Summer Research Scholarship
The UQ Summer Research Scholarship Program offers scholarships to students wishing to undertake a research internship over the summer vacation period.
Research internships provide students with the opportunity to work with a researcher in a formal research environment so that they may experience the research process and discover what research is being undertaken in their field of interest at UQ.
Some students may qualify to receive a scholarship for the duration of their internship.
View scholarship guidelines and how to apply
We do not require you to obtain tentative supervisor approval prior to submitting your application.
2023-24 Projects
- Computation of multidimensional socio-economic inequality measures
- Investigating student engagement in homogeneous groups through the three-colour innovation model
- Auctions of Failed Banks
- Bayesian Strctural VARMAs
- Automated consumer decisions in markets
- Experimenting with Chomp
Project title: | Computation of multidimensional socio-economic inequality measures |
Description: | The project aims at writing and testing econometric software that computes non-parametric measures of multidimensional economic inequality. |
Suitable for: | The project is open to applications from students with a background in either econometrics or statistics. Knowledge of computer programming is essential. |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January - 16 February 2024; 20-36 hours per week; On campus (preferred) and remotely |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact Dr Mohamad Khaled |
Project title: | Investigating student engagement in homogeneous groups through the three-colour innovation model |
Description: | This research project investigates students' engagement (behavioural, affective, and cognitive) as they experience the three-colour innovation model in ECON3210 (Financial Markets and Institutions), an advanced undergraduate-level course. The innovation model is implemented during the course tutorials and is designed to foster peer learning in homogenous groups, customised to each student's level of confidence and preparedness. The model is based on the principles of homogenous groups, shown to promote confidence and self-esteem, encourage critical inquiry, and facilitate a deeper understanding of concepts (Briggs, 2020; Boud et al., 2001). Despite the suggested benefits of peer learning in homogenous groups, little yet is known on the impacts this group arrangement has on students’ engagement, particularly, when comparing online and in-person instructional settings.
|
Suitable for: | The project is suitable for a student with a background in economics, applied mathematics, statistics and/or education. The successful candidate must be proficient in quantitative data analysis and preferably (but not necessarily) have experience in conducting literature reviews. The student scholar is also expected to be able to work independently and in collaboration with the project team members. |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January - 16 February 2024; 25-30 hours per week; Both on campus and remotely |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact Dr Frederique Bracoud |
Project title: | Auctions of Failed Banks |
Description: | Every year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a federal agency in the United States, sells many banks declared in bankruptcy (i.e., failed banks) using complex auctions. The number of failed banks has increased substantially since the 2008 financial crisis, as financial institutions have increasingly failed to honour their obligations with debtors. A recent notable example was the bankruptcy declaration of the Silicon Valley Bank, a large bank based in California. The failure of a bank has implications for individual investors, who are normally the less able to recover their investment. For that reason, the resolution of failed banks has been under the public scrutiny, since a more efficient liquidation of a bank will reduce the cost of the FDIC to repay affected investors, increasing the overall efficiency of the banking system.
|
Suitable for: | The project is suitable for a student with a background in economics, finance, applied mathematics, or computer science. Preferably (but not necessary), students who have taken intermediate microeconomics as undergraduates. The successful candidate must be proficient with MATLAB. Ideally, the candidate has also knowledge of R and Python. |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January - 16 February 2024; 20-36 hours per week; On campus (preferred) and remotely |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact Dr Allan Hernandez-Chanto or Dr Dong-Hyuk Kim |
Project title: | Bayesian Strctural VARMAs |
Description: | The aim of this project is to develop a Bayesian Structural Autoregressive Moving Average (SVARMA) specification, where priors can be implemented directly on impulse responses up to some fixed horizon. The key objective is to build on existing methods and design an efficient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) algorithm for sampling from the posterior distribution. |
Suitable for: | The project is open to applications from students with a background in economics in conjunction with either econometrics or statistics. An interest in intensive scientific programming is also required, although past experience is not necessary. |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January - 16 February 2024; 20-36 hours per week; On campus (preferred) and remotely |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact A/Prof Eric Eisenstat |
Project title: | Automated consumer decisions in markets |
Description: | Consumers have benefited from the automation of home production processes thanks to home appliances; however, consumers have so far had limited exposure to the automation of decision-making tasks. Even though consumers are used to algorithmic decision advice, e.g., GPS navigation and purchase recommendations, full decision delegation for purchases is still rare. Apart from current technological limitations, several behavioural factors may impede consumers’ willingness to delegate decision-making powers to an algorithmic surrogate. First, most people value the freedom to make their own choices hence retaining control of their decision-making powers. Second, by delegating decisions, consumers lose the opportunity to learn from the decision-making process and improve their decision-making capacity. These factors are likely to be overcome if the expected benefit of delegation is high enough. What are the factors that affect the consumer’s trust in automation? |
Suitable for: | Open to applications from Economics, Business and Psychology students with a background in microeconomics, or computer science students with some economics background, 2-4 year students. |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January – 16 February 2024; 20 hours per week; The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact Dr Kenan Kalayci |
Project title: | Experimenting with Chomp |
Description: | The purpose of this study is to better understand how people make choices in dynamic games. The approach will be experimental and will focus on the well-known game of Chomp. The focus of the project over the summer is to complete the coding portion of the experiment, but the student may be expected to do some literature review relating to dynamic games. The project will involve consistent meetings with Dr Breig (and potentially other collaborators). |
Suitable for: | Students that have experience coding, especially with Python. The intention to pursue honours in economics would be a bonus |
Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode | 8 January – 16 February 2024; 20 hours per week |
Number of students: | 1 |
Primary Supervisor and further information: | Please contact Dr Zachary Breig |