing literature and/or data analysis using qualitative methods.

The scholarship holder will have opportunity to learn about the enabling pedagogies and inclusive teaching approaches used in the pathway programs at UniSA College and will receive research training and mentorship from the project’s Chief Investigators Dr Snjezana Bilic and Dr Heidi Hetz.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact people: Dr Snjezana Bilic & Dr Heidi Hetz 

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Project Summary: According to MySchools® (ACARA, n.d) reporting of Australian schools data, 46 South Australian (SA) state schools have enrolments of 50 students or less, with approximately 13% of all SA government primary schools having equivalent student numbers. Approximately a quarter of SA state primary Schools have enrolments of less than 100 students, equating to 83 of all SA government schools have equivalent student numbers. Hence, small schools form a significant part of the SA schooling landscape. Geographically, they are classified as inner regional (n = 30) and outer regional (n = 42) schools. A key feature of small schools, limited by the sizes of their student populations, is the presence of students completing multiple year levels within the one class. In junior primary, this can mean that all children between the ages of five to eight may be in a single class. In smaller schools where the student population is less than 25, this is compounded where all students attending the school are in the one class. This mix of ages and the diverse range of development experienced by young children adds a complexity not seen in classes at schools with larger student populations. Early educational experiences provide the foundation for later achievement, however, there is little research into the first years of schooling in small regional schools and multi-age classrooms.
The vacation scholarship can be involved in various components of the research, including using MySchool and ABS data to collate, organise, display Australian school population data and produce a summary of findings; a literature review and/or contributing to a future publication.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Kate Quane & Dr Bec Neill 

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Project Summary: Our project investigates student perspectives on authentic assessment and digital learning in order to generate recommendations for educators.

We are looking for a research vacation scholarship student interested in and competent with digital technologies.

The student will be mentored through the following tasks:
• Literature review of emerging themes on digital learning and authentic assessment
• Work on a digital artefact (editing video content and/or simple web authoring).

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Jennifer Stokes & Dr John Pike 

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Project Summary: Building on our prior research into the impact of professional learning informed by social justice discourses in Higher Education in a South Australian university (Hattam & Weiler 2022; Hattam & Weiler 2020), this project seeks to develop a national Community of Practice in inclusive, enabling and critical pedagogies in higher education.

The adoption of Widening Participation (WP) policy in Australian universities is recognised as offering universities opportunities to balance competing logics of neo-liberal marketisation and a pursuit for more social justice in HE. As reported by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, undergraduate student enrolment from nationally recognised equity categories increased 12.6% nationally between 2013-2018 with low-SES students accounting for 17% of all undergraduates in 2018 (Koshy 2019).

WP reform challenges historical discourses of elitism and privilege, however a deficit framing persuasively demeans and delegitimises non-traditional students and those who work in the WP space of universities (Ahmed 2006; O’Shea et al. 2016; Burke 2013).

Our research investigates two central questions:
1. How can pedagogical spaces in Higher Education be transformed to be more inclusive?
2. How can critical, enabling and inclusive pedagogies challange discourses of deficit in higher education educators?

There are two stages to our project:
1. To build an external website to host existing self-paced academic development resources in developing critical, enabling and inclusive pedagogies and engage international audience in completing the professional learning modules.
2. Upon completion of the modules, participants will be surveyed to evaluate their attitudes towards critical, enabling and inclusive approaches and how these could be enacted within their teaching.

The vacation scholarship holder would contribute to this project by assisting with a range of activities including literature review and data analysis.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person:  Sarah Hattam & Tanya Weiler 

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Project summary: Feedback is an important aspect of learning in any environment, as it helps teams to break bad habits, reinforces positive behaviours and enables teams to work more effectively toward their goals. Effective feedback from mentors and clients is crucial for teams working on industry-related projects. Without it, their chances to perform well on particular tasks or develop useful skills remain limited. Given the importance of feedback, this project will help examine the differences in the provision of feedback from clients and mentors using learning analytics approaches.

The student will be involved in identifying key patterns, relationships, sentiments, or other classifications from text data to understand the differences in how clients and mentors provide feedback to teams. The implications of this research can help improve how instructors provide feedback to teams in collaborative learning contexts to further support teams.

This project is part of a CRC-P collaboration between the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) and other major research and industry educational partners.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact people: Mr Andrew Zamecnik & Dr Srecko Joksimovic

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Project Summary: “Hearing loss is the most common disability in adulthood” (Deafness Forum of Australia (DFA), 2022) with “1 in 6 Australians affected by hearing loss” (Australian Network on Disability, 2021). In terms of young people, 34 million children worldwide are reported to have a hearing loss (DFA, 2022). In Australia in 2019-2020, 72,000 children aged between 0 and 9 and 68, 000 children aged between 10 – 19 are considered to be Hard of Hearing (Hearing Care Industry Association, (HCIA) 2020). These statistics may be surprising to some; however, these numbers only portray a part of the issue. Children who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf are reported to have “poorer education and employment” (HCIA, 2020), “exclusion from communication”, and economic ramifications (DFA, 2022). Despite these acknowledgments of the impact hearing loss has on individuals, there is little research exploring practices that support, nurture, and foster learning opportunities for children who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf, in particular, in mathematics education.

This project entails a literature review that examines research on Hard of Hearing and Deaf student’s attitudes towards and engagement in mathematics:

• What does the current literature tell us about Hard of Hearing and Deaf students’ attitudes towards and engagement in mathematics?
• What recommendations for practice are presented in the literature?

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Kate Quane

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Project Summary: Using an interactive, activity-based approach, participants are invited to create network diagrams representing their digital interactions with family, friends and others. HDYC has already been successfully undertaken with 60 primary school children in SA and QLD and has ethics approval. The Vacation Scholarship program offers a student researcher the opportunity to take HDYC to a new cohort. Depending on the student researcher’s interest, this could be younger children, adolescents, or higher education students. The student researcher will be mentored in the skills of activity-based interviewing and in the multimodal analysis of visual and verbal data. Alternatively, if difficulties arise related to access to participants, the student researcher can undertake a focused analysis of existing data. Again, this focus will be negotiated with the student researcher. There will be also opportunities to participate in research activities with a broader project team, currently undertaking ARC DP 21010226 led by Nichols. 

Remote/Online participation option is available with this project. 

Contact person: Professor Sue Nichols 

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Project Summary: Laboratory and practical-based learning opportunities are highly valued. The move to deliver science-based courses online provides greater accessibility to a wide range of learners, however this also challenges core teaching philosophies that face-to-face laboratory learning is unmatched.

The aim of this project is to investigate the impact of iterative creation of online resources and online practicals in introductory science courses, where practice-based laboratory skills offer a link between theory and conceptual understanding.

Using learning analytics, the vacation scholar will analyse completion of online activities and assessment grades. Student reflections and experiences will be examined through text analysis. This project builds upon ongoing research in online practical sessions and online interactive activities for UniSA College science courses.

Key outcomes will be
• Identify the link between completion of online labs and grades
• Describe the emerging themes in student experiences of online resources
• Determine whether the activities effectively scaffold student learning compared to face-to-face classes

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Alice Betteridge, Anthea Fudge, Natasha Wilson 

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Project Summary: 50% of life-long mental health conditions develop before the age of 14. Play has been shown to be fundamental to children’s mental health and wellbeing. Middle years children, however, have been under-researched as a cohort in relation to play. This study investigates play and the impact of play environments on mental health and wellbeing for middle years children. The overarching aim is to develop a framework to support the mental health and wellbeing of this population. The successful student could be involved in various components of the research: literature review, data analysis, and/or contributing to a future publication.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Jane Webb-Williams

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Project Summary: This project aims to evaluate the ways test-based assessments are used in higher education and to identify to what extent they promote/reward higher order learning.

Research shows that authentic approaches to assessment provide students with a clear purpose of the assessment tasks, increasing engagement. In enabling education there must be a balance between designing assessment tasks with real world applications and preparing students for undergraduate degrees where, in sciences, the most common assessment task is a test or exam. Tests and exams are often criticised for being weighted towards lower order skills such as memorisation. This project seeks to address this criticism and seek opportunities to embed more authentic approaches to test design.

In this research project, the test questions currently used in three foundation level science courses will be ranked and evaluated using a validated taxonomy to determine what levels of thought are currently assessed. This project will also investigate the relationships between questions that encourage higher order responses and overall course grades The vacation scholar will be involved in the rating and categorising of quiz and test questions against a validated taxonomy and the analysis of findings. This project will form a platform for the ongoing STEM Authentic Assessment project at UniSA College and lead to improved assessment practices that better support student learning outcomes.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact people: Alice Betteridge, Anthea Fudge, Monica Thai, Natasha Wilson 

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Project Summary: Curriculum is central to the teaching and learning within the educational field. Within the current Australian context there has been significant initiatives aimed at raising quality of teaching and student academic outcomes including:
- Advancing a consistent national curriculum in schools/settings with Australian Curriculum version 9 released May 2022 (ACARA)
- national standards for initial teacher education program (AITSL) with curriculum emphasis on certain discipline/learning areas
- increased focus on pedagogy of enacted curriculum

This project specifically addresses the growing concern for changes in curriculum discourse and reduced emphasis being placed in training teachers as curriculum workers. The research questions underpinning this project are:
- How is curriculum defined, understood and developed in initial teacher education (ITE) programs?
- What is the nature of how teachers are trained as curriculum workers?

The scholarship holder will have the opportunity to engage in:
- Data collection and content analysis: mapping Australian Initial Teacher Education (undergraduate and postgraduate) program and course web pages re curriculum discourse.
- Potential for conducting interviews with ITE program directors/curriculum leads and transcribing and thematic analysis.
- Ethics application
- Disseminate findings – potential to co-author journal article for submission to Curriculum Perspectives.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Deborah Price

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Project Summary:

• Review current online exams methods for engineering education.
• Identify learning technologies used for online exam in engineering
• Scope of authentic assessment (online exam) in engineering education
• Propose a robust online exam methodology frame work for engineering education

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Rhoda Abadia & Dr Shekh Rubaiyat

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Project Summary: Recent studies and media reports have indicated the increasing number of academics reporting symptoms of poor mental wellbeing. They include burnout, anxiety and depression. If these symptoms should continue, they will have enormous social and economic impacts on Australian higher education sector including reduced capacity to work, increased cost associated to employee compensation, early retirement, and absenteeism. Yet, little is known the situation amongst academics working in the field of teacher education. This systematic literature review will explore current research on academics (including early/mid-career researchers) working in teacher education:
1. how is mental wellbeing defined in the current teacher education context?
2. what do we know about the stresses and issues that teacher educators encounter today (eg. in post-COVID work conditions)?
3. what recommendations for improving mental health wellbeing of academics (including teacher educators) are found in the literature?
The vacation research scholar will work closely with the ECR Research Team in a systematic review of the literature and will contribute to the co-publication.

Contact person: Dr Hannah Soong

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Project Summary: Apply text-based analytical techniques to marking rubric and feedback of summative assessments to evaluate the quality of written feedback and identify students’ common misconceptions:
• To explore the alignment of key concepts extracted from marking rubric and written feedback
• To model students’ common misconceptions and cluster similar misconceptions into groups

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Rhoda Abadia & Dr Sisi Liu

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Project Summary:  The Project would focus on two interconnected aspects: the first is Motta and Bennett’s (2018) description of pedagogies of care as: recognition, dialogic relationality, and affective and embodied praxis (p, 632); and the second is what Green, Eady and Tindall-Ford (2020) describe [as] school-university partnerships … operating in the ‘third space’ where the domains of school and university intersect; they are intentional, deliberate, collaborative, and non-hierarchical in nature (p, 13).

Locating the Regional Student Experience within the ‘third space’ of school-university partnerships will support, facilitate, enable and promote care-ful pedagogic relationships with students as individuals, learners and pre-service teachers; and build the professional and collegial connections with and benefits for supervising teachers, school sites and this regional university tutor/professional experience supervisor.

Opening up the ‘third space’ to enable what Walker and Gleaves (2016) describe as “the active fostering of and maintenance of pedagogic relationships above all else” (p, 1), will not only enhance and strengthen school-university partnerships, it will enable and bring to the forefront pedagogic relationships that will significantly improve the regional student experience for pre-service teachers’ learning, and ultimately final year pre-service teachers’ Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment (2022) outcomes.

References
UniSA Education Futures Academic Unit Plan 2022 – 2025 EDC_Academic Unit Plan_approved (1).pdf
Green, C.A., Eady, M.J., Tindall-Ford, S.K. (2020). “I Think That’s My Job”: What Motivates Teachers to Partner with Teacher Educators in ITE?. In: Fox, J., Alexander, C., Aspland, T. (eds) Teacher Education in Globalised Times. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4124-7_13
Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment, Preservice Teacher Booklet 2022. Institute for Learning Sciences & Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University.
Motta, S. C., & Bennett, A. (2018). Pedagogies of care, care-full epistemological practice and ‘other’ caring subjectivities in enabling education. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), 631-646.
Walker, C., & Gleaves, A. (2016). Constructing the caring higher education teacher: A theoretical framework. Teaching and teacher education, 54, 65-76.

Mode of Study: Ideally, the scholarship recipient[s] would be from a regional location/catchment of UniSA’s Whyalla Campus. There are a number of current undergraduate students that would be strongly encouraged to apply; in addition, two regional students could share the Vacation Research Scholarship and each prepare an annotated bibliography and 4000 – 5000 word Literature Review on each aspect of the Project that could then be collaboratively written with a view to publication.

As I live and work in the region I would be available both face to face and online throughout the vacation break to support and supervise the Vacation Scholarship Recipient[s]. The Research Vacation Scholarship would be 8 weeks in duration, commencing in the last week of November – break over Christmas/New Year when the University is closed – and recommence the first week in January and conclude at the end of the month.

The Regional Student Experience and School-University Partnerships are the focus on my current role at the Whyalla Campus and feature in my scholarship work, this project would add depth and value to that.

Contact person: Sharron Jones 

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Project Summary: It has long been recognised that bystanders can stop bullying in 50% of cases. This project significantly contributes to what is known about cyberbullying by exploring the online behaviours of young people. This project aimed to:
• Identify who are the bystanders within the context of cyber bullying
• Identify the roles that bystanders play in bullying situations in cyber space
• Highlight the significance of these participant roles
• Determine the decision making processes used by those involved
Data has been collected for this project therefore the vacation scholarship holder will contribute as part of a team who will analyse data and disseminate findings.

The scholarship holder will have the opportunity to engage with experienced researchers in the Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion and will receive training and mentoring from the research team.

Contact person: Dr Deborah Green 

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Project summary: The UniSA Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, based within the UniSA Justice & Society Academic Unit, has become an important contributor of international debates surrounding the future of AI and its social dimensions. Works by Centre Director, Professor Anthony Elliott and other Centre staff have developed new perspectives about how advanced automation and the robotics revolution all have social drivers and consequences.

The present project seeks to build on these works by developing new sociological theories on issues such as the emergence of AI-driven smart borders, the future of the passport, and social implications of chatbots. Successful applicants will get the opportunity to produce a scholarly work for publication. Also as part of their scholarship, they will get the chance to contribute to the operation of a Centre funded by the European Commission, which is charged to engage in public diplomacy to deepen the EU/Australia relationship. Additionally successful applicants will get the opportunity to make contributions to ongoing sociological research projects at the UniSA Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.

Contact person: Dr Eric Hsu

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Project summary: There are several projects that students can be involved with. They are detailed below, but please do get in touch for further details. Students will work on multiple projects, all of which are underway. Activities include participant testing, learning how to collect cognitive and psychophysiological measurements, study logistics, data entry, literature reviews, and pilot testing. Along with the project-based work, students will be immersed in a research environment, participating in laboratory meetings (CAIN Lab and BBB Research Centre), training events, and attending seminars.

1. Identifying how social cognition changes in adulthood.
2. Evaluating an intergenerational playgroup.
3. Evaluating a wellbeing educational intervention for older adults.
4. Investigating the auditory oddball in very late-life.

Contact person: A/Prof Hannah Keage

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Project Summary: Nearly all Australian jurisdictions have either enacted elements of an affirmative consent model in some form or are otherwise currently undertaking reviews of their consent laws. These reforms recognise that critical barriers to access to justice lead to around 90% of women who experience sexual assault choosing not to report their abuse to police. Whilst there are some welcome legislative amendments currently awaiting passage in the SA House of Assembly, these proposed amendments do not reflect the emerging consensus that law reform and community education frameworks should recognise the need for active consent. This highlights the urgent need to explore further reforms to South Australia’s judicial system’s approach to sexual violence to better support the experiences and autonomy of victim-survivors. This project aims to identify options to supplement current and proposed SA consent provisions and jury directions including through the inclusion of a comprehensive definition of consent that explicitly reflects this conception of active consent. Outputs will include a law reform Options Paper, as well as a short presentation at an online community forum hosted by the Rights Resource Network SA.
The project will also include liaison with the Victims Support Service SA and Embolden SA – two community organisations actively engaged in advocacy in this area.

Contact person: Dr Sarah Moulds

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Project summary:Data literacy refers to the ability to derive meaningful information from data. It’s a relatively new concept. We know some people are highly data literate and some people have poor data literacy, however, we don’t have an appropriate, reliable, and valid scale on which to index data literacy. This project aims to (start to) develop a data literacy scale. This is a fun and collaborative project, with two data scientists from the University of Adelaide - Professor Lewis Mitchell and Dr Melissa Humphries - and Dr Owen Churches from the SA Government, along with A/Prof Tobias Loetscher (UniSA Psychology). We are at the early stages of this project and need assistance to (i) undertake a literature review on data literacy, (ii) communicate with key researchers in the field to operationalise the term data literacy in the context of related concepts, (iii) begin to develop a question bank, and (iv), design a study to formally develop this new scale.

Contact person: A/Prof. Hannah Keage

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Project Summary: Dr McLinton is writing a paper on the common pitfalls encountered by researchers in their applications to Human Research Ethics Committees. It is a qualitative study looking to answer the question "What are the trends in the comments, requests, and advice given by Research Ethics Advisors (REA) in the process of reviewing moderate-risk-level research proposals?"

Our team has commenced searching the literature for background information, but we’re looking for a bright scholar who can help us. Tasks would include; 1) running queries on the body of knowledge; 2) reporting back on key papers; and 3) synthesising these in part of our literature review under the guidance of Dr McLinton.
For example, some queries we have include:
- has there been research in the past evaluating Human Research Ethics Committee protocols?
- if so, what types of trends arise? Are there common pitfalls encountered by applicants submitting a proposal? Where do the typical issues lie in applications (e.g. risks to researchers, risks to participants, issues with bias, repercussions for organisations, and so on...)

Reporting back could include verbal summaries, notes, collated abstracts of key papers, or even paraphrased written content. Should the student be interested, if they write sections to be included in the paper itself then they will be invited on directly as an author of the paper (according to APA authorship guidelines).

Therefore, this placement would suit a student with a strong mastery of report writing, is interested in academic writing for peer review, as well as research ethics in general. It is located as UniSA JUS Magill, but can also be conducted remotely, with meetings via Zoom.

Contact person: Dr Sarven McLinton

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Project summary: This research seeks to explore authenticity in learning and assessment in a non-vocational Bachelor of Arts degree (MBAA), to enable meaningful and relevant connections between students and community/industry partners. In the MBAA, the Professional Directions Program (PDP) provides students with experiential learning and placement opportunities to enable them to explore and develop potential career narratives. The unique double major plus minor structure means that MBAA students bring diverse disciplinary knowledge, different linguistic and cultural repertoires, and unique experiences and aspirations, equipping them with an epistemic agility and research capabilities that are crucial for creating innovative solutions in a rapidly transforming society. The aim of the research is to capture student and community/industry perspectives on authenticity in learning and assessment, so that these voices can (1) be drawn on to co-design innovative, authentic learning and assessment options, and (2) be integrated into the course narrative to support future PDP students. The successful Vacation Research Scholar will work with experienced applied linguistic researchers to collect and analyse data in the form of reflective journal entries and semi-structured interviews with PDP students, teachers and community/industry partners. They will be invited to co-present findings at an RCLC seminar, and contribute to a paper with the researchers.

Mode of Study: This project has the option for remote/online participation.

Contact person: Dr Fiona O'Neill

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Project summary:Summary of private practice psychologists regarding their applied work (nature) and focus relating to theoretical orientation and techniques used.

Contact person: Dr Nadine Pelling

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Project summary: This study examines what successful ageing in the workplace means to people. The average life expectancy continues to rise, and with this extraordinary feat of human innovation comes new challenges. One of which is that traditional retirement ages are no longer suitable for many of us. As we age into advanced years we may wish – or need – to continue working. Survey data asking individuals what successful ageing in the workplace means has been collected through qualitative responses from over 200 participants.
The student will be involved in the project by analysing these results through either content or thematic analysis with an aim of contributing to a manuscript. The student will be guided on ethical handling of the data, enacting appropriate analytic methods, and conduct effective literature searches. Along with this, the student will be involved in any meetings, seminars, or related BBB Research Centre activities.
This project would suit any students interested in ageing, work and organisational psychology, and/or qualitative methods. Involvement in the BBB Research Centre provides additional insights into the various aspects and opportunities in the Behaviour-Brain-Body research areas. 

Contact person: Dr Michelle Oppert

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