Summer Research Scholarship Program 2025
Applications open 23 September and close 13 October 2024
https://employability.uq.edu.au/summer-winter-research
Rural Communication Services in Indonesia – profiles and impacts
Project Duration: The project will be for 6 weeks with an average of 32 working hours per week (four days). The candidate will be required on campus for at least two days per week but some of the work can be done remotely.
Project Description: This project is part of ongoing collaborative research on assessing the impacts of Rural Communication Services in the context of family farming, with a focus on Indonesia. The research team consists of the UQ Centre for Communication and Social Change (CfCSC), the Indonesian Research Centre for Social Welfare, Villages and Connectivity of the National Research and Innovation Agency (KSDK-BRIN), and the Centre for Culture and Frontier Studies and the Department of Communication of Universitas Brawijaya. Summer research results are expected to feed into new research proposals that are being developed by the UQ-BRIN-UB team.
The summer research assignment consists of:
- Desk-top research: Conduct a literature review about the current status of Rural Communication Services systems in Indonesia (government and non-government).
- Online consultation: Conduct online consultation with key Rural Communication Service providers in Indonesia.
- Report writing: Write a report capturing the findings from the literature review.
- Presentation: Prepare and present the research to the UQ-BRIN-UB research team and interested HDR students
Expected outcomes and deliverables: The expected outcomes for the student are (1) enhanced academic research, writing and presentation skills, (2) an understanding of how Rural Communication Services are defined, organised and implemented in Indonesia, and (3) experience working in a UQ school-based research centre. Deliverables include a written report and oral presentation.
Suitable for: The assignment is suitable for postgraduate students or undergraduate students who are in the second half of their studies in one of the following degrees: Communication, Development Practice, Rural Development and Agribusiness, although others may be considered, as well. The successful applicant will have good analytical, writing and visual presentation skills, and the ability to think across disciplinary boundaries. Ability to read and speak Bahasa Indonesia would be preferred but is not a prerequisite.
Supervisors: A/Prof Elske van de Fliert, Director, Centre for Communication and Social Change. Please reach out to Elske if you have any questions. An interview may be required prior to final selection of the successful candidate
Media and Epidemics
Project Duration: Work on this project will be 20 hours a week for 6 weeks, 13 January to 21 February 2025. Applicant is not required on site for the project but they do need to have reliable internet access.
Project Description: Epidemics provide significant opportunities to reflect on the ways in which media, technology and society are co-constituted. As medical and social phenomena, they tend to be highly mediatized events, although the limits and local inflections of that mediatization are yet to be subjected to sustained critical attention in both historical and contemporary settings. Moreover, as the Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us, outbreaks of infectious diseases represent a veritable test for a country’s underlying socio-economic and political structures. This includes the ability to harness technologies and infrastructures of communication to overcome public health crises, by implementing population surveillance measures, communicating with broader publics, coordinating epidemic responses or devising strategies of preparedness against future outbreaks.
Media and Epidemics is an interdisciplinary team of researchers across Australia, the UK, Poland, and Romania, seeking to document, from historical and contemporary as well as trans-disciplinary and trans-regional perspectives, the role of media and technologies of communication in the making and management of epidemic outbreaks.
Students completing a UQ Summer Project as part of Media and Epidemics will work with project PI Melissa Dickson to analyse socio-cultural responses to and representations of the so-called Russian Flu, a worldwide respiratory viral pandemic in 1889-1890 and the last great pandemic of the 19th century, as well as the Spanish Flu, an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic of 1918-1920. Focus will be on the forms of language deployed in negotiating social contracts between governments, medical professionals, and the public. Students will have the opportunity to produce one or more blog posts on their findings.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Students will gain skills in online research, the use of nineteenth-century periodicals, and data collection, as well as critical analysis. They will be given the opportunity to produce one or more blog posts on their experiences on the project or on some of their findings, which will be published on the project website.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with a background in literature, journalism, communication, digital cultures, or writing.
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Melissa Dickson
Further information about the Media and Epidemics international project can be found on our website: mediaepidemics.com
Women, visibility and museum collections
Project Duration: This research project will take place over 6- weeks from 13 January to 21 February 2025. It will involve a commitment of 30 hours per week. The work can be competed remotely and there is no requirement to be on site.
Project Description: Despite the reality that just over half the world’s population are women, museums can fail to adequately depict their experiences in collections – particularly when those experiences have been trivialised or overlooked. From childbirth, to cooking to fashion, sexuality, and politics there is a need for social history museums to incorporate these discourses to address previous collecting biases, interrogate the relationship between gender and cultural value, and represent the diversity of women, and those who identify as women.
Within this overarching framework and theoretical context, in this research project we explore three key research questions which are framed around: (1) how have women have been represented in museum collections historically, (2) what specific customs, devices, objects are used to depict women’s experience of everyday life, and (3) what policies and practices museums should employ to better support more equitable representation.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: In this project we will be seeking to identify different literature on museums and women’s collections. Scholars working on this project will develop greater understanding about the practices of different museums as well as skills in seeking out suitable case studies. At the end of the project scholars will be asked to present a written and oral report.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with a background in writing, communications, journalism, museum studies or history. Ideally the candidate will be postgraduate or a 3rd – 4th year student.
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Caroline Wilson-Barnao
Digital Health Futures
Project Duration: This project will run for 6 weeks, from 13 January to 21 February 2025 (dates can be flexible). It is anticipated summer scholars will spend an average of 20 hrs per week engaged on this project. This project can be completed remotely. Applicants are not required to work on-site.
Project Description: This project examines how health in the 21st century is being transformed by ubiquitous media, automated technologies, and artificial intelligence. Its aim is to investigate the cultural impact of digital media and technologies on health considered at either an individual or population-wide level.
Students working on this project will undertake independent research on any topic in digital health. Topics might include such things as high-profile health influencers, online health communities, use of wearable technologies as health devices, or trustworthy public health messaging in an age of fake news.
The project will also provide the opportunity for students to engage with the new Digital Health research node in the Digital Futures Lab in the School of Communication and Arts, and to contribute to its research activities. Students will have the opportunity to publish their research as a blog post on a national website and to otherwise share their research findings.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars working on this project will learn how to research and map emerging trends in digital health. They will gain skills in data collection, literature review, social media analysis, methods of digital cultural analysis, and the study of digital health.
Students will be guided to write a short paper on a topic of their choice, suitable for publication as a blog post, including a short, annotated bibliography.
Suitable for: The project would suit students considering honours study in digital cultures in 2025. It is open to applications from students who are completing their 2nd or 3rd year of undergraduate study. Students studying digital cultures and interested in digital cultural research are particularly encouraged to apply.
Primary Supervisor: A/Prof Elizabeth Stephens
Experiencing Immersion from Antiquity to Modernity: From Narrative to Virtual Reality
Project Duration: 6 weeks, 3-4 days per week. Applicant can complete much work under a remote working arrangement but will benefit from on-site attendance part time (e.g. one day per week, and for the first week of the project).
Project Description: This project involves preparing the Experiencing Immersion from Antiquity to Modernity: From Narrative to Virtual Reality manuscript for publication. This interdisciplinary edited collection contains thirteen chapters exploring the presence of what we might today term immersive experiences in the ancient world, as well as modern-day immersive experiences that are inspired by ancient sites and myth (such as within literature, theatre, gaming, and the heritage sector). The full manuscript is under contract with Bloomsbury and will be published in 2025.
The research scholarship will involve working in collaboration with the editor (Emma Cole) to see the manuscript through to publication. It will provide the student with first-hand experience of the steps required to see an academic publication through to completion and will involve practical tasks such as assisting with assembling the volume’s index, liaising with contributors, and doing proofreading and copy-editing. The student will be trained and mentored through how to index a publication and copy-edit proofs.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Students will gain skills in indexing and copy-editing, and first-hand insight into the academic publication process. I will provide the student with oversight of the full process, by sharing the original book proposal and process to date, so that they not only finish the project with the necessary practical skills required turn proofs into a publication but will also feel confident in the process of e.g. turning their PhD or MPhil into a publication. The student will also gain knowledge regarding immersivity, by having access to forthcoming research, which depending upon the research interests of the student may feed into their own projects.
Suitable for: This project is best suited to advanced students based in an arts or humanities discipline. It is essential that the student has excellent close reading skills, and is confident proofreading for spelling and grammar mistakes. It will ideally suit a student who is hoping to publish their own work in the future.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Emma Cole
Visual Effects Research Network
Project Duration: 6 weeks. 20-36 hours per week. Initial meeting with supervisor in person, and as needed, but the majority of the work can be achieved remotely if the scholar prefers, with a weekly check-in meeting with supervisor, Dr Lisa Bode.
Project Description: “Visual Effects […] power our blockbuster movies, TV, and video games, constructing fantastical story-worlds, creatures, events, and character bodies […]. At their least visible they erase distracting elements of sets, costume and performance, change colour schemes and lighting, extend backgrounds and amplify crowd sizes. At their most quotidian they live in our pockets, allowing us to augment our smartphone selfies with rabbit ears or zombie masks, smooth our laugh lines and erase our pores, or insert our faces into music video clips. At their most troubling they are used to create deceptive illusions, challenging us to question what is “real” versus what is “fake” in our visual mediation of the world and each other.” (vfxresearchnetwork.com, 2020)
Visual Effects are ubiquitous and becoming more so with generative AI. They are everywhere, and yet, scholarship on VFX is fragmented and disparate, existing on the margins of other areas such as Film Studies, Art History, Animation Studies, Visual Culture, and Digital Media. There is no dedicated journal or society of VFX studies or research.
The Project:
In 2020 Dr Lisa Bode (UQ) and Associate Professor Leon Gurevitch (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ), sought to change this by establishing an international network and community of scholars and teachers working on visual effects and screen illusionism. We now have thirty members across six countries, from a diverse range of backgrounds, whose work on the topic of visual effects includes historical and theoretical approaches, aesthetic analyses, industry and software studies, film philosophy, reception studies, animation studies, as well as examining connections to visual culture and generative AI.
The network primarily operates via email, and with an online presence, vfxresearchnetwork.com, which has profiles of all members with their areas of research, contact information, and lists of publications on VFX topics.. This site also has a showcase section intended to publish short, less formal pieces of writing, and an events section. Dr Bode had been largely responsible for updating the site and maintaining the network, but due to health issues and work commitments as well as the number of members, has been unable to update it since 2022 beyond paying the annual domain registration and webhosting fees out of her salary.
It is hoped that through the Summer research project, a research assistant (or two) can be contracted to contact all members, and update the information on the website, so the Visual Effects Research Network can once again function to make this emerging area of scholarship visible. In addition, the social media accounts (Facebook, X, Instagram) have been inactive, and need to be analysed with a view to whether or not they should be shut down or consolidated somehow.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will be primarily responsible for updating the information on the VFX research network website and assisting Dr Bode in rejuvenating the bonds of the network. They will communicate via email with up to thirty members from the VFX research network, ranging from leading international researchers to early career scholars, to solicit information from each person on 1) their publications over the past two years (and where these publications can be located); 2) their current research interests and foci; 3) major news in the area of VFX scholarship. If the scholar has moved institutions, they will have to locate them and update their contact information. They will use this information to update the relevant pages and links on the website. At the end of the six weeks, the website should be up to date, and the network’s virtual community reinvigorated. If the scholar is interested, they may also write a short piece on the network or something to do with VFX to be published on the site. If the scholar is interested and there is time, then the question of the network’s social media presence and strategy can be discussed and worked on.
At minimum, scholars will gain exposure to an international network of researchers; have an experience of maintaining a virtual research network; develop skills in professional electronic communication and soliciting and organising various kinds of information for different purposes; and gain skills and experience in basic website editing and information formatting (using a template).
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from 3rd year or above students with a background in Film and TV Studies, Media and Digital Cultures, and/or Communications. Students should possess outstanding written communication and interpersonal skills; good attention to detail; familiarity with basic website editing and formatting (using the WIX platform) OR a willingness and ability to learn.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Lisa Bode
Building Australia’s Literary Culture
Project Duration: 6 weeks. While there is some flexibility, the applicant will work in the office for the majority of the project. The expectation is that the scholar will undertake 25 hours of work/week.
Project Description: This project is part of a larger endeavour led by AustLit to create an awareness of Australian literary culture in the wider public sphere to be launched in 2025. Our aim is to develop and publish an annual calendar of significant events in Australia’s literary history and culture, and establish a framework within which this program can be actualised across the course of that year. The scholar will work with the supervisors to develop a calendar of literary events (based on, for example, anniversaries of births, deaths of publications), find works about these in the AustLit database, and update and enhance AustLit records as necessary. The scholar will also work with the supervisors to determine what organisations and institutions may have a stake in these events, developing a contact list of academics/public intellectuals – nationally and internationally – who work in the field of Australian literature. This project will suit a scholar with a passion for Australian literary culture who is also interested in public engagement.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will gain skills in data collection and curation, skills in advanced search techniques, and valuable contacts in the literary and cultural sectors. Scholars will produce a short report at the end of the project with a series of recommendations so they will also gain skills in report writing.
Suitable for: This project is open to applicants with a background in English literature, preferably in their 3rd or 4th year of study. A keen interest in Australian literary culture would be a benefit.
Primary Supervisor: A/Prof Maggie Nolan
50 Years of the Institute of Modern Art
Project Duration: 6 weeks. 20-36 hours per week. The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement for entire six weeks however there is also onsite work available if possible.
Project Description: This project involves archival research in support of publishing a book documenting and celebrating Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art’s fifty-year history, for their fifty-year anniversary in 2025.
The IMA is the oldest surviving space of its kind in Australia, and has intersected with all manner of players, ideas, and debates across its life. The book requires a key text by Associate Professor Sally Butler of around 20,000 words—providing the central narrative or account.
Students will be specifically involved in:
- Archival re-ordering of existing archive room to improve access and update exhibitions and publications lists.
- Archival analysis of photographic records of exhibitions including video and audiotapes
- Developing catalogue of IMA staff and stakeholders.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will gain skills in the operations of contemporary art spaces and be part of a research team that includes art history academics and industry staff. This opportunity will provide first hand insight into the history of contemporary art in Queensland, Australia and internationally and provide archival skills required across the arts industry.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with a background in art history at 2nd or 3rd year level.
Primary Supervisor: A/Prof Sally Butler
How to Apply?
Summer and Winter Research Scholarship Programs - https://employability.uq.edu.au/summer-winter-research
If you require further assistance, please contact the School of Communication and Arts Research research.commarts@uq.edu.au