Research students

  • Research students

We host PhD and MPhil students who contribute to our research on a range of topics. Contact Centre Director Penny Williams if you are interested in joining this program as a research student.

Current PhD students

  • Benafsha Askarzai

    Benafsha is a Doctoral Candidate at QUT and currently holds a research scholarship within the School of Justice. The main objective of her project is to identify neutralisations present within far-right and Islamic extremist narratives, which often contribute towards the formation and maintenance of collective identity, recruitment pathways, as well...

  • Linda Bennison

    Linda’s PhD research focuses on legislative regimes for cooperatives. Eight in ten Australians hold cooperative or mutual membership, the sector contributes 8.3% of GDP, yet this business form is poorly understood and recognised by most Australians. The legislative environment has been identified in the development, or lack of, Australian cooperatives...

  • Ligerui Chen

    Ligerui’s PhD study explores the complexities that migrant workers, who are working in abroad, from Chinese multi-national corporations are facing in the context of ‘belt and road’ initiative. His study also attempts to find out how migrant worker shapes where their work is being produced and how host-country context influences migrant...

  • Justine Coneybeer

    Justine Coneybeer is a PhD Candidate at the School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her doctoral research examines the fashion industry’s response to Australia’s Modern Slavery Act. Justine is interested in how fashion companies perceive their responsibility for modern slavery and whether the legislation is promoting effective action...

  • Roma Deo

    Roma is a Doctoral student in the Faculty of Education, with supervisory team consisting of Professor Abby Cathcart and Dr Ian Davies. Roma’s research explores post school study options of onshore international students and the influencing factors shaping these preferences. Her research reflects her interest in international education and the global,...

  • Alicia Feldman

    Alicia’s PhD research will explore the disparities in research success between medical staff with explicit research responsibilities or roles who are employed in the Australian hospitals and health service sector. Specifically, the research seeks to understand the differing pathways to success, and barriers faced by women and minority groups. The...

  • Danae Fleetwood

    Danae is a Master of Philosophy student studying the regulation of workplace surveillance in Australia, with a particular focus on AI-enabled monitoring technologies. Drawing on her background in human resource management, business and employment law, Danae’s research takes a multi-disciplinary approach to shed light on the legal and ethical implications...

  • Melissa Giles

    Re-working narratives: How professional writers make sense of and adapt to vision-related reading difficulties For this practice-led PhD research, Melissa is using memoirs, creative writing and autoethnography to explore storytelling as a sensemaking tool. Centre Supervisor: Jannine Williams

  • Calum Henderson

    Calum is a current Doctoral Candidate within the School of Justice at QUT. He holds a research scholarship to investigate the sentencing of people with an intellectual disability in the Australian criminal justice system. Between 25%-30% of people in prison have borderline intellectual disability and 10% have mild intellectual disability,...

  • Akash Hettiarachchi

    Akash is currently a PhD scholar in Program 5 at the Australian Cobotics Centre at QUT. He is under the supervision of A/Professor Penny Williams. Prior to this, Akash obtained his Master of Philosophy degree from the School of Built Environment at QUT in 2021. With 18 years of experience...

  • Chaminda Jayasekara

    Chaminda is a clinician with experience as both a dental surgeon and health manager. His current research is dedicated to addressing significant oral health disparities in Australia, particularly within regional settings where untreated dental disease is a pressing health system challenge. Despite global efforts to enhance healthcare inclusivity and uphold...

  • Ave Le Blanc

    Ave has worked for over 8 years in corporate and non–profit advertising in the Caribbean. She has been employed with global agencies McCann Worldgroup and Saatchi & Saatchi where she worked on many renowned brands including Nestlè, PAHO/ WHO and United Way. She completed her undergraduate degree with Honours, in...

  • Laura Martinez-Buelvas

    Laura holds an iMove CRC Scholarship and QUT International HDR Tuition Fee Sponsorship to undertake her research at the School of Psychology & Counselling. Her research project aims to design safe and equitable interactions between Cooperative and automated vehicles (CAVs) and Vulnerable road users (VRUs) to ensure that each other’s...

  • Denise Nogueira

    Denise is a PhD candidate and sessional academic at QUT Faculty of Business and Law (School of Management). Denise is intrigued by interactions between community and market economies. Her PhD research explores diverse social finance arrangements in the context of alternative food networks in Australia to understand emerging social dynamics...

  • Victoria Ogg

    My research area is an investigation of the impacts of gambling, both positive and negative, for gambling subgroups who are currently underrepresented in the existing literature. In particular, it is an examination of the experiences of gamblers who are more susceptible to casino gambling, with the unique opportunity to assess...

  • Loan Pham

    Loan Pham is a PhD candidate at School of Accountancy, Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology. Loan’s PhD research aims to examine the importance of adopting a comprehensive tax expenditure budget for Vietnam and suggest the development of such a budget for the country, in the light...

  • Gayani Samarakoon

    Gayani is a Higher Degree Research student of the Faculty of Management of the Queensland University Technology.  In her PhD research, she is exploring the shop floor worker voice in the Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility agenda of the Sri Lankan apparel industry adopting a critical perspective by challenging the mainstream...

  • Carla Sangiovanni

    Carla Sangiovanni is a PhD candidate at QUT Faculty of Business and Law. Her research centres around the intricate dynamics between legal, political, and social licences to operate (LLO, PLO, and SLO) within Brazil’s mining sector, focusing on how these frameworks align or conflict with the public interest. Using a...

  • Alyssa Venning

    Alyssa Venning is a PhD candidate at Queensland University of Technology’s School of Public Health and Social Work. Her research focuses on activist leadership among social workers in senior roles, such as CEOs and Directors of social service organisations. The research explores how leaders perceive and implement activism, as well...

  • Michael Wong

    Michael Wong is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate in the School of Psychology and Counselling at QUT. His primary research interest lies in the well-being of health professionals. His current research aims to explore the lived experiences of Australian social workers from diverse cultural backgrounds who work with traumatised clients....

  • Zizheng Zhao

    Zizheng Zhao is a PhD candidate and currently holds a scholarship in the School of Accountancy, Faculty of Business and Law. Zizheng’s doctoral thesis focuses on how multinational corporations allocate business profits in the sharing economy. Specifically, the thesis explores the international tax challenges posed by the sharing economy and...

2023 Student completions

2022 Student completions

2021 Student completions

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