The Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology (BEST) is a university-wide research centre and an international leader in applied behavioural insights and research. The Centre connects the real world with researchers and amplifies QUT’s expertise in health, science, technology and creative industries. We are a federation of researchers interested in applying Behavioural Insights to address real world problems in close collaboration with government, industry and the not-for profit sector.
By embracing a spirit of fearlessness and intellectual curiosity, we strive to challenge the status quo and boldly explore uncharted territories in pursuit of innovative solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. Our ultimate goal is to inspire and drive positive change, leaving a lasting impact on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. When external organisations work with us, they engage in an immersive research experience where we co-design solutions WITH rather than FOR them. We compete on the basis of providing an immersive transformative research experience. We blend theory with practice to provide the actionable insights for consultancy with depth of science.
The six research programs of the Centre reflect a diverse range of disciplinary expertise. A key strength of BEST is our agility in being able to quickly assemble this expertise to respond to real-world problems. Since commencement in 2019, BEST researchers have attracted more than $30m in funding which is evidence of the regard that industry and policymakers have for our expertise.
The BEST Centre was awarded funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and in 2023, the ARC Training Centre for Behavioural Insights for Technology Adoption (BITA) was launched. BITA is the first ARC Industry Transformation Training Centre led out of a Business discipline and equal first from humanities and social sciences (HASS) since the establishment of the program in 2013 and is only the fourth program of its kind led by QUT. This was one of the major milestones for the BEST Centre – preparing the application over 18 months – navigating the particularly challenging environment caused by the pandemic. The total ARC centre value is $6.5m consisting of both substantial funding from the ARC, almost $2m of cash contributions and another $2.1m in-kind from 19 partner organisations.
