Improve your employment prospects, enhance your research skills or prepare for postgraduate study by undertaking an Honours degree in one of the specialisations below.
These projects are available at the times indicated under each proposal as full-time (9-month) or part-time (18-month) undertakings.
Students with interests in Animal Science, Animal Health or Crop and Pasture Science should consider these projects. For general information on Honours in this area, contact Associate-Professor David Miller. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
| Project area | Supervisor |
|---|---|
| Meat quality; Animal nutrition | David Pethick |
| Meat quality, Animal nutrition, Biochemistry | Graham Gardner |
| Pigs | John Pluske |
| Sheep production | Andrew Thompson Serina Hancock |
| Animal behaviour & welfare, Camels, Goats, Endocrinology | David Miller |
| Equine, Welfare, Health | Anne Barnes |
| Equine | David Murphy |
| Agricultural technology | David Murphy Jayaseelan Marimuthu |
| Livestock behaviour and welfare, human-animal interactions | Teresa Collins |
| Health, Nutrition | Caroline Jacobson |
| Cattle, Meat Quality, Equine | Fiona Anderson |
| Eating quality | Liselotte Pannier |
| Behaviour, Ecology, Welfare | |
| Meat quality | Caroline Stewart Honor Calnan |
| Aquaculture | Alan Lymbery |
| Dairy | Joshua Aleri |
| Plant nutrition | Professor Richard Bell |
| Legume symbioses; Agricultural microbiology; Microbial physiology | Dr Graham O’Hara |
| Soil carbon | Professor Richard Harper |
| Agricultural biotechnology | Professor Michael Jones |
| Grain genetics and genomics | Professor Chengdao Li |
| Symbiotic nitrogen fixation | Dr Jason Terpolilli |
Students with interests in Allied Health (Psychology, Exercise Science, Chiropractic and Counselling) should consider these projects. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
| Project details | Supervisor |
|---|---|
| Measuring how quickly psychomotor skills fade with non-use for determining retraining criteria Chiropractors are required to complete a minimum number of hours of practice each year to remain registered. There appears to be little research that informs the specified number of hours for chiropractors. What is required is a scoping review of the available literature in parallel manual therapies to begin identifying evidence to this end. | Dr Stanley Innes |
| Identifying instant and strong responders to spinal manipulation A recent study seeking the opinions of manual therapy experts identified 18 factors that are thought to identify people with low back pain who have a strong and instantaneous response to spinal manipulation. More research is required to construct a working measure of these factors to further investigate these factors. | Dr Stanley Innes |
| Blood flow restriction during soccer training Blood flow restriction (BFR) training has been shown to improve performance in soccer players, but it isn’t known if wearing BFR cuffs may decrease a player’s passing and dribbling ability. This study will investigate the impact of wearing BFR cuffs on soccer-specific skills. Students involved in this research will also become a member of the Murdoch Applied Sports Science (MASS) Laboratory group. The MASS Lab provides a supportive environment for students who wish to pursue a career in high-performance sport. | Dr Brendan Scott |
| Acute responses to blood flow restriction during multi-joint resistance exercises Low-load resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) improves size and strength in the limb muscles. However, research needs to examine whether BFR can also benefit the trunk and hip muscles during multi-joint exercise (e.g. squats, bench press). This study will assess the acute physiological responses to multi-joint resistance exercises with BFR to address this gap. Students involved in this research will also become a member of the Murdoch Applied Sports Science (MASS) Laboratory group. The MASS Lab provides a supportive environment for students who wish to pursue a career in high-performance sport. | Dr Brendan Scott |
| Sport Expertise and Skill Learning Variety of projects can be explored. Needs to be planned 6 months ahead of implementation. | Sean Muller |
| What coaches want in injury prevention programs While sports injury prevention programs have been shown to be effective, there is poor uptake. This survey based study seeks to identify the type of information coaches at varying levels want in a prevention program and the amount of time they have available to undertake prevention activities. | Alasdair Dempsey (08) 9360 6526 |
| Comparison of single-leg versus double-leg injury screening tasks Landing screening tasks for ACL injury have used double leg landing tasks, despite the majority of injuries occurring in single legs. This project will compare the ability of single to double leg landing in predicting injury risk. | Alasdair Dempsey (08) 9360 6526 |
| Exercise and the brain This project will examine the relationship between changes in physiological parameters and brain health markers (including cognitive testing and MRI scans) from before to after a high-intensity exercise intervention. | Belinda Brown |
| C-RIMS - Crisis Resilience in MS Priorities, concerns and unmet needs among the MS community resulting from natural disasters, such as the Australian Bushfires in 2019/20 and COVID19 pandemic This study will continue the supervisory team’s investigation of the current healthcare management and experiences of the MS community during the summer bushfires in 2019/20 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The study includes analysis of data collected from over one-thousand Australians living with MS via an MS Research Australia national survey. The research is aimed at understanding the impact of the bushfires and the pandemic, and to improve healthcare management for the MS community during similar events. You will be joining an established team of researchers from across Australia, and will improve your understanding of disability research, alongside analysis of large datasets to answer complex questions. Ideally students will be knowledgeable in progressing a research agenda, and analysis of survey data. | Yvonne C Learmonth Brody Heritage Claudia Marck (University of Melbourne) |
| SCORE - Determining the validity of GotRhythm prior to delivery of a music and walking based exercise intervention in neurological population Impairments in walking are evident in many neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. Research indicates that music-based interventions have a strong clinical potential for the rehabilitation of motor function, including walking, in these populations. The supervisory team have developed a software application (GotRhythm) which will allow users to walk to music of their preferred genre and selected to encourage high motivation and reduce walking impairments. This project is first critical to validate the system. Following validation, a music and walking-based exercise intervention will be delivered to persons with a neurological conditions. The two aims of this project are; 1. To collect and compare data on gait parameters with our GotRhythm walking measurement system and the GaitRite walking measurement system. 2. To identify the feasibility of delivering a music and walking intervention to persons with neurological disabilities You will be working with a dynamic and cross-disciplinary group of researchers on brand new rehabilitation technology. You will learn to organise and co-ordinate a clinical study which is of high impact to future patients. Co-supervisor: Ann-Maree Vallence. | Yvonne C Learmonth Fleur Vanrens |
WeCare - Exploring an Australian sample of multiple sclerosis (MS) carer-dyad experiences to support wellbeing and physical activity | Helen Correia Yvonne C Learmonth |
For information on Honours opportunities in Creative Media and Communication, including Global Media and Communications, Strategic Communications, Journalism and Web Communications, contact Renae Desai or Dr Lauren O'Mahony.
Students with interests in Biological Sciences, Conservation and Wildlife Biology, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Environmental Science, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Marine Biology or Marine Science should consider these projects. For general information on Honours in this area, contact Dr James Tweedley. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
Current project opportunities
Students with interests in Medical, Molecular or Forensic Sciences should consider these projects. For general information on Honours in this area, contact Dr Amanda Ash or Dr Shane Tobe. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
MMFS Honours S2 2023 Info (PDF) 5455 kb
| Project area | Supervisor |
|---|---|
| Sarcoma; Signal transduction; Erythrocytes; Metastasis; Personalised medicine | Dr Evan Ingley E.Ingley@murdoch.edu.au |
| Haematology; Thrombosis; Haemostasis; Inflammation; Exercise | Associate Professor Murray Adams M.Adams@murdoch.edu.au |
| Vertebrate functional anatomy and evolution | Dr Natalie Warburton N.Warburton@murdoch.edu.au |
| Bioinformatics; Biostatistics; Data science; Computational genomics; Statistical modelling | Dr Penghao Wang P.Wang@murdoch.edu.au |
| Herbal medicine; Dietary supplements; Toxicology; Biochemistry | Dr Garth Maker G.Maker@murdoh.edu.au |
| Ticks; Human & animal vector-borne pathogens; Next-generation sequencing; Bioinformatics | Dr Charlotte Oskam C.Oskam@murdoch.edu.au |
| Parasitic infections; Zoonotic transmission and diagnostics | Dr Amanda Ash A.Ash@murdoch.edu.au |
| Bacterial metabolism; Horizontal gene transfer and evolution; Molecular genetics; Endosymbiosis | Dr Jason Terpolilli J.Terpolilli@murdoch.edu.au |
| Forensic science; Wildlife crime; Serology; Phylogenetics; Metagenomics | Dr Shane Tobe Shane.Tobe@murdoch.edu.au |
| Forensic DNA; Cold Case Investigations; National Security and Defence; Metagenomics; Crime Scene Investigation | Brendan Chapman Brendan.Chapman@murdoch.edu.au |
| Neonatal immunology; Sepsis; Milk immunology | Dr Andrew Currie A.Currie@murdoch.edu.au |
| Synthetic biology; Genetic engineering; Microbial genomics; CRISPR-Cas editing | Associate Professor Wayne Reeve W.Reeve@murdoch.edu.au |
| Physiology education; Neuroscience; Transcranial magnetic stimulation | Dr Sarah Etherington S.Etherington@murdoch.edu.au |
| Medical microbiology; Epidemiology; Antimicrobial resistance; Molecular and Genomic microbiology; Bioinformatics | Professor Geoffrey Coombs g.coombs@murdoch.edu.au |
| Bioscience education; Transition and enabling education | Natalie Callan N.Callan@murdoch.edu.au |
For information on Honours opportunities in Nursing, contact Dr Jennifer Lymbery.
Students with interests in Veterinary Science should consider these projects. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
| Project details | Supervisor |
|---|---|
| Behavioural Assessment of livestock under husbandry procedures and transport To assess livestock welfare and the effectiveness of pain mitigation or handling procedures, a method to quantify the affective state of animals is required, and this can be addressed through assessment of behaviour. | A/Professor Teresa Collins |
| Investigating worm burden and resistance in Western Australia beef farms Objectives:
| Dr Josh Aleri |
How to apply
Once you’ve contacted the project supervisor and made your choice, you can apply directly to Murdoch using our easy-to-use online application system.
