Vacation Research Scholarships

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 analyzing the buying behavior 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 : Analysing how online subscription television (e.g., Netflix) is consumed, Extending and replicating (Ehrenberg & Bound 1993;  Winchester & Lees 2013).

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: 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 with in store equivalents?

Contact person: Dr Zachary Anesbury

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Project summary: Consumers often report a willingness to support socially and environmentally responsible products, but this is not always reflected in their actual buying behaviours. There is a parallel issue within the organizational boundaries. Young entrants to the labour force are described as value-driven, and caring about employers’ diversity/environment stance, but there are conflicting findings about how far employees values take them (how much salary would employees sacrifice to work for a socially responsible organisation)?

It is likely that recent shifts in societal expectations (e.g., #Metoo, climate strikes) may have made consumers and employees more aware of the purpose led organisations’ commitment to social and environmental issues.

In this project the vacation scholar will work with an established research team from the Centre for Workplace Excellence (CWeX) to investigate whether these shifts in societal expectations are leading consumers and employees to consider social and environmental issues in their buying behaviours and employment decisions.

The vacation scholar will have an opportunity to be trained in doing research interviews, focus groups, and non-participant observations. The student will also be trained to analyse qualitative data.

Contact person: A/Prof. Sukhbir Sandhu and Prof. Carol Kulik

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Project summary: Australians are among those who work longer hours, take less holidays and report an increasing level of workplace incidents with burnout and mental illness, compared to people in most other OECD countries. Recognising employees as whole human beings with various work-life boundary spanning roles, extant literature on work-family conflict have consistently pointed to the needs to examine non-work factors that could explain missing variance of impacts of work-related factors (e.g. job satisfaction, person-organisation fit, engagement, job stressors) on employee wellbeing and job performance.

The vacation scholar will help explore the impacts of non-work factors (e.g., length and frequency of taking break; quality of relationships; childbearing and caring responsibilities etc.) on employee wellbeing and job performance. The findings will serve to inform policy changes for the Australian Federal and States’ leave registrations (e.g. Annual Holiday Act 1944) and for workplace policy and practice on employees’ taking break.

The vacation scholar will have an opportunity to be trained in conducting relevant literature review, navigating various databases, and analysing quantitative data.

Contact person: A/Prof. Connie Zheng 

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Project summary: This project will evaluate the physical and social outcomes for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds (aged 16-25) participating in a multicultural sports program.

Australian studies have shown that young people (13-25 years) from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds desire social connections with people from their own and other backgrounds in the pursuit of a sense of belonging in their settlement country. Participation in sport has the potential increase social connectedness of recent young migrants in their settlement country. Formal sport in Australia can be exclusive and expensive, with club fees and discrimination making club involvement inaccessible for many young migrants

This project will evaluate a multicultural sports program that is operated by a social enterprise (One Culture Football).  Project findings will provide information to program managers that will assist them to enhance their inclusive sports programs, including  ways to enable participation in mainstream clubs.

The student/s will learn the following research skills:

• partnering with industry to conduct research (week 1)
• developing and administering a survey tool (weeks 1-2)
• facilitating a focus group (week 2)
• qualitative and quantitative data analysis (weeks 3-6)
• writing up findings in an industry report (weeks 7-8)

NB: the supervising researchers will obtain ethics approval before scholarship commencement; training in week 1 will include a session on research ethics.

Contact person: Dr Catherine Mackenzie and Dr Veronica Coram

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Project summary: Little is known about whether people currently in their sixties and seventies expect or aspire to leave bequests, who the recipients are likely to be, and the factors motivating their bequest decisions. It is likely that the transfer of wealth from the Baby Boomers to younger generations will benefit only a small proportion of the mid-life population, exacerbating wealth concentration and inequality. This project investigates older people’s attitudes towards leaving bequests and the extent to which these attitudes reflect changing social norms around consumption, individualism, and obligations toward others.

This project builds on prior work undertaken by the CI which investigated the attitudes of different age groups towards inheritance and intergenerational transfers. The findings were surprising in that they revealed a substantial decline in older people’s intention to leave a bequest and young people’s expectation that they would receive one. The research also found that attitudes towards inheritance taxation were more positive than is assumed to be the case. The results were published in the Australian Journal of Political Science and generated substantial interest from media and policy thinktanks.

The proposed project investigates the bequest intentions and motivations of 60 to 75-year-olds in more detail. It will involve a review of relevant prior research in Australia and overseas and qualitative data collection via in-depth interviews with 25 participants. The Vacation Scholar will have the opportunity to participate at all stages of the project, including:
• Contributing to the review of prior research.
• Participant recruitment.
• Data collection.
• Data analysis.
• Writing up results, including for potential publication in a peer reviewed journal (with co-authorship credit).

This project would be of most relevance to students with an interest in political science, public policy, sociology, psychology, economics, law, or qualitative research methods. Because it is a small-scale project, it offers the Vacation Scholar the opportunity to be involved across the entirety of the research process, and to work closely with the CI and receive intensive mentoring.

Contact person: Dr Veronica Coram

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Project summary: There is little doubt that SA Water has a scientifically grounded understanding of what constitutes ‘better water supplies’ in terms of those best suited to (a) meet human health standards and (b) pass global aesthetic benchmarks. But currently there is limited reference to local customers’ preferences or buy-in from them to justify any expenditure on infrastructure upgrades.

Against this background, this student project sits within a broader project that aims to increase our understanding of customers’ taste preferences in regional and metropolitan South Australia.

The student project involves assistance with recruiting and liaising with participants for taste testing experiments managed by the broader project team. It will also involve assisting with reviewing the survey instruments, conducting the taste experiments and the opportunity to review the taste testing data.

Contact person: Dr Bethany Cooper

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Project summary: Corporate social responsibility has often been linked to corporate efforts to maintain legitimacy and to ‘greenwash’. A key issue has been how committed corporations are to the CSR activities that they undertake (and report on). This project explores changes in corporate philanthropy before, during and after the COVID crisis.

The present health and financial crisis will be a significant test to understand the depth and commitment to the CSR and sustainability initiatives that corporations undertake. Corporate giving is a window into how willing companies are to continue to engage with CSR despite the significant financial pressure they are under. This research will provide insight into how corporate giving practice changes (or does not) during times of crisis and how contextual influences in different countries may impact corporate behaviour.

A comparative analysis of the corporate disclosure of the top 20 companies in three developed versus developing countries will be analysed. The six countries of the study will be chosen to represent the highest scoring countries using the Corporate Giving Index. This will enable an exploration of contextual variations in philanthropy and CSR activities between countries using content analysis (textual and visual) of corporate external reporting including company websites.

The target years of the study will be 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Vacation Research Scholar will collect annual reports for the top 20 companies in each country for the period and relevant corporate website data. This will be entered into NVivo with the guidance of the lead researcher. They will then undertake basic content analysis with the guidance of the research team.
across the entirety of the research process, and to work closely with the CI and receive intensive mentoring.

Contact person: Dr. Dinithi Dissanayake

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Project summary: There is an inherent contradiction between mining, sustainability, and Indigenous communities. Australian mining companies consider local Aboriginal communities as a marginalized stakeholder group and have not fully acknowledge Aboriginal cultural values and customs (Kaur & Qian, 2020). The destruction of Juukan Gorge Cave, a 46,000-year-old rock shelter of enormous Aboriginal significance, by Rio Tinto has yet again drawn national and international attention towards social accountability of mining companies. This incident has adversely affected the Rio Tinto’s corporate image and reputation and has resulted in the suspension of its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program.

Since this incident, the company has undertaken a number of measures to restore its corporate image. Along with implementing immediate corrective measures, communication of sustainability performance enables organisations to manage stakeholder expectations and rebuild corporate image (Arora & Lodhia, 2017). Therefore, this study aims to investigate how different communication media are used to manage reputation crisis in the event of a major incident, using Rio Tinto as a case study.

Data on sustainability disclosures will be collected from Rio Tinto’s website, sustainability reports and social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) for the 2020 and 2021 periods. Thematic analysis will be applied to identify the risk and reputation management strategies (Arora & Lodhia, 2017) disclosed across different communication media.

The findings of this studies will contribute to the existing understanding of effectiveness of different communication media and disclosure strategies in reducing reputation crisis, and thus these will be of interest to policymakers and practitioners.

Contact person: Dr Amanpreet Kaur

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Project summary: It has been a tumultuous number of years for not-for-profits in Australia. Not-for-profits are one of the largest employers as a sector in the country. However, there are vociferous demands for greater accountability and oversight of these organisations.

This project explores how the not-for-profit sector in Australia has responded to the Black Summer Bushfire and COVID crisis. Many charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were criticized for their slow response to Black Summer Bushfire relief. However, these same organisations were heavily relied on by government and communities as the COVID pandemic took hold across the nation and as lockdowns became a new reality of life.

This research explores how two large not-for-profit organisations (Red Cross Australia and The Salvation Army Australia) have responded to crisis. The project will take a dialogic approach, juxtaposing the official organisational disclosure through external disclosure (e.g. annual reporting, official twitter accounts), with an analysis of news and social media as it relates to these organisations from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

This will involve collecting and analysing the official external disclosure of the two organisations, searching UniSA library databases for all relevant media articles, and then analysing twitter and Facebook data.

This project strongly aligns to the Centre of Markets, Values and Inclusion and its ‘Accountability and Governance’ research stream. It aligns with the ‘transforming societies’ UniSA research theme. Research into not-for-profits is an area of growth for CMVI, with the work done by TAASE. The lead researcher is an expert in NGO accountability and governance, and this project will contribute to their development.

Contact person: Dr Sanjaya Kuruppu

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Project summary: This project is concerned with water and other natural resources availability and the use of technology to account for it in food systems. A business as usual approach to managing and accounting for natural resource use in our food systems risks sending us into a worldwide food crisis by the latter part of this century. At the same time, food systems are one of the key drivers of climate change, and without rapid and dramatic transformation, they will accelerate our path to a climate crisis. 

Such systems transformation requires improved understanding of natural resources use and how we can use technology to measure it to improve the efficacy of food systems. However, research in this space to date has left many gaps and had few actionable outcomes, often because it is inadequately informed by the ground-up needs of policy makers and communities most impacted.

This project is part of a broader alliance with international universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, International Food Policy Research Institute. The project involves assistance with reviewing existing research in this context, basic data analysis, and assisting with the development of the research agenda for the alliance.

Contact person: A/Prof. Joanne Tingey-Holyoak

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Project summary: The Adelaide Zero Project has been working to end homelessness in Adelaide’s inner city for the last 4 years. As a collective the project has several datasets that together provide wealth of information about the housing and support needs of people sleeping rough, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of people sleeping rough. Limited capacities exist within the project to do the deep dives into the data that we need to understand people and how our support systems (homelessness, health, disability, aged care, other specialist services) can better meet their needs.

The project would see the appropriate candidate(s) synthesise quantitative and qualitative project data on:

• the socio-demographic characteristics of people sleeping rough;
• the types of housing and support needs people have;
• trends in particular needs/unmet needs over time;
• complexity and acuity (intensity) of needs; and,
• how system response can better meet the need of people seeking to move on from rough sleeping.

The project will develop candidates’ data analysis, data presentation and synthesis skills.

The successful vacation research scholarship candidate(s) would work on this data-focused activity under the supervision of Dr Selina Tually, The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise, UniSA Business, as well as Mr David Pearson, Chief Executive Officer, The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness and Ms Clare Rowley, SA Housing Authority. Tually and Pearson are nationally recognised experts in the end homelessness space. Rowley is the SA Housing Authority Innovation Partner associated with supporting the Adelaide Zero Project.
Through Dr Tually, UniSA is a partner in the Adelaide Zero Project collaboration.

Contact person: Dr Selina Tually

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Project summary: This project will review the literature and data availability and will assemble a housing and apartment price dataset suitable for building an econometric (statistical) model of housing price growth rates. This will build on previous work by the supervisor, bringing both the literature and datasets up to date. The work would suit an established, research focused, student in economics or finance. It would appeal to students interested in housing markets, and in the application of predictive or forecasting methods and models.

The project aligns well with the social enterprise and inclusion priority of the Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion. In addition, it would contribute to the objective of growing the capacity and research footprint of the Property group within UniSA Business.

Contact person: Prof. Chris Leishman

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Project summary: There is a history of water resource developments like major dams and water allocation plans that don’t pass benefit cost analysis (BCA) tests, though many benefit some interests at a cost to others. Recent guidelines from the National Water Grid Authority (a major investor of public money in such projects) call for better practice in evaluation of new potential water projects.

The project will be:  

1) a review of best practice including accounting for past optimism bias, inclusive accounting for who wins (often narrow interests of single developers) and who loses (often environmental, public recreation and amenity, and municipal industrial water supply and the interests of Aboriginal people);   

2) evaluation of several case studies of recent a proposed future developments in Northern Australia including recent irrigation developments in the Northern territory and proposed developments in Western Australia that apply BCA best practice.

Contact person: Prof. Jeff Connor

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Project summary: Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious challenges facing our society today. According to the World Health Organization, unless urgent action is taken, we are in danger to enter a post-antibiotic era where no treatment options would be available for infections caused by antimicrobial resistant pathogens. This project will focus on determining the antimicrobial resistance profiles in a subset of bacterial pathogens and on providing a preliminary characterisation of the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance.

Contact person: A/Prof. Rietie Venter

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Project summary: Hypoglycaemia is a major complication of insulin therapy in type 1 diabetes. Importantly, recurrent episodes of hypoglycaemia reduce the physiological defence against subsequent hypoglycaemia leading to increased risk of further hypoglycaemic episodes.  The mechanisms of this phenomenon are largely unknown. We aim to investigate the neurochemical mechanisms in the brain and adrenal gland contributing to this phenomenon in a preclinical model of type 1 diabetes.

Contact person: A/Prof. Larisa Bobrovskaya

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Project summary: A daily injection can be a troublesome problem for a patient to stay on schedule for long-term treatment. Consequently, a long-acting intramuscular injection can significantly improve the patient’s quality of life.

A long-acting intramuscular injection formulation will be optimized in this project. The analytical method for the drug-using HPLC will be developed and validated. An evaluation model for its in-vitro release profile needs to be established. The challenge of this project is to simulate the in-vivo condition for the drug release assessment.

Contact person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr May Song

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Project summary: A chewable tablet formulation will be developed according to Quality Attribute Considerations for Chewable Tablets (Guidance for Industry, FDA, 2018). An ideal chewable tablet should be easy to chew with appropriate appearance, taste, size, thickness, and shape.  Hardness and dissolution are critical quality attributes for a chewable tablet. The following studies will be performed for the chewable tablet development:

• Pharmaceutical excipients screen
• Content uniformity
• Weight variation
• Color, surface, and overall appearance
• Dissolution tests
• Hardness test
• Disintegration time test
• Friability test

Contact person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr May Song

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Project summary: Overall, poor medication adherence is a serious global issue that affects 50% of patients, which costs approximately $660 million and $77- $300 billion per year to the healthcare system in Australia and the USA, respectively. To overcome this challenge, there has been interested in developing a long-acting drug delivery system that gradually releases medication over a period of several days or weeks with a single application. It offers several potential benefits in comparison with conventional immediate-release agents, including significant improvement in safety, clinical therapeutic outcomes, and patient adherence by reducing the frequency of taking medication.

In this project, we are planning to screen oils and polymers for their potential for extending the drug release of model drugs using in-vitro Franz-diffusion and/or dialysis bag release studies. The data will help in selecting the best ingredients in the development of a long-acting drug delivery system for achieving the desired release.

Contact person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Krishna Kathawala

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Project summary: Nutraceuticals, such as Vit D, are fat-soluble vitamins required for maintaining skeletal and non-skeletal functions. Certain population groups such as the elderly in nursing homes, people who get limited exposure to the sun, people with darker skin, infants, and young kids less than 5years are at risk of Vitamin D deficiency. There is a need for suitable Vitamin D products that can be utilized for supplementation in this age group. The use of oral film means no need for water, swallowing, or chewing which ultimately leads to better patient compliance.

Hence, this present work involves the development and characterization of an oral film containing vitamin D. Using nanotechnology, a high dose of vitamin D will be loaded into the film and the optimized film will be characterized using different techniques. The film will be assayed for compatibility studies using FTIR and DSC, film thickness, weight uniformity, mechanical properties, disintegration time, surface pH and release studies.

Contact person: Prof. Sanjay Garg and Dr Franklin Afinjuomo

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Project summary: In the past, health research questions have been mostly led by drug companies or researchers, with little involvement of clinicians and consumers. A team of researchers across Australia (led by the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre here at UniSA) are conducting a multi-stage research project to identify the top 10 unanswered questions about quality use of medicines (QUM) in people with dementia.

QUM means using medicines safely and effectively to get the best possible health outcomes. It also means only using medicines when they are needed. People living with dementia represent the diverse adult health population, having multiple other medical conditions and from all socio-cultural backgrounds. There are many potential areas of research that could improve QUM for people with dementia.

This project will be used to inform stakeholders, such as policy makers and advocacy groups, which research is most important and ensure that outcomes of research are directly relevant to the care of people living with dementia. This will lead to improving how medicines are used which in turn will improve health outcomes in people living with dementia.

In this summer research project, you will explore how the priorities of different types of stakeholders, such as consumers, clinicians and researchers differ. You will use existing data from the above-described project as well as from another project which determined researcher priorities. You will be supported to use robust methods of quantitative analysis and prepare a summary of the findings. There is flexibility in this project depending on the interests of the student, such as focusing on pharmacists or nurses, or examining priorities across disciplines.

You will be supported by experienced researchers and Early Career Researchers within the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre (QUMPRC). QUMPRC is a consumer-driven, data-informed research centre, known for conducting research studies and interventions that are effective in improving the use of medicines and improving patient lives.

Our large research centre is home to a team of multidisciplinary researchers with expertise in pharmacy, medicine, psychology, implementation science and behaviour change research, biostatistics and pharmacoepidemiology. We have a large cohort of higher degree by research students in the centre, providing a supportive environment for new research students.

Contact person: Dr Emily Reeve

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Project summary:  Research conducted in the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre in 2017 highlighted that adults with autism spectrum disorder often use medicines – on average two medicines per person, and up to four regular medicines per person. Psychotropic medicines (e.g. antipsychotics, sedatives, antidepressants) were the most frequently used medicine types, and these medicines are also associated with a number of potential side effects and medication related problems. However, no Australian studies have quantified the extent of medication related problems in adults with autism spectrum disorder.

In this research project, you will address this research-practice gap using de-identified data collected from mental health care plan records of a large number of adults with ASD. You will use validated methods to identify medication related problems in Australian adults with autism spectrum disorder. You will use validated tools, including the drug burden index, anticholinergic scales and sedative scales to calculate the burden of psychotropic medicines in this population.

You will be supported by experienced researchers and Early Career Researchers within the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre (QUMPRC). QUMPRC is a consumer-driven, data-informed research centre, known for conducting research studies and interventions that are effective in improving the use of medicines and improving patient lives.

Our large research centre is home to a team of multidisciplinary researchers with expertise in pharmacy, medicine, psychology, implementation science and behaviour change research, biostatistics and pharmacoepidemiology. We have a large cohort of higher degree by research students in the centre, providing a supportive environment for new research students.

Contact person: Dr Lisa Kalisch Ellett

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Project summary: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a recognised potentially preventable medication-related harm by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, only about 5% of all ADRs experienced by patients are reported to regulatory authorities, which means only about one in twenty ADRs experienced were reported. Modern technology has the potential to address gaps in ADR detection and reporting.

In this research project, you will conduct a literature review and an environmental scan of websites to identify a range of portable digital technologies available to detect and report ADRs, summarizing their various characteristics and validity. You will learn how to conduct a literature search and an environmental scan, how to critically appraise the literature and results from the environmental scan, how to extract relevant information needed to answer the research question, and how to evaluate the validity and reliability of the digital technologies. You will be involved in writing a scientific paper for submission to a peer-reviewed journal and included as a co-author.

You will be supported by researchers within the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre (QUMPRC). QUMPRC is a consumer-driven, data-informed research centre, known for conducting research studies and interventions that are effective in improving the use of medicines and improving patient lives. Our large research centre is home to a team of multidisciplinary researchers with expertise in pharmacy, medicine, psychology, implementation science and behaviour change research, biostatistics and pharmacoepidemiology. We have a large cohort of higher degree by research students in the centre, providing a supportive environment for new research students.

Contact person: Dr Renly Lim

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Project summary: After the discovery of the APOE gene and knowledge of its genetic variants, several studies have demonstrated the association between the APOE polymorphisms and chronic conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, age-related cognitive decline, osteoporosis, breast cancer, end-stage renal disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, coronary disease and longevity.

The APOE gene, located on chromosome 19, is composed by three alleles (ε2, ε3 and ε4) that give rise to six different genotypes (ε2/2, ε2/3, ε2/4, ε3/3, ε3/4, and ε4/4). The ε3 allele differs from the ε2 allele by an amino acid substitution of arginine for cysteine at codon 158, while the ε4 differs from ε3 by a substitution of additional arginine for cysteine at residue 112.

APOE is highly susceptible to glycation, with ε4 showing a three-fold greater AGE binding activity than ε3. This suggests that glycation of ε4 may be an early step in the Alzheimer’s cascade and that an increased affinity of ε4 and AGEs may be a significant contributor to increased risk of AD. We have previously shown ε4 carriers have greater propensity to glycation in South Australian populations.
Students can choose to focus on either of the aims:

• Aim 1: to investigate the impact of APOE alleles in the formation of arginine related advanced glycation end-products using invitro models.
• Aim 2: to analyze related dicarbonyls and arginine related advanced glycation end-products in plasma collected from a previous study.

Contact person: Dr Permal Deo

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Project Summary: Extra cellular vesicles have biological similarities with platelets but are not well studied. The study will characterize and compare the ultra-structural composition of extra cellular vesicles with platelets by electron microscopy after isolation from healthy donor blood. Imaging techniques, including confocal microscopy, will also be used to determine the presence of relevant biomarkers to provide functional information.

The project aims to gain a better understanding of the biological roles of extra cellular vesicles and platelets with potential application in the study of cancer.

Contact person: Dr Brian Dale

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Project Summary: Osteoporosis is a disease resulting in reduced bone strength that significantly increases the risk of broken bones. Osteoporosis can be caused by a number of factors and is particularly prominent in older people, with 70% of those over the age of 80 being affected.

Currently, osteoporosis is treated with bisphosphonates that have to be taken orally each day over long periods (3+ year) to be effective. Some of the major drawbacks with bisphosphonates taken orally is their very low bioavailability (~0.6%), which means that large doses need to be consumed, and they can cause esophageal ulceration and cancer.

Furthermore, patient compliance can be an issue, as with any oral medications that requires frequent doses. To avoid these problems, this project aims to develop a drug-eluting implant, that can provide sustained release of bisphosphonates at the target location over a period of 6+ months.

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project summary: 3D printing has emerged as an advanced manufacturing technique that has revolutionized numerous industrial sectors. In the medical and pharmaceuticals sectors, 3D printing offers the potential to develop new prosthetics, implants, and many other technologies that will pave the way for advances in regenerative medicine, drug delivery and personalized treatments, tackling current health care challenges.

A unique feature of 3D printing is that it allows the manufacture of complex structures not obtainable through other manufacturing techniques, as well as the potential for personalized drug delivery systems.

This project aims to develop novel drug eluting implants and stents that provide temporal and spatial control over drug delivery for the treatment of medical conditions such as cancer, providing more efficacious and safer delivery of therapeutics with reduced systemic side-effects.

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project Summary: While adoptive cell therapies, such as engineered immune cells are highly effective for the treatment of bloodborne cancers, their efficacy for the treatment of solid tumours has been limited in part due to difficulties in achieving high doses of the immune cells at the target site.

A promising solution is the application of a delivery system that anchors the immune cells at the target site and provides a sustained release profile. Therefore, in this study the aim is to develop injectable hydrogel systems that gel in situ and provides a sustained release of T-cells through gradual degradation of the hydrogel matrix. 

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project summary: Invasive species, such as feral cats, pose a tremendous threat to native Australian species and reintroduction programs. Various methods to eliminate feral cats before reintroduction of native species have been trailed with limited success, due to the cats’ preference for living prey rather than baits. When species, such as quolls, are reintroduced they are naïve to their predators and are an easy target for cats.

Generally, it only takes a few feral cats to rapidly wipe out the reintroduced population before they have a chance to breed and establish a colony in the area. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop innovative new implants that can be used to save native wildlife. 

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project summary: There is significant scope for the development of new coupling chemistries that proceed rapidly at low temperatures, don’t require complex precursors or catalysts, and are specific to particular functionalities. The project will involve the development of a new type of coupling chemistry based on Diels-Alder chemistry.

The aim will be to optimise the system to proceed rapidly in water, without the addition of catalysts. The coupling strategy will be used to conjugate biofactors to surfaces for guided cell growth, tag delivery devices with probes, and build 3D tissue engineering scaffolds capable of encapsulating cells. 

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project summary: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological cancer, resulting in over 150,000 deaths globally per year. To improve the efficacy of pharmacological treatment and reduce adverse effects, anti-cancer drugs can be loaded into nanoparticle carriers such as polymeric micelles.

This project aims to develop a pH-responsive polymeric micelle platform for the intracellular delivery of anti-cancer drugs. It will involve the synthesis of polymer precursors and investigate the attachment of different functional groups on pH-responsivity, drug encapsulation and micelle disassembly. 

Contact person: Dr. Anton Blencowe

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Project summary: Lymphatic vessels are an integral component of our cardiovascular system and play important roles in tissue fluid balance, immunity and lipid metabolism. We recently discovered that mutations in the transcription factor GATA2 cause Emberger syndrome, features of which include lymphoedema and acute myeloid leukaemia.

We demonstrated that GATA2 mutations cause lymphoedema as a result of a crucial role for GATA2 in building lymphatic vessel valves, which like heart valves, ensure that fluid is transported effectively through our bodies.

We are now investigating how GATA2 controls the process of valve development. This project will employ state of the art cell, molecular and developmental biology techniques to map and characterize the role of novel GATA2 regulated genes in the construction of lymphatic vessel valves.

Contact person: Prof. Natasha Harvey

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Project summary: People experiencing end stage kidney disease require dialysis to maintain life. At the commencement of the dialysis journey, people feel that they are not prepared for dialysis and lack education about dialysis, however, often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information. There is scant research exploring people’s experience during the first few weeks of starting dialysis.

A current study being undertaken by the supervising academic (Bennett) is exploring the experiences of people with chronic kidney disease starting dialysis. Using a phenomenological approach people in their first month of dialysis will participate in semi-structured interviews. Up to 30 people (over 18, in their first month of dialysis, able to understand English) will be invited to participate.

The summer scholarship will consist of the following:
• Mentorship and training in qualitative methodologies
• Mentorship and training in coding and thematic analysis
• Undertaking coding and thematic analysis

Contact person: A/Prof Paul Bennett

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Project summary: Abiraterone acetate is a first-line prostate cancer drug, whose oral pharmacokinetics are heavily influenced by the co-administration of food and is associated with patient compliance challenges. This project involves using pharmacological principles to develop improved dosing strategies for abiraterone acetate to achieve better patient outcomes.

The student will work at the Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre at UniSA City East, where they will review the literature surrounding the pharmacokinetics of abiraterone acetate, learn how to use R (industry standard programming software), use R to simulate the current dosing regimen for abiraterone acetate and then explore how we can improve the dosing regimen by modifying dose, food intake and timing.

This project is ideal for a pharmacy or pharmaceutical science student with a passion for applied pharmacokinetics and an interest in gaining industry standard skills.

Contact person: Dr Hayley Schultz  and Dr Stephanie Reuter Lange 

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Project summary: Vancomycin is an essential antibiotic for the treatment of the “superbug” methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); however, despite long-term use of vancomycin, the best treatment practice for the use of this vital antibiotic in the paediatric population remains largely empirical.

This project will be conducted in collaboration with the Pharmacy Department, Women’s and Children’s Hospital and will involve the review of vancomycin management in paediatric patients. This work will form a component of a larger research project that aims to establish optimal dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring practices for vancomycin in this patient population.

The project aligns with the UniSA research priority “Healthy Futures”, investigating improved dosing regimens for paediatric patients to improve their health outcomes.

Contact person: Dr Stephanie Reuter Lange

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Project summary: Altered metabolism is a hallmark of many diseases, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and even bacterial infection! If we can detect changes in metabolic health in cells in real time and non-invasively, we can fast track diagnosis and quickly intervene therapeutically.

This project will employ organic synthetic methods to develop sensors for key metabolic indicators e.g pH, reactive oxygen species and REDOX. Students will become fluent in all aspects of organic chemistry (setting up reactions, characterization using NMR, mass spectrometry, HPLC and purification methods).

Contact person: A/Prof. Sally Plush

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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: 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 Ashley Meakin

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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 Ashley Meakin

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Project summary: Lipid metabolic and biosynthetic pathways are implicated in a wide range of chronic diseases. Maternal diet can have a significant impact on how lipids are metabolised by offspring, and subsequently their health in later life. However, the exact mechanisms behind this are yet unknown. Methods for measuring and localising lipids in tissue can provide insight into how factors, such as maternal overnutrition, result in changes to lipid profile in the fetus.

This project explores methods for analysing lipids in sheep tissue, for example epifluorescence and confocal microscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and will expose students to various laboratory techniques and analytical methods. Students will have the opportunity to gain skills in histology and tissue sample preparation, image acquisition and data analysis.

Contact person: Prof. Janna Morrison and A/Prof. Sally Plush

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Project summary: Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal form of malignant brain tumour. Our team aims to develop a novel approach to glioblastoma treatment which harnesses the power and specificity of the immune system to specifically target cancer cells, using Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell technology. This approach is already showing enormous promise in the treatment of some forms of leukaemia but has not yet been widely adopted for the treatment of solid tumours such as GBM.

The CAR-T cell technique uses killer T cells from the patient’s own blood, which are ‘re-directed’ using genetic engineering techniques to specifically recognise molecules on the surface of tumour cells. This allows the killer T cells to unleash their armoury of toxic molecules onto tumour cells, while leaving healthy cells alone.

Our team is developing CAR-T cell therapies for glioblastoma, and the student will have the opportunity to be involved in laboratory-based testing and optimisation of this therapy using techniques such as cell culture, cytotoxicity assays and flow cytometry.

Contact person: Dr Lisa Ebert

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Project summary: The Translational Oncology Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology aims to develop new approaches to modulate the body’s immune system to target cancer cells CAR T-cells more effectively are a form of immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. This project will characterise and analyse the activation of novel CAR T-cells which have been generated against a new CAR T-cell antigen, which is widely expressed in cancer cells. 

Contact person: Dr Nicole Wittwer 

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Project summary: Flow cytometry is a powerful platform that collects fluorescence data from thousands of individual cells per second. 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 fluorescently-staining cellular proteins or structures. The cytometer records the fluorescence profile of each cell, which provides a powerful overview of the cell populations within for a given sample.

There are two projects on offer in the flow cytometry lab: fluorescent protein bio-tool generation or water quality monitoring.

Establish fluorescent protein systems:

• FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) assay to detect molecular interactions and cellular location.
• Cell telemetry: make cells fluoresce during certain situations (cell proliferation, cell death, cell metabolism, cell stress).
• Analyse RNA by flow cytometry using RNA-aptamers.
• Colour competition assay. Use fluorescence to track different cell types in a complex mixture.

Water quality (bacteria) is routinely monitored using solid agar medium. The advantages for using flow cytometry are a >1000x increase in sensitivity, analysis performed in a single tube and you can collect cells of interest for downstream study. In addition to bacteria in the water supply, flow cytometry can also be used to detect viruses and microplastics. This project will aim to establish a protocol for monitoring water supplies from site-collection to flow analysis. For example, monitoring samples from the River Torrens, and rain-water tanks. As well as examining the effectiveness of water purification devices.

Contact person: Dr Bradley Chereda

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Project summary: There are widespread deficiencies in staffing and skills mix in Australian nursing homes and an ongoing reduction in the number of registered nurses in the sector. Following the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, from 1 October 2023, all Australian nursing homes will be required by law to have at least one registered nurse onsite for a minimum of 16 hours per day.

This research project will develop and launch a national survey in partnership with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) to collect evidence from nursing home staff regarding the current situation regarding registered nurse staffing. The student will work as a member of a small team to develop and pilot the survey and will have the opportunity to lead or co-author a journal manuscript.

Contact person: Dr Micah Peters 

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Project summary: Gender and sexually diverse people (i.e. LGBTIQ+) tend to experience worse healthcare experiences and outcomes in comparison to their cis-gendered heteronormative counterparts despite estimates that they make up around 11 percent of the population. This project will identify, collect, and appraise existing evidence to develop a list of best-practice recommendations for clinicians apply in their everyday practice to provide culturally safe, inclusive care for gender and sexually diverse clients.

The recommendations may be utilised to create an audit tool for subsequent piloting in an Australian health service. The student will work as a member of a small team to search for, collect, and appraise evidence, develop recommendations, and will have the opportunity to lead or co-author a journal manuscript.

Contact person: Dr Micah Peters 

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Project summary: Widespread workforce issues were revealed by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety as well as by several previous inquiries and reviews.Attracting and retaining workers – especially registered nurses – is a key issue and one that must be addressed if real, sustainable sector reform is to be achieved.

This project will be to develop an evidence-based discussion paper focused on what has been found to be effective and feasible in Australia and abroad to attract and retain nurses in aged care. The student will identify and analyse published evidence and will also develop a short survey for undergraduate nursing students to gain insight into their perspectives on what would attract and keep them in the Australian aged care workforce. This industry-linked project will be carried out in collaboration with the ANMF and the student will have the opportunity to lead or co-author a journal manuscript.

Contact person: Dr Micah Peters 

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Project summary: As the frontline of the health system and the largest component of our health workforce, nurses and midwives play a critical role in achieving safe and high- quality health care. They are essential to health sector productivity, patient outcomes, and the provision of health services to rural and remote populations. In 2014, an investigation by the federal government projected that Australia will have a shortfall of 85,000 nurses by 2025 and 123,000 by 2030. Poor staff retention rates and the ageing of the nursing and midwifery workforce, which makes up 30% of the Australian health workforce, will further drive the demand for nurses and midwives more than supply. Strategies to effectively retain skilled and experienced nurses and midwives are therefore critical.

Prioritising and protecting the health care workforce is now critical — not only because their own lives are at risk, but because we need them to continue providing high quality care. As COVID-19 continues to spread across countries, we are at risk of exhausting our nurses and midwives at a time when we need them most.

The project aims to develop a literature review focused on specific strategies or programs aimed at not decreasing, but improving wellbeing of nurses, midwives and other health care workers. With the ideal to identify and ultimately, adopt a systematic approach to improving wellbeing that defines factors beyond traditional metrics, inclusive of organisational and institutional conditions. The review will be reported to relevant industry with the aim the student publishes the results.

Contact person: Prof. Marion Eckert

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Project summary: Building Nursing and Midwifery clinical academics is essential for effective and agile evidence-based health care delivery. Yet it is a challenge, due to a lack of targeted programs to build research capability and capacity post undergraduate training. Time for clinicians to foster their research interest and capabilities is further challenged due to a competing health care working environment.

Few programs offer research training outside of structured tertiary higher degree programs. The project aims to develop a literature review on the type of programs and incentives that are provided to nurses and midwives to progress their knowledge and expertise in research. Whilst it is acknowledged that there are programs available, which of these demonstrate the greatest impact to support the clinical academic career trajectory and translate to benefit?

Contact person: Prof. Marion Eckert and Greg Sharplin

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Project summary: The Australian Childhood Cancer Registry provides population-based information on childhood cancers in Australia. State-based hospital registries provide data to the national registry, however little Australian information is available on quality of life measures. This project involves a literature review to determine what psychological and health related quality of life measures are in use to assess risk factors for psychological distress and poor health related quality of life in survivors of childhood cancers. The student will learn to:

• identify quality of life instruments and health related quality of life instruments
• conduct a librarian assisted literature search for published and unpublished research
• explore other psychological and health related quality of life measures that may be useful in childhood and AYA cancers
• have the opportunity to lead and publish a journal manuscript

Contact person: Ms Pamela Adelson and Dr Nadia Corsini  

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Project summary: While there is currently no definitive way to prevent dementia, there are several lifestyle changes that may help to reduce the risk of its development. These include physical activity and healthy dietary choices. Our team is currently investigating the long-term effect of a Mediterranean diet and physical activity program on reducing dementia risk in older individuals. We are working with several retirement villages and their residents around South Australia. The student will have the opportunity to learn about and be involved in the preparation and organisation and implementation of a multi-site dietary intervention trial.

They will have the opportunity to participate in data collection from volunteers, learn about motivational interviewing for behaviour change, liaise with the public, understand the relationship between diet and exercise and impact on dementia risk. The student will also be involved in the broader team meetings and see how large multi-disciplinary teams collaborate.

Contact person: A/Prof. Karen Murphy 

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Project summary: Weight loss can be achieved through a calorie deficit while consuming a balanced diet of the five major Australian food groups: fruits, vegetables, breads and cereals, dairy foods and lean meats and poultry. However, popular diets often cut out food groups such as breads and cereals and dairy foods which can be detrimental to health. Dairy foods typically have a negative perception due to mixed messaging, false information, and anecdotal experiences. But it is well documented that the consumption of dairy foods including cheese, milk and yoghurt can improve bone health and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Recently, non-dairy milk alternatives (oat, almond, macadamia, soy) have increased in popularity. However, often these alternatives do not stack up against their counterparts with regards to nutrition profile, providing inadequate levels of calcium, vitamin D and other important vitamins and minerals.

This is an opportunistic study, building on from a student Masters project. The student will assess the intake (serves), different types of dairy foods, and micronutrient composition (calcium, vitamin D, iron) of popular weight loss diets from meal plans. Intake will be compared to current AGHE guidelines and nutrient reference values. There will also be the opportunity to compare the nutrient profile of traditional dairy foods to plant-based alternatives (oat, almond, macadamia, soy, coconut) and report on the implications for bone health and osteoporosis.

Contact person: A/Prof. Karen Murphy and Ella Bracci

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Project summary: APOMAB is an antibody which targets dead cancer cells and has potential clinical utility as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent.  The physiological requirements for APOMAB to bind to die cancer cells is not completely understood. Therefore, the aim of this project is to shed further light on the binding characteristics of APOMAB to dead cancer cells using various laboratory techniques including cell culture, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.

Contact person: Dr. Alex Staudacher

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Project summary: Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a common complication of diabetes mellitus, is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease worldwide and a major contributor to end-stage kidney disease. Understanding the intricate signalling events in this disease is essential for the development of improved treatments. Seminal studies from our laboratory have identified a protective role of the NEDD4-2 gene in the kidney in diabetes. This gene controls the activity of many ion channels and signaling proteins. This project will investigate how this gene controls the progression of DN by analysing levels and activity of substrate proteins, such as sodium and glucose transporters, in mice and cell lines. 

Experimental techniques will include making protein lysates from cells and mouse tissue, western blotting for protein expression and fluorescent immunostaining for protein localisation and intensity.

The identification of proteins that are differentially expressed and/or localised in DN will reveal these proteins as contributors to the progression of kidney disease in diabetes.

Contact person: Dr Jantina Manning

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Project summary: Invertebrates are an irreplaceable part of the base of the food chain, important for restoring soil health, and in performing an essential role in pollination and seed dispersal. This summer project aims to evaluate the impact of bushfire on invertebrate diversity and abundance. It will use a range of invertebrate capture methods on prescribed burn sites in the Adelaide Hills and areas already recovering from wildfires. Collected invertebrates will be further studied in the laboratory using identification keys.

Ultimately, population recovery and succession of invertebrate populations will be examined in the context of a greater research project focusing on herpetofauna being done in collaboration with UniSA STEM, the Department for Environment and Water and the Adelaide Zoo.

Contact person: Miguel de Barros Lopes

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Project summary: The growth and spread of cancer is dependent on an ability to access the blood supply. To do this, cancer cells not only promote blood vessel sprouting (angiogenesis) but they also form vessel-like structures themselves (vasculogenic mimicry (VM)). Our published work has identified new VM targets in breast cancer, melanoma and pancreatic cancer (Martini et al BMC Cancer 2021; Martini et al Sci Rep, 2020; Tan et al, Oncotarget, 2016; Tan et al Clin Trans Immunol, 2017). A better understanding of how blood vessels promote tumour growth will provide new treatment options for patients with cancer.

Techniques: Cutting edge imaging technology will be used alongside cell culture, surface antigen expression by flow cytometry, protein detection by Western blot, in vitro blood vessel forming assays, gene expression by real time PCR and immunohistochemistry of human biopsies.

Contact person: Prof Claudine Bonder

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Project summary: Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy and is an incurable disease of neoplastic plasma cells (PC). With only 17% of MM patients surviving 10-years post diagnosis, faster detection and earlier intervention would unequivocally improve outcomes. We recently discovered that the cell surface protein desmoglein-2 (DSG2) is overexpressed in ~20% of bone marrow biopsies from newly-diagnosed MM patients and that it is strongly predictive of poor clinical outcome (Ebert et al Molecular Oncology 2021). This study further examines DSG2 as a potential cell surface biomarker that can be readily detected by flow cytometry to rapidly predict disease trajectory at the time of diagnosis.

Techniques: Cutting edge real time imaging technology will be used alongside cell culture, surface antigen expression by flow cytometry, protein detection by Western blot, gene expression by real time PCR, immunohistochemistry of human tissue samples and functionalised biomaterials.

Contact person: Prof Claudine Bonder

Project summary: Sleep and physical activity are essential for health and well-being. For people with diabetes, both adequate sleep and physical activity are particularly important. Yet, patients with a diabetic foot ulcer, a complication of diabetes, may struggle to achieve both a good nights’ sleep and the recommended amount of physical activity. This may in turn impact general well-being, wound healing and worsen the progression of diabetes, resulting in further complications. This summer vacation scholarship will provide two students with the opportunity to examine how patients with a diabetic foot ulcer spend their day in terms of sleep, physical activity, and sedentary time. To find out more about this opportunity, please contact Lisa Matricciani 

Contact person:  Lisa Matricciani 

How to apply

Project summary: Little is known about the induction phase for new teachers who are employed in complex alternative education settings. This study investigates the ways in which the contextual and interpersonal experiences of early career teachers influence how they navigate, respond and adapt to their daily work.

Moreover, this project examines the school-based contextual factors that support early career teachers to be effective and thrive.

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

The scholarship holder will have opportunity for immersion in the Research in Education and Social Inclusion’s research culture and receive research training and mentorship from the project’s Chief Investigators, Dr Marnie Best and Associate Professor Anna Sullivan.

Contact person: Dr Marnie Best

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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 entails a literature review that examines the following questions:

• To what extent are young children involved as active citizens in exploring global challenges and possible solutions that impact their local worlds?
• In what ways are children and their literacy capabilities supported in this participation?
• What are the demographics characterizing this participation? (E.g., are there groups from which children’s voices are heard? Are there groups from which children’s voices are relatively silenced?)
• What are the documented engagements with and consequences of children’s participation?

This literature review will canvas relevant research from the past 5 years and feed directly into the development of a journal article (Q1—top tier); and more generally inform our ongoing inquiry into young children’s participation and related research funding applications in the Children’s Voices and Citizenship Research Program that Professor Harris leads with colleagues and partners locally and overseas.

Contact person: Prof. Pauline Harris 

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Project Summary: This ARC project is currently examining how and why Australian schools use exclusionary practices such as suspensions and exclusions.

Exclusionary practices are an effective way of managing and changing problematic student behaviour, however many schools use them as a quick fix to remove students who are disruptive or a threat to others safety. Research shows that these practices are often used disproportionately towards groups of students, including indigenous students and those with a disability, and can have a negative impact on children’s health, wellbeing, and academic achievement.

Despite the use of exclusionary practices being widespread in Australian schools, very little is known about the policy and political frameworks that guide these practices, or what alternatives might work better. The vacation scholarship holder will contribute towards answering these questions by collating and reviewing literature and/or policy documents, performing quantitative analysis of state and territory data, and assisting in developing short briefing papers or journal publications to communicate key findings.

The scholarship holder will have the opportunity to engage with an enthusiastic group of researchers working within the Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion and will receive research training and mentoring from Dr Neil Tippett and Associate Professor Anna Sullivan.

Contact person: Dr Neil Tippett

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Project Summary: In Australia there are two key policy documents that inform early childhood educator practice, The National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework. This project is focused on exploring these two early childhood policies with the purpose of understanding how they position quality early childhood pedagogy and practice. The policy analysis will explore the following research questions:

1. What are the theoretical underpinnings of the discourse used in each policy?
2. How is “best practice” described and assessed?
3. What approaches to engaging with children and families are promoted?
4. How is planning and pedagogy described?

The vacation research scholarship holder will contribute towards exploring these questions through a policy analysis with the research team. This will include completing a literature review, analysis and writing for publication.

Contact person: Dr Jamie Sisson and Ms Anne-Marie Shin 

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Project Summary: Almost 25% of Australian students (est 910,000) experience bullying during their schooling, with consequences lasting many years after graduation. Yet, limited bullying research has considered Muslim learners in Australia. Research in the US and UK has found that religion is often the reason that Muslim learners are bullied.

However, the emotional impact of bullying is considered more severe when a person is bullied due to their religion, highlighting a need for us to understand the lived educational experiences of Muslim learners in Australian educational contexts.

Contact person: Prof. Mohamad Abdalla

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Project Summary: This project explores ways teachers and students make their mathematical thinking visible to others. A difficulty encountered by some primary teachers is how to make mathematical thinking that an individual uses transparent and visible to others when using open-ended tasks and during problem-solving.

Firmasari and Santi (2019) argue that mathematic thinking is an essential goal of mathematics education and in for “improving conceptual learning” (p. 1). Given the connection between mathematical thinking and developing conceptual understanding, there is a dearth of research into how to develop and make visible student's and teacher's mathematical thinking. This is problematic as teachers need to be able to clearly communicate their mathematical thinking in order to develop the mathematical thinking of their students

Contact person: Dr Kate Quane

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Project Summary: The project will use a qualitative approach that includes semi-structured interviews with current onshore international students and focus groups with stakeholders who have had experiences of connecting with and supporting international students at the time when COVID-19 began. This project investigates what international students define as their “wellbeing” and the role of local communities (such as Baptist Care) can provide to identity some issues around international students’ wellbeing in thinking about improving their mental health, employment opportunities and community engagement.

The vacation scholarship holder will contribute towards reviewing the current literature on indicators of ‘wellbeing’, international students’ mental health and impacts of COVID-19 on society with the research team. This will include completing an analysis of the focus group discussion and writing for publication.

Contact person: Dr Hannah Soong

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Project Summary: The first five years of a child’s life involve rapid growth in cognitive, social, emotional and physical development and learning. The experiences during this period are foundational for life-long outcomes, and therefore, the work of early childhood educators and teachers is of critical importance. Early childhood contexts however are diverse. This systemic literature review will explore current research on early childhood teacher and educator understanding of inclusive pedagogies:

• How is diversity defined in the current research?
• How is inclusive pedagogy defined and enacted?
• What are early childhood teachers’/educators’ challenges to inclusivity?
• What recommendations for inclusive pedagogy and practice are presented in the literature?

The vacation research scholar will work closely with the research team in a systematic review of the literature and will contribute to a publication.

Contact person: Dr Lesley-Anne Ey

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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: This project significantly contributes to what is known about persistent bullying and pathways leading to and from these behaviours. Such behaviours often extend beyond the school gates into other forms of power-related aggression such as: dating violence; child and elder abuse; and domestic violence.

The research questions underpinning this project are:

1. What are community perceptions and understandings of the trajectories, turning points and chain reactions of students who engage in persistent bullying?
2. What role do these ‘life events’ play in the continuation of bullying behaviours?

The vacation scholarship holder will contribute towards answering these questions by accessing the voice of school leaders and working with youth to develop a teacher resource. This will involve data collection, data analysis and assisting in dissemination of findings.

Contact person: Dr Deborah Green 

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Project Summary: This project will involve the student in analysing videos and audio recordings of interviews with Grade 5 children in which they discuss their use of digital apps to interact with family, peers, teachers and others. This data will already have been collected during the 2021 school year. The student will be supported by a researcher to learn and apply research analytic techniques to yield insights. 

Contact person: A/Prof. Sue Nichols

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Project Summary: A range of project possibilities are available including literature searches, literature reviews and data analysis. Topics include early career teachers, casual teachers, induction, classroom management and school exclusions.

Contact person: A/Prof. Anna Sullivan

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Project Summary: This project recognises, investigates and aims to address potential barriers for early career teachers as they transition to the teaching profession in a complex alternative school. Moreover, this project examines how school leaders enact induction strategies to support early career teachers in non-mainstream educational settings.

This project has three distinct, yet related, areas of inquiry, including:

• an exploration of the induction phase for early career teachers employed in a complex alternative education setting.
• an examination of early career teachers’ attraction, recruitment, development and retention to an alternative education setting through a recursive framework; and
• an investigation of the ways in which school-based contextual and interpersonal experiences of site leaders influence how they navigate, respond and adapt to support early career teachers in an alternative education setting.

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

The scholarship holder will have opportunities for immersion in the Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion’s research culture and receive research training and mentorship from the project’s Chief Investigators, Dr Marnie Best and Associate Professor Anna Sullivan.

Contact person: Dr Marnie Best

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Project Summary: There is much discussion, in education, of 21st century skills and this is aligned with discussion about learning spaces for 21st century education. This pilot project draws together a cross-disciplinary research and industry team to contribute to the theoretical understandings of the requirements for large/open 21st century learning spaces, many of which are being designed as STEM learning spaces. This project sets out to conduct a multi-disciplinary design-based analysis of open/large learning spaces in order to:

1. Design transdisciplinary protocols for collaborative investigation of open/large learning spaces.
2. Develop a shared language to communicate common and specific practices (for teachers, school leadership, builders, engineers, architects etc.) of how learning spaces can be utilized.

This vacation scholarship holder will ideally have a keen interest in science and education, be very collaborative and willing to work with the Education and Acoustic disciplines. The scholarship holder would contribute to this project by assisting with a range of activities including reviewing literature, data mining, and developing innovative data displays which combine qualitative and quantitative data.

A successful candidate will have the opportunity to experience education research culture and mentorship from the project’s Chief Investigator Dr Lisa O’Keeffe, as well as some experience coordinating research with industry, mentored by Lead Industry partner Senior Acoustic Engineer, Greg Barry. Additionally, the scholarship holder will have the opportunity to engage with researchers within the Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion to support their research training. 

Contact person: Dr Lisa O’Keeffe

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Project Summary: Teacher Interviews and surveys regarding AI readiness and Creativity in a classroom.
We will conduct semi structured interviews and surveys with teachers regarding their AI readiness to adopt technologies in a classroom and identify the barriers and enablers to AI adoption.

The project will also capture beliefs and perceptions of the relationship between adoption of AI in a classroom setting and the development of their students’ creativity.
Suitable for a senior undergraduate, honours or Masters student in Education or Psychology, with a good knowledge of pedagogy.

Desired duration = 4-6 weeks.

Contact person: Dr Rebecca Marrone, Dr Margaret Faulkner and Prof. David Cropley

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Project Summary: As society continues to transition into the digital age, the competencies needed for the Future of Work are changing. Competencies such as creativity will help set humans apart from machines. This project aims to measure creativity in an online capacity through Learning Analytics techniques such as Machine Learning/algorithm development. The results of this project will support the development of modern education for students and their teachers.

Suitable for a senior undergraduate or Masters student in Computer Science or Engineering, with a good knowledge of Machine Learning, and the ability to develop algorithms in this domain.

Desired duration = 8 weeks.

Contact person: Dr Rebecca Marrone

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Project Summary: The aim of this research project is to investigate how motivational factors influence UniSA College students to learn and how they influence their academic success in blended learning contexts that use a combination of digital technologies such as online asynchronous lectures and in-classroom tutorial activities.

Motivation within the academic environment is recognized for its strong influence on achievement and student behaviour in a classroom environment. Since students’ achievement and engagement are directly influenced by their motivation it is important to know what those motivational factors are and at what levels of significance, they influence blended learning in an enabling education setting.

This study is an effort to identify and analyse the motivational factors that significantly influence students’ academic achievement in the UniSA College’s Foundation and Diploma programs.  Underpinned by Self-Regulated Learning Theory, the research project uses a well-established survey instrument, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) to investigate students self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, text anxiety, cognitive strategies, and self-regulation and their association with their final grades in several UniSA College courses offered in 2021.

Some statistical techniques such as structural equation modelling (SEM), Friedman’s non-parametric test, and exploratory factor analysis (principal components analysis) will be employed to determine the motivational factors that significantly influence students’ academic achievement and classroom participation. The empirical findings would help formulate some intervention strategies and implement them within blended learning environments for fostering the College students’ academic achievement.

Ethics approval has already been sought and pilot data was collected in SP2 with further data collection occurring in SP5. The successful student could be involved in various components of the research: literature review, data analysis, and/or contributing to a future publication.  

Contact person: A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi and Dr Wahid Murad

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Project Summary: The aim of this research project is to investigate the impact of Maths simulations (sims) to support students’ mathematics literacy and motivation across a range of STEM-based areas of UniSA College enabling pathway programs to undergraduate study. Maths simulations allow students to test themselves at their own pace and additionally use this simulation to re-check understanding of different contextual Maths concepts, supporting a low-threshold uptake of this initiative.

Prior research has indicated that simulations can support students to expand or apply knowledge and if the instruction design is suitable, interactive tools – such as 'maths' sims' - can provide feedback, pacing and a guided activity for enhancing student learning. The project will investigate the impact of Maths sims on student learning and motivation by looking at students’ final grades and collecting information about their intrinsic motivation using a well-established survey instrument, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) prior and after experience with using Maths sims.

Some statistical techniques such as structural equation modelling (SEM), Friedman’s non-parametric test, and exploratory factor analysis (principal components analysis) will be employed to determine the motivational factors that significantly influence students’ academic achievement and engagement with Math sims. Data will be collected in several STEM-based courses within UniSA College’s enabling programs in SP5 2021.

The successful student could be involved in various components of the research: literature review, data analysis, and/or contributing to a future publication.

Contact person: A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi, Dr Anthea Fudge and Dr Wahid Murad

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Project summary: There are a number of projects students can be involved with.  They are detailed below, but please do get in touch for further details.  Students can work on one or multiple projects, all of which are underway. 

Activities generally include participant testing, learning how to collect cognitive and psychophysiological measurements, study logistical planning, 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. Investigating how blood pressure variability is related to cognition in late-adulthood.
3. Determining cognitive trajectories in older adults undergoing cardiovascular surgeries.
4. Co-designing a wellbeing training program with older adults.

A/Prof Hannah Keage is happy talk to students about their own project ideas too.

Contact person: A/Prof. Hannah Keage

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Project Summary: This project will involve work in the sleep and chronobiology laboratory to collect data (neuro-behavioural performance, sleep, physiological) from a study investigating different shift work schedules. Students will be involved in all aspects of the study from participant recruitment, data collection to analysis. Students will also undertake a small literature review.

Contact person: Prof. Siobhan Banks

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Project summary: There are a number of projects that students can be involved with. They are detailed below, but please do get in touch for further details. Students can work on one or multiple projects, all of which are underway. Activities generally 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. Investigating how blood pressure variability is related to cognition in
   late-adulthood.
   3. Determining cognitive trajectories in older adults undergoing
   cardiovascular surgeries.
   4. Running a co-designed wellbeing training program with older adults in
   the community.
   5. Investigating links between heart failure, cognition and mood in latelife.
   I am happy talk to students about their own project ideas too

Contact person: A/Prof Hannah Keage

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Project Summary: Regulatory responses to different forms of non-physical violence and abuse perpetrated against victims (usually women) in family or domestic settings. South Australia is currently considering developing specific legislation to criminalise this type of abusive behaviour. While these efforts have generally been welcomed by experts and those with lived experience, it remains unclear whether legislative and regulatory responses are sufficient to protect individuals form this form of harm and abuse. In this context, there is a need to consider however legislative responses might interact with or be supported by non-legislative responses to ‘coercive control’ to improve the quality of outcomes for South Australians who are at risk of or who have experienced this type of harm or abuse.

This project aims to:
1. Document the legislative and regulatory responses to different forms of non-physical violence and abuse perpetrated against victims in family or domestic settings In Australia.
2. Document the non-legislative responses to different forms of nonphysical violence and abuse perpetrated against victims in family or domestic settings In Australia.
3. Undertake a literature review of any relevant evaluations of either legislative or non-legislative responses to coercive control in Australia or comparable jurisdictions.
4. Identify relevant criteria for guiding the development of legislative or non-legislative responses to coercive control in South Australia.

Two summer scholarship positions are requested that would enable a lawdiscipline student and a social-work discipline student to work collaboratively on this research project.

Contact person: Dr Sarah Moulds and Dr Michele Jarldorn

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Project summary: While ‘marriage-like’ de facto relationships are now covered by the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), there are a number of State and Territory Acts that recognise particular classes of non-couple relationships. These are given names such as ‘caring relationships’ or ‘close personal relationships’, and ties such as siblings, parent and child, and carer and charge have been recognised. Where relationships fall into these categories, one party may make a claim to the property of the other, in a similar way as a marriage or de facto relationship.

This project will involve identification and analysis of cases decided under State and Territory relationship recognition legislation where non-couple relationships have been recognized, and where an application has been made but the relationship has not been recognised. Our aim is to identify the functional features or circumstances of recognised non-couple relationship that have warranted treating parties differently to ‘strangers’ under the law.

The project will also involve an international comparison to determine whether non-couple relationships are also recognised in comparable international jurisdictions such as the UK, Canada and New Zealand, and whether the recognised circumstances are different.

Contact person: Dr Michelle Fernando

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Project summary: Problems with thinking, attention and memory – known as Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment (CRCI) are common during and following cancer treatment. Our research has found that people experiencing CRCI find it difficult to prepare meals and maintain a healthy diet.

The aim of this project is to determine the feasibility of a range of strategies to support people with cancer in maintaining a healthy lifestyle following cancer treatment by exploring the market and conducting a needs analysis.

You will be asked to:
                                         1) review market reports and published scientific literature on dietary and cognitive interventions and
                                         2) interview people with a history of cancer, their family members, other key stakeholders (e.g. Cancer Council,
                                            medical professionals, food delivery services, meal kit services).

Contact person: A/Prof. Amanda Hutchinson

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Project Summary: The Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory Project provides groundbreaking, interdisciplinary international research on psychosocial safety climate, which is the context of the work environment as a leading indicator of job design and worker psychological health.

The student will assist with activities related to the Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory including relevant literature searches, data collection and writing for research papers and presentations, to assist the research staff distribute evidence and information at the global, national and corporate level to influence workplace policy relating to the protection of worker psychological health.

Contact person: Prof. Maureen Dollard

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