PhD Students

Both domestic and international students enrolled at QBI play a vital role in research efforts at the Institute.

Find out about:

the benefits of doing a PhD project with us
the process to apply
what PhD projects are currently open for applications.

Benefits

PhD students enrolled at QBI are eligible to receive:

$1,500 travel allowance
Top-Up Scholarships
Computer with appropriate software and internet access
Photocopying and scanning facilities.

How to apply

To express your interest to undertake a PhD at QBI, please do the following:

Visit the UQ Graduate School website to review information about the PhD program including entry requirements, application procedures, and scholarship information and deadlines.
If you believe that you meet the PhD entry requirements, review the Research Groups information to find the lab with the research program of greatest interest to you. Once identified, email the Group Leader directly to discuss the possibility of completing your PhD in their lab. In your email, include the following:
1. Academic CV with hyperlinks to your published work, and the Impact Factor of the journal if relevant
2. Academic transcripts for all tertiary level study showing a list of courses, grades achieved, and the grading system used at the institution of study
3. Information on how you would meet UQ’s English language proficiency requirement
After you have received confirmation from a Group Leader agreeing to be your proposed Principal Advisor, you and/or the Group Leader should email the QBI Student Office at qbistudents@uq.edu.au to confirm that they are able to support your application. The Student Office will send you detailed information and instructions to help you apply via the UQ Graduate School website.

When the QBI Student Office receives your online application, they will request referee reports from your listed referees via the online application system. They will also check your application documents; if they require any further information or documents they will send you a request via the online application system.

Applications are considered complete when we have received both referee reports and any extra documents or information that we requested. Note: If the proposed principal supervisor would like to consider your application in more detail prior to making a decision, you may be nominated to the QBI HDR Committee for participation in QBI’s Graduate Research Internship (GRI) Program. If approved by the Committee, this will provide you with an opportunity to spend 4 to 6 weeks undertaking full-time research experience working on a project already underway in the proposed supervisor’s lab group. Financial support for candidates is available during the Program, co-funded by The Donald and Joan Wilson Foundation and QBI. If your complete application is supported by the proposed Principal Advisor, and the QBI Higher Degree by Research Committee, a School Recommendation Form will be prepared at QBI. A detailed project description will also be completed at this time; the proposed Principal Advisor will liaise with you about your project.

When the School Recommendation is finalised, your complete application will be forwarded to the UQ Graduate School for formal assessment. The QBI Student Office will notify you when this has been done and your application will change to ‘in process’ in the online application system.

From this point forward, the UQ Graduate School admissions team will communicate with you via the online application system and your assessment outcome will be sent via this system as well. Applicants must be assessed as ‘eligible for admission and scholarship’ to be considered in the next available UQ scholarship round.

Current PhD projects available

We update this page as new PhD projects become available. Check back soon to find new projects.

Lipidomics of cognitive retention during ageing

Background

Brain cells (neurons) communicate with each other by exchanging neurotransmitter molecules across the synapse, in a process called neuroexocytosis, involving fusion of neurotransmitter vesicles with the synaptic membrane. The composition of phospholipids which comprise vesicular and cellular membranes is dynamically regulated, and phospholipid metabolites such as free fatty acids (FFAs) and lysophospholipids (LPLs) generated during this regulation are emerging as key players in neurotransmission, learning and memory. The goal of this PhD project is to understand the roles of these lipids in learning and memory and establish how they are affected during ageing.

Project aim

Our laboratory has contributed to the burgeoning field of neurolipidomics through the development of novel and sensitive targeted lipidomics workflows for analysis of FFA, LPL and phospholipids in cultured neurons and animal brains. We recently published a groundbreaking study correlating increases in the saturated FFA myristic acid with memory, and have strong preliminary evidence correlating this FFA with retention of cognitive ability in ageing mice. The project aims to build on these findings by establishing whether dietary supplementation can affect the brain lipidome and alter the trajectory of cognitive decline during ageing.

Your role

The successful candidate will join the lipidomics team in the lab and will use our in-house and collaborative mass spectrometry based lipidomics workflows to assess how dietary FFA supplementation alters the brain lipidome, and whether these changes correlate with improvements to cognitive ability in ageing mice. The candidate will ideally have a background in neuroscience, cell biology or analytical biochemistry. Familiarity with Python, data analysis and informatics will further help the candidate to carry out their role (but is not essential).

Contact

Single Molecule Neuroscience Laboratory

Group leader: Professor Frederic Meunier f.meunier@uq.edu.au

Unraveling the nanoscale organisation of the synapse in live neurons

Background

Brain cells primarily communicate with each other through the release of neurotransmitters (chemical signals) across the synapse. The sequence of molecular interactions involved in neurotransmitter release is largely unknown. Super-resolution microscopy techniques provide unprecedented quantitative information on the dynamics of individual molecules in living cells. This interdisciplinary PhD project aims to use super-resolution imaging experiments to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling the neurotransmitter release in health and disease.

Project aim

Our laboratory has contributed to the rapidly emerging super-resolution field by providing a means of visualizing single molecule behaviour in living neurosecretory cells and presynapses to unravel dynamically regulated molecular binding events at the level of the synapse. The successful candidate will join the established laboratory group of Professor Frederic Meunier at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland and will use super-resolution microscopy to detect and track individual molecules in live cultured neurons. The project will look at decrypting the complex behaviour of single molecules in terms of nanoscale organisation and molecular kinetics to better understand their role in physiology and pathology.

Your role

Expressions of Interest are invited from outstanding and enthusiastic, international and Australian, science graduates ideally with a background in engineering, biophysics, cell biology, neuroscience or any other relevant scientific discipline. Candidates will have a First Class Honours degree or equivalent and should be eligible for UQ scholarship consideration. Previous experience with microscopy, image analysis, and cloning is desirable, but applicants with no background in biology are also encouraged to apply for this position.
Applicants must fulfill the PhD admission criteria for the University of Queensland, including meeting English language requirements and demonstrating excellent capacity and potential for research. Demonstration of research ability through publication output in peer-reviewed international journals is desirable.

Contact

Single Molecule Neuroscience Laboratory

Group leader: Professor Frederic Meunier f.meunier@uq.edu.au

Identifying molecular signalling networks governing synapse formation

Background

The Neural Migration Laboratory is headed by Professor Helen Cooper. Professor Cooper’s research investigates the molecular signalling pathways regulating neural stem cell activity, neuronal differentiation and migration, and synapse formation in the developing brain. A major research theme is the identification of the molecular mechanisms underpinning neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. The laboratory uses developmental mouse models, in vitro stem cell culture systems and state-of-the-art molecular/cellular biological approaches and super-resolution microscopy.

Learn more about the Cooper Lab.

Project aim

Abnormal synapse formation leads to diminished synaptic transmission and impaired cognitive function. The goal of this project is to identify the molecular pathways that govern synaptic connectivity. This research will not only provide key insights into the fundamental principles guiding the establishment of complex neural circuits, but will also shed light on the aberrant processes contributing to autism and schizophrenia.

Your role

The Cooper lab has identified several autism genes predicted to play a central role in building the actin cytoskeleton - an essential requirement for synaptic development and synaptic transmission. This project will investigate how mutations in these genes impacts actin remodelling and synaptic function. To address these questions the successful candidate will utilize the following experimental tools: developmental mouse models, in vitro neuronal culture systems, state-of-the-art molecular and imaging approaches, including super-resolution microscopy.

Contact

Neural Migration Laboratory

Group leader: Professor Helen Cooper h.cooper@uq.edu.au

Can platelet factor 4 reverse neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease?

Background

There is overwhelming evidence that regular physical exercise can counteract cognitive decline in both healthy aging and in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, it is often not practical to prescribe to the elderly, making the development of a pharmacological intervention that could mimic the cognition-enhancing effects of exercise an enticing prospect. In a major advance towards deciphering how exercise affects brain function, we found that platelets are activated by physical exercise and release factors, including platelet factor 4 (PF4), that promote hippocampal precursor proliferation and neurogenesis.

Project aim

This project will investigate the therapeutic potential of PF4 administration on AD progression using a transgenic mouse model of AD. In addition, it will address whether platelets, or their released factors, can mediate blood-brain barrier permeability to facilitate the delivery of systemic exercise-released neurogenesis-promoting factors to the neural stem cell niche.

Your role

The student who takes part in this project will perform experiments, including mouse behavioural testing, histology, microscopy, and a range of molecular biology techniques, under the supervision of Dr Odette Leiter and Dr Tara Walker. All training in the relevant techniques will be provided. This project will likely generate data that will be included in an associated manuscript on which the student will be an author.

Contact

Dr Tara Walker laboratory

Group leader: Dr Tara Walker t.walker1@uq.edu.au

The development of precision medical care for the use of ketamine as a treatment for Australian Veterans with TRD and PTSD

Background

Depression is among the top public health concerns worldwide, and the third highest burden of all diseases in Australia. For decades, pharmacotherapy for depression has focused narrowly on enhancing monoaminergic neurotransmission resulting in more than 30 approved treatments. Yet, rates of remission are low for any given drug. Recently, ketamine, an approved dissociative anaesthetic, has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in MDD and PTSD via its action on the glutamate system by potently blocking ionotropic glutamate NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors. Ketamine exerts a rapid onset of positive clinical effects in severely refractory depressed patients consistent across numerous randomised trials, which distinguishes it from conventional slow-acting therapeutics. In the past decade, off-label prescribing of ketamine infusions to patients in Australia and worldwide for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) has increased.

The therapeutic potential of ketamine (i.e., rapid symptom relief and response in treatment-resistant patients) has stimulated considerable interest in the psychiatric community, and the clinical use of ketamine infusion for the treatment of depression is now an intense focus of research worldwide. However, this further progress is challenged by the absence of reliable and valid predictors of antidepressive response to ketamine.

Project aim

The study aims to identify subpopulations of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or treatment resistant depression) are more likely (or less likely) to benefit from ketamine treatment using multiple modalities including neuroimaging, blood, cognitive and clinical biomarkers. The study will leverage efforts from the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense- Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (DOD-ADNI) database. The study will collect data from patients as part of their standard of care treatment for analysis. Structural and functional 3T-Magnetic Resonance imaging, markers of brain dysfunction, and clinical/cognitive/psychological assessments will be collected from 300 Australian Veterans. This work will be the first of its kind, in Australia and worldwide, to determine at a large scale, predictors of ketamine efficacy in patients with PTSD/TRD.

Your role

The student who takes part in this project will have the opportunity to engage in data collection and interacting with patients at Zed Three Specialist Centre under the supervision of Dr. Alex Lim who is the clinical lead on this project. This will expose the students to the clinical environment should their interest lie in undergoing a clinical role in the future. They will also have the opportunity to collect data, analyse data from multiple modalities such as blood biomarker assays, magnetic resonance imaging data and clinical/cognitive data. This training will be provided to the students on this project.

Contact

Functional neuroimaging and brain injury laboratory

Group leader: Dr Fatima Nasrallah f.nasrallah@uq.edu.au

Tackle concussion: Targeting amateur concussions using key longitudinal neuroimaging and biomarker data for enhanced diagnosis and prevention

Background

Concussion is difficult to diagnose and the current technology lacks reliability to detect the brain damage associated with such injury. Evidence suggests that brain recovery goes beyond the resolution of clinical/cognitive symptoms and existing biomarkers lack specificity and require validation.

In this work, we have partnered with:

World Rugby
Rugby Australia
Greater Public Schools (GPS) association.

We will study concussion in teenage athletes who have sustained a sports-related concussion, using:

novel blood-based biomarkers
cognitive data
advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The innovative data will allow precise diagnosis of concussion and explicit accuracy to inform recovery. The added benefit of advanced MRI will be explored.

Project aim

The overall objective is to investigate advanced neuroimaging methods to enhance the diagnosis of concussion:

The aims are to:

study the structural changes that are induced by a concussion
investigate more advanced MRI methods for diagnosis of outcome
determine the temporal profile of neuroimaging changes over time.

The results from this study will provide objective information that will inform policies and guidelines for diagnosis of concussion.

Your role

To take part in this project you'll need a background in:

neuroscience
psychology
biomedical engineering
sports medicine, or
any other relevant discipline.

You'll have the opportunity to:

learn image processing methods
take place in fieldwork with adolescents at GPS schools
build communication skills.

You also engage with schools and other stakeholders and industry partners including World Rugby and Rugby Australia.

Contact

Functional neuroimaging and brain injury laboratory

Group leader: Dr Fatima Nasrallah f.nasrallah@uq.edu.au

Fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning creative thought

Background

This Earmarked Scholarship project is aligned with a recently awarded Category 1 research grant. Creative thought is fundamental to human advances throughout history and scientific discovery. It is also needed in daily life to adapt behaviour and solve everyday problems. The cognitive and neural bases of creative thought have not been explored in detail. Most past work in cognitive science has drawn a consistent distinction between needing a knowledge system to generate possibilities and an evaluation system to analyse and refine these ideas. The interplay between these two distinct systems results in productive creative thought. However, the knowledge source and the evaluation mechanisms, and their neural bases, are under-specified (e.g., what are the knowledge sources, how are they evaluated, etc).

Project aim

This project aims to understand the behavioural and brain bases of creative thought by using a novel approach at the intersection between executive control operations and semantic cognition. In brief, executive functions such as response initiation and inhibition, strategy application and flexibility play a critical role in everyday life because they enable individuals to adapt to circumstances, exhibit self-control and to solve new problems as they arise. Semantic cognition refers to our ability to flexibly retrieve and manipulate our generalized knowledge, which is acquired over the lifespan, to support verbal and non-verbal (multimodal) behaviours. In this project both executive control and semantic cognition will be investigated using behavioural and neuroimaging techniques in individuals that are healthy and those with focal brain lesions due to neurological disorders. The focus of the PhD could be on any of these aspects of the project, depending on the candidate.

Your suitability

A working knowledge of cognition, experimental psychology and statistical analysis and a keen interest in neuropsychology would be of benefit to someone working on this project.

The applicant will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of psychology and the potential for scholastic success.

A background or knowledge of cognition and statistical analysis is highly desirable.

Your role

You will be supervised by both Prof Gail Robinson (UQ) and Prof Matt Lambon Ralph (University of Cambridge). You will have opportunities to work with a team of cognitive neuroscientists and clinicial researchers, learning neuropsychological, experimental psychological and neuroimaging methods.

Apply

You need to apply for this project as part of your PhD application.

View application process

Contact

Cognitive and clinical neuropsychology lab

Group leader: Professor Gail Robinson Email: gail.robinson@uq.edu.au

Modulating learning and memory by targeting brain connectome

Background

How memory is formed is one of the most intriguing questions in neuroscience. Memory impairment in diseases, such as Alzheimer's dementia, is a major healthcare issue. Recent studies suggest that memory is formed and stored in distributed brain connectivity. Our previous work showed that learning can induce long-lasting change in the spontaneous brain network detected by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Furthermore, silencing specific network hub identified can impair memory formation. Understanding how specific brain hubs support memory formation in brain connection will be fundamental for developing specific biomarkers for diagnosis and novel interventions to improve cognitive function.

Project aim

This project aims to further identify connectivity signature of memory formation so as to develop novel methods for improving memory. We will use advanced MRI, electrophysiology, optogenetics and calcium recording to pinpoint and verify functional connectivity changes in memory formation in animal models. Neuromodulation will be developed to target the connection to assess its behavioural effects on learning and memory. The outcomes will advance our understanding of memory and technologies for improving cognitive function.

Your role

You will learn how to conduct animal experiments and develop advanced MRI and multimodality techniques to measure and modulate brain network function in mouse models. Behavioural tests will then be used to determine the effects of network modulation on learning and memory. This will help to establish intervention for the brain connection and cognitive function.

Contact

Functional and Molecular Neuroimaging lab

Group leader: Associate Professor Kai-Hsiang Chuang Email: k.chuang@uq.edu.au

Understanding waste clearance and brain network dysfunction in dementia

Background

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia, are irreversible and generally incurable. Recent studies suggested that impairment of a major waste clearance pathway – the glymphatic system – in the brain can lead to the pathology, including amyloid plaque and tau tangle, of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, how glymphatic system is regulated and why it is damaged in AD are still unknown. Furthermore, efficient clearance of metabolic waste and toxin is critical for brain health. As proper brain network function underlies our cognitive performance, whether and how deficient waste clearance could also impair cognition remains unclear. Understanding how glymphatic system is regulated and its role in maintaining brain network function will be fundamental for developing novel intervention to improve waste clearance and cognitive health.

Project aim

We recently discovered a neural pathway could affect glymphatic function in AD. Interestingly, the same neural pathway plays an important role in modulating brain networks important for cognition.

We aim to further understand the mechanisms of the regulatory pathway of the glymphatic system and how it affects brain network function. We will assess glymphatic function using human brain imaging data and test hypotheses in animal models. We will further identify cellular targets of this pathway for developing new interventions. This translational study will provide new ways for improving brain function by facilitating waste clearance.

Your role

You learn how to conduct animal experiments and use advanced MRI techniques to measure glymphatic flow and brain network function in mouse models of AD and how modulating glymphatic pathway affect the network function. Behavioural tests will then be used to determine the effects of glymphatic regulation on learning and memory. This will help to establish intervention for the glymphatic system.

You will also develop novel MRI analysis methods to process human MRI data to understand the translatability of the glymphatic regulation pathway in patients.

Contact

Functional and Molecular Neuroimaging lab

Group leader: Associate Professor Kai-Hsiang Chuang Email: k.chuang@uq.edu.au

Neural Mechanisms of Drosophila locomotion

Background

As animals walk, run, or hop, motor circuits in the spinal cord convert descending “command” signals from the brain into the coordinated movements of many different leg muscles. How are command signals from the brain deconvolved into the appropriate patterns for motor neuron activity?

Project aim

We aim to answer this question for Drosophila by studying the functional organization of leg motor circuits in the ventral nerve cord, the fly’s analogue of the spinal cord. In Drosophila, individual neuronal cell types can be reproducibly identified and manipulated using genetic reagents that have been developed to target specific descending neurons, interneurons, or motor neurons.

Your role

In your thesis project, you will learn a range of methods including genetics, multiphoton imaging, optogenetics and quantitative behavioural analysis, and use these methods to elucidate the structure and function of the motor circuits controlled by a specific class of descending neuron. This may be, for example, a descending neuron that, when activated, causes the fly to walk backwards (see Bidaye et al, Science 6179:97), or one that elicits turning. Understanding the circuit mechanisms behind those simple actions will shed light on general computational principles of neural networks, and may even help us to design smarter robots.

Contact

Locomotor Circuits in Drosophila lab

Group leader: Professor Barry Dickson Email: b.dickson@uq.edu.au