Student research programs

Benefits

Winter research at UQ provides a range of benefits, including:

• experience to ‘test-drive’ research before embarking on future research studies, such as Honours or Higher Degree Research projects such as Master’s, MPhil or PhD
• enhance your employability through opportunities to develop new academic and professional skills
• access to research networks and the opportunity to build connections with staff and postgraduate students;
• supervision by world-class UQ researchers
• access to world-class facilities 
• the possibility of obtaining credit towards your degree or the UQ Employability Award
• a grant for qualifying students to receive $2000 to support their engagement 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the UQ Winter Research Program at QBI, you must:

• be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or honours or master’s by coursework degree at UQ at the time of application
• remain an enrolled full-time student at UQ for the entirety of the Winter Program*
• be studying for a degree relevant to the research discipline
• have a high level of academic achievement during their undergraduate degree

*If a student is graduating in July and can demonstrate they are due to return to further study at UQ in Semester 2, 2024, then their application can be considered.

Assessment and selection

You will be assessed by QBI staff who will determine your suitability. Placements will be awarded on a competitive basis, taking into account:

•  eligibility
•  availability of projects and supervisors
• quality of the project
• academic merit 
• reasons provided for wanting to participate in the Program
• skills and attributes of applicants to meet project requirements
• available funding.

Scholarship support

All applicants will be automatically considered for a Winter Research Scholarship. If you qualify you'll receive funding of AUD$2000.

No scholars are permitted to participate in the program in a voluntary capacity.

If you withdraw from the Program, or your placement is terminated, your scholarship will need to be returned for the equivalent full weeks remaining unworked.

Time commitment and obligations

It is expected that you will be available and make a commitment to work on a full-time basis between 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (up to 36 hours each week) during the Program.

You're expected to actively participate in an ongoing research project or to undertake a substantial piece of supervised research work. Where appropriate to the project, additional discipline-/project-specific obligations may also be required, such as training in research safety and ethics.

Winter research project work should not conflict with teaching weeks and should not commence prior to completing assessment or semester examination requirements.

If you're accepted to participate in the Program at QBI, you'll be asked to complete a Student Intellectual Property and Confidentiality Deed (SIPCA) for your research project.

Towards the end of the Program, you may be requested by your supervisor to prepare and provide either a short-written report or oral presentation during a lab group meeting, about their summer project work.

Welcome event and student induction

Scholars accepted for the program at QBI are strongly encouraged to commence on 24 June 2024 to participate in the compulsory UQ SEC Winter Research Welcome event and QBI’s compulsory student induction activities and requirements organised for that day including OHS training.

 How to apply

You can only submit only one application but you can specify a second preference in your application.

Step 1 - Choose a project from the list of available projects listed below.

Step 2 – Check your eligibility.
Carefully read through all of the UQ SEC Summer Research Program information on the UQ Careers and Employability website. 

Step 3 – Email the relevant project contact person to express your interest in the project to ask if they will support your application. In this email, attach your detailed academic CV and complete academic transcripts. If they support your EOI you'll need to include their supportive statement in your application.

Step 4 – Submit an online application via UQ Student Hub and upload supporting documentation by 21 April 2024.

This should include your:

•  complete academic transcripts
• personal statement explaining why you wish to be considered for the project
• resume
• supporting statement from the project supervisor (this may be a copy of any email correspondence)

All applicants will be notified if they will be invited to participate in the Program by 17 May 2024.

Have questions?

If you have any questions regarding the 2024 UQ SEC Winter Research Program at QBI, please email collaborators@qbi.uq.edu.au.

 Available Projects

The deadline for projects to be advertised was on Saturday, 2 March.

Dr Margreet Ridder: Investigating gene therapeutic approaches for the treatment of motor neurone disease

Description

Motor neurone disease (MND), is a fatal adult-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive loss of motor neurons. One in every 300 Australians will die from MND, with 59 being the average age of onset. In Australia there are currently around 2000 people living with MND, and most will die from respiratory failure within 3 years of diagnosis. The cause for MND is unknown for the majority of patients. There is currently no cure or effective treatment to stop MND from progressing. The mainstay treatment since 1995 has been the drug riluzole (sold as Rilutek), which increases survival by only 6-19 months, emphasising the need for more effective treatments. For this project, the scholar will test whether our novel gene therapeutic approach reduces motor neuron death in a mouse model for MND.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

Scholars will be involved in neuronal labelling, tissue fixation, immunohistochemistry and fluorescent microscopy. They will obtain skills in neuroanatomy and anatomical data analysis.

Your suitability

This project is open to life sciences students with an interest in neurodegenerative disease and who are keen to acquire some laboratory skills (histology).

Duration

4 weeks during Winter Vacation, from Monday, 24 June until Friday, 21 July. 

Hours of engagement: 20-36 hours per week.

Applicant will be required to be on-site for the duration of the project.

Reminder: the UQ SEC Summer and Winter Research Programs are only open to UQ students - with regard to student eligibility, please note that only those students who are enrolled full-time and who will remain enrolled for the entirety of the Program are able to participate.   

Primary Supervisor 

Dr Margreet Ridder

Contact

For further information, please contact Dr Margreet Ridder m.ridder@uq.edu.au