Research program: Technology-enabled rehabilitation

Explore PhD topics within the Technology-enabled rehabilitation research program, and get in touch with the listed adviser(s) to learn more or register your interest.

Program goal: Wider availability of cost-effective evidence-based care
Objective: Optimising rehabilitation pathways using technology
Research focus: Telerehabilitation

Explore PhD topics:

Design and development of mobile applications to assist better delivery of health services for people following traumatic brain injury.

Advisers and contact:

Professor Trevor Russell

Email t.russell@uq.edu.au

Preferred educational background:

Individual with the interest in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), User Experience (UX), some programming skills, and some background knowledge to create user experience designs using Adobe Creative Suite.

Alternatively, individual with the background in Speech therapy and interest in using technology for speech treatment.

Design and development and evaluation of Virtual Reality applications

Topic:

Design and development and evaluation of Virtual Reality applications for enhancing capabilities of people with Traumatic brain injury is their activities of daily living.

Advisers and contact:

Professor Trevor Russell

Email t.russell@uq.edu.au

Preferred educational background:

PhD student with the interest in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), User Experience (UX), some programming skills, and some background knowledge to create user experience designs using Adobe Creative Suite.

Alternatively individual with the background in Speech therapy and interest in virtual reality for speech treatment.

Health innovation and evaluation of AI chatbot-enabled interventions for people with injuries from a motor vehicle crash

Topic:

Health innovation and evaluation of AI chatbot-enabled interventions for people with injuries from a motor vehicle crash

Advisers and contact:

Dr Joshua Simmich

Email j.simmich@uq.edu.au

Preferred educational background:

holds or will hold, a bachelor’s degree (or above) in interdisciplinary medical/health sciences or biomedical engineering
has an interest in the conversational AI technology and the technology enabled clinical/health interventions
has some knowledge or experience in clinical evaluations, natural language processing and conversational AI (desirable).

Evaluation of telehealth applications for the remote provision of healthcare

Evaluation of gamified interventions for people following a motor vehicle crash

Topic:

Evaluation of gamified interventions for people following a motor vehicle crash

Advisers and contact:

Dr Joshua Simmich

Email j.simmich@uq.edu.au

Preferred educational background:

This project will require somebody with some experience in human psychology or allied health. The applicant should also demonstrate a keen interest in the use of technology for health. A knowledge of C# programming language and game development using the Unity engine would be desirable.

Improving Telerehabilitation through Computer Vision: Evaluation and Implementation of Real-Time Pose Estimation Systems

Topic: Creating the perfect virtual therapist: optimising the embodiment of artificially intelligent chatbots for clinical care

Description: There has recently been a significant increase in the utilisation of health-oriented chatbots. However, there is still a lack of research within the health care space concerning individual preferences for chatbot embodiment and how factors such as the voice, language, and personality of the avatar affect self-disclosure, trustworthiness and acceptability. This project offers a unique opportunity to partner and work alongside leading researchers at both the University of Queensland and CSIRO to improve the design and application of artificially intelligent chatbots within health care settings.

Advisers and contact:

Dr Nicole Andrews (UQ)

Dr Joshua Simmich (UQ)

Dr David Ireland (CSIRO)

Preferred educational background:

Either a health or computer science background with an interest in artificially intelligent chatbots, human-computer interaction or linguistics.

Scholarship

Living stipend scholarships are available through the University of Queensland.

Additional top-up scholarships are available through our partnership with CSIRO.