The UQ Summer Research Scholarship Program provides UQ students with an opportunity to gain research experience working alongside some of the University’s leading academics and researchers.

Each year the School of Social Science offers research placement opportunities for students through the UQ Summer Research Scholarship Program.

The program will run for six (6) weeks between 8 January - 16 February 2024. 

Applications have now closed.

Phytolith reference collection for archaeology and palaeoecology

Project duration:10 weeks during Summer Vacation, 30-36hrs per week (negotiable). The applicant will be required on-site for the project. 
Description:

Phytoliths (silicified plant remains) commonly preserve in archaeological sites as evidence of human use of plants for food, craft, fuel and other purposes, as well as the palaeoecological setting for these ancient behaviours. Essential to archaeological and palaeoecological studies of phytoliths is a comprehensive understanding of the production and forms (morphologies) of phytoliths across plant families within a study region.

For this project, a student will process modern plant reference material, and quantify and describe the phytoliths found within key taxa, to help develop a phytolith database and classification key for a study region (this can be negotiated depending on the available samples). 

Expected outcomes and deliverables:The student will learn phytolith extraction and identification techniques using light microscopy and will assist with data management. They will be required to produce a report detailing their findings, which has the potential to be published or contribute to a publication. 
Suitable for:Third year and honours level students in archaeology and/or palaeoecology with a high degree of enthusiasm for lab-based research. Some experience in microscopy would be advantageous.
Primary Supervisor:A/Prof Alison Crowther
Further information:Please contact A/Prof Alison Crowther (a.crowther@uq.edu.au) for further information; all enquiries should be accompanied by your CV and academic transcripts.

 

The UQ Winter Research Scholarship Program provides UQ students with an opportunity to gain research experience working alongside some of the University's leading academics and researchers.

Each year the School of Social Science offers research placement opportunities for students through the UQ Winter Research Scholarship Program.

The program will run for four (4) weeks between 24 June - 21 July 2024.

You must submit an online application form if you wish to be considered for the program. The application period will be open from 25 March - 21 April 2024. 

Sci-Art

Project duration:The project can be a combination of on-site and work from home. During this time, students will work with one or both of the two supervisors, gaining valuable research experience. Their expected hours of engagement over this time should be between 20 – 36 hours per week. 
Desription:

Sci-art brings science and art together. It is about multiple ways of knowing and engaging with important topics through the integration of research, education and artistic practice.


This Winter Research Project supports a review of scholarship and grey literature on sci-art.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:In addition to learning more about sci-art, applicants can expect to gain skills in designing a review, literature searching, and synthesising. They may also have an opportunity to be involved in generating a publication as a co-author from their research.
Suitable for:

The project is open to all students (later year undergraduate or postgraduate) who have experience with the arts (in varied forms, e.g., creative writing, sculptures, drama, dance), social sciences (e.g., social science, sociology, anthropology, museum studies, political science, international relations) and/or science (e.g., sustainability, environmental science, biomedical science). The ideal applicant will have some skills in reviewing scholarly literature and an interest in/appreciation of the arts..

Student participants must be enrolled in a program of study at UQ at the time of application and maintain ongoing enrolment in a program at UQ for the entirety of the Winter Research Program. Graduation may affect this.

Supervisor/s:Primary Supervisor: A/Prof Rebecca Olson; Co-supervisor: Prof Kim Wilkin)
Further information:If you would like further information, please contact r.olson@uq.edu.au.

New Indigenous dictionary data searches; terms for growth and colours

Project duration:

The program will be offered between 24 June to 19 July 2024. During this time, 2 students will team up with Associate professor Diana Young at St Lucia campus or research site for 4 weeks to gain valuable research experience. The hours will be 20 per week.

Desription:

During the last decade multiple new dictionaries of (Australian) First People’s languages have been published and earlier ones amplified. The Institute of Aboriginal Studies publishes these. See https://www.iadpress.com.au/collections/all-publications/language-learning?sort_by=title-ascending. All these are the result of, often decades long, collaborative research between Indigenous language speakers and Indigenous and non- indigenous linguists are therefore high quality resources.

The aim of the project is to harvest words referring to growth, to other attributes of country, and to colours across Indigenous languages in these dictionaries to compare them. The mentor’s published research working long term with Indigenous consultants on two related languages has shown that there were no ‘colour terms’ before contact but rather similes referring to qualities of the landscape. Further that “colour’ is a colonial construct which Indigenous people have found useful to incorporate into their culture and language. The aim of this project is to provide wider evidence for this hypothesis among Indigenous language in what is now Australia, using the already published data.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Winter Scholars will gain an understanding of cross-cultural terms and the difficulties and challenges of translation. In addition, they will gain skills in data collection and how to assess, record and interpret it.

Outputs: A joint publication may be generated from the project’s research. 

Students will be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from students with a background in anthropology, linguistics, Indigenous studies, museum studies and archaeology.

Student participants must be enrolled in a program of study at UQ at the time of application and maintain ongoing enrolment in a program at UQ for the entirety of the Summer Research Program. Graduation may affect this

Supervisor/s:

Associate Professor Diana Young

Further information:

Interested applicants with questions about the research can contact Diana Young @ djbyoung@uq.edu