Honours Opportunities
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.
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Agricultural Sciences
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 MarimuthuLivestock 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
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Environmental and Conservation Sciences
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 Jatin Kala. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
List of current project opportunities
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Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences
Students with interests Medical, Molecular or Forensic Sciences should consider these projects. For general information on Honours in this area, contact Dr Andrew Currie or Dr Jason Terpolilli. For more specific information on individual projects, contact the academic supervisor named in the project description.
Project area Supervisor Sarcoma; Signal transduction; Erythrocytes; Metastasis; Personalised medicine Dr Evan Ingley Haematology; Thrombosis; Haemostasis; Inflammation; Exercise Associate Professor Murray Adams Vertebrate functional anatomy and evolution Dr Natalie Warburton Bioinformatics; Biostatistics; Data science; Computational genomics; Statistical modelling Dr Penghao Wang Herbal medicine; Dietary supplements; Toxicology; Biochemistry Dr Garth Maker Ticks; Human & animal vector-borne pathogens; Next-generation sequencing; Bioinformatics Dr Charlotte Oskam Parasitic infections; Zoonotic transmission and diagnostics
Dr Amanda Ash Bacterial metabolism; Horizontal gene transfer and evolution; Molecular genetics; Endosymbiosis Dr Jason Terpolilli Forensic science; Wildlife crime; Serology; Phylogenetics; Metagenomics Dr Shane Tobe Forensic DNA; Cold Case Investigations; National Security and Defence; Metagenomics; Crime Scene Investigation Brendan Chapman Neonatal immunology; Sepsis; Milk immunology Dr Andrew Currie Synthetic biology; Genetic engineering; Microbial genomics; CRISPR-Cas editing Associate Professor Wayne Reeve Physiology education; Neuroscience; Transcranial magnetic stimulation Dr Sarah Etherington Medical microbiology; Epidemiology; Antimicrobial resistance; Molecular and Genomic microbiology; Bioinformatics Professor Geoffrey Coombs Bioscience education; Transition and enabling education Natalie Callan -
Nursing
For information on Honours opportunities in Nursing, contact Dr Jennifer Lymbery.
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Psychology, Exercise Science, Chiropractic and Counselling
Students with interests in 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 6526Exercise 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
The aim of the current study is to gather data to inform a theoretical framework that supports developing health and wellness interventions for the carer-dyad comprising persons with MS and carers, with the initial focus on physical activity participation. Using qualitative interviews with participants across Australia, this study seeks to explore different perspectives on:
1) what may be helpful to support and maintain carers own wellbeing, including the use of exercise
2) what do helpful experiences of care look like in the caring relationship – for example in supporting motivation or in responding to difficulties and
3) what may be helpful in supporting carers to receive support from others.
You will be involved in collection of qualitative interviews, and subsequent analysis to help us understand the relationship between carers and people with MS, and healthcare providers.Helen Correia
Yvonne C Learmonth -
Veterinary Medicine
Students with interests in Veterinary Medicine 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:- Understand deworming practices in dairy farms in WA
- Establish prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites
- Determine the presence of anthelminthic resistance in Western Australia dairy farms
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.