Both domestic and international students enrolled at QBI play a vital role in research efforts at the Institute.
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:
- Academic CV with hyperlinks to your published work, and the Impact Factor of the journal if relevant
- Academic transcripts for all tertiary level study showing a list of courses, grades achieved, and the grading system used at the institution of study
- 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
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
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
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
Contact
Mr Baron Joye
Higher Degree by Research Liaison Officer
+61 (07) 3346 6401
(Monday, Tuesday and Friday)
hdr.qbi@enquire.uq.edu.au